Cowboy Guns

Since this is the month of the Cowboy and all my posts are dedicated to cowboy guns, I thought I would post my cowboy guns.

Although my exposure to single action revolvers and lever action rifles came at an early age (my Father is a huge Ruger single action fan), I didn't come to appreciate them until I saw the movie Tombstone...My love for Westerns and Cowboy guns has grown ever since.

We'll start with the revolvers, each of these guns has had something unique and different done to them.

From top to bottom:

Ruger old Vaquero, 45 Colt, 4 5/8" barrel, Ajax checkered rosewood grips, action job, large MK Technologies crescent ejector, nitre blued: base pin, base pin latch, trigger and hammer pins

 Ruger old Vaquero, 357 Magnum, 4 5/8" barrel, Brass birds head grip frame from Qualite, custom made teak wood grips, action job with trigger shims, New Vaquero crescent ejector, Black Powder chamfer on the cylinder, nitre blued: base pin, base pin latch, slotted trigger and hammer pins

Ruger New Model Single Six "Vaquerito", .32 H&R Magnum. 4 5/8" barrel, factory birds head grip frame, factory grips, customized factory ejector, nitre blued: ejector, trigger and hammer pins.

Ruger New Bearcat Shopkeeper, .22 Long Rifle, 3" barrel, polished stainless finish. 

 Each gun sports a different ejector...and different bore diameters....

A close up of the modified factory ejector button on the Vaquerito

I have one more pistol that I did not include in the group photo, it is a vintage "gambler's gun", a Hopkins and Allen Dictator 2 from the 1880's. It is a 5 shot single action revolver, chambered in 32 Rimfire. Often called a "Suicide Special", see my write up on it here

Now for the rifles, the first one is a standard Winchester model 94 from 1951. It is in 30-30 Winchester and has seen many a deer season. The barrel is 20" long

The next one is my Winchester model 94AE Trapper (AKA Saddle Ring Carbine) from 1992, it has a 16" barrel, saddle ring and is chambered in .44 Magnum. The magazine holds 8 rounds

The next lever gun is my Marlin model 1895 Guide Gun. It is chambered in .45-70 Government. I have polished the internals and swapped the plastic magazine follower for a stainless one (designed for the Leverlution bullets). It came with a Wild West Guns Peep sight and  I added the padded leather sling.

The last rifle is my Taurus Thunderbolt model C45BR in .45 Colt. It has a 26" long barrel and holds 14 rounds in the magazine. It is a copy of the Colt Lightning Rifle

and finally the shotguns, I have a couple of cowboy style shotguns, the first one is my New England Firearms Pardner in 12 Gauge, it is a single shot, break-open style with a 18" barrel, color case receiver and schnabel forend

This next shot gun is also a 12 gauge break open single shot, but I have no idea who made the gun or when. My best guess is that it came from one of the many hardware distributors in the Midwest (St. Louis??) and was sold through a general mercantile store somewhere out west circa the turn of the century. The only markings on the gun are "Army Steel" on the barrel

This last shotgun is a LeFever Nitro Special, in 12 gauge, it is a side by side "coach gun" with the barrels cut back to 18". The gun was made by Ithaca (after they bought the LeFever name), although made in the '30's it has that old west feel.