TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Week 1 2023

Those that follow this blog, probably do so for the restoration articles. It was those restoration projects that started the blog in the first place. 2023 is going to be a year of transition. We hope to have the shop completed this year, a 2000 square foot shop, with plenty of workspace and some covered outdoor space for bluing guns.

In the meantime, I thought would change things up a bit and will now have a blog post like this one every Monday, then a second post on Fridays consisting of my Featured Gun articles, Firearm Factory of the Month as well as gun porn and theme guns.

So here it is, if you like the format, comment below, and please come back every Monday for new content.

This week in Firearms History

January 1: in 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation becomes law; in 1888 John C. Garand is born; in 1937 The Winchester model 70 is announced.

January 2: in 2011 Major Dick Winters, head of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, passes away at the age of 92

January 3: in 1959 Alaska joins the Union as the 49th state; in 1961 the U.S. cuts diplomatic ties with Cuba

January 4: in 1841 Samuel Colt sells his 1st gun to the U.S. Army

January 5: In 1993 The last person to be hanged in the U.S. (WA state)

January 6: In 1799 mountain man Jedidah Smith is born; in 1912 New Mexico is admitted to the union as the 47th state

January 7: In 1871 gunmaker Ethan Allen dies; in 1952 President Truman announced the U.S. had developed the Hydrogen Bomb

Gun of the week: Smith & Wesson model 629 Classic Hunter

This week's gun of the week is the S&W model 629 Classic Hunter. The upgraded version of the 629 (introduced in 1978), which is the stainless version of the model 29 (introduced in 1957), which is the numbered version of the earlier .44 Magnum Hand Ejector (introduced in 1955), which is the magnum version of the earlier .44 Hand Ejector (introduced in 1907).

This 629-3 Classic Hunter 44 Magnum was made in 1990, a reintroduction of the Classic Hunter model, only 2000 were made exactly like this one.

.500" Target Hammer, nickel plated

.400" Target Trigger, nickel plated

Square Butt, N frame

6" full underlug, top rib barrel

unfluted cylinder

Adjustable rear sight

"Endurance Package"

read more here

Cartridge of the Week: 45-70 Government

The 45-70 Government was originally called the 45-70-405. when introduced in 1873. Developed by the U.S. Arsenal at Springfield from the earlier 50-70-405.

The numbers indicate the caliber of the bullet (.458"), the weight of the black powder in grains (70 grains) and finally the weight of the bullet in grains (405 grains).

The cartridge was adopted in 1873 along with the Springfield Trap-Door rifle, which was a breech loading, single shot rifle using surplus muzzle loading musket barrels left over from the Civil War.

After the U.S. Military adopted a 30-caliber rifle, beginning with the 30-40 Krag-Jorgensen in 1889 and ending with the M-14 in 1964, the caliber slowly lost favor and by most definitions was extinct. It was only handloaded for middle part of the 20th century.

The cartridge was brought back to life by Marlin with the reintroduction of their 1895 model rifle in 1972 (a beefier version of the 336).

Today nearly all ammo makers produce the 45-70 and the brass and bullets are readily available to handloaders.

Gun quote of the week:

"The media insist that crime is the major concern of the American public today. In this connection they generally push the point that a disarmed society would be a crime-free society. They will not accept the truth that if you take the all the guns off the street you will still have a crime problem, whereas if you take the criminals off the street, you cannot have a gun problem" - Col. Jeff Cooper

Bubba Gun of the Week

Here we have a contender for the 1st Annual Golden Poop Award for "Best Homemade Modification" submitted by Yakov Ivanofsky