TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing : Week 12 2023

This Week in Firearms History:

March 19: In 1848, Wyatt Earp is born

March 20: In 1813 Ned Buntline is born, in 1815, Napolean enters Paris after escaping Elba, in 1882 Frank Stillwell is gunned down in Tuscon by Wyatt Earp gang, in 1882 John Browning opens his first gun shop with his brother

March 21: in 1804 The Napoleonic code adopted in France, in 1871 Henry Morton Stanley begins his search for Dr Livingstone in Africa.

March 22: In 1765 the Stamp Act is passed, 1st direct tax on American Colonies, in 1821, gun designer Benjamin Tyler Henry is born

March 23: In 1775 Patrick Henry gives his "give me liberty or give me death speech in Virginia; in 1933 the German Reichstag gives Hitler dictorial powers; in 1945 the Battle of Okinawa begins

March 24: In 1882 Curly Bill Brocious is gunned down in Iron Springs, AZ by Wyatt Earp's gang; in 1944 R. Lee Ermey is born; in 1976 Peron is deposed in Argentina

March 25: In 1856 AE Burnside is awarded patent for breech loading rifle

Gun of the Week: Savage 110

The Savage 110 is a bolt action rifle that has an interesting story. The model number stems from the original MSRP of $110, that was back in 1958 when the gun only came in 30-06 and 270 Win.

The design is fairly straightforward and similar to most push feed bolt action rifles, this rifle is unique in that is saved Savage from going under.

In 1988 Savage was in the middle of bankruptcy reorganization, they cut production of all guns except the most basic model 110s in the most common calibers. The gun was sold at a very reasonable price and the company was able to rebound.

Today Savage is a thriving company, still making the model 110 in a 45 configurations and dozens of calibers.

Cartridge of the Week: 10mm Auto

The 10mm Auto is another cartridge that was developed at the behest of a gun writer. This time it was none other that Col. Jeff Cooper. He wanted to improve upon the 45 ACP's terminal performance. Back in the 1980s, cartridges were being ranked by their "one shot stop" percentage and the .45 wasn't the best (the 357 Magnum reigned as king).

Cooper worked with Dornaus and Dixon in the early 1980s to create the gun and the cartridge.

The team enlisted the help of Swedish Ammunition maker Norma to develop the round. They ended up using a cut down .30 Remington (which is a rimless version of the 30-30). Loaded hot, the 10mm propels a bullet weighing between 155 and 180 grains to velocities double that of the .45.

The cartridge was almost adopted by the FBI but was too much for their weaker agents and they asked for a redesign which resulted in the shorter .40 S&W cartridge. Today the 10mm is more popular than ever.

Gun Quote of the Week:

"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles" - Col Jeff Cooper

Bubba Gun of the Week:

Earl Dohicky hails from Scatboro, Maine and built this 10-22 pistol his self, just special for the 2023 Semi-biannual Golden Poop Awards for Gunsmithing. It is shown here with his jungle clamped magazines giving him extra capacity when hunting for possum.