Recent content by Valman

I'm smiling. I have a nice old Marlin 39 (pre 39A) too, and it's perfect mate to any of the several three-screw Single Sixes in the cabinet, as well as the little Bearcat, the hiker's best friend. Wearing a set of Lyman sights, the Marlin is a tack driver with CCI Green standard velocity .22lr...

Mine is 132-42478. It came from an old pal who worked in a LGS that specialized in Rugers. The box is pretty beat up but it's all there and like new. The first time I took it to the range I was very disappointed -- it shot either much too high or too low (I can't remember which) and I've...

George, I think you solved my problem. Many thanks! I checked the base pin with the cylinder in and with it removed. It cocks about 98% of the time as long as I make sure the pin is all the way in, so maybe there is a problem with the transfer bar sticking or catching. The base pin has a...

I recently picked up a nice, barely used New Model Single Six .32 Magnum that sometimes -- not always -- refuses to cock. When it does cock properly it's smooth as silk and locks up tight. But about half the time the hammer comes back to about what would be the half-cock position in a three...

I have stodgy old opinions too. The idea of Ruger/Marlin bringing back classic products seems like dreamland. Look at the Ruger catalog -- the classic Rugers that we older guys know and love are fast disappearing, and most of them have now become collectibles. IMHO, the Wrangler sounded the...

Mine is No. 200280 Bought in a big downtown gunshop in St Louis ca. 1955 as a college kid for $45. Sent back to Ruger for a steel cylinder which cost, as I recall, $5.00. It also wears an aftermarket loading gate and hand carved grips. But I still have the original (somewhat battered) box...

While I have several Bisleys (.32 Mag x 6 1/2" blue; .41 Mag x 5 1/2" SS) I am wondering how your .44 Spl version shoots. Here's why: Last fall I picked up a near-new .44 Sp, 5 1/2" l Flat Top New Model, blued, which must have been a special run for one of the big distributors. I had an Old...

Oh, yes.I should have said that the scope came off right away, for the reason you cite. An air gun's recoil is death to cheap scopes. I also realize that the Mk I's barrel has four grooves on it that might be designed to take a coking assist of some sort. AM I right?

I've owned Ruger Mark I and 2 autos, but the other day I found something I couldn't pass up -- a Ruger Mark I air pistol, made in China under license to SR, Inc. It's not listed in Wilson's book Ruger and His Guns so I'm asking for details here (and in the revolver section). It's a clumsy...

Most of my Rugers are SA revolvers, but I found something else I couldn't pass up -- a Ruger Mark I air pistol, made in China under license to SR, Inc. It's not listed in Wilson's book Ruger and His Guns so I'm asking for details here (and in the auto pistol section). It's a clumsy looking...

I'm getting into this a little late, but just about my favorite Ruger is a 4 3/4 (not 5/8) three-screw Blackhawk .44 Special, with the right grip panel carved with an eagle & shield like the SAA pictured on the 1951 Gun Digest cover. I bought it converted from a 6 1/2" .357/9mm convertible. The...

If you haven't sold them, I'm your buyer.

SS BISLEY .41 Mag, 5.5" bbl # 48-21048, test fired 08/28/2003

I'm enough of an old-timer to have bought my first OM Ruger SIngle Six and Blackhawk, as well as a SA Colt, knowing from the start they were really five-shooters. If you read and learned anything about handling single actions in those days, you knew to load one, skip one, load four more, bring...

I bought one when they first appeared because to me the .41 Mag is about the best of the big bores. The pistol looked great but had about as rough an action as a suicide special and as usual the rosewood grips were finished way too oversized for my smallish hand, especially at the upper part of...