Funny you should mention this. I just had my .44 special out yesterday looking at it. Here it is along with a rechromed 18 pound .22. I had the backstrap of the .44 engraved with our last name when I had it refinished years ago. I see them on The Big Valley once in a while. You can't miss that ugly hammer when it's cocked. John Wayne had Colt style hammers on his. Both of mine of whacky actions but shoot good. The .44 shoots great but the cylinder pin flys forward, even with 6.4 grains of Unique.
Pull the base pin & check for burrs around the edge of the groove where the basepin latch assembly goes thru,then pull the base pin assem. & check for burrs around the edge of the screw where it starts to taper,either one or both of these problems can cause the base pin to move on detonation then there's a possibility that some where along the line someone may have replaced the the basepin or assem. w/the wrong size parts.If the parts need to be replaced contact: Ken Baumgartner @ Superior Ind, in L.A. @ 626 9697565 he carries a lot of parts for the GW's.
I owned a Great Western .22 with 4 3/4 inch barrel for a while. Very heavy revolver! I liked it but had lots of trouble with it. I got many misfires and the revolver would not time up correctly. A friend looked at it and made me a new longer firing pin. I put it in and trimmed it to the correct length and the misfire problem was cleared up. A new locking bolt solved the timing problem. I had a good time tinkering with it and learned how to install my first set of one-piece grips on that revolver. But the weight got to me after a while. That big gun with the tiny chambers and bore just was too heavy.
I have 4 GW's-a .38 derringer that I pack when I'm in town,a "fast draw"mdl,an unfired new in the box 4 3/4 .44 spcl. & a very scarce buntline,not many were made,it came w/a .45 colt & .45 acp cyl w/the colt stamp on it.
Those of u that have the old GW's,what calibers & bbl lengths r they,what kind of grips?Serial #'s would be interesting as to "possible" year of issue,although I'm operating w/a fading memory now I might be able to come close.
I'm not sure what you are catogorizing as "great old Westerns." Are we talking Roy Rogers and Gene Autry or Stagecoach and Red River with John Wayne? All great in their own way. I still love and remember all the old b&w westerns with the Indians running around sporting their smallpox vacination scars. What a hoot. We really had a laugh at the Saturday matinees.
Ops, not having a senior moment. Just not an afecinado of SA's. My ignorance exposed!
I'm not sure what you are catogorizing as "great old Westerns." Are we talking Roy Rogers and Gene Autry or Stagecoach and Red River with John Wayne? All great in their own way. I still love and remember all the old b&w westerns with the Indians running around sporting their smallpox vacination scars. What a hoot. We really had a laugh at the Saturday matinees.
The "old great westerns" were the 1st SA clones of the colt Sa,the company went out of business around 1962,the most commonly produced was in .22 caliber,some of the others were .357 Atomic [their version of the .357 magnum]-.44spcl & .44 magnum-.45 colt & a few other calibers.They generally came w/plastic imitation stag grips but some had 1 pce. walnut grips & other styles of grips could be special ordered.
I acquired one in a trade many years back. It was a nickel .22 with a 4 3/4 barrel. The action didn't feel that great and it did feel heavy to me. I turned around and traded it in on one of the PPKs I tried.
A nice book on the Great Western revolvers was published recently. It is "Great Western Arms Company - Revolvers & Derringers from 1954 to 1964" by John Dougan abd Jim Hoobler. It is available from Mowbray Publishing, www.gunandswordcollector.com or 1-800-999-4697. The book is $40 with lots of diagrams and color photos.
If you 'google" "Great Western Arms Collectors Forum" you will find an excellent source for GW info, photos, opinions ,etc. You'll have to join the forum to view the contents but it's well worth it.
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