denoferth Loc: Portsmouth, NH

I had a 7 1/2" Blackhawk too but one Friday evening on the way to shoot at a pit near the Tanana River, West of Fairbanks, I noticed some high scratch marks on a tree that meant a brown bear was around. Like a fool I went anyway because a silhouette match was scheduled the next day and I needed to cook off a few rounds out past 200 meters. I had just emptied my cylinder when something big and fast started moving the little trees about thirty yards out in my direction. Of course the hot cases wouldn't just fall out and I had to push them out one at a time as whatever-it-was busted through the trees. The big moose that broke out into the clear was both a surprise, relief and a little bit of a disappointment after the adrenaline rush. Anybody who ever stood a charge will know the feeling. Anyway I traded the most accurate Rugar I ever had for an average Redhawk that could be reloaded fast and I miss it to this day.

Dewman Loc: SW Idaho

With the exception of a S&W Model 41 .22 target pistol, my 7 1/2" Blackhawk in .45 LC is the most accurate handgun I've ever owned, hands down!

Once, many years ago, when I had quick reflexes, steady hands and superb eyesight, I put six rounds of 255gr. hard cast bullets into a 9" paper plate from 100yds. using that big gun. And.... AND, this was from a kneeling position! Got a witness, too! They were loaded down to around 1,000 fps., what I called my "cowboy loads." Much more manageable than the horrendous 300 gr., 1,300 fps. nasties!

While we're kicking the subject of guns around.... do you own a rifle chambered for the .222 Remington? I had the good fortune to buy a very clean Remington BDL in that caliber about 20 years ago. A sporter-weight barrel, but it will outshoot my very accurate, heavy-weight barrel Ruger .22-250 ALL DAY LONG! Five shots in .19" @ 100 yds. True story! I shoot 50 gr. Speer TNTs pushed along at about 2,900 fps by a moderate load of 20 gr. IMR 4198. The TNT's won't stand anything much above 3,000 fps, as the jacket is about as thin as a cigarette paper! Red mist on the horizon!

denoferth Loc: Portsmouth, NH

I had a similar load for my 44. I've always had this idea that the bigger the hole the better it was in handguns and muzzle loaders so I always wanted a 45 LC. Long time ago at the Post we could check out firearms to be acquainted with them so I tried out many 45 LC's but never found one to match my 44. Other than the .22's my most accurate pistol was a S&W model 52 I bought used. It had been hand picked and fitted at S&W and was the sweetest shooting 38 special I ever had the pleasure to shoot. Strictly a paper puncher (or a superb bunny gun if you don't mind throwing your brass away). It got traded off in a weak moment and ended up at the AF Academy. No triple deuces in the safe now but a .219 Donaldson Wasp and a K-Hornet are gathering dust along side a 7mm TCU Contender.

William J Renard

Our minds say we are 18, but our bodies won't co-operate!

Dewman Loc: SW Idaho

I've always had an affinity for the odd, "obsolete" chamberings, such as your .219 Donaldson Wasp. I had a .257 Robts. AI a few years back, but in a bout of insanity, I sold it! It shot quite well and with my custom tailored handloads, was nudging .257 Weatherby ballistics! Hands down, the most insane muzzle blast of any rifle I've ever shot! I've always admired P.O. Ackley and his experiments with different calibers. One of his most successful was the .250-3000 Savage AI. A hell of a round that has been all but forgotten. A friend of mine in Garden Valley, Idaho still uses his to take his elk every year! One shot and the meat is in the freezer! He shoots a 100 gr. bullet at around 3,100 fps. He's one of the rare shootists that knows the value of bullet placement!

At one point, I also owned a M94 Winchester in .25-35. A very nice little rifle, very pleasant to shoot. A gang busters walkabout rifle as long as you don't ask it to do more than it's capable of doing.

I've always wanted a .22 Savage High Power, but they're almost impossible to find.

At one time, I owned a modern-day Ruger chambered in .22 Hornet. Unlike most Rugers, this one wouldn't shoot worth a damn, so I decided to have it re-chambered to .22 Hornet AI.... hoping to improve on the accuracy. Before the "sex change," it shot more of a pattern than a group! After the re-chambering, the accuracy was even WORSE! The best I could manage was about 3 1/2" @ 100 yds. with THREE shots! I tried every bullet/powder/primer/bullet seating depth imaginable.... and NADA, ZIP, NOTHING! I finally gave up and traded it off.

A couple of decades ago, a good friend and I had our own private rifle range in an almond orchard that went out to 400 yds., and we once did an expansion test using wet lap newsprint. We had a multitude of different chamberings. We had everything from .22 lr. all the way to .45-70. A .300 Win. Mag, .30-06, .308, .35 Wheland (sp?), and many others. The winner? an old '95 Winchester in .30-40 Krag shooting a 220 gr. RN at 2,100 fps! True story! I've still got the bullet we recovered. A perfect mushroom that retained almost 100% of it's weight... that penetrated a full 36" of the wet newspaper!

Sorry, I didn't mean to get carried away with my ramblings on guns and bullets and things that go bang! Obviously one of my OTHER passions besides photography.

denoferth Loc: Portsmouth, NH

Same here. Always have gravitated toward the less pc choices.

FRENCHY Loc: Stone Mountain , Ga

[quote=Dewman]
I've always wanted a .22 Savage High Power, but they're almost impossible to find.

I was looking at Gun broker , and after reading your post I went back and this is what I found hope it help


http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=501507041

Dewman Loc: SW Idaho

[quote=FRENCHY]

Interesting, Frenchy. Thanks for the link. Good golly, after looking at the condition of the M99 on Gun Broker, maybe I need to increase the asking price for mine, eh? Mine looks new, the Hi-power looks..... um..... "used."

:lol:

Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

What !! :?:

denoferth Loc: Portsmouth, NH

I think you can still get the brass from Norma but its easy enough to make from 30-30 brass; you just have to ream the necks a bit. The tricky part is the bullet diameter is .227 so unless you can find some old stock (or foreign) you will be left with cast lead or soft noised varmint bullets. Of course, a real fanatic can paper-patch a .223 bullet up to the correct diameter if the bore is slick enough and there is enough taper in the throat. I suspect it might have been less of a problem with the big-bore single shots where you could look down the bore between shots. You would have to be very careful working up the load with that repeater as that could have been where many of those lumpy barrels came from. (;-/>

Dewman Loc: SW Idaho

Several years ago, I saw one at a flea market. It was a take-down model, but the barrel had been welded to the receiver! I know EXACTLY what happened. It developed head space problems and rather than deal with it properly, they took the easy way out.... and ruined a fine, old rifle in the process.

tenbanshee Loc: Woodstock, IL

What I meant was, that I do not sell any of my guns. I try to keep everyone I have and never sell any. I'm sure that a lot of gun nuts feel that way. I could be wrong.

Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

My dad had one . I got it in 1975 . Still have it I doubt that it's a take down
Modle . I never noticed is that feature stand out ? It has a flick up peep sight
That is right on at 100 yards or more .

Dewman Loc: SW Idaho

The peep sight alone is worth about Two Hundred Dollars! I sold one for the Model 99 last year on eBay for that. Just sayin'....

If it's a take down model, it's easy to spot. Just look under the fore arm. There will be a small "tab," of sorts. If you push it forward, it will allow the fore arm to fall away from the barrel/receiver. Then, you turn the barrel counter-clockwise and it will disengage from the receiver. Being as yours is a .22 High Power, it probably has the interrupted threads and you only need to turn the barrel 1/4 turn.

FRENCHY Loc: Stone Mountain , Ga

You better try , I sold a Manurhin73 for 3 time the price I paid for , and I have another one(used) ,and a new one coming from france (new) :lol: :lol: