The Remington Model 1858

The thread from a couple of days ago generated a bit of research.  It seems that Remington, in 1858 launched a revolver that was quite successful.  The Remington Model 1858 was manufactured in a variety of conditions, and stayed in production until 1875.  This revolver was the first factory revolver to use brass cartridges, both in rimfire and centerfire production.  In 1868, Remington paid the royalty on the Rollin-White patent and beat both Colt and Smith and Wesson to the market with a cartridge revolver.

If the numbers in the Wiki page are accurate, Remington made about 200,000 of these revolvers, many y of them with a cartridge conversion.  While they might not have been the most common revolver on the frontier, it would seem with numbers like these, they were  not uncommon.  Every-damned-one of them had an octagon barrel.

Famously, one of the most well-documented Remington revolvers was owned by no less than Buffalo Bill Cody, who gave the revolver to a ranch foreman, with a note "It never failed me."

Bill's revolver is a percussion model, but there is no reason to think that he would have been unfamiliar with cartridge conversions.  Buffalo Bill was a forward-thinker in a lot of ways.

We tend to forget that the period from 1850-1900 was a huge time for firearm innovation.  We went from cap-and-ball muskets to smokeless powder and reliable repeating firearms.  It was a time of great innovation, and manufacturers large and small were making firearms for the market.  I suspect that there were also gunsmiths all over the country making conversions from percussion to cartridge revolvers.  Many of these firearms may be lost to history, and examples are hard to find, but even Remington and Colt found a market for conversion revolver.  It is not unreasonable to speculate that gunsmiths all over the frontier were converting old-fashioned firearms of every type to the new ammunition.

We know for a documented fact that Remington was producing the 1858 as a cartridge revolver as early as 1868, long before Smith and Wesson and Colt   This was an iconic firearm, the first of the new evolution, and I suspect that it was not uncommon to see it on the frontier.  Even such  a luminary as Buffalo Bill carried one.

UPDATE** Thanks to commenter, Nate, it seems that the Buffalo Bill Center for the West has a very nice example of a factory cartridge conversion in their collection.

That is a very nice example of a factory cartridge conversion.

Saturday and Paperwork

Belle and I are doing the paperwork for Louisiana State.  Making raffle boards, checking banquet lists, going over registrations.  It isn't bad, and we're taking it easy, not doing any of the back-breaking grunt-work that is recently past and will soon visit us again, when we move everything to the church.

We're also puppy-sitting an old grand-dog, my daughter's chihuahua, Pedro.  He's an old man, and basically, all he wants to do is be in the sun.

It's kind of a laid-back Saturday.  Just exactly the kind I like.

Ammo

Two weeks ago, I picked up a bunch of empty brass from the folks who hosted Texas State.  We are going to use the brass for Louisiana State, and pass it off to Oklahoma for their shoot in early May.

Not all of the ammo at Texas State was shot, so I brought home some loaded ammo, and I inadvertently  left a few hundred rounds with the club in Texas.  They'll bring the remainder when the come to Louisiana next week.

For the last two weeks, the club has been loading ammo, and just about everyone got in on the action.  This morning, Zach and I went out to the shop to make the final push, and I've loaded every piece of brass I can find.  By my primer count, we loaded  7800 rounds of wax bullet ammo in the past two weeks.  Zach and I alone, loaded 1100 rounds today.

Those boxes contain 9600 rounds of wax bullet ammo.  That should be sufficient for our state shoot next week.  Now, to begin checking lists to get everything to the church.

Looking for Examples

You guys get on your thinking caps and help a fellow out.

I am looking for examples, any example, of a cartridge revolver (or a conversion of a percussion revolver) from the 18870-1880 era that had an octagonal barrel.

I'm pretty sure that someone in the Old West was carting around an octagonal barrel revolver, but for the life of me, I can't find any documentation.  I've even thought about writing the NRA Museum.

If you come up with something, let me know.

Donald and Stormy

Who cares, really?

At some point in the past, Trump may have hooked up with Daniels.   Stormy Daniels, of course is a porn star, and Trump is now the POTUS.  But, I don't know what arrangement Trump has with his wife, and I'm sure that whatever arrangement Donald and Stormy made was mutually agreeable to them at the time.

Yep, adultery is a sin.  But, I don't consider the POTUS of any stripe, Republican or Democrat,  to be an authority on morals.  What happens behind closed doors, as long as it is mutually agreeable, should stay behind closed doors.

This Stormy-gate think is a huge nothing-burger. 

A Balanced Budget?

Congressional Republicans have lost their damned minds.  They are living in an abject fantasy  According to Hot Air, they now want a balanced budget amendment.

In some quarters, this would be considered irony, if not satire. In Washington DC, it’s called “election season.” Jake Sherman reports in Politico’s Playbook that House Republicans plan to introduce a constitutional amendment requiring balanced budgets when Congress returns from its current recess. It comes a fortnight or so after passing a massive, deficit-dripping omnibus bill for FY2018:world. 

I'd be happy if they would simply pass a budget, rather than these endless rounds of spending bills.    Of course, from my latest reading of the Constitution, there is nothing in the world stopping them from passing a balanced budget right now, except for their own inability and lack of political backbone.  They don't need a constitutional amendment to pass a balanced budget, they just need to do it.

Repeal the 2nd? I Doubt It

Retired Associate Justice John Paul Stevens has lost his damned mind.  Speaking of Heller, he says:

Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple and would do more to weaken the N.R.A.’s ability to stymie legislative debate and block constructive gun control legislation than any other available option.

Repealing the 2nd would be simple?? Only if you consider civil war a simple solution.

I seldom agreed with him while he was on the bench, but now that he's retired, I'm convinced that he is completely daft.  Of course, I'd really like to see the Democrats adopt this plan as a campaign plank in 2018 and 2020. 

This Is Interesting.

From one of the headlines at Hot Air.

“The rumor mill is that Paul Ryan is getting ready to resign in the next 30 to 60 days and that Steve Scalise will be the new Speaker,” Amodei told Nevada Newsmakers, referring to the Majority Whip.

Steve Scalise, of course, is the current majority whip, and serves as representative for Louisiana's 1st District. 

Scalise was shot last year, during a practice for the Congressional Baseball Game.  He has since recovered, but I don't recall any Democrats marching or calling for gun control.

Beau Is Found!

Belle called at lunch today.  Beau is alive and well.  A lady down the road (and it's a long road) found him and called her.  It seems that one of the grandkids left the gate open on Saturday and he took the opportunity to go adventuring.

When Belle called, she was on her way to recover him.  I bet that she is going to put him on a tight leash for a while.

He will be home when I get home today.

Monday - Oh, My!

Beau is still missing.  Both Belle and I are in mourning. 

Someone had an anti-gun march this weekend.  Lots of coverage everywhere.  It won't change my mind.

The Cowboy Fast Draw Association has come out with an approved list of acceptable six-guns for competition.It's a multi-page document explaining which guns are acceptable, and all the why's and wherefores.  I understand what the association is trying to do, and I get it.  They're trying to keep the guns we use in CFDA competition to be faithful reproductions.  If you go to the list linked above, you can read all about it.

The problem, as it affects me, is that there are two guns I regularly carry are not on the list.  The Cimarron El Malo is not on the list because it has an octagon barrel.  I understand that the octagon barrel was not originally offered on 1880s era revolvers.  Thee other gun is one that I've been using for three years. is simply omitted.  It was made by Uberti, but marketed by Stoeger for a short time.  Mine us marked Stoeger, but in all respects it is identical to the Hombre sold at Bass Pro Shops.  It has an oxide finish and brass grip frame.

I understand what the Association is trying to do,.  They don't want to allow unlimited modifications to the guns, and want to keep the guns we use as faithful as possible to the originals in outward appearance and function (no short stroke guns). 

The problem is that I have a couple of club members who use El Mals.  I bought one last year to tinker with, and they tried it, liked it, and bought one for their own use.  Now, it's not on the approved list, specifically because it has an octagon barrel.  And, Louisiana State is two weeks away.  I've seen the El Malo's used at recent CFDA competitions, but that was before the Association published the list, specifically forbidding them.  I've got to figure this out, pronto.

But, Beau is still missing.  And that makes me sad.

Weekend

Great weekend.  I feel like I'm sliding in sideways to Sunday afternoon, getting ready for the coming week.  We did lots of work on the state tournament coming up, and we went to Jena today to meet with Belle's family.

The one downer to the weekend, and it's a huge one, is that our little dog, Beau, is missing.  We had a lot of movement in and around the house yesterday, and when everything settled down in the late afternoon, we couldn't find him.  He's an old dog, going blind, and normally stays close.  But, we're unable to locate him, and at this point, we fear the worst.  He's been with us for ten years, and he's a family member.

I'll talk more about it later, but right now I'm not able to.  We're still wondering where he is, and we're devastated.  Beau is gone, and we're left without a clue.  Belle cried herself to sleep last night.

Gene Hill once said, "In the whole universe, there is no place so dark, so empty, so void, as that place where the dog used to sleep, when he's sleeping someplace else, forever."

I'll let y'all  know something when we know something.

Church Diversity?

A good article, at PJMedia, on church diversity.  Is the poll that they cited asking the right questions?

Diversity has become quite the buzzword. It's even captured the imagination of the vast majority of Protestant pastors. According to a new survey conducted by Lifeway Research, "93 percent of pastors—including 80 percent who strongly agree—say every church should strive to achieve racial diversity." The same survey reveals that diversity in this country's Protestant churches is, indeed, growing.

That's good, I guess.  But diversity is not what I am looking for in church.  Let me explain.

I look for two things in a church.  1) A pastor that preaches the absolute truth and authority of the Holy Bible, and 2) the salvation of Jesus Christ.  Those are the only two things that matter, and those are the things that pastors should preach.

Having said that, I believe that congregations should be welcoming, should make everyone feel comfortable and at home.  The example and teachings of Jesus say that salvation is available to every person, regardless of race, creed, or national origin.   We should love everyone who comes through the door, and we should invite everyone to attend.  That is what Christ requires of us.  To love one another.

Act Like Republicans

The Congress is controlled by Republicans, but you wouldn't know it from the numbers in tn the spending bill. 

You can also expect Republicans and President Trump to spin this as a “huge” victory for their team. After all, isn't it a sign that they can govern? Sure, if you tolerate massive deficit spending, being irresponsible and pushing all that liability down the throat of future generations. I don’t, because I actually care about the well-being of my kids and grandkids….

We didn't send Republicans to Congress to increase the debt, or engage in deficit spending.  We expect Republicans to control spending, set priorities and make tough choices to balance the budget.  That is what families have to do,  Money is a finite resource, and we expect that Congress will live within their means.  Otherwise, we're just Democrat-lite.

From what I'm reading today, this spending bill is a stinker.  Go back to the drawing board, and get it right.

Paul Is Right, Ya' Know

I understand that spending bills are huge, but this one is huge-er, and Senator Rand Paul wants to read it before he votes on it. 

"We don’t want leverage. We want a real process and time to debate, amend and vote," a Paul aide said. "It’s not too much to ask but [Senate leaders] refuse to do it, time after time."

And, he's right.  The budget process shouldn't be a hurry-up affair.  There should be time to debate, to make changes, to reflect the desires of the people.  But, when Republicans are in power, they act like Democrats, both in the nature of the process, and in their spending habits. 

It's not too much to ask.

Random Thoughts

Mueller was appointed My 17, 2017.  How long is this circus going to go on?  If, in a year, he can't find evidence of collusion, maybe he's looking in the wrong places.  Or it isn't there at all.  Either way, he should be competent enough to know when to call in the dogs and go to the house.

Why do people think that a random cop, standing on a street corner, knows the address, location, and phone number of every business within a 20 mile radius?

I hear that YouTube is blocking/taking down pro-gun channels.  Maybe it's time to regulate Google, Facebook, and YouTube as common carriers. 

It's Thursday, so salad for lunch.  There's this church down the road, where the ladies make great salads and deliver them. 

The Sacremento PD shot Clark 20 times.  Standing in his grandmother's backyard, holding a cell phone.  What an horrific tragedy.  I never liked foot chases trough residential neighborhoods.

Good Pic

Another picture of me and my gal, taken by the inimitable Miss E, at Texas State.

That was a good shoot, but I don't have time to reflect on it.  Louisiana State starts in 15 days.

Ain't Quite As Dead

He ain't quite as dead as he seems.   This Romanian fellow left home to go to Turkey to make a living.  Came back 20 years later and found out that he had been declared legally dead.

He's in the middle of a bureaucratic nightmare, because he's dead.  But he's walking around.  Trying to convince the courts that he is still alive.

You would think that the Romanian authorities would be more sympathetic.  They do have a history of the dead walking around, don't they?

I'm just sayin'.

Value

A nice video about value, money, and the price we put on things.



I like explaining to people that the value of gold never changes.  The value of the money we use to buy or sell gold changes, but the value of gold remains constant.

Often, I get perplexed looks when I explain that.

Dr. Hanson, on modern Democrats

The inestimable Victor Davis Hanson, reflects on the similarities between the modern Democratic progressive culture and the antebellum South.

Progressives, in fact, seem to like the protocols of the old Confederacy in lots of ways. Southern antebellum chauvinists once claimed that the culture south of the Mason-Dixon line was innately superior to the grubby, industrial wasteland of the north. A two-class system of masters and slaves allowed an elite the leisure and capital to pursue culture without the rat-race competition of a striving middle class. So blinkered was southern arrogance that its pre-war youth insisted that southern manhood, with its innate moral superiority, could defeat a much larger, richer, and more industrial North — a myth dispelled early on at Shiloh.

It's damned fine writing, dipped in the strength of understanding history.

One more snippet, for fun.

Once a region, a state, or a group of people becomes racially obsessed and prefers the culture of two rather than three classes, they turn absurd. Soon they stop listening to reason and fall into predictable mythologies of cultural superiority, regional chauvinism, and ultimately secession as proof of their moral supremacy.

What follows next never ends well.

Go, as they say, and read the whole thing.  It's well worth the ten minutes you'll spend.

Good Job, Slick!

It seems that there was a school shooting in Maryland this morning.

CNN reports:

An armed student who shot two other students at Great Mills High School in Maryland on Tuesday morning has died, according to St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron.

The sheriff said the school resource officer engaged the shooter and ended the threat, which occurred in a hallway just before classes began. The officer fired a round at the shooter, and the shooter fired a round as well, Cameron said.

The shooter was later pronounced dead, and the officer was not injured, the sheriff said. A male student, 14, is in stable condition and a female student, 16, is in critical condition, he said.

And, that's the way it is done.  I'm sure that we will learn more in the coming days, but it seems like the SRO took care of business.  Our prayers and concerns are with the injured students.