An era has passed. Elmer Keith, the Grand Old Man is dead. Elmer, who seemed bigger than life, should have died in a gunfight, or have been mauled by a grizzly, or simply rode off into the sunset. Instead, the big Stetson and the Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum were set aside in December of […]
Elmer Keith: 1899-1984 Read Post »
It happened again. It spite of all the testing that has been done with results to the contrary over the past four decades, two mainline publications once again both carried features outlining the best ‘brush’ cartridges. Both concluded that certain bullet weights and calibers would ‘cut brush’ and both are wrong! There are no cartridges
JOHN TAFFIN The Ruger Bisleys have been on the market now for around three years and have proven themselves to be well built, strong, good shooting sixguns. In fact these revolvers seem to be put together with more care than normal. I purchased two Bisleys when they first came out, one in .45 Colt and
RUGER’S BIG BORE BISLEYS Read Post »
It is 1869. The Civil War is over and the Colt is King of the Sixguns as Hartford continues manufacturing two of the most beautifully balanced fightin’ sixguns ever conceived, the 1851 Navy .36 and the 1860 Army .44. Powerful and fast from the leather, the Colt’s are cap-and-ball revolvers, that is each chamber must
SIXGUNS BEYOND THE .44 MAGNUM Read Post »
…JOHN TAFFIN 1956. Ike was in the White House. I was looking forward to graduation and freedom from studies and also to having a job that would afford enough money to buy my first gun. A paper route through high school kept me in clothes and spending money and also allowed me to give my
BACK TO BASICS (SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE!) Read Post »
JOHN TAFFIN In 1907, the events were set into place to change handgunning dramatically . It would be forty-eight years before the handgunning public in general would feel the impact, but the basis was laid in those days long before the War to End All Wars. Two things happened shortly after the turn of the
COLT’S BIGGEST SNAKE, THE ANACONDA Read Post »
The single action sixgun had been residing in the gunshop showcase for several weeks. You’ve admired it the last couple of trips to the shop and now you have finally decided. The finish is excellent, the action feels great, and you’ve wanted to get into single action shooting anyway. The decision is made. The .45
SIGHTIN’ IN SIXGUNS Read Post »
TAFFIN TESTS: THE .41 SPECIAL …JOHN TAFFIN In 1899, Smith & Wesson introduced the .38 Special in the first of what is now known as the K-frame series, the .38 Military and Police. In 1930, the .38 Special was “Plus P’ed" and chambered in the larger sized, now N-frame, Heavy Duty. Five years later, in
TAFFIN TESTS: THE .41 SPECIAL Read Post »
In the May/Jun issue of AMERICAN HANDGUNNER, Editor Cameron Hopkins made the following observation: “There is a tendency to deny reality when reality hurts. Denial is the mind’s immediate reaction to adverse conditions that one simply does not want to acknowledge. In tactical situations, it can be a killer. In business it can be equally
TAFFIN TESTS JOHN TAFFIN For a number of years now the battle has been ongoing between those who cling to the tried and true, slow moving but heavy bulleted .45 ACP and the fast stepping, but relatively lightweight 9mm. There are those who would have us believe that the best 9mm is as good as
THE .41 ACTION EXPRESS Read Post »