questions about cowboy guns

Moose_Holland

Do you own any cowboy guns? Are they cheap replicas as those imported from Italy, modern reproductions made by original American gunmakers or are they originals made by original manufacturers? Has Remington ever made a modern reproduction of the 1875 Outlaw? It's kind of nice to own cowboy guns built by the original makers. When was the last genuine Sharps buffalo gun produced? 

Colt makes modern reproductions of Peacemakers and Winchester makes reproductions of late 1880's rifles and carbines. Does any person here have any of those guns? Some American-made reproductions can be quite expensive. Modern-made Stoeger coach guns aren't too expensive, however. 

The .45 Colt is an authentic caliber for pre-1900 S/A pistols. What are authentic pre-1900 calibers for Winchester lever rifles and carbines? If I were to own coboy gun reproductions, I would want authentic (historically correct) calibers of that period. Did cowboys of the Old West have Winchesters chambered in .45 Colt? I thought .30-30 Win. was the common lever rifle round then. I'm certain .375 Mag. was not around then. 
 
Do you shoot them for fun or in competition? Do you twirl them for showmanship? Do any of them even make good defense weapons or hunting implements in modern times? Here are few examples of classic American cowboy guns-

https://imgur.com/SsEAxlx

sakodude

Ruger Vaquero's for American made copies of the single action army but the Uberti copies are generally very good quality. Current Winchester lever actions I believe are made in Japan. Good quality but not made in U.S.A. And again, the Uberti copies are hard to beat.
Sharps rifles can be had from "The Sharps Rifle Co" and  "C.Sharps Arms" both out of Montana. Once more the Uberti's are fine copies at less money. 

JerryBobCo

I believe the 30-30 made its appearance around 1894, hence the model number of the Winchester '94.  As for earlier chamberings, I'm thinking 38-55 and 44-40 were pretty popular, but am by no means an expert.

AlleyCat

Moose_Holland said:

 Did cowboys of the Old West have Winchesters chambered in .45 Colt?

No.

Moose_Holland said:

 I'm certain .375 Mag. was not around then. 

.375 Mag?

Which Winchester/Colt would that be chambered for.

Moose_Holland said:

 Do you twirl them for showmanship?

All the time, In front of the mirror, buck nekked but for my cowboy hat on my head.

Moose_Holland said:

 If I were to own coboy gun reproductions, I would want authentic (historically correct) calibers of that period.

Coboy guns are like unicorn horn.

Big Al1

Don't just limit your self to Winchesters or Colts. Marlin rifles were ahead of their time, with the 1881's, 1889, and 1893's for a start. Lots of them out there and not over priced like the Winny's. My 1881 in .40-60 is my favorite shooter. Lots of other fun calibers, too, like the .32-40, .32-20, .38-55 previously mentioned, all old BP rounds that can be updated with smoke less. 
The 1881 was the first large frame lever gun to chamber the .45-70, five years ahead of the 1886 Winc.
1889 was the first side eject, and the 1893 morphed into the 336.
1873 Winchesters are fun guns, well made and in fun calibers .32-20, 38-40 and 44-40. 
The Italian made clones are well made and shoot and look great. 

Jayhawker

One thing to be clear about...those "Italian guns" by Uberti and Pedersoli are of equal, probably better, quality than those turned out by turned out by the original makers, due to modern materials and machining.

The Ruger Vaqueros are equal to any SAA turned out by Colt....ever

bullsi1911

I do have a couple of 'cowboy' guns:





An Italian Pietta SAA clone in .357 Magnum that is an absolute hoot to shoot.  I pair that up with the Marlin lever action or the Rossi Mares leg, and go on a woods walk.

Now- for TRUE cowboy guns, the most cowboy person I ever dealt with kept just a single shot .410 in his truck.  He was 96 years old when I was working for him on his ranch north of Harper, TX, and was truly someone who had "been there" for cowboy stuff.  

Moose_Holland

AlleyCat said:

Moose_Holland said:

 Did cowboys of the Old West have Winchesters chambered in .45 Colt?

No.

Moose_Holland said:

 I'm certain .375 Mag. was not around then. 

.375 Mag?

Which Winchester/Colt would that be chambered for.

Moose_Holland said:

 Do you twirl them for showmanship?

All the time, In front of the mirror, buck nekked but for my cowboy hat on my head.

Moose_Holland said:

 If I were to own coboy gun reproductions, I would want authentic (historically correct) calibers of that period.

Coboy guns are like unicorn horn.





GOT BEAT BY THE BELL TO EDIT OP ERRORS.

.357 MAGNUM NOT .375 Mag.

COWBOY GUNS

Jayhawker

Moose_Holland

When was the last American-made Winchester lever job made?  Which authentic pre-1900 caliber is best for woods deer hunting? Does a Saddle-Ring Carbine make a great deer gun? 

I'm also saddened that the Savage Model 99 lever job with exclusive rotary magazine is extinct from the production line. My grandfather had one in .300 Savage but the gunsmith inspected it and said it was a wall-hanger: too badly rusted for economically-feasible restoration. 

Jayhawker

Jayhawker

GunNut

Ok since It’s show-n-tell time 😁

Freezer

Moose_Holland said:

When was the last American-made Winchester lever job made?  Which authentic pre-1900 caliber is best for woods deer hunting? Does a Saddle-Ring Carbine make a great deer gun? 

I'm also saddened that the Savage Model 99 lever job with exclusive rotary magazine is extinct from the production line. My grandfather had one in .300 Savage but the gunsmith inspected it and said it was a wall-hanger: too badly rusted for economically-feasible restoration. 

Nonsense! "economically-feasible" means he doesn't want the work. Keep looking. Grand pa's gun is always worth saving. Parts for a 99 are easy to come by. You will not regret it when you carry it in the field for the first time and pass it on to your kids. 300 Savage is a very good cartridge. Post some pics, there are a lot of gun restoration junkies on this site, myself included. I personally carry a Savage 99f in 308 that I resurrected.

Big Al1

I have four 1899 takedowns and they all function and shoot great!! I've restored a few, fine rifles!!

Gene L

Not to change the subject, but is there a difference between a Savage 1899 and a Savage 99? 

earlyagain

Im guessing the 1899's magazine could be a bit complicated. As compared to a detachable box.....

ilove22s

too many questions for me.

but you can find reproductions of guns.  IF they are are the historically correct caliber, i will let you figure that out or someone can tell you.

there are also Black Poweder (BP) revolvers and riles too.  You may want to do some reserach on WHEN or WHAT PERIOD you want to do your toy buying.  

with the Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) going on there are more choices now for toys.

and fwiw, you dont say what your endgame is on the all of the questions..

a hint and assumption.   If you want to play CAS then you may want to attend an event if you can.  You dont have any location in your profile, but from what ive read CAS is sort of a world wide sport.  Dont know about places that are anti gun, but i would look for any CAS competitions in your area and attend if you can.  Go with all of your questions on a note pad.   Introduce yourself if you want to do the sport and ask some questions.  

If this is your endgame, you may find out that they are receptive of new blood.  If not, sports die off.

good luck

Linefinder

ilove22s said:

too many questions for me.

Me too.

Mike

Antonio

Not cowboy per se but a few cowboy-esque if you want: A Marlin 1894c, a Rossi 92, a Ruger Blackhawk and a Super Single Six. Replicas are seldom seen here and original ones when found are usually too fragile, worn down or lacking ammo to use.

Elk creek

Last American made Winchester was in 2005. I have one a 45 colt 94. A strange combination but fun gun nonetheless. 

CHIRO1989

Welcome hey, obviously you are into cowboy stuff, how do you feel about gladiator movies?

Moose_Holland

Gene L said:

Not to change the subject, but is there a difference between a Savage 1899 and a Savage 99? 

I believe they are one in the same. Grandpa's gun had the 1899 patent date on it. At first I thought it might have been built that year but I found out just yesterday Model 99's were produced from 1899 until 1998. Gramp's gun might have been built later on.  I acquired the gun from mom's estate in 1993 along with a few other guns. A buddy of mine knew a gunsmith personally so I had this man bring in Gramp's Savage 99 for an appraisal. I was told the gun would not be safe to fire nor would it be worth trying to restore. So, I just kept it as a keepsake.  The Savage had no floor plate or magazine tube so I always wondered how the devil one loaded the gun. I looked into the ejection port with the action open and noted what appeared to be a rotary part at the bottom of the inside of the receiver and figured it must be some kind of rotating feeding device to feed the rounds and figured one had to push rounds in from the top. It's the damnedest gun design I have ever known. Pushing my fingers inside the receiver I could make the rotary part turn some. I learned years later from watching YouTube that this indeed was a rotary magazine. 

Sadly that gun and several others of mine were lost to me in 1999 from a home burglary and were never recovered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKXn-x1GEHE

AlleyCat

ilove22s said:

too many questions for me.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named may have returned.  

AlleyCat

Moose_Holland said:

Sadly that gun and several others of mine were lost to me in 1999 from a home burglary and were never recovered.

The '06 Frisco quake got all of mine.

AlleyCat

AlleyCat said:

ilove22s said:

too many questions for me.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named may have returned.  

Dagnabbit just call me Dawg.

Deputy Dawg.   

JerryBobCo

Moose_Holland said:

When was the last American-made Winchester lever job made?  Which authentic pre-1900 caliber is best for woods deer hunting? Does a Saddle-Ring Carbine make a great deer gun? 

I'm also saddened that the Savage Model 99 lever job with exclusive rotary magazine is extinct from the production line. My grandfather had one in .300 Savage but the gunsmith inspected it and said it was a wall-hanger: too badly rusted for economically-feasible restoration. 

I can answer some of this.  Your question about with caliber is best for woods deer hunting is kind of like asking how long is a piece of string.  It depends.  Of the pre-1900 chamberings, the 30-30 is the most widely used.  Whether or not it's the best is a matter of personal opinion.

I have (had) a friend who loved  the saddle ring carbines, and hunted deer with them.  For him, it would be safe to say it made a great deer gun.