[Charlie Petty]

I've been asked to do something for Gun Digest for their feature called "One Good Gun".

I know what I'm going to do, but what would YOU say?

 

[Diamondback]

I would say the Essex frame/slide-kit mixmaster that's been my faithful daily companion for most of my adult life and is one of the biggest reasons a young lady I once loved is still alive to raise a family today.

Doesn't look like much at first glance, isn't particularly much as far as what went into it--no big-name Wilson or Nighthawk or Ed Brown parts here, it's mostly spare-parts-bin GI Surplus--but those pieces were lovingly hand-fitted together by a builder/owner performing a labor of love under the supervision of a competent gunsmith.

How did it find its way into my hands? The builder was a friend of mine, whose wife told him that if he wanted whatever the hot new Glock model du jour was something else had to go, and he decided that was the one and he wanted it going into appreciative hands.

 

[Snake45]

I would say the Essex frame/slide-kit mixmaster that's been my faithful daily companion for most of my adult life and is one of the biggest reasons a young lady I once loved is still alive to raise a family today.

Doesn't look like much at first glance, isn't particularly much as far as what went into it--no big-name Wilson or Nighthawk or Ed Brown parts here, it's mostly spare-parts-bin GI Surplus--but those pieces were lovingly hand-fitted together by a builder/owner performing a labor of love under the supervision of a competent gunsmith.

How did it find its way into my hands? The builder was a friend of mine, whose wife told him that if he wanted whatever the hot new Glock model du jour was something else had to go, and he decided that was the one and he wanted it going into appreciative hands.

I've had a remarkably similar Essex/Ithaca 1911 for several decades now. It's one of my two primary "house guns," having proven its reliability with many thousands of jam-free rounds.

I could write a good "One Good Gun" story about my Remington 581 .22 bolt, and my 40 years trying to replace it with something "better." Have spent a lot of time and money in that quest, and usually NOT with commensurate results.

 

[SpecialEd]

Handgun? Rifle? Or is that the point?

 

[csmkersh]

Regardless whether it was a rifle or handgun I'd say .22 and all the ammo and range time you could afford.

I've always managed to own and shoot a S&W Chief Special .38Spc. Have one as my car gun today. My favorite revolver has always been the SAA but not necessarily a Colt. I bought a Ruger 6½" barrel .357 Blackhawk the year they came out and still have it. I learned to love and hate the 1911 when the Army loaned me a beat to Hell rack gun. When I made SSgt/E6 I bought a Colt 1911 new for $105. Still have it and the factory box. Oh, it's not stock anymore, trigger, hammer, ambi-safety and some Shooting Stars grips.

 

[IrishCop]

I've been asked to do something for Gun Digest for their feature called "One Good Gun".

I know what I'm going to do, but what would YOU say?

Dang, Charlie. How the heck do I answer that?

For me, it's a close race between two...my LW Commander in .45 ACP, with a round butted Model 13 with a three inch barrel hot on it's heels. Both because they are handguns I am comfortable with and have been very consistent performers. I know they will do their job if I do mine.

Of course, I love my Ruger's and my other S&W's and my SA XD, and my...well, you get the point. From .22's to .44 magnum, each one could easily be featured in such a story.

It's like trying to pick a favorite child...

 

[CaptainGyro]

This is a 1903 that belonged to my grandfather. It was built by Remington in 1942 using the Rock Island Arsenal tooling from WWI. It has the four-groove barrel, and everything is original.

When we were kids, we knew this simply as "the thirty-ought-six". It was sporterized with a monte carlo stock, and grandpa used it to hunt bear in Canada. We were all pre-teens when he died in 1962, and didn't really attempt to shoot it until the seventies. When we did, we couldn't get on paper with it, and had no idea where the bullets were going. It ended up in one of my brothers' closets, and there it sat for about thirty years.

One time at a reunion, I asked to take a look at it, and being possessed of a little more knowledge about guns at this point, recognized it for what it was. I took it home, disassembled it down to the last screw, cleaned it, and reassembled it into a new "C" stock, doing my best to return it to its original condition. I learned about the battle sight vs. the ladder sight, and realized that, properly zeroed, the old girl was a formidable shooter.

Late in December of 2009, my parents arrived to spend Christmas with their granddaughters, and I showed Dad the "thirty-ought-six" in it's restored condition. As he held it and marveled at its restored beauty, he told me a story I'd never heard before:

When he decided he wanted to marry my Mom after WWII, my grandpa and his brother decided that he'd have to "try out" for the part by passing a shooting test. Since they were pheasant and goose hunters, the test was shooting clay birds with a shotgun. It did not go well. Dad protested that he had never been much of a bird hunter, and asked if he could try to demonstrate proficiency with a rifle. Out came the 1903. Now, it just so happened that Dad was a range officer at Fort Riley at this time, and he was able to impress my grandpa sufficiently with the 1903 to win my mother's hand.

The morning after telling me this story, on Christmas Eve, my Dad had a stroke in my home from which he did not recover. I will always treasure the turn of fate that allowed him to tell me that story just hours before he was taken from us.

 

[Charlie Petty]

Great story Mike. Thanks for sharing

 

[SpecialEd]

>>>>>

The morning after telling me this story, on Christmas Eve, my Dad had a stroke in my home from which he did not recover. I will always treasure the turn of fate that allowed him to tell me that story just hours before he was taken from us.

There's history, and than there's HISTORY!, I'm guessing that rifle is priceless.

 

[Charlie Petty]

It's interesting that two of you mentioned the Essex frame.

Back when I was building guns I used some and found that all the holes might wander which sometimes made trigger jobs an adventure. Never found a problem with the castings.

 

[bearcat6]

Cap'n Gyro that is a very nice rifle and a great story. I'm really glad that your father was able to pass that along to you.

 

[WaltGraham]

That story struck a chord with me too, Mike; I too heard one of those tales from my wife's father who had run an infantry company for Patton shortly before he passed.

My father purchased an 03-A3 off the back cover of the American Rifleman back in the day. I believe it was six bucks... plus shipping. Sold it back in the 80's to help finance a trip to England with my SO at the time. Kind of wish I still had it.

I do still have my Dad's model 10 and carry it on occasion - it has the best trigger of anything I own.

 

[csmkersh]

It's interesting that two of you mentioned the Essex frame.

Back when I was building guns I used some and found that all the holes might wander which sometimes made trigger jobs an adventure. Never found a problem with the castings.

Years ago I bought a 1911 built on an Essex frame. Gave to my youngest son and made up for that by also giving him a Gold Cup. ;-)

 

[IrishCop]

This is a 1903 that belonged to my grandfather. It was built by Remington in 1942 using the Rock Island Arsenal tooling from WWI. It has the four-groove barrel, and everything is original.

Thanks, Mike. Wonderful post. That, I think, is probably more in line with what Charlie had in mind than my favorite pet gun. :thumbsup:

 

[Snake45]

It's interesting that two of you mentioned the Essex frame.

Back when I was building guns I used some and found that all the holes might wander which sometimes made trigger jobs an adventure. Never found a problem with the castings.

I've built four 1911s on Essex frame--one from 1972, two from the mid '70s and one from the mid '80s--and never had a bit of problem with parts fit or pin placement with any of them. Had the rear of one pluger tube come unriveted, but that's it. I wish I'd bought more Essex frames when they were cheap and readily available.

 

[William R. Moore]

Once upon a time, I had so many out of spec aftermarket frames cross my bench that I had special cutters made to correct the sins. Wonder where they are?

I made a point of telling the folks with those things my rates for making the frames right as soon as I saw them. A few folks left. I recall one hunting me down at a match some time later after he couldn't manage to find anyone else to make it work.

 

[Kevin Gibson]

Mike that's a very touching story.

 

[Kevin Gibson]

So mine is about a Winchester 94 given to me by my grandfather just two weeks before he died.

Round about 1928 granddad and his brother went together to get a "thirty-thirty". There were two in the rack at the Oklahoma City hardware store, one was a 20" saddle ring carbine, and the other was a 22" saddle ring carbine. My grandfather took the one with the longer barrel. My grandfather hunted with that one rifle his whole life, and taught me to safely handle firearms with that rifle and how to hunt.

But I noticed that it was a strange Winchester 94, and I never saw another one like it. From time to time I would ask some Winchester experts about it and they would always say Winchester never made a 22" so it must be a custom barrel from the factory. About 15 years ago, I finally found another like it...it was in Robert C. Renneburg's Winchester Model 94: A Century of Craftsmanship

So I got in touch with Renneburg and come to find out mine made the 10th known specimen of this strange Winchester 94. Seems in 1927 Winchester had just finished a batch of the 1895 NRA Musket, which was a .30-06 version of the military musket made for Russia. And it seems they had a number of barrels left over, so they just chambered them for .30 WCF, roll stamped them with normal model 94 stamps and sold the guns. But the barrels had already been profiled and the 95 was a slightly lighter profile. So there's no front barrel band, it's retained with a barrel hanger dovetailed into the bottom of the barrel and secured with a cross pin. Then there's a plugged hole behind the rear sight, that's the hole for to hold the tangent sight on the 95. The rear sight that's on it is made by King's and I've never once seen another one like it, some similar but never one exactly like it. The front sight is classic 95 sporting rifle, and under the forend the cut for the forend hanger for a 95 forend is present. And finally, it's a 1-10" twist barrel rather than the normal 1-12" twist.

Collectors know this rifle as the 94/95 Hybrid. There are 34 that have been identified with 20" barrels and now 10 that have been identified with 21 1/2" barrels. All but one of the 21 1/2" barreled 94/95's are saddle ring carbines (which is what mine is) and there is one in rifle configuration with the crescent butt plate that belongs to Renneburg.

Regardless, I have continued to hunt with this rifle and I think of times in the woods with my grandfather every time I pull it out.

I call it my "one good gun" because regardless of what I'm hunting, I'd rather hunt with that rifle than anything else in the world. If it's not the "right" rifle for the game, I just HUNT better, get closer, and make my one shot count.

 

[CaptainGyro]

Great story Kevin, and it sounds like a great rifle. We need pics!

Charlie, did you know about the King sights on these rare hybrids?

 

[Kevin Gibson]

I've seen a couple other 94/95 Hybrids, they don't have the same sight. The sight looks somewhat like the open sights made by Marbles today, but there are differences and I find the sight picture just plain superior to any other open sight I've ever used.