THE INSIDER

PRODUCTS AND REVIEWS FROM THE EDITOR

Timing Is Everything

Reader Alex Vrenios sent us a note asking to explain revolver “timing” as he recently had a problem with one of his revolvers having to do with that very topic.

Altor’s Single Shot Savvy

I honestly, really, completely wanted to dislike this gun. I mean, just look at it. It’s everything silly you can think up. It looks like a hose nozzle for crying out loud.

Plan To Practice On A Plane

"Hey, um … uh … you’re talkin’ about a wood plane on a, um, you know, uh, like a gun website, you know?”

An Amos Grundy Story:

Amos lifted his welding helmet after working on a gouged side plate on a S&W revolver. Scout was always interested when Amos was TIG welding and although he wasn’t quite sure what that was all...

"Old West” Patina on New...

If you read my Insider about putting a classic “Old West” patina on new guns, here’s a bunch of extra photos I had from the process.

Generating Some Patina

It’s funny, but to many people — including me — a “cowboy” gun just doesn’t look right unless it has a certain patina.

A Woebegone Woodsman No More

This all started typically for me. I walked into a gun store on University Avenue in San Diego about 1980 and there, staring at me from the display case,

Wrangler Vs. Super Single Six

In about 1969 I was 15 “going on 16” as we used to say. I had a hopeless case of the “gun crazies” and had been suffering from the syndrome since I...

Pre-War Perfection

I sort of stumbled onto this .38 Special Colt Officers Model a couple of years ago. I did a favor for a friend and he asked if I wanted “Something in a...

Micro-Carry

First of all, this isn’t my fault. Editorial Director and fellow conspirator here, Mike Humphries, sent me a photo of a tiny NAA revolver in a pocket...

The Knocabout Revisited:

I was casting about at a garage sale some years ago and my eye caught what I first thought was an air pistol of some sort. When I picked it up, I realized...

Contender Concepts

I’ve become enamored with the .32-20 cartridge of late and after some scrounging found a barrel in that caliber on eBay for my early first generation...

The Magical Model 12

I’ve always been enamored — is it okay to be enamored? — with the Model 12. If you’re not up to speed, it’s a K-Frame S&W with an aluminum alloy...

An Amos Grundy Story

Amos looked at the .38 Super he was working on. It had been vexing him, but he thought he might be onto why it was acting up for Jake Hughs, a good customer.

Revolver Redo

Other than making them go bang a few times for fun, it dawned on me I had never actually targeted one of the old break-top revolvers. Their reputations run...

Front Sight Magic?

"Uh, hey Roy, can you help me with my gun?” It always starts like that, doesn’t it? “Been there, done that,” you say? My friend is a seasoned...

The Muzzle Chamfer Challenge

About a year or so ago I had the crew from the Cylinder & Slide shop here at the old homestead for a week-long “How to rebuild a S&W K-Frame revolver into...

Fact Or Fiction?

When I was a cop I used to carry a couple of $100 bills in my wallet when I had range duty.

Speak Softly And Carry A Cane?

A hunnert’ years ago on a graveyard shift I was engaged in a spirited disagreement with a bad guy. My new friend and I eventually fell out of a pick-up...

An Oops... And A Recovery!

Not very long ago I stumbled onto a sort of “fixer” S&W Third Model Hand Ejector in .32-20. The nickel is worn, but once I cleaned her up some, tuned...

Basic Gunsmithing:...

It seems we struck a chord when we published that Insider on how to fix buggered-up screws (Insider, May/June 2017) and you guys reached out to me wanting...

Ankle Carry: Backup, Or...

"Having a gun” is, indeed, a good idea if you need one. People who carry guns for defense (or even sometimes because they have to, like cops), often...

.22LR: Velocity Variables

Due to an act of overt, shameless kindness on the part of J.J. Reich and staffers at Vista Outdoors I was able to scrape up a nice assortment of various .22...

Getting Back To Basics

I had fun shooting some old battle-weary Colt 1911’s — tossing in a Rock Island Armory basic mil-spec 1911 too — a few issues ago (Insider, July/Aug...