Best sites to buy antique pistols from

Southlander said:
Keith reviewed a lot of antique calibers and gave his experience or opinion on them in Sixguns.

Like when he wrote a 38-40 factory load splattered off an elks skull but didn't penetrate as it was charging him. Lots of great nuggets like that in there.
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Yes Exactly i love that kinda info and he gets into penetration with his own SWC bullets (thats all i use) and what they can do to a Skull of a 2000Lb bull ect ect.
penetration into gelled blocks stuff thats intresting to me anyway.
six guns is full of great stuff and his long range pistol shooting is ex reading.

Mike Venterino is Ok but them guys state NO Smokeless loads at all in any antique any time ever! I think thats not right as theres plenty of smokeless safe loads developed by reloaders and shooter of antique handguns that know alot about the powders they use and to brush them all aside is abit much im not sure if its ventrino or Chicoine or taffin but there are about the same tho as to smokeless in antiques.
Keith he took chances but i think he has all his fingers still ;)
I like chicoines book gunsmithing guns of the old west to it has alot of good info.
 
scianna54 said:
No, all that info gets lost when doing a search when threads are mixed.
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There's nothing special in this thread beyond generally available common sense. The musings of some of the more experienced people like Dingus happen when they happen, and one would do well to sit back and quietly pay attention instead of complaining about going off-topic. I'm saying that as kindly as i can.

But if you really think valuable information is being compromised you could start a new thread with a suitable-searchable title and provide a link to this one. :)
 
With my antique Colt SAA chambered in 45 Schofield, I can put most of my shots into an 8 & 1/2" x 11" paper at 50 yards, free standing, shooting with one hand. I'm no great shakes at pistol shooting, but that Colt seems to be pretty accurate.
 
jethunter said:
There's nothing special in this thread beyond generally available common sense. The musings of some of the more experienced people like Dingus happen when they happen, and one would do well to sit back and quietly pay attention instead of complaining about going off-topic. I'm saying that as kindly as i can.

But if you really think valuable information is being compromised you could start a new thread with a suitable-searchable title and provide a link to this one. :)
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It's just chit chat and has nothing to do with the thread title. I am saying that as politely as I can,...:HR:

When you go through the replies, you will see that some people like to go OT with a thread like that - giving out secrets of the trade is not in the interest of some.

We can go more into detail of course if you wish to do so, since obviously you felt as if my comment was directed to you. :rolleyes:
 
SOURANDMOULDY Wrote This {"Without hijacking this thread, I was wondering what were the best antique handguns to buy and why? (In everyone's opinion.) The criteria would be that it could be used regularly, with available ammo to buy or to reload. A gun that could fire available smokeless cartridges would be a big plus.

Sorry to the OP if you don't want to hear the answers but I'm hoping it might help with your decision.}

atomicsauace said:
x2 SOURANDMOULDY no need to appologise.Excellent question.Thats exactly what I would like to know also.
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The Quote ^^ is from the OPer so how has anything anyone has posted after this above post gone OT

The OP requested Information and were giveing it to him. :rolleyes:
I dont hear anyone else whineing.
 
dingus said:
SOURANDMOULDY Wrote This {"Without hijacking this thread, I was wondering what were the best antique handguns to buy and why? (In everyone's opinion.) The criteria would be that it could be used regularly, with available ammo to buy or to reload. A gun that could fire available smokeless cartridges would be a big plus.

Sorry to the OP if you don't want to hear the answers but I'm hoping it might help with your decision.}



The Quote ^^ is from the OPer so how has anything anyone has posted after this above post gone OT

The OP requested Information and were giveing it to him. :rolleyes:
I dont hear anyone else whineing.
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There is a spell checker on CGN build in.
 
Holy Frick A good thread with lots of info slowly degrades to squabbling again .
I have found Collectible firearms and edged weapons to be a decent site and have purchased 2 pieces .I have also bought from David Condon but he is a little pricey .
 
I've bought a couple from CollectorFirearms in Houston but they are tough to get any answers from and even tougher to get information about specific calibres as they just list things as 44 cal or 45 cal so obviously that doesn't work well for us.
I've also bought a few off GunBroker and the best people to buy from are the ones who have items for sale that meet our 2 basic requirements of Calibre and Date of Manufacture. Canadian bidders must know that our legal antique DoM is different than their legal DoM so just because they call it an antique in the listing does not mean that it is an antique in Canada. Check out the sellers feedback and don't be afraid to ask them questions. I'v found that about 4 out of 5 that say they won't ship Internationaly actually will ship antiques and especially when you explain to them how easy it is. Many of them think they have to deal with Canadian Customs but they don't.........just mail the parcel with the required date and cal info in or on the package. A few GB sellers don't want to deal with us and that is their right but they will usually politely refuse or just not respond to inquiries.
On the other hand many are happy to take our money and make the sale.
Do your homework before you bid and when you see something you like go for it. Its all been a positive experience for me. Be polite, show your apprecitaion and make darn sure you leave them pos feedback......many of them will be happy to be your friend.
wTc [ hoope that darn spell cheeker thingy is workin ] :)
 
Bought a French 1873 off Patrick Donnelly Antique Firearms in the States, also bought 4 guns off Gun broker. About the extent of my international experience, usually buy guns already imported.
 
scianna54 said:
It's just chit chat and has nothing to do with the thread title. I am saying that as politely as I can,...:HR:

When you go through the replies, you will see that some people like to go OT with a thread like that - giving out secrets of the trade is not in the interest of some.

We can go more into detail of course if you wish to do so, since obviously you felt as if my comment was directed to you. :rolleyes:
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I'm not sure what you mean but you may go into detail about anything you like because this is a public forum.

My posts were an attempt to share knowledge in reply to other member's queries and they were made in good faith with no ulterior motives. I don't think that my posts breached forum guidelines but I'm sorry if they offended you.
 
dingus said:
Yes Exactly i love that kinda info and he gets into penetration with his own SWC bullets (thats all i use) and what they can do to a Skull of a 2000Lb bull ect ect.
penetration into gelled blocks stuff thats intresting to me anyway.
six guns is full of great stuff and his long range pistol shooting is ex reading.

Mike Venterino is Ok but them guys state NO Smokeless loads at all in any antique any time ever! I think thats not right as theres plenty of smokeless safe loads developed by reloaders and shooter of antique handguns that know alot about the powders they use and to brush them all aside is abit much im not sure if its ventrino or Chicoine or taffin but there are about the same tho as to smokeless in antiques.
Keith he took chances but i think he has all his fingers still ;)
I like chicoines book gunsmithing guns of the old west to it has alot of good info.
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I have read & enjoyed a couple of Keith's books & I personally don't take issue with using a reduced load in smokeless. But I remember questioning his ideas about what hot loads he shot in some antiques...
The man definitely forgot more than I know about firearms. But I would be reluctant to use some of his receipts in my Colts.
From my limited experience in non destructive testing, I have seen metal fractures, that prior to failure, had no visual tell signs.
To the original poster: Regardless of what antique you purchase, have a healthy respect of the metallurgy involved for the day.
And if you want a c.f. antique pistol, that's pretty tough, I'd look for an 1858 Remington New Model that was converted in the day to a caliber not restricted by our laws here in Canada. I've seen them go for $1200 & up on places like Gun Broker.
 
Let's face it, the conversion of those French MLE 1873 guns from 11mm to 45 ACP doesn't make any sense for several reasons:

1. thinning out the cylinder wall - this conversion is unlike the Webley .455 to 45 ACP since it actually involves thinning out the cylinder walls, hence weakening them, while the Webley conversion only involves modifying the back of the cylinder. The French 11 mm is using a healed bullet, a normal .451 or .452 bullet doesn't fit into the cylinder as the cylinder on the French 1873 is like a cone.

2. The 45 ACP brass casing has no rim, this is no problem for the Webley conversion since you can tip the whole front of the revolver and place a moon clip with the casings in it and after firing pop them all out at once.
With the French conversion you still use the moon clips BUT you have to take out the whole cylinder in order to access it. The French revolver has no loading gate and no tip up front. This takes a very long time. This is the main reason why the Webley RIC or bulldog revolvers are usually original and not modified.

3. read here about safety and modification concerns:

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?87563-Mle-1873-revolver-modifacation


There is actually no gunsmith who will do that modification anymore, it's not safe.
 
scianna54 said:
Let's face it, the conversion of those French MLE 1873 guns from 11mm to 45 ACP doesn't make any sense for several reasons:

1. thinning out the cylinder wall - this conversion is unlike the Webley .455 to 45 ACP since it actually involves thinning out the cylinder walls, hence weakening them, while the Webley conversion only involves modifying the back of the cylinder. The French 11 mm is using a healed bullet, a normal .451 or .452 bullet doesn't fit into the cylinder as the cylinder on the French 1873 is like a cone.

2. The 45 ACP brass casing has no rim, this is no problem for the Webley conversion since you can tip the whole front of the revolver and place a moon clip with the casings in it and after firing pop them all out at once.
With the French conversion you still use the moon clips BUT you have to take out the whole cylinder in order to access it. The French revolver has no loading gate and no tip up front. This takes a very long time. This is the main reason why the Webley RIC or bulldog revolvers are usually original and not modified.

3. read here about safety and modification concerns:

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?87563-Mle-1873-revolver-modifacation


There is actually no gunsmith who will do that modification anymore, it's not safe.
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Wrong Wrong Wrong again.

The 45 ACP Head spaces there is no moon clips involved in profesional conversions of 1873s.

The 455 conversion also requires a tiny amount of metal being reamed from the chamber walls the exact same amount as the 45 acp.

There is NO metal removed from the back of the cylinder.

a 45 Acp converted 1873 can chamber and shoot a 455 fiochhi case,
Man you know 0 about this i dont know why you post all this info when your so far off.
as to 45 ACP conversions Theres lots of theses still in use today that were converted by the french resistance in WWII when they were short of ammo and guns to fight them Germans they used 45 aCP hard ball ammo in there converted guns and you still find them from time to time.
Some were done in the feild with a file.

Conversions must be done by a good gunsmith then there is no problem.

So 455 cases the short fiochhi type will chamber in any proper converted 45 acp 1873 french gun.
But the 455 bullets will raise presures so its recomended to reload fiochhi cases with .452 dia bullets.

Shooting factory 45 aCP is not recomended tho its done all the time it will be hard on the old guns. reloads to 800 FPS are no problem in Profesional converted guns i shoot that in mine all the time.

Id say that if a conversion is not done right then there issiues for sure but to say all 45 aCP converted 1873s are no good is just B.S

That spelkller cheeky thing aint workin for me LOL
 
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The tolerances for the 45 ACP (IF it chambers on it's casings mouth and not the bullets hitting the cylinder walls, lol) are very small, so it's really not recommended, I guess that's why you recommend the .455 casings now. The 45 ACP has no rim, so chambering on it's casings mouth is very dangerous to recommend.

Chambering on it's casings mouth f:P:

Talk back to you please:

Man you know 0 about this i dont know why you post all this info when your so far off its scarry to me you even have firearms.
Your posts should be labled READ AT OWN RISK

I may add that I do have a restricted PAL, do you?

- and don't insult others who warn about potential dangers.

There were a few people last year who did the conversion and had major problems. Do a search.

If you would have read the link provided above, you would be able to update the wrong information about the French resistance members. It was American gunsmiths after the war who did those conversions. The Americans joined the war fairly late, so 45 ACP was only available at a very late time during the war, the French resistance story doesn't bear any logic - and so do a lot of your posts.
 
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