GUNS Magazine December 1958 - Jeffersonian

More documents

Recommendations

Info

" '"COLT RIFLES. COLLECTOR-ITEMS ONLY FOR MANY ADECADE. ARE NOW VERY MUCH A PART OF THE SPORTING ARMS PICTUREBy WILLIAM B.EDWARDSAuth or, " The Sto rv 0/ Colt's Revolver"THE RETURN of Ameri ca's oldes t repeating rifle maker to thebusiness of supplyin g shoo ters with modern spo rting rifles ha sbeen a surprise to many gun fan s. Colt's, which launched its 3-shotpercussion-cap revolving rifles by an ad vertisement in the New Yorkpapers on <strong>December</strong> 18, 183 7, was until after the Civil War th epremi er repeating rifle maker in the world. Dozens of models were made-most were revolver breech rifles , oth er lever action and pump acti onrepeaters which today, aft er a half- century of discontinuance, stilllook " modern," still have definite appeal with that rampant C oltstamped on them.Th e man who has ramrodded the return of th e Colt is a squarejaweddynamo named Fred Roff, Jr.Nominally VP and sales manager ,.1.IJC UUIU w uv Uet;::, .I ClJ.lU vuu.....ll()flJ\_.. ~ \le nrl ~ l l~Jf\r&l. ,-,ti n\fu . 111f1 ~in.-R1 u~lltejawed dynamo named Fred Roff, Jr.Nominally VP and sales manager ,Roff spends more tim e making surethe Colt name appears all over th enation , than he does at the Colt plant.In emulation of Mr. Colt him self, Roff'snights are spent travelling, his da ys atpolice conventions awarding Colt gun sor conferring with governors on hunter-safety programs. When he isat the plant, things happen. What happened last year was the long.rumored, half-century overdue issue of a Colt rifle-the precedent.shattering "Colt 57."Behind that gun lies quite a story . Part of it is in implementationof Roff's plan that no shooter should have to go outsid e the Colt lin eto satisfy his needs for firearms. A straw in the wind of th e Coltrifle story was the promotional tour of Joe Bodrie, exhibition shoo terfor Colt's. Bodrie demonstrated his claim to the title of " fastest gunali ve," not only with the familiar Colt Single Actions but also with oneof the Elliott-patent pump-action Colt rifles made fr om ab out 1385till the turn of the century. An octagon barreled .44·40, thi s collecto r'sgem was in new condition, bein g drawn from the two or threeremaining "factory stoc k" guns deposited in the Colt museum.Acc ording to promotion man John Millington who set up Bodrie'stour, th e most remarkable commen t from th e thousands of peoplewho watched the show was the mu ch-repeat ed obser vati on "Oh, isColt's once again making rifles ?" Somehow, hundreds of th ousands ofpeopl e accept ed it as a natural thing to see a Colt rifle, th ough Milling .ton is mor ally certain most of them had never reall y seen a ColtTouring shooter Bodrie focussed nation's attentionon Colt rifles by expert use of Lighting Model .44.
ar TIl caLT RIFLITest gun was pre-Paterson model made byPearson, used because of large caliber.Pistol maker was premier rifle man as well.Cylinder shields were abandoned in Paterson 8-shot rifledesign. M 1837 gun had ring lever to cock , trigger fired.Pistol maker was premierrifle man as well.M 1839 "New Carbine" was type issued to Army, Navy,Texas troops and were used by Ma rines in Florida wars .Unique firing.device of 1839 used force of cernpressed air ,to ignite' powder. Valve wasshut as hammer fell. Only a model was made. At right, 1843 carbine had handle on it.Walker-type revolving rifle was announced in ads of 1847-8but making and selling pistols took all Colt's attention.
Page 1 and 2: DECEMBER 1958SOc
Page 3 and 4: BROWNINGIf perchance, your Browning
Page 5 and 6: '. . 1;1¥.~TRIGGERTALKPUTTI NG tog
Page 7 and 8: 1958 NATIONALDOUBLES CHAMPIONJOE HI
Page 9 and 10: and of excellent dimensions for mos
Page 11 and 12: zine, Thu s, a cross comparison of
Page 13: EARLY & MODERN FIREARMS CO•• IN
Page 17 and 18: Co lteer .22 with scope, Coltsman D
Page 19 and 20: of the field. Soon a high-Bier came
Page 21 and 22: WORKING TO CLOSE TOLERANCES INSPITE
Page 23 and 24: It was still an easy shot. I should
Page 25 and 26: Conventional rifle oraetice is (too
Page 27: Typical of G.I. calibers are .303sb
Page 30 and 31: By ROBERT V. THOMPSONThough same in
Page 33 and 34: Versions of the 17 Javelina rangefr
Page 35 and 36: ~ • l "R'SBARGAINS;NIFICENT INVES
Page 37: HANDICRAFT WITHOUT HANDS(Continued
Page 42 and 43: THE COLLECTOR'S CASE presents itssh
Page 44 and 45: '""'..._WAR SURPLUSWINCHESTER CARBI
Page 46 and 47: A~ -UP-TO-DATEThis is the only.of-i
Page 48 and 49: ACTON QUICK-DRAWHOLSTER WITHCARTRID
Page 50 and 51: --------------,LIMITED SUPPLY OF*DE
Page 52 and 53: with the fast-shootingStevens 11K "
Page 54 and 55: -CAL. MILITARY MODELRUSQVARNAExteri
Page 56 and 57: ,.,' iEW BEJ AMI N GAS , A IR RE P
Page 58 and 59: SEE WILD ANIMALSINTHE DARK without
Page 60 and 61: HANDLOADINGC·H ena bl es you t o p
Page 62 and 63: IMPROVE SCORING~ ' ~ '. PROTECT HEA
Page 64 and 65:
THE GUN MARKETCl assified ads 20c p
Page 66 and 67:
i .BUY GOYT. SURPLUS NOWDIRECT FROM
Page 68:
The single action is the logical ty
show all

GUNS Magazine December 1958 - Jeffersonian

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?