Fun Gun Stories

[Sailor Steve]

In the "Define an Assault Weapon" thread the subject of differing designations for different types of guns came up, including pistols. I mentioned that I had shot a single-action carbine, and could tell stories. August asked for some, so I decided to start a separate thread.

Among his many other guns, my late friend Rocky owned an Umberti bolt-for-bolt replica of an 1873 Remington revolving carbine.



This was one of my favorites to shoot, along with the civil war .58 caliber rifled musket. The first time I held this gun, in Rocky's living room, I held it as one would hold any rifle, with my left hand on the barrel. Rocky immediately and forcefully said "NO! Never hold one of these that way! Black powder revolvers occasionally chain-fire, and Remingtons were notorious for it. Since this is an exact replica, it has the same problem. Do that when you shoot it, and we'll have to call you 'Three-Fingered Pierre." When I asked him how I should hold it, Rocky said "See the hook under the trigger guard? You put your left hand on top of your right hand, and your left index finger grabs that little hook."

When we took it to the range I had a blast. Literally. The gun never chain-fired on me, but holding it that way, with the stock cradled against my shoulder, I quickly discovered that the blow-back from the black powder stung my face every single time. I wondered how they shot them from horseback, which is what carbines are for. I tried facing sideways to the target, with the gun held in one hand, extended as one would with a pistol of the era. I found that it was not only easy to hold that way, but fairly accurate as well. After that it was a hoot to shoot.

Side Note 1: I saw the first spaghetti western, A Fistful Of Dollars, back in 1968, and didn't see it again for many years. In the 1990s I was watching it with Rocky, and there is a scene in which one of the bad guys shoots one from a window, holding it rifle-style. When I said "NO! Not like that!" Rocky just laughed.

Side Note 2- Regarding chain-fire: One day Rocky and I were at the range with a younger friend, and he was trying out one of Rocky's replica black-powder .44 pistols. He fired all six shots, one at a time, and waited for the gun to cool. He then reloaded it as Rocky instructed, and aimed at the target again. When he pulled the trigger there was a very loud bang and his arm made a funny wobbly motion, waving the gun around in the air very quickly. Then he dropped the pistol in the dirt and grabbed his wrist, not exactly moaning in pain, but saying "OW!" a few times.

It turned out that the cylinder under the hammer had fired, but so had two others. One of the balls had hit the pin that holds the gun together, and Rocky had to soak the gun in water and dig the other three bullets out with a corkscrew designed for that purpose, then use a hammer and chisel to remove the pin. Then he had to make a trip to the gun store to order a new pin before the gun was again serviceable.




Please feel free to share your own stories, but please no "I heard about a guy who..." or "I killed thirteen guys in xxx war." Just good personal tales about adventures (and misadventures) with guns. Gun stories, not war stories. If they happen to have happened in military service, fine. Just make them interesting.