Cowboy Buck's Review on Dam Road Gun Shop

COWBOY BUCK DAM ROAD GUN SHOP REVIEW

DAM ROAD GUN SHOP REVIEW

The best gun shop in Wisconsin is tucked away out in the country not far from the small town of Delavan, Wi. Delavan is the picture of small town America, a picturesque little town with awesome family owned restaurants and other business'. The kind of places where you can get to know the owners and staff, eat a meal that you actually get full on, see families and groups of friends visiting. It reminds me of a northern Wisconsin town or what my home town used to be. 

Just a few miles out of town is Dam Road Gun Shop. The first time I went there I thought it was to small too have much, but then I stepped inside and was shocked by all the shooting, hunting, reloading equipment and more that I saw. Most of all, I saw a lot of guns and I don't mean the usual overstock of the moments "In Gun" that bring out everyone that wants to be with the in crowd. What I mean is that I saw a very wide variety of guns, from antiques and really good used guns to the most expensive Sig Sauers and everything in between.

Please don't let the small building fool you, there are over 5,000 guns on the property. If you don't see what you want, ask, because chances are they have it and Mike Palenski (the owner) will know just where it is. Also, ammo like crazy, even during the ammo shortage. If your a newbie and wouldn't know a musket from an AK, just ask, Mike and and his son Tom or other staff members like Dale and Steve, they will be happy to explain and answer any question. They DON'T talk down to you like your an idiot (we've all been in to many gun shops like that), but Dam Road isn't that way. They have spent many an hour explaining scopes, black powder guns and numerous other things with me.

 Remington 700 CDL Classic Deluxe 30-06 Rifle 

A Beautiful Leather and Deer Hair Rifle Strap

for my Remington 700 CDL Classic Deluxe 30-06

both bought at Dam Road Gun Shop

They even carry a very wide array of SASS, Cowboy Action Shooting and Re-enactment Guns and ammo. Mike is into SASS shooting. There is a very impressive selection of hunting rifles, scopes, ammo and gear. I just got a beautiful Remington 700 CDL Classic Deluxe 30-06 Lefty with Leupold scope and a beautiful leather sling for this up-coming deer season as well as ammo.

This is a collage of my deer hunting set up, 

everything in the photo, except the Buck Knife, 

came from Dam Road Gun Shop

It is all very cool for a gun shop to have such a wide selection of firearms, but as we all know that doesn't do much good if the prices are too high for you to buy them. That is not the case at Dam Road though. Mike's prices are not only below the MSRP, but well below any gun shop I've ever been in. I've bought many guns from them and not one time did I ever feel I paid too much. As a matter of fact, I always feel that I have gotten a great price. I've never dickered over a price, 1- because they are fair prices and 2- because I know that if there is anything wrong with the gun, Mike will make it right. 

One incident with Dam Road that I will never forget was the time I had decided to buy a Smith and Wesson 500 Magnum, so I started reading everything I could find about the gun as I usually do before buying any gun. As I was studying, I had decided on the 4 inch barrel version and saw on the Smith & Wesson website that a Special Limited Big Rock Edition with a grizzly bear head on the frame and bear paws on the cylinder. When I saw that revolver, I knew I had to have it, so I started checking around the web only to find out that the big wheel gun was out of stock everywhere. I called S&W and they didn't know when or if Big Rock would be ordering anymore to be made or not. Frustrated, I started calling a ton of big time gun shops, but no luck. Keep in mind that I had never asked Dam Road about any limited edition firearms up to this point. After deciding that the bear edition wasn't to be had, I called Tom, Mike's son, and asked if they had any 4 inch barrel 500 Mags in stock and he said they did, so I headed on up. When I get there Tom opens the bright green case and lo and behold there sits my new Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum Big Rock Grizzly Edition. I smiled so big that Tom asked me what was up. So I told him the story and he started laughing. Needless to say, I was happier than a coon in a campground.

The 500 Mag on the counter Dam Road

Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum

Big Rock Grizzly Edition

Another example is when I decided I wanted to buy a 1911, I researched and decided that I wanted a Remington 1911 R1. I called Mike and he said he had a Commemorative Edition brand new. I was really surprised that he had one. 

In 2011 Remington started making 1911 pistols again, they made them during World War 1, along with Singer Sewing Machine Company, Remington Rand Typewriter Company among others. The 1911 was a Colt pistol, but due to the amount needed during WW1 and WW2, Colt couldn't meet the demands by themselves. Therefore Colt sub-contracted 1911 pistol production to other companies to help Colt supply the United States Military with the side arm. During the two World Wars roughly 1,968,533 1911 Pistols were produced by Colt, Remington and other United States Companies. A staggering amount. No wonder Colt didn't have the facilities to produce them all.

Remington hadn't made a 1911 model pistol since WW1, but in 2011 on the 100th birthday of John Browning's greatest invention, Remington announced that they were going to start making them in several different models, two of which would be Commemorative Editions. There is the edition like mine with special engraving, Commemorative 1911 - 2011 engraving, match grade barrel, special grips, Special 1911 utility tool, Certificate of Authenticity and more. All contained in a Special Limited Edition Package. The other was basically the same, but with real gold inlays.

Both of these Commemorative Editions were believed to be completely sold out years ago. However this summer, 2014, Mike still had a new, unused, unopened one. So I jumped at the opportunity and asked Mike if he would hold it for me, which he did, and I told him I would be right up to buy it. I was and still am, one very happy man. The Remington 1911 R1 is the best, most accurate pistol I have ever shot or owned.

REMINGTON 1911 R1 CENTENNIAL .45 ACP

The best and most accurate pistol I have ever shot.

They also offer gunsmith services and Mike does a great job. I had him work on a 1959-1960 J.C. Higgens Model 101-540 12 gauge, side by side, double barrel shotgun sold by Sears, Roebuck and Company at their stores. (Just like the one my Grampa owned, I've even nicknamed that cherished gun Grampa) Mike did an awesome job for a very inexpensive price. Scope mounting, bore sighting are also available.

My Grampa shotgon is my 1959-1960 J.C. Higgens Sears, Robuck and Co. Model 101-5401 12 gauge, 

Double Barrel, Side by Side Shotgun

( These were a Stevens Model 311 made by Stevens Firearm Co. for Sears )

In closing Dam Road Gun Shop is one of those American places where you can go to shot the bull with the guys, swap stories or information. All the while shopping, confident that your getting good prices on quality firearms, ammo and equipment. Along with advice or guidance that you can count on.

I am changing my rating system to 1 to 7 shells, 7 being the being the best.

I am giving Dam Road Gun Shop a 7 Shell Rating

         

Uberti Smith & Wesson Schofield Topbreak

Uberti Replica of  the Smith & Wesson Schofield Topbreak .45 Long Colt Caliber

When I first saw The S&W Schofield Topbreak, it really grabbed my attention. It is an interesting and well designed revolver. It also has an incredible history. It easily belongs with the greatest of the 1800's and Old West revolvers, among which are the (in order of invention and each of which were the best pistol of there time, they barely overlapped each other for long and can be credited at corresponding times for winning the settling of Texas, winning the Civil War and settling The Old West.) 1- Colt Dragoon, 2-Smith and Wesson Schofield Topbreak and finally the Colt Peacemaker or Colt Army (they are the same gun).

The Colt Dragoon started out and was mostly a cap and ball revolver, but eventually a conversion kit was offered that made it a cartridge revolver. Then came the Smith & Wesson Topbreak, which was the first cartridge revolver in several calibers and designs. Finally, the Colt Peacemaker in .45 Long Colt caliber.

Smith and Wesson paid to use a cartridge patent and then made the first cartridge revolver. S&W put Colt and other makers out of the cartridge revolver business by having paying a commission  exclusive patent rights. Colt had the means to make them, but couldn't legally.

The first Topbreak model 1, had some problems, it was a small .22 caliber to small for military or self defense and the barrel flipped up, not down, making it harder to load. The model 1 1/2 was the same except in .32 caliber, increasing the power, but not enough. People bought them, however wanted improvements.

Smith & Wesson Model 1 1/2

Smith and Wesson then got it very close with the Model 3, they put the swivel so that the barrel swung down and installed an ejector to push out the empty cartridges when the barrel was opened. Making it very easy to unload and reload. The original Model 3 had break latch that pushed up and the Army loved them, however the Calvary didn't, because it took two hands to load and unload. A big fan of the Smith & Wesson Topbreak was Major George Schofield, a hero of the Civil War and had a good mechanical mind. Schofield decided to improve it for the Infantry, so he redesigned the opening latch to pull back with just the thumb and hardened the steel to make the opening latch more durable. Then he patented his idea. After talking with Smith  & Wesson, who loved his idea and gave him a commission from every sale of what now would be called The Smith & Wesson Schofield, Schofield showed them how a horseback soldier could hold the reins and revolver in one hand and open the latch, flick their wrist ( which opened the barrel and engaged the revolvers ejector to eject all six empty cartridges ) then the man would just drop in new cartridges with his free hand and flick the gun shut. All while maintaining control of his horse. Nothing even close to this was ever possible before, making it state of the art then and now.

Soon after Schofield got Smith and Wesson a chance to obtain a chance to get the exclusive U.S. Military sidearm contract. Of course, by this point the cartridge patent had expired, so Colt now had the famous Colt Army Revolver in .45 Long Colt caliber, so there was a competition held.

The competition included speed of fire, speed of reload, power and accuracy. Both revolvers were tied in accuracy, the Colt was more powerful, both were as fast as could be had for single action revolvers, but it was the reload time that won the Schofield the majority of the contract. The Smith & Wesson Schofield could be reloaded in 30 second, while the Colt Army took over a minute to reload.

The U.S. Military ordered a lot of Schofields, 100's of thousands of them, but with the request for them to be chambered in .45 long Colt. For some unknown reason Smith& Wesson said okay, but delivered guns chambered in .45 Schofield. That was a huge mistake. 

The .45 Schofield round was powerful, but after awhile, as more Colt Army guns where showing up, causing some troops to have both guns in the same troop. An ammunition problem came up. The troops were sometimes sent only one or the other cartridges instead of both. This didn't prove a problem to the soldiers with the Colts, but it did to those armed with the Schofield. 

The .45 long Colt was a longer bullet. Both bullets being the same diameter was ok, but the length difference became a problem. The Colt armed soldiers could shoot either cartridge in their guns, but when only .45 long Colt cartridges came to a troop, the Smith & Wesson revolvers wouldn't load because the bullets where to long to fit. This left large portions of men unarmed. When soldiers are fighting wild Indians and outlaws, this is a major problem. Also a major mistake by Smith & Wesson for not just clambering there guns in .45 long Colt because the Army soon stopped ordering more Schofields and discontinued the use of them altogether. Replacing them and equipping the men with Colt Army revolvers.

The .45 long Colt is on the left, the .45 Scofield on the right. Clearly showing the length difference.

The army soon surplused the Schofields they had. Companies like Wells Fargo bought them up at dirt cheap prices, had the 7 inch barrels cut to 5 inches and equipped their stage coachmen with them. 

The Wells Fargo version of The Smith & Wesson Schofield 

The public also bought them, so did gunsmiths cutting them down to pocket pistol lengths is about a 3 inch barrel. Making them popular with gamblers who now had six shot, reliable revolvers instead of mostly one shot Derringers.

There was also plenty of ammo, since it was still being made and sold in stores.

Smith and Wesson also received huge orders from Russia for a special Russian model. The Russian model is a bit wierd  looking, but Russia loved them and ordered hundreds of thousands of them.

The model I had was the Uberti Smith & Wesson Schofield Wells Fargo Edition with a 5 inch barrel. I found it to be of great quality. The machining was of tight tolerances, the blued finish very nice and the unblued hardened finish parts of top quality. The wood was beautiful, the trigger nice and smooth. The extractor worked great. The sights where a little unusual, but easy to get used to and accurate for a cowboy revolver.

This is no doubt a great reproduction of the gun that started Smith & Wessons fame. It was calibered in .45 long Colt.

I've since traded this revolver for a Remington R1 1911 Centennial Edition, but would like to get another one some day.

Out of five stars this revolver gets 4 1/2 stars.

Cost at 4 stars - I think $1100.00 is steep for any reproduction Cowboy revolver. I understand that this revolver has more machined parts than most because of all the moving parts that aren't usually on a gun. With the Topbreak action, it also has too have thicker steal that has to be hardened longer, but I still think the price is expensive.

Accuracy is 4 stars - Most Cowboy guns don't come super accurate right out of the box, but this was more accurate than most since the sights are basically an older version of the fixed sights S&W uses on some of the guns today. The main problem was the visibility. Being iron sights they are harder to line up inside or at a black target.

Shootability is five stars - the revolver is a nice weight, doesn't kick to much, loads easy and emptying is a snap literally.

Weight and size is 5 Stars - As far as cowboy guns or any revolver goes, this is a beauty. The weight is like most revolvers and the size is perfect. The 5 inch barrel gives a good sight picture and accuracy.