Review of the Henry Repeating Rifle .44 Magnum Big Boy

Henry Repeating Arms Co.

Henry Lever Action .44 Magnum/ .44 Special Rifle

HENRY REPEATING RIFLE - .44 MAGNUM/.44 SPECIAL LEVER ACTION RIFLE

"The rifle that won The Civil War and The Wild WEST"

            

HENRY REPEATING ARMS, .44 MAGNUM, .44 SPECIAL LEVER ACTION RIFLE

In 1860, Benjamin Tyler Henry invented the Henry Repeating Rifle for The New Haven Arms Company, later to become The Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The Henry Rifle was the first truly dependable lever action repeating rifle and could hold 16 rounds of sixteen rounds of .44 caliber rim-fire ammunition cartridges that could be fired at 28 rounds per minute. That rate of fire was astonishing in 1860, when most soldiers were shooting black powder musket, which had to be reloaded after each shot. Reloading a musket is a slow process, with most solders only being able able to fire 3 rounds per minute.

Benjamin Tyler Henry

An antique Henry Rifle advertisement

The above information, tells of how revolutionary The Henry was in it's day. With this new gun, B.T. Henry went to president Abraham Lincoln with one of his rifles, and presented him with a gold plated Henry rifle, that now is in The Smithsonian Institute. Lincoln loved the rifle, being an accomplished shooter, really admired the rifle. Lincoln wanted to order many of the Henry rifles for the Union troops, but do to interference from the men in charge of equipment for the Union Army. (Yes, the was a lot of the political red tape then too). Abe was only able to order 3,140 of the rifles.

President Abraham Lincoln's Henry Rifle

The original Henry rifles shot the Henry Cartridge, the first fully contained copper or brass cartridge. They were .44 caliber and completely self contained, one piece cartridges, making them way easier to load than a cap & ball gun. Plus they were water proof, so people didn't have to worry about keeping black powder dry.

                               

A .44 Henry Cartridge found on a Civil War battle site.

The only problem with the original Henry was that there was no wood under the barrel, so when the barrel got hot, the men would have to let it cool. The advantages so far outweighed the that one disadvantage though, that when The Union soldiers would reenlist, a lot of them would spend their reenlistment bonus on buying a Henry rifle and ammo for it. That purchase gave them 28 shots a minute as apposed to 3 with a musket, therefore giving them a better chance of getting back home alive and well.

The Henry Repeating Rifle was not the only repeating rifle at the time though. There was also the Spencer Repeating Rifle, which was also invented in 1860. The Spencer held seven rounds in a tube in the buttstock, it shot fast, but had to be reloaded more often because of only holding seven rounds per tube. The Henry's tube, which was mounted under the barrel held 15 rounds, therefore it didn't need to be reloaded as often.

The Spencer held a .56 caliber bullet, but had terrible ballistics. The Henry having a .44 Caliber, which is a pistol caliber, had more power per shot, however didn't shoot as far as the Spencer.

Spencer Repeating Rifle

                                                           Spencer Repeating Rifle diagram

When the Confederate soldiers first encountered both rifles, they were stunned. Many Rebs thought that the amount and speed of ammo being shot meant they were up against a troop of soldiers, when in truth it may have just been a few scouts or snipers. The Confederates did get their hands on some of the rifles from fallen Union soldiers, they went on to call The Henry Rifle, " That darn Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week." People have said that The Henry was the first Military Assault Rifle.

Reports of The Henry Rifle have been well documented in Civil War history. The 71st Infantry of Illinois was the most known and maybe only whole troop to carry Henry Rifles. An account of that came from Major William Ludlow’s account of the Battle of Allatoona Pass. “What saved us that day was the fact that we had a number of Henry rifles” wrote Major Ludlow. “This company of 16 shooters sprang to the parapet and poured out such a multiplied, rapid and deadly fire, that no men could stand in front of it and no serious effort was made thereafter to take the fort by assault.”

71st Infantry Illinois with their Henry Rifles

When the Reb's did get ahold of a Henry or Spencer, it didn't do them much good once the ammo with it was gone, because both the rifles were made in and for the North. That meant that after the Confederate soldiers shot up that ammo, they couldn't get any more.

Both companies ended up being bought by Winchester shortly after the Civil War. The Spencer stopped being made, but The Henry was given a side loading port a fore end stock and became the Winchester 1866. Ammo for the Spencer was made into the early 1900's, but ammo for The Henry was made until The Great Depression hit America.

The Henry Repeating Lever Action Rifle wasn't made in America again until The Henry Repeating Arms Co. opened in 1996, They now have two plants, one in Bayonne, New Jersey and one in Rice lake, Wisconsin. The new version of The Henry is true to it's Civil War namesake, except it has an improved closed loading tube, wood fore end and, since the original 44 Henry ammo isn't made anymore, it comes in a wide variety of caliber options. The closest and most powerful being the .44 Magnum / .44 Special Big Boy Version. The Big Boy in .45 long Colt is also very popular among Cowboy and Single Action Shooters.

The most commonly seen Henry is The Golden Boy, which is a .22 caliber version. Henry a present has roughly 17 rifles available plus a lot of special limited edition rifles commemorating Abe Lincoln, The Boy Scouts, one for all the US Military branches and many more.

I bought my Henry Lever Action Big Boy in .44 Magnum, which will also shoot .44 Special, after wanting one for a very long time. It is after all, a real Cowboy Rifle. Holding it at gun shop was great, holding and firing it after I bought my own was awesome.

The first thing that I noticed and have a lot of people agree with, is that The Henry is a beautiful piece of gun art. You won't find burrs or blemishes, scrapes or scratches on a newly unboxed Henry. The machining, polishing, blueing and woodworking are incredible. The brass receiver, barrel lop and butt-end are stunningly beautiful and shined to a mirror finish. The wood is American Walnut. All of the fits, joints and finishes are great. Pictures of the Henry really don't do it justice, you have to see and hold a Henry to really appreciate it. The next fun step is shooting it. 

I went to the range and shot 44 Magnum and 44 Special ammo I've also shot new and reloaded ammo and it cycles through my Henry perfectly. I did fire one once that didn't eject well when shot at a very fast rate of speed, but I have shot 7 or 8 of them and only seen that one have that trouble. It isn't anything I would worry about. The lever action cocking, ejecting and reloading the chamber are smoother than butter. The Henry is a heavy gun which helps with the .44 Magnum recoil. The kick is no more than any quality deer rifle. There is no need for a rubber butt plate.

The semi-buckhorn sights are easy to use and were very accurate right our of the box. The octagon barrel is awesome and helps keep the barrel cool. The loading tube is simple to use, just depress and turn the cap, pull out the spring fed magazine, insert the ammo, re-insert the (inner tube and cap) magazine, turn to lock it into place and your ready to go. And the shooting is FUN.

The Henry makes me feel nostalgic, like I should be a Texas Ranger with Gus McCrae and Capt. Call in Lonesome Dove fighting bandits or Comanche's. That is another thing about the Henry, it is mentioned as a main rifle in many Western novels and movies. Some are Lonesome Dove, True Grit, Django Unchaned, Cowboys and Aliens, Silverado among many more. How can any Western movie or novel lover not get excited by reading (epic novel) or seeing (movie or TV series) Call and Gus carrying those beatiful Henry rifles. With description like " The roar of Call's big Henry" or watching Robert Duvall using his horse as  a breast works and fighting those Kiowa's and buffalo hunters to save Laurena.

The cost of a Henry Big Boy in the big bore calibers is very reasonable at $750 or $450 for the Henry Golden Boy in .22 caliber. The special edition rifles such as the Lincoln Edition or Deluxe models are more, but they are collectors items and are still not excessively priced. 

Plus your getting a 100 % American made rifle. The president and owner of Henry rifles Anthony Imperato is a company owner that can be really be reached. I have never tried, but I have heard and read of many who have. He can be reached and (I've heard you get a response from the president himself at;

 http://www.henryrifles.com/contact-henry-repeating/contact-anthony-imperato/

Henry just announced that they will be making an exact reproduction of the original Henry rifle in America for the first time in roughly 150 years.

Also Henry announced that the Wisconsin plant will begin making 30-30 & 45-70 rifles and they are now shipping to gun shops.

Other great things about the Henry are;

1- You can send in your very own rifle and have the brass receiver engraved.

2- All Henry Lever Action Rifles come with the normal lever size, but for $50 you order a large loop lever.

3- All Henry Lever Action Rifles can be used by right or left handed shooters. I am left eye dominant, so I shoot rifles left handed. It comes in handy when I don't have to worry about finding a left handed rifle.

I am going to end this review a bit differently, usually I give a star rating and explanation with each subject. I have however went into greater detail on this review, so I am going to give the Henry 5 star rating.

***** Stars perfect rating for my Henry Lever Action .44 Magnum/.44 Special by Henry Repeating Arms

Remington R1 1911

Remington 1911 R1 Centennial

Remington honors John Moses Browning's greatest invention and the world's greatest pistol ever by starting to make them again.

It is now 2014 as I write this 102 years after the U.S. Military adopted the 1911 as their service pistol. It was ahead of it's time then and still is today. The 1911 has won two World Wars, The Korean war, served in The Vietnam War and countless other conflicts. As well as saving many civilian lives. The 1911 has helped to make and keep America the greatest nation in the world.

                  Eliphalet Remington 

The Remington R1 1911 is the first 1911 I've ever owned. The famed and rightly ( I now know ) respected 1911, has been around for 103 years and still ahead of it's time. 

The Colt 1911 .45 ACP caliber was invented by John Moses Browning, the firearms genius, from Utah. The ACP stands for Colt Automatic Pistol.

               John Moses Browning

Browning had invented many firearms, almost all of which were a huge success. In the first decade of the of the 1900's, America knew it was going to wind up in WWI, knowing so, they wanted a state of the art semi automatic pistol for the military. Colt got Browning's invention and won a new government contract to build what would become the 1911 pistol. 

The first 1911 pistols came out of Colt's factory in 1910, but the military started issuing them in 1911, hence the name. The pistol held 7 rounds in a clip that slips into the grip and, once cocked, can fire the seven rounds as fast as a soldier can repeatedly squeeze the trigger. It also came with at least 2 safeties, the thumb safety and the grip or "Beavertail" safety.

The thumb safety is simply a lever that is flipped up and locks into a notch in the slide, making the slide immovable, that way it can't fire. The grip safety nicknamed a Beavertail, has to be pushed forward when you put your hand around the grip, squeezing it forward. So if my hand isn't around the grip, even if the thumb safety isn't engaged, the gun can't and won't fire. The third safety is a firing pin safety, so that if the gun is dropped, the firing pin can't hit the primer to fire the cartridge or bullet.

The Beavertail safety was originally a more modest size, but over the years companies have offered a more exaggerated version, because of what some people with big hands call "hammer bite", which is when firing the weapon, having the hammer or slide knock the web of skin between the thumb and index finger. I have fairly large hands, but I've found that, with a proper grip, hasn't been much of a problem.

I own the Remington R1 1911 Centennial  Edition, which is, essentially an exact copy of Remington's WWI pistol with some fact engraving, the word Centennial and also the engraving saying 1911 - 2011 on the slide. It also has some very high quality maple grips with an R logo badge inset in the grip. It is an absolutely beautiful, commemorative handgun. 

Below are close up pictures of the original Beavertail and the larger version.

                                                          Original Beavertail SAFETY

                                                                  Larger Beavertail safety offered on some models.

                                                   

THUMB SAFETY

With all of these safeties, the pistol can be carried cocked and at the ready for a soldier or person for fast protection or defense. All of this is very important to a soldier or anyone in a high stress situation where seconds count.

The 1911 is also a very accurate firearm, in 1911 and even still today. The accuracy come from a stable, bushing supported barrel that is a standard five inches long, a descent weight that helps with aiming and taming the recoil of a .45 caliber cartridge and a trigger that even out of the box is crisp. All of these reasons are why today, 103 years later, some military, police and some of the best competitive shooters in the world, still count on the 1911. 

During WWI, Colt couldn't keep up with the military demand, so they sub contracted Remington and other companies to make more pistols. Although the standards for the 1911 were to be met, some of the companies turned out better product than others. Remington being one of them. Remington was and is the oldest firearms company in America, probably the world, so they know how to build very high quality firearms. Besides the fact, that they were also making rifles for American Military, they were also making the ammo for the 1911, rifles and shotguns for America and our allies. Now that is a highly respected company.

                        Remington 

A picture of the original Remington 1911 prototype from WWI. Now housed at the Remington Museum.

Now with that important history given, I'll begin the review on my Remington R1 1911 Centennial Edition.

First and foremost, this is the finest, most accurate, beautiful handgun I've ever owned or shot. I don't say that lightly, I feel that I own or have shot some of the best handguns ever made. I own Smith & Wesson, SIG Sauer, Uberti Colt and have not had a problem with any of them, however this not to say anything bad about them. It is just to say that Remington makes great guns, whether it be an 870 Wingmaster or a 700 Sporting Rifle, Remington guns are made to such high exacting standards that they are hard to beat. Also, Remington has price ranges to suit most any ones budget.

Remington is America's oldest gun maker, since 1816, so they have had plenty of practice and it shows on my 1911. I took my Remington 1911 R1 Centennial to shoot and gave myself one clip to get used to the gun and on the second clip I took serious aim, hitting 3 bullseyes and with the 7 shot clip, I kept a 1 1/2 inch group that is unheard of by me. I'm a pretty good shot, but not that good normally. I was amazed. I believe the accuracy of the pistol made the difference.

Target of second clip

Close up

The pistol shoots so smoothly that the follow up shots are easy with a good shot picture. The recoil or kick is soft for a .45 caliber pistol. It feels comfortable in my hands thanks to the checkered maple grips.

Like said earlier, this is my first1911, but I now understand why some people favor this pistol so much and most pistol companies make a 1911 pistol in some version. We all have our favorite  guns and manufacturers. I have been a long time Remington fan, so I feel with the combination on Remington's quality and the 1911's design, I have the best pistol money can buy.

The Remington 1911 R1 Centennial gets a 5 star rating, the highest possible.

Cost - 5 stars - With the least expensive R1 version staring out at roughly $500, and going up from there, just depending on how many bells and whistles you want, Remington has made an R1 for almost every one's budget. Even the least expensive R1 come with a stainless steel match grade, that's a fancy phrase for completion ready or very accurate, barrel. Solid Maple checkered grips, great sights, an awesome trigger, 2 magazines, a bushing wrench, high quality bluing, a Platinum Service Plan with a 7 day turnaround time and a custom case. With all of that and Remington quality, the 1911 R1 can't be beat by any gun company.

Ammo - 5 stars - There is almost a countless variety of .45 ACP ammo available by an almost countless amount of manufacturers. You can get everything from range, self defense, military and hunting types of ammo, but that's just a sampling of what is out there. The price ranges come from very inexpensive to very expensive. All of these options make the 1911 an even more versatile pistol.

Some inexpensive range ammo, also pretty good for self defense.

Great self defense ammo

Shootability - 5 stars - The shootability of this pistol is excellent. The sights line up very easily, the balance is impeccable, the trigger is crisp with very little travel before or after engagement, it is so light feeling it's almost a hair trigger, but not so easy as to be a dangerous. Remington doesn't call it a competition trigger, but it really is. The barrel truly is a stainless steel, 5 inch, bushing balanced competition barrel. the barrel bushing on the R1 is truly useful and really does need the provided bushing wrench to remove the bushing. The spring is strong, thick and well made.

The accuracy is the best I've ever shot, out of my 2nd 7 round clip I shot 3 bullseyes and all 7 shots in a 1 1/2 inch group. The recoil is mild and allows easy re aiming. The clip easily removable and easy to replace, which is great in an emergency.

Weight and Size - 5 stars - The weight being 38.5 ounces or 2 pounds 6 1/2 ounces makes for a beefy, solid, all metal pistol that is not very heavy at all. At 8.5 inches long by 5.5 inches in height, the R1 is easy to carry open or concealed. After all, people have been doing just that with the 1911 for over 100 years.

Additional Accessories - 5 Stars - The holster options, for open, concealed or service carry are almost endless. Their are so many parts made that easily interchange that I couldn't even begin to mention them all here. A 1911 can be outfitted to be a competition accuracy handgun, a hunting, self defense or tactical handgun. The options are pretty much up to what you can imagine.

This particular blog is not a gun review, but on gun law, gun violence and freedom facts. PLEASE READ.

Facts on gun crime and law abiding citizens Constitutional Rights.

The great gun debate seems to be everywhere these days with the liberal left wing and our government using grandstanding and manipulating facts to try to get what they want - a gun free America.

The facts are that are Founding Fathers of this great nation never intended America to be a gun free country. If that where true The Second Amendment would never have been written. it reads; Amendment II -
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

That amendment has no cracks, holes, loopholes or misunderstandings. It is as airtight as the Constitution, The Holy Bible and right to life itself. However, many people from our current president to completely uneducated people and many types of people in between consistently try to make loopholes or say it is old fashioned, outdated or unreasonable. But let me ask you this, without armed citizens, would America ever been more than a collection of colonies still being abused by a tyrannical king? Would the African Americans ever been freed? The answer to both of these questions is a resounding NO. In both The Revolutionary War and The Civil War, Militias formed in individual States and later being formed into an army, The American Army or Colonists in The Revolutionary War and later in The Civil War, were formed by citizens just like you and me bringing THEIR OWN PERSONAL GUNS to fight tyranny and oppression as their Patriotic duty.

Later, yes the Union and Confederate armies supplied some of them with guns, however the original firearms were owned and brought from the soldiers homes. These guns were also what they hunted and protected their families with, then their country. Even after The Civil War had been gong on for years, soldiers used their own money to buy better guns such as The Henry Repeating Rifle and The Colt Dragoon and Navy models to better defend their lives and win the war to free the slaves and keep this great country whole. Why did they need to buy these guns with their personal funds? Because the government would not provide them with them. Given my own research on history, it was not President Lincoln who would not provide these guns, nor was it lack of funds to pay for them, it was the bureaucratic red tape tying Mr. Lincolns hands that stopped our men from getting the war changing repeating cartridge guns that eventually helped win the war.

The 1860 Henry Repeating Rifle

it held 10 round of 

water proof cartridges.

The Henry Rifle also had a sight to help a soldier shoot at different ranges.

When the Confederate soldiers saw this rifle, they called it " That D-mn Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week."

Other founding father quotes about Americans needing to be armed; 

" A free people ought to be armed " - George Washington

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks." - Thomas Jefferson

"The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."

- Thomas Jefferson

These quotes are from some of the most respected men in history. Without them, their would be no U.S.A., or freedom or choice in government. Firearms wouldn't even be an option. We would either be ruled by the British still or the nazi's, Russia or some other tyrant.

One of the arguments that anti gun people try to say is that if you take away guns, you take away gun related crime. This is totally untrue. Most guns used in crime are bought illegally. The guns were stolen or bought and sold from one criminal to another. In the case of fully automatic guns, they are bought from criminal gun runners. 

To get a fully automatic gun, such as a machine gun or Uzi, a law abiding citizen has to go through a long application process and have a really good reason for wanting to own one. A special tax stamp is needed and the persons record has to be almost flawlessly clear. Even then, most are denied and most that are approved have to have the weapon fixed so that they are made either not fire at all or at least are reduced semi automatic.

The fact of the matter is that anyone with a criminal background cannot ever own a fully automatic weapon legally and rightfully so. In Wisconsin, if a person has been convicted of any violent crime, felony, domestic dispute which involved violence, or anyone on parole or probation cannot own a gun and that is also rightfully so. When a person consciencely makes a decision to become a criminal and is convicted by a jury, those lose certain rights. Gun ownership being one of them and rightfully so. No one wants to arm a criminal. That would be insane.

The other side, the law abiding citizens being stopped from owning or carrying guns for protection, be it at home, open carry or concealed carry is also insane.

Let's face it, when a law abiding citizen is stopped from owning a gun, criminal have the advantage. An advantage that they enjoy and exploit. Because the criminals now have an easy target to rob, assault, rape or kill with little resistance since the criminal is illegally armed and the law abiding citizen can't use equal force.

The state of Illinois, and especially the city of Chicago has some of the most restrictive gun laws in America. However, that gun control isn't working in the year 2012 alone there were 3,873 violent gun crimes which include Homicide, shootings and assaults committed by law breaking criminals. That doesn't even include the rapes, gun threats or robberies. 

The saddest part about those statistics in Chicago is that compared to the Afghanistan war, there have been 2196 American deaths in 14 years OF WAR. there obviously is no gun control given to American soldiers during a war. That means that your chances of being killed, wounded or assaulted by a gun criminal in Chicago in one year are higher than if you were in the military engaged in war in 14 years. The law abiding citizen changes of living 14 years at war are better than surviving 1 year in Chicago. Given in Chicago you may survive the shooting, assault, etc. , but most of that is probably because there is better and faster medical care available.

That should tell any reasonably intelligent person that gun control and/or disarming citizens DOESN'T WORK. Those statics are staggering. 

I got these statistics for Chicago from 91.5 Wbez's website, the link is http://www.wbez.org/news/data-behind-chicagos-gun-crimes-108092

I got those Afganistan War info from Wikipedia, the link being http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Forces_casualties_in_the_war_in_Afghanistan

Any simple Google search can provide the info with little effort.

I am fortunate enough to live in Wisconsin, a very gun friendly state. Where Open Carry, Concealed Carry and Home Defense are all legal. Wisconsin is a big hunting and shooting state, we rank  number 26 in studies for gun friendliness. Which is nice, but could be better.

The thing that strikes me as funny is that the law makers and politicians come to Wisconsin or other gun friendly stars when they want to hunt. Also, even though the politicians of Illinois made it illegal for concealed carry among citizens, they made it legal for themselves to conceal carry, a bit of hypocrisy there I'd say. This year, 2014, Illinois passed a law approving concealed carry for citizens, but only after an intensive training coarse, however even people having met the requirements, are not receiving licenses. What else can you expect from a state where many of the politicians end up behind bars?

I have been mostly concentrating a lot on Illinois, since they are the harshest gun law State. But then Connecticut tried one the most absurd laws probably in U.S. history. Earlier this year they demanded that by law all owners of certain types of rifles, mainly the AR15, which happens to be one of the most popular guns in America. This came because AR15's look like a military or assault rifle, but the truth is most AR15's are nothing more than .22 caliber rifles just made to look tough. A .22 caliber is what most kids learn to shoot with, excepting maybe a BB or pellet gun, since it isn't very powerful. However, Connecticut has made it a felony if the rifles aren't registered. 300,000 citizens are refusing to register since that law is unconstitutional. Connecticut is then only left with one choice, which is threatening, and that is to kick in doors in the middle of the night and raid houses with NO WARRANT. That is also unconstitutional. Isn't that one of the many reasons we fought the British for our independence?  Doesn't that sound like nazi Germany, Communist Russia, Communist China or Mussolini's Italy? The theory being, disarm the citizens and the government has complete control through fear.

I studied on this some and the state of Connecticut has 55 million dollars that they allot for prisons in a years budget. If the where to arrest the 300,000 citizens that are refusing to register their guns, Connecticut would have to spend roughly 600 million dollars a year to House all the wrongfully arrested so called felons. There is no way they could afford that. Which tells me, this wasn't well thought out and the politicians must have thought that people were going to just blindly give up their Constitutional rights.

Politician's and some police men act like when we use our Constitutional rights, they are doing us a favor or giving the people a gift by not arresting them. Our rights by the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, be it the Second Amendment or any other right are not gifts, THEY ARE INALIENABLE RIGHTS, FOUGHT AND DIED FOR BY AMERICANS FOR AMERICANS. We, the law abiding citizens, are the people giving them the gift of having a government job, we are the bosses, not the other way around.

Thomas Jefferson said, "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." 

I am going to close with the report below because I think it says a lot. There are still those in law enforcement who will stand for the Rights of the citizens that they work for.



Some lawmen are still or maybe starting to see it this way. 250 law enforcement officers in Connecticut have written a letter saying they refuse to uphold this law because it is UnConstitutional. Here is part of the report.

It is estimated that over 300,000 gun owners have practiced civil disobedience in refusing to register and give up the newly forbidden items. Only roughly 50,000 citizens in the state have complied.

But now these courageous citizens have key support in high places. With at least 250 law enforcement officers joining them in disobeying an unconstitutional law, the gun owners have a new weapon in their arsenal -- the support of hundreds of police officers.

Hardy reported that with the lack of support of police, Connecticut faces massive civilian resistance, with police officers refusing to enforce a law that to most citizens crosses a line that is unacceptable in a free society.

If such a thing can happen in a deeply blue state in New England, what would law enforcement encounter if they attempted such an ill-fated attack on Constitutionally-protected rights in Texas, Wyoming, South Carolina, Utah, or Kentucky?

This is something that the political powers that be in government and law enforcement -- and in the Courts -- should think long and hard about before acting in such a knee-jerk fashion as Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts have done.

The link is, http://www.examiner.com/article/conn-police-refuse-to-enforce-new-gun-laws

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.