Sporting Notes

This Walker Colt is lot #1102 in Rock Island’s Premier Auction #85, May 13-15, 2022. It is estimated to bring from $250,000 to $375,000. Photo courtesy Rock Island Auction Company

Rock Island in Bloom

In the midst of global economic uncertainty and a conventional land war raging in Europe,…
Rimfire progress, from left: The .22 BB Cap, introduced by Flobert in 1845; .22 Short, from Smith & Wesson, 1857; .22 Long (circa 1870, developer unknown) and the later .22 Long Rifle, introduced by the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company in 1887.

The Long and the Short

Way back when, hiking two miles to the general store to buy .22s, I was…
shooting
Not the greatest photo, but it will do. This is a Purdey, with Damascus barrels, dating from 1881. Not quite what you see out of the corner of your eye when focusing on the target, but doing that caused the camera image to blur into vague nothingness. This is actually closer to what the eye perceives. That day on the trap field, nothing was visible except the bead. Nothing.

Tales of the Exceedingly Strange (I)

Shooting by myself, with the Garmin Xero S1 radar unit set up, the goal was…
The two Martinis — the older in back, newer in front. The break in the thumb rest is clearly visible.

The Fraulein’s Final Touch

In Sporting Notes #19 and #37, I gave you a taste of a couple of…
In the absence of a triumphant photo of dead bear cubs in Russia, I offer this from a hacienda in Argentina where the old ways — the good ways — are still followed.

Back in the USSR

Back in what now seems another era, I was invited to go bear hunting in…
Pair of duelling cum target pistols by Kuchenreuter of Regensburg, in Bavaria. Fitted cases with accoutrements do not come much more elaborate or beautifully made — to say nothing of complete — than this one.

The German Connection

Any treatise on duelling pistols invariably begins in London and usually ends up right back…
The two Robert Conquest classics are must-reads for anyone wishing to understand the relationship between Ukraine and Russia. As for Mein Kampf, everyone should read it. You can be sure Vladimir Putin has.

Adolf, Josef, and Vladimir

When I was 15 years old, my cousin married a girl of Ukrainian descent, and…
The old and the new: Would that we could find pull-throughs like the one on the left — a 12-gauge multi-tool from England, made many years ago. On the right: A Wieland-made pull-through for an 11mm rifle. Not elegant, but it’s handy and it works well.

The Fine Art of the Pull-Through

This is a short course on how to produce eminently usable pull-throughs, custom fitted to…
Cutting off .66 inches from the .40-65 case became quick and exact using a proper drill press.

The Care and Feeding of Heidi

A couple of enquiries have arrived, requesting details on exactly how I manufactured ammunition for…
The Werndl action with its rotating breechblock closed. The quality of the materials and workmanship is obvious, and the action itself is ingenious.

A Heidi Report

In my first Sporting Note a couple of weeks ago about Heidi, the sweet little…
A proper reading chair, with good light, in the hours before dawn. The cushion in the window is for the cat, who declined to be photographed.

Mind Travels

Please forgive me for invoking Ernest Hemingway (yet) again, but whenever I start to write…
A Jagdstutzen built on one of the small Werndl actions, probably in the 1880s. The only name on it is Jos. Heinige of Vienna, most likely a high-end gun dealer.

Puzzles Upon Puzzles

It was the name “Werndl” that first grabbed my attention, attached to a very pretty…