New toy

[metalbender]

Been away from casting stuff for a while. Thought I'd get back into it for my new toy. Picked up a Rossi Ranch Hand 44 mag for my new "go to the lake gun' to replace my 94 Marlin. Sold as a rifle here in Canuckland. Just looked like a fun gun to play with. Put on a regular butt stock from Precision to make it more reasonable to shoot. Also put on a Skinner sight, bi-focals and opens don't work so good for me. Loaded up 150 rounds of 200 gr plinking ammo but it's a little cold to go out and play.
http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae4/metalbendr/IMG_2453_zps9c6d131a.jpg
http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae4/metalbendr/IMG_2451_zps3eb6da51.jpg

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Looks like it would be right handy in a boat.. or a car. I was at a Cabelas Friday to get some snow grar and wandered up to the gun sales and there sat several Ranch Hands. I thought.. beyond shooting from the hip what good is that short stock? Well you have the answer.
That would be a fine carbine. Use any pistol powder and you will have one sweet long barreled handgun with a shoulder stock. Yesterday started out at 4 degrees .. I hear your frozen breath as the frozen words fall to the ground.
Mike in ILL

[RugerFan]

Looks like fun! Love those lever actions.

[Rory McCanuck]

Hard to imagine a better rifle for pushing bush.
I've heard a few stories of these shooting very high or low, I forget which, but I think high.
Maybe a strip of electrical tape around the front sight blade would get it on paper?
Something worth keeping in mind if your first shots don't hit paper.
Congrats on a beautiful new rifle, BTW. :D

[larryp]

I've often wondered about going through all the paperwork to make a SBR out of one since Winchester did make a few 12" Trapper 92's. Nice to see what one would look like!

[53caddy]

Have always thought those look great.

[metalbender]

Thanks for the replies. I did change the rear sight to a Skinner peep/ghost ring. Haven't shot it yet with the mods, soon I hope.

[jh45gun]

Nice I bought mine for the pistol aspect of it and I really like it once I did some sight work mine is in 45 Colt since I had the reloading set up for it because I traded my Uberti 45 Colt in to get the Ranch hand. Still too bad the US has a a stupid gun law stating you cannot stock one of these unless you pay the tax.

[Rory McCanuck]

^We have some eye-wateringly stupid gun laws here in Canada, but that one really baffles me!
How does putting a buttstock on justify a tax?!?

[I'll Make Mine]

^We have some eye-wateringly stupid gun laws here in Canada, but that one really baffles me!
How does putting a buttstock on justify a tax?!?

This goes back to gangster days and the original 1934 law; there were a number of gangsters who were infamous for using buttstocked pistols (carry the pistol in one pocket, the stock in another), and at least one who used a full auto converted, stocked, extended magazine 1911 (ballistically like a shorty Thompson, but concealable with the stock removed). The original reasoning seems to have been to give the Feds something, anything, on which to hold known gangsters for whom there wasn't enough evidence to stand up for their real crimes. Get Pretty Boy Floyd on a Federal gun rap, you can at least keep him in sight and out of circulation for a while.

Unfortunately, in the process the Federal law eliminated some very practical weapons completely unrelated to organized crime and gang violence -- like revolvers with removable stocks, which make nice saddle carbines or truck guns, and smoothbore pistols chambered for shotgun rounds, which make good snake protection and small game hunting guns.

A pistol with removable buttstock, in the USA, is in approximately the same category as a rifle with barrel under 16 inches or a shotgun under 18 inch barrel. A permanently mounted buttstock on a pistol, as far as I know, isn't in the same category; the Mare's Leg or Ranch Hand "pistols" converted to full length buttstock would be a problem only if there's some maximum overall length limitation for pistols (which I don't recall running across); the difference is that the buttstock isn't field mountable like, say, the one that came with the artillery model Luger or any of several cap-and-ball revolvers (the latter of which are legal with the demountable stock, because they're not legally firearms).

[jdowney]

This goes back to gangster days and the original 1934 law; there were a number of gangsters who were infamous for using buttstocked pistols (carry the pistol in one pocket, the stock in another), and at least one who used a full auto converted, stocked, extended magazine 1911 (ballistically like a shorty Thompson, but concealable with the stock removed). The original reasoning seems to have been to give the Feds something, anything, on which to hold known gangsters for whom there wasn't enough evidence to stand up for their real crimes. Get Pretty Boy Floyd on a Federal gun rap, you can at least keep him in sight and out of circulation for a while.

Unfortunately, in the process the Federal law eliminated some very practical weapons completely unrelated to organized crime and gang violence -- like revolvers with removable stocks, which make nice saddle carbines or truck guns, and smoothbore pistols chambered for shotgun rounds, which make good snake protection and small game hunting guns.

A pistol with removable buttstock, in the USA, is in approximately the same category as a rifle with barrel under 16 inches or a shotgun under 18 inch barrel. A permanently mounted buttstock on a pistol, as far as I know, isn't in the same category; the Mare's Leg or Ranch Hand "pistols" converted to full length buttstock would be a problem only if there's some maximum overall length limitation for pistols (which I don't recall running across); the difference is that the buttstock isn't field mountable like, say, the one that came with the artillery model Luger or any of several cap-and-ball revolvers (the latter of which are legal with the demountable stock, because they're not legally firearms).


That's a good synopsis.

Ever wonder why we never trust the inevitable calls for "common sense gun regulations"? In stupid laws like this lie the answer. Put common sense back into the existing regulations, and they might see a bit more trust from gun owners concerning new regulations.

[OverMax]

Same thoughts as a previous thread. (I'll Make Mine)

[I'll Make Mine]

Put common sense back into the existing regulations, and they might see a bit more trust from gun owners concerning new regulations.

First, don't forget that sense isn't common. Second, don't forget that the purpose of government isn't to protect or serve the people, it's to preserve and perpetuate power over them, just as the primary goal of an elected official is to win reelection. Gun laws don't exist to prevent crime -- crimes are, by definition, already illegal, and making the penalty stiffer for using a gun during commission of a crime makes as much sense as tacking on an extra $1000 fine for speeding if the car is equipped with rubber tires.

[TXGunNut]

Does seem absurd to risk federal charges by simply putting a rifle stock on a "handgun" but there you have it. That's why all my Contenders are pistols, pretty sure just keeping a buttstock around could be risky in some circumstances. Putting a rifle buttstock makes perfect sense on those "lever action handguns" but I don't see it happening without a bit of paperwork. Be a shame if someone tried that around here and got the attention of an overzealous g-man.

[MtGun44]

Actually, having a Contender with buttstock and long bbls around together has gone all the
way to the US Supreme Court and is OK. Not OK to assemble a short bbled rifle, but OK to
have all the pieces. Supremes basically listened to the government "logic" and said "You're
kidding, right?" and said "get out of here and leave them alone"

Rare moment of sanity in legal matters associated with guns.

So OK to use a Contender frame as either a rifle or pistol and own all the pieces.

Bill