Me Olde Gun Room
This beautiful "hand rifle" began life as a standard Remington XP 100.
When I purchaed it, it had been restocked with this beautiful piece of wood. There is a gunmaker in Texas who goes by the name Speedy Gonzales. He's pretty well known amongst bench rest shooters. In any case, he took this XP 100 and rebarreled it in 7mm. The chamber was cut in 7mm-08.
The bolt was modified with a Sako extractor to ensure good extraction.
The gun is topped with a 2-6 pwr extended eye relief Redfield. A beautiful gun available for $ .
These two guns represent the best in combat .45's. Starting out as new MkIV Series 70, Colt .45 acp., these guns were transformed by Custom Gunsmith Terry Tussey. (Click here to visit Terry's website)
The following is the work that has been done on the guns:
Fixed Low Profile Sights have been added and sighted in. Terry's RELIABILITY PACKAGE, which includes, Polish feed ramp, throat the barrel, tune the extractor and polish the bolt face. The hammer was lightened and the ejection port was lowered and flared. Terry then performed one of his fantastic trigger jobs. The magazine well has been flared.
The completed guns were then parkerized with a military finish to withstand abuse.
The guns are valued at $1000.00 before Tussey's Magic. His current charges for the work done on these pistols exceeds $1400.00 each. You can buy these guns for $2000.00 each. They are identical.
The guns are valued at $1000.00 before Tussey's Magic. His current charges for the work done on these pistols exceeds $1400.00 each. You can buy these guns for $2000.00 each. They are identical.
ACTOR GEOFFREY LEWIS
Terry Tussey has also made guns for character actor Geoffrey Lewis who says:
"I picked up my .45 from you yesterday. This morning I put 150 rounds through it - some reloads, some factory. I am reminded of the scene in the film 'Crocodile Dundee' when the mugger accosts Crocodile and his girlfriend with a knife. Crocodile pulls out his superior knife saying to the mugger 'That's not a knife. This is a knife!'
Well, after shooting the new gun, if someone comes up to me and says, "Look at this gun I have." I can say, "That's not a gun - this is a gun!" And I'll hold up my Tussey .45!
Geoffrey Lewis, Actor
I love these guys. As a Marine I trained regularly with them. I've learned what makes them fail and what it takes to make 'em rock.
You might say I am a sucker for 'em. This first one is nothing special. It's a .45 Government Model, Mk IV Series 70. It's a beautiful gun and shoots like a champ. This one has Trijicon Combat Sights installed.
I'm one of those guys who thinks that this is the last real 1911 that Colt made.
Everyone knows the standard cowboy gun. The peacemaker. THE gun that one the west. Not everyone knows that there was a special edition named after the famous Bisley Match in England. The same SAA was equipped with grips more suited for target shooting.
To me this gun is far more elegant than the standard Colt. In additon to the grips, notice the hammer. To me, this is so much more pleasing to the eye.
This particular gun was originally blued. It has weathered very nicely and I am quite pleased with the patina's color and uniformity. I am currently waiting for a letter from Colt giving it's specific background.
Notice the smoothness of the grips. These were originally checkered and have worn smooth from holster wear and handling. It is easy to fanticize as to where this gun has been.
This is just a beautiful little gun. This Colt Model of 1878 was made famous by Billy the Kid. He is seen carrying one in the only authenticated photo that exists of him.
This particular model is quite beautiful in me. The blueing and original color case hardening are all gone and has left a black/dk blue finish. The gun is rare in .41 calibre but just seems so much more serious. The gun itself was called the Lightning by Colt and the .41 calibre earned the nickname of Thunderer.
This gun is also awaiting a Colt letter.
Both this Colt and the earlier Bisley have both been checked out by a gunsmith who specializes in these old guns and after setting the timing and replacing a part they have both been blessed as "ready to shoot".
There is a lot of interest in old Colt and they can get awfully expensive. There's a lot of debate as to whether these guns should be refinished or not. Both of these guns are perfectly suited for full restoration. The steel is all good, corners are shart where they should be.
These guns both have a natural patina that developed over the last century. Often guns, such as these are "splotchy" or stained badly. Both of these were spared that outcome and as a result have a beautiful finish that easily stands the rigors of use. It would be a shame to refinish them. They would then need to be put away to preserve the investment. Not so with these. They shoot as well! But the truth is, that out of respect for their age I don't shoot them anymore.
Cosmetically it's a great substitute for the original Colts. It looks pretty much the same. The nice thing about it is that you can play with it to your hearts content and not have to concern yourself with destroying an heirloom.
The real reason I wanted it was because I wanted the Birdshead. I saw one on Tombstone. Val Kilmer carried one and I decided I had to have one. The Birdshead grip is actually a modern knock off of the Birdshead grip on the above Model 1878DA. Colt never made an original gun SAA with a Birdshead.
There are a few rare late model Colts that were produced by the Custom Shop that have Birdsheads and I am looking for one. In the mean time I've got this.
Early model Colt Python in Nickel. These guns are famous as having the smoothest trigger available on a revolver. The above referenced Terry Tussey did an exquisite action job on this one. It is like butter.
This gun has a very special place in my heart. I spent over thirty years in the investigative/bodyguard field. The bodyguard days were a long time ago. This gun spent an awful lot of time on my ankle.
The short barrel and the flatness of this Colt make it a perfect carry gun. Maybe a bit heavy by today's standards but is still one of the most copied firearms out there. Refined from John Brownings original design this gun carried our troops through WWI, WWII, Korea and Viet Nam.
Today many Special Ops Operators still insist on carrying this same basic weapon.
This particular one is brushed nickel. Before Colt discovered stainless steel they had brushed nickel. This is a great example of early Series 70 gun.
I've probably killed way too many rattlers in my day but I still couldn't pass up on these guys.
A great example of todays modern technology. This gun is so light it's hard to take seriously. It's not a long range gun my any stretch but it does what it's intended to really well. I plan to purchase can (suppressor) for this gun as they are really quiet.
