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Thunderbird revolver

The Cody Thunderbird revolver: The face of innovation

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↓ 236 comments

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

• History
• Design
• Innovation
• Sights
• Disassembly
• Safety
• Flaws
• Summary

Thunderbird revolver
The Cody Thunderbird revolver was produced at the end of the 1950s.

Want a look behind the scenes at what it’s like to write a blog? Yesterday, for example, I was about to test the Webley Rebel for accuracy, when everything fell apart. I will explain what happened when I do the report on the Rebel, but suffice to say I wasted 90 minutes fiddling around and getting nowhere.

That’s when I punt. I’d been wanting to cover the Cody Thunderbird revolver for a long time, so here it goes!

History
The 1950s were a time of great prosperity in the U.S. People were working, businesses were being started; and in the world of firearms, the future seemed bright. A number of companies were making .22 rimfire guns, including the toymaker Wamo and Sheridan, the airgun manufacturer.

In Chicopee, Massachusetts, a firm that was making M1 Garand parts under contract to the defense department was approached by a New York City company and asked to manufacture a 6-shot revolver called the Thunderbird. The new company was called the Cody Manufacturing Corporation, and they used an American Bison as their trademark.

Design
Like many other firearm makers of the time, they would manufacture the new gun as inexpensively as possible so the retail price could be low. The design was new and not a copy of anything then being produced. At its heart, the Thunderbird is a 6-shot revolver that fires both in single-action and double-action modes. Double-action is a problem, however, because of a trigger linkage that wasn’t sorted out in the development stage. The DA pull is 35-40 lbs. and cannot be lightened without modifying the gun. The single-action pull is more on the order of 6-7 lbs., with reasonable crispness.

To cut down on manufacturing costs, steel in the gun appears only where necessary. The barrel is a thin steel tube that’s rifled with a right-hand twist of what I must assume is 1:16″. The barrel’s enclosed in an aluminum housing that was easier and faster to machine plus reduced the weight of the gun. My 4-inch barreled model weighs 19 oz., though the Cody ad says it should weigh 22 oz.

Thunderbird revolver barrel
The actual barrel is a thin steel liner.

The gun came with barrel lengths of 2.5 inches, 4 inches and 6 inches. It came in two finishes, Brylite Black, which is a shiny black that’s on my gun, and polished aluminum Hybrite, which simulates polished chrome. The one-piece grip is made from reddish-brown plastic and features checkered panels with the company bison on both sides.

Thunderbird revolver ad
Ad from September 1957 “Guns” magazine.

Innovation
The interesting parts of the gun are a front sight that adjusts for elevation and the method of construction that allows disassembly for cleaning the cylinder and barrel in seconds without tools. This is also one of the world’s few revolvers with a safety! Let’s look at the sights first.

Sights
The front sight blade is hinged on a pivot so it swings back to present a high blade for close work (gun will point down) and swings forward for distance shooting. But it doesn’t end there. There’s a slotted screw the size of an eyeglass frame screw in front of the front sight that allows fine adjustments up and down when the sight is swung forward.

Thunderbird revolver sight back
Front sight flipped back for close range.

Thunderbird revolver sight forward
Front sight flipped forward for long distance.

Thunderbird revolver sight screw
Turn that screw in to raise the front sight blade when forward.

The rear sight is a fixed notch, but it’s also the latch that locks the revolver closed. To open it for extracting, ejecting and loading, the rear sight is lifted up. Then, the barrel breaks down and causes something called the starwheel to rise and extract the cartridges from their chambers in the cylinder.

Thunderbird revolver broken open
As the gun breaks open, the “starwheel” rises to extract the cartridges.

Disassembly
The gun disassembles for cleaning in seconds without tools. Simply break open the barrel and rotate the cylinder by hand while pulling it up at the same time. When you reach the right point, the cylinder lifts up off its arbor and you have access to it and to the barrel.

Thunderbird revolver cylinder out
It takes a second to remove the cylinder like this for cleaning.

Safety
Finally — this revolver has a safety! Safeties are rare on revolvers, and none work like this one. Pushing it up locks the action if the hammer is down. But if the hammer is back, the safety does nothing. So its only function is to prevent the gun from being cocked and fired single-action or the trigger being pulled for double-action when the hammer is down.

Thunderbird revolver gun safety
Take a good look, because outside of a British mystery, you aren’t likely to see a safety on a revolver again!

Flaws
As clever as the Thunderbird is, it has several major flaws. First is the extremely heavy double-action mode that was explained earlier. Nothing can be done about that. An article in the book Pistols/A Modern Encyclopedia says that it can be corrected with gunsmithing, but the author had obviously never seen the gun in person. The linkage is just not suited to a good double-action pull.

Another big shortcoming is in the fit of the cylinder to the barrel. The cylinder-to-barrel gap is approximately 0.028 inches, or 28 thousandths. That’s 6 times larger than it should be! A tight gun would have a gap of 0.002 inches, and a loose gun would be 0.006 inches. With this gun, you can count on getting hit with shaved lead as the bullets enter the barrel.

But the final flaw is the most serious, because it affected every gun that left the factory. The gun’s frame is aluminum and the action parts are steel, which set up electrolysis in each and every gun! Without fail, all the parts were welded together over time. Every gun will have this problem. The only solution is disassembly, cleaning and protection with something like Ballistol.

Summary
When it was selling, the Thunderbird cost $29.95 in black or $32.50 in polished aluminum. That was expensive for 1957. While it had many exciting and innovative features, it seems to me like a real shooter never had a voice in its design. Innovation by itself can’t sell a gun. It also has to work.

I’ve taken a design similar to the front sight of the Thunderbird to many airgun manufacturers. They could make a rifle muzzlebrake that would be smooth for scoped rifles, yet have a front sight that pops up when open sights are used. They all ignored the idea! Yet, such sights have been on rimfire rifles since before the middle of the last century!

Several months ago, I wrote a report that said that many of the good ideas come from the past, and this is one example. Until airgun manufacturers learn what was done years ago and try to apply it to the guns of today, they’ll be missing out on a major source of wonderful ideas.

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.
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236 thoughts on “The Cody Thunderbird revolver: The face of innovation”

  1. The first firearm I owned was a Mossberg 44US presented to me on my (I think) 14th birthday by my Dad, purchased from Uncle Harlen.
    I’m well into my late ’60s and I still have it. Probably be the last one to go.
    While it’s clearly a target rifle (you wouldn’t want to walk far in the woods with this one,) it has a few interesting features that would be quite useful today. Not the least is a cunningly designed springloaded rear sight that easily folds sideways to both clear itself for scope usage but also minimizes sight damage from the inevitable thumps and whackage of transport. Add a very neat “Dirt/dust guard cover” affixed to and moving with the bolt, keeping at least the big chunks out of the action. Possibly the second neatest feature, however is the hooded front sight that conceals 3 different posts (including a ring sight) that are instantly interchangable merely by sliding hood off and swinging your new choice into position. Cool.
    I must say, the best feature was one I discovered msybe twenty years ago. The original finish was tolerable (barely) but a sort of semi-transparent bright red color, not too dissimilar from Chinese “Chu” wood. (Why do the Chinese do that? Being from Nebraska, I wonder if it’s somehow related to the Cornhuskers “Go Big Red!” cheer only referring to Mao:)
    But once the finish was stripped, there was actually quite the nice piece of wood under there. Refinished with a nice walnut stain it came out really pretty. Who knew?

          • Had to buy a Chinese Tasco to “bundle” the price down a bit…..LOL. I love these & the early Bushnell Scope chiefs with variable power.I appreciate the dovetailed bottom of the tube allowing crazy fore-aft adjustment range.Where did that great design go by the wayside?? (rhetorical)

            Spellcheck thinks I mean Taco not Tasco.:)

            • I have had good luck with TASCO scopes. In my opinion, they are a good deal for the money.
              I have broken a lot of scopes by using them on springers before they settle down. The TASCOs have never failed. They are available in 30, 40, and 50mm for under $50 apiece.

              Les

    • My blaze np had that same red “paint” stain on it, underneath was a gorgeous burl tiger striping that became almost holographic laminated style after staining sanding staining sanding tattoo blue, sanding light staining and sanding then finishing. It looks like a 300$ gun. With all the tuning it feels like one shooting too.

      • So it worked out well for you eh? I didn’t recall a name for the gun when I shared the guitar finishing video. Sounds like you’ve put a lotta work in that thing! Isn’t that the same gun you did the smooth twist mod on?
        Cool!

        • Yup, same one, basically an optimus rebranded if Im not mistaken. That one won’t be sold, remember Im actually keeping my guns now? Lol, and that ones a beaut. I got the piston out of the 95, found a 24 inch bar clamp that I didn’t really need, the end cap was just hammered in tight, the piston has no preload ti speak of. Thinking of lightening the piston head and the piston itself was getting gualed horribly so the hones been done, had a perfect paint scraper inside the head tube at the slot. The stock sitting there is tempting to sand, but don’t want it out of commision that long right now.

      • More often than not the factory finish on wood stocks are horrid. I have seen some very nice refinish jobs on Marauder stocks. My Izzy 46M has a very nicely shaped and finished grip. My 1906 BSA has a tiger stripe walnut stock that would be awesome with a little work, but I am most reluctant to mess with it, however I have two FWB300s with walnut stocks that desperately need some work.

            • Im about to tear that one down again and lighten up the piston by a few grains here or there, I did get the 95 out and the piston itself was getting gauled bad ny the slot in the head, all polished and honed cleaned up and put back together real nice. Oh yeah, its super smooth and easy to cock, but that also might be because, umm, I ,uh, inadvertently depressurized the piston… ?? Ooops

              • So yes, bb was right they can be detuned! The screw that lets the pressure out is exposed right next to the pins in the back and it looks like any other screw your need to remove to dissassemble.

                • RDNA
                  And I was going to ask how that happened.

                  So now what.Was it nitrogen that came out then? Are you going to repressurize with compressed air or what?

                  Sorry about the misfortune but this is getting interesting.

                  • I think it was nitrogen but I also am not sure if the vortex specifys, I did see a utube video of a guy pumping one up with a bike pump so it may be refillable, but if turning the screw let it right out I don’t know how you could hold the pressure in to replace the screw. I think my best bet will be a steel spring which might work out to get a little more power too. I inquired with hatsan right away about buying a vortex or a spring separate. I think it might do better with a good spring over the gas. Bad timing too, like I said, otherwise its literally in tip top shape.

                    • RDNA
                      I read some reviews and the metal spring version of the gun is supposed to be a better shooter than the nitro gun. I don’t know if that’s true but its worth a try.

                      You would think they would put a one way check valve there where that pressure port was on the nitro piston.

                    • Me too! It may help if the thing is as overpowered as I think it may be but the equipment to repressurize it would seem overwhelming without access to HPA and fittings.

                    • I actually did try to leave my suggestion again but was sent to the top of the page, which tells me it went to the spam folder. I hope I don’t get banned but I really wanna help fix this gun.I just don’t trust myself to remember it!

          • LOL! I may have to take you up on that. I do have a couple of FWB300 stocks that I need to get to, but have not had time yet. I will certainly keep you in mind on that.

  2. Dielectric grease should also work to prevent corrosion between the Aluminum and steel parts. It should be readily available where automotive parts are sold.

    Pete

      • Like them or not, they work well for many people. I’ve seen 50’s shot with them, some by people in their 70’s, offhand and with flintlocks in many cases. Some matches disallow them, so you know they are advantageous. I really like the ones on my D34; they work fine at 50 yards. I suppose they could be inferior for shooting tightest groups, but that is scope work. Have you ever tried fiber optic sights? I hated them until I had no choice, and I still won’t put them on a muzzle for aesthetic reasons, but they have their place!

        • Tritium sights on a combat weapon are nice, but I am the kind of guy who shoots target mostly and as far as I can. Those glowey thingy sights are great for quick shots, but I don’t rush the shot. I want to hit the squirrel in the eye, not the belly. I will let the shot go first.

          I mostly use scopes or target peeps. I have some real nice notch sights on my 1906 BSA.

        • That’s the thing the aesthetics, function doesn’t trump aesthetics, but I personally dint find any better with glows over irons, or the other way, so why not leave em looking nice?

          • I think the jury is still out on the form or function argument about glowey thingy sights. An example is the RWS Diana air rifles versus the Diana air rifles. The glowey thingy sights are popular on this side of the pond where we have an ongoing love affair with the Mattelomatic and gagetry.

          • Bugga. I meant to hit Check Spelling, not Post Comment.

            Also, the plastic molded sights are considerably cheaper than the machined steel variety. When you are building a few hundred or a few thousand of something, the cost differential can really add up. More often than not, the same sights will be used on more than one model, further increasing savings.

            On the other side of the pond the thinking is more like mine. They will very likely buy only one air rifle, therefore they will want the absolute best quality they can afford. They are going to want something that can be passed down to their children, and their children.

            I for one am glad to see Diana has begun to export a more premium grade to this side of the pond than is offered through RWS. One of the reasons I have not purchased a RWS 34 is those glowey thingy sights!

            Now my task of selecting which sproinger to buy has become more difficult. Do I go with Air Arms, Weihrauch, Walther or Diana? If FWB comes to their senses, I might even have to consider it.

            • RR

              I am giving the Diana 34 Premium a good look as my next breakbarrel. The HW50S in .177cal is also in the running even though it is not as powerful as the Diana I like the lower cocking force and really 820 ft/sec is plenty for plinking and target shooting. I just bought the 460 Magnum so its going to be a while till I save for the next one.

              David

              • David
                I got the HW50s in .177 caliber and its a smooth easy to use gun. And it knocks my 1.500″ steel spinners at 50 yards with authority. It has 4 on the bottom and one on the top that resets them. It has no problems resetting them. Some other guns I have had wouldn’t reset them at 50 yards.

                • Gunfun,

                  I won’t be shooting that far my max safe distance is about 23yds. The HW50S that Mac tested back in 2010 for the blog seemed a bit pellet fussy how is the one you own?

                  David

                  • David
                    It stays pretty much at a inch or under at 50 yards. 25 and under it will touch the pellet’s always.

                    I use the JSB Exact Heavy Diabolo 10.34 grn. pellets. They are the funny shaped ones. I think they were shooting in the mid 700 fps zone. Its been a while since I chronyed it. But its a smooth shoot’n gun.

                  • David
                    That has been one of those pellets that no matter what gun I try them in they work. And I tried them in a bunch of different guns.

                    But as soon as I say that somebody will try them and they wont work and say what the heck Gunfun1.

                    But seriously they have been a good pellet.

  5. I agree, one of the things we are currently missing out of in the air gun world is a low pressure medium or big bore air rifle.

    Giardoni did it, we should be able to duplicate it.

    I believe, in the fast evolving PCP world, that PSI is the new FPS.

    In the springer world, FPS sells, regardless of how hard it is to get the gun to shoot accurately.
    And in the PCP world, everyone is touting a 3000 psi fill or higher, with only a few shots.

    Give us a 1000 psi fill, .375 (It would use .36 caliber revolver sized balls) or .40 caliber round ball, 10 shot repeater.

    You would sell tens of thousands of them.
    Look to the past, to build the future..

      • I think it was Ridgerunner that brought up the liege lock not long ago that led me to search it and ultimately to that blog which I thoroughly enjoyed! Somewhat intricate and groundbreaking design using spring pressure and geometry to lengthen lift duration of the valve, The mechanism was so big it couldn’t be fit inside a receiver hence it’s nickname “outside lock”. Right ?
        And apparently No’one wants to build another for the price consumers are willing to pay, especially Dan Quackenbush?

    • The reservoir would probably be considered huge by today’s standards and an electric solenoid would most likely be necessary due to large volume of air needed but I’d be saving for one, so long as they could keep the price below $500(not happening!). Sound a little like the Rogue? Guess I’ll have to build my own.

    • I have been wanting such for years!

      Back in the late nineties Dennis Quackenbush built several, but they did not sell well. That was before I was into airguns and did not know anything about them or I would have snatched one up.

      I would love to find an airgunsmith with the knowledge who would be willing to build one. I have been working on a design, but I lack the knowledge of the action internals. Mike Reames builds a CO2 rifle that is almost exactly what I want, but it would need to be redesigned to use air instead of CO2.

      • Hey RR! That one was really ahead of it’s time……the ONLY reason was timing I think.I had letter H of the first batch.Neat little gun for sure! Mine had interchanging .375 & .410 smoothbore.I was offered so much $$ for it I let it go.Yes,I miss having it…..I never got to experiment with the 410.

        • Ahh man! You just had to rub that in!

          I think Dennis’ timing on those was off. At the time there was some collector interest, but there was not much big bore interest. Today there is a rapidly growing big bore interest. Not only the collectors, but the big bore group would be interested in such. The bad thing is that it took Dennis so long to sell those off, he will not even consider going near them again. Also, he just does not have the time. The demand for his air rifles is so great, he cannot make enough. I have seen him show up at an airgun show with air rifles that had not been claimed and they were sold before he could get them out of the cases.

          • I really had to empty my wallet for the DAQ’s I acquired but I’m thrilled with what I have today…..and miss the ones I let go of.Ever see a fully shrouded .308 Exile?? How about matching .25 Knave with exhibition walnut and .25 brush gun with grade 4 walnut?? So much for retirement savings LOL!

            • I may have to upset the wife next time I have the opportunity to snatch up a couple of his rifles. I almost bought them. One was a .308 and the other was a .458 and I could have picked them both up for about $1300.

              The thing is I did not really want them. Yes, I would have liked to have played with them for a couple of days, but keep them in my “collection”, no. I would want to resell them quickly and build up my “toy” fund to buy something that would stay in my “collection”, something like that open lock.

    • Like you and BB said, they made that hundreds if years ago and could be made today but I think the problem is it would be made with a thousandth of the care and thought as the giradoni or the outside lock rifle. If any gun today could be worth 100,000$ in a hundred years we would have some nice guns.

  6. Tom,

    Call me crazy, but I have always considered top-break revolvers the coolest looking of all revolver types. I know there are limitations to the design, but to me a top-break S&W, Iver Johnson, or Harrington & Richardson top break .32 or .38 with four inch barrel is stunningly good looking.

    Therefore, to my eyes, this Cody is as good looking as a handgun gets.

    Michael

    • When I was a kid my brother and I had a crawlspace access panel in our closet floor. It somehow went missing one day while we were supposed to clean the room 🙂 . We made record time that time but years later a leak developed and the access was not so accessible for adult size persons. About 2 hours later as an old mummy sleeping bag was being lifted I noticed some scaly muscular rippling with a diamond shaped pattern under me. My brother was between me and the access, as quietly as possible I told him “Snake get out”. Thankfully my Grandfather was down as an adviser on the matter and promptly retrieved an old 9 shot break-top revolver from his glovebox. Fortunately he had it loaded with shorts because those 9 shots went off so smooth and fast that,although we had our hands over our ears the noise still had us deafened as we retrieved the 6′ offender, a chicken snake riddled with holes and almost severed in several places.
      That’s been over 30 years now and the gun has been handed down to my Father(sure do hope he sees fit to hang on to it for the same purpose). I’ve been checking out the H&R’s since and seen a couple in the $125 range that I almost snatched up. I’ll never forget that gun! Every time I see another break-top I’m reminded of that day and renews my desire to have one all over again.
      I want one!
      Thanks for sharing B.B!

      Reb

      • Tom and Reb,

        In 1926 my great-grandpa treated himself to a brand new, nickel plated (swing out, obviously) Colt Police Positive (.32 with 4 inch barrel — the Paul Kersey gun) to celebrate his making Lieutenant on the Milwaukee police force. He then kept his first revolver, from when he joined as a patrolman around the turn of the century, as a spare. It was a .32 as well, according to my dad. The Colt is still in the family as an heirloom, but I think somehow the earlier gun just dematerialized over the decades. It had to be a bargain brand top break, probably an Iver Johnson or H&R.

        Drool, drool, drool. And I’m exclusively an airgunner. But of all powder-burners out there . . .

        Michael

          • Reb
            That 32 special is a nice little gun and caliber but I would not use it as an every day carry pistol as when I worked at Harley our manager of riding gear and equipment used to be a police man and always wore a heavy leather biker type jacket that the leather was almost a 1/4 inch thick and weighs about 30 pounds. he told us of several occasion where he was shot at by a criminal with a 32 or 25 caliber pistol at 15 to 20 feet away and the bullets bounced off the leather jacket. he was bruised were the bullets hit but they did not penetrate the leather.

            My minimal concealed carry caliber is a 380 auto with split nose hollow points or a 9mm because a 32 or 25 does not have enough power to penetrate a heavy leather jacket.

            Buldawg

            • Easy fix! Don’t shoot at the jacket! There are many good reasons why leather is the #1 choice for abrasion resistance for Bike riders and stunt-persons. And they’re why it was used as the first armor. If I’m 15′ from someone I deem as a viable threat I’m not gonna take a chance on a body shot stopping them before they can close the other 15′ with any caliber. But I’m still in love with that PPK my Dad carries in .380 and would be more inclined to carry a pistol rather than a revolver anyway.

              • Reb
                I agree that it is still a caliber that is capable of killing a person but was just commenting that the smaller calibers do not have the power to have good penetration on certain materials and with a criminal charging you at 15 feet away you have less than a second to aim and pull off a head shot before they are on top of you and I don’t know about you but in a situation like that I would rather have a caliber of sufficient power to be able to hit the larger target of the body mass with less chance for a miss in the second or two that you have to fire a round off than to have to aim effectively at a much smaller target and have the confidence and proficiency to hit that small target in a panic type crisis situation.

                There are advantages and disadvantages to a revolver or a semi auto that have there plus’s and minus’s that make one or the other better in a given situation. A revolver can not jam or fail to feed, but it can misfire and is limited in the number of rounds it can be loaded with. A semi auto carries more rounds, but can jam or fail to feed as well as misfire so each has its good and bad virtues. For self defense I prefer a semi auto as it holds more rounds and I am comfortable and experienced enough to be able to clear a jam or fail to feed/ misfire quickly and get the gun back into operational status. If I am going out of my local town area traveling I carry my P89 9mm 15+1 semi auto with two extra mag on my person so if I cannot stop a threat with 46 rounds then it is my day to die. Around town I carry a colt mustang 380 with 7+1 rounds as it fit in my back pocket nicely and is very easy to acquire quickly and aim easily. I do have a CCP permit that is good in 28 states.

                Buldawg

                • I don’t have a concealed carry permit but Tx law states that if you are carrying X amount of $ across county lines you are legal to carry a firearm. So almost everyone is legal to have one in their posession while traveling any real distance. I don’t have a handgun at all but probably will change that ASAP due to my condition. when I was on the road I carried a Baikal 9X18 but never had to pull it. I’m not a very big guy(5’3″ &130#) but never experienced a situation I lost that much control of. Even with $15,000 in my pockets

                  • Reb
                    I only have a CCP because here in Alabama it is only 20 bucks and a 24 hour background check by the local sheriffs office and you are given one that has reciprocity in 28 states including Texas. I have never needed to use one of my carry pistols either but then I am 5 foot 10″ and right at 220 pounds. before my health condition s started a year ago I was 200 pounds and in much better shape, so most would be bad guys will pick a easier target than me. When I was 18 and fresh out of high school I was 210 pounds of solid muscle from riding dirt bikes for 5 years and could bench press 450 pounds ten reps and leg press 750 pounds ten reps and pick up my 210 pound dirt bike over my head and press it like a dumbbell so there was not to many issues that ever presented them selves to me that required me to become defensive. Although one time at Orlando sports stadium when we went to watch the WWF wrestling matches back when Dusty Rhodes and rick flair were the big name wrestlers there was a match between Bob Roop and Bob Orton and the Brisco brothers and of course Bob Roop and Bob Orton cheated and won the match and when they were walking out of the ring where everybody gathers on each side my buddies that I was there with that had wrecked his bike a week before and was on crutches went and stood in the liner of people and threw a 32 ounce beer in Bob Orton’s face so Orton picked him up ( he is about your size ) and threw him into the row of chairs and when I saw that and after about four of those 32 dollar beers in me I ran up behind bob Orton and did a backwards soufflé on him on the concrete floor and knocked him out cold. We got thrown out of the sports stadium and was told never to come back, but I did not see bob Orton in a wresting match for 6 months after his encounter with me that night, he should have not laid his hands on my best friend.

                    Buldawg

                    • Wow! You’s a big one! I maxed myself @ 204 on the bench press while I was 110# but leg pressed 750 quite a few times in high school before I fractured my sacrum.

                  • Reb
                    Looking back do you wonder why you fractured you sacrum by leg pressing 750 pounds with only being 110# yourself. I would have thought your femurs or ankles would have given out first.

                    You remind me of one of my friends growing up that was about your size and we would arm wrestle and I could beat him about 5 or 6 times and then he would start to beat me because while I was twice his size and weight he had more tendon strength than I did so while my muscles tired his tendons did not and he could continue to contract them many more time than I could my muscles and after he wore me down he could pin my arm with ease.

                    Buldawg

                    • I instantly knew why as I tried to keep from breaking the whole stack by slowly lowering it rather than folding up and dropping it but it took me years to know what exactly happened and how bad it would eventually get but I still don’t think I’d do things much different. I actually set a company record for most pull-ups in 30 seconds when I tried out for Combat Control(Special ForcesUSAF)at 14, due to all but knocking myself out by hitting my chin on the bar on #12.
                      I’m a Taurus and we just can’t stand being beat.
                      Mess with the bull ya get the horns!

                      Reb

                  • Reb
                    That’s just the same way the friend of mine was you did not tell him he could not do it because if you did you may as well get out of the way and watch him do just what you said he could not do even if it almost killed him.

                    I am a lot the same way and have always believed that I was ten feet tall and invincible until just over a year ago when all my health issues hit me at once and knocked the wind out of my sails literally overnight. I still have a hard time giving in to my health problems and end up paying for it much like you do at times.

                    Buldawg

    • Michael
      I agree completely as my Iver Johnson 32 special 5 shot revolver that was obtained by my grandfather when he was a bank president in grafton West Virginia and it was robbed, he asked the sheriff if he could have the pistol after the trial was over and was no longer needed for evidence. he was given the gun and it has been past down thru the generations of out family. It is what is known as a Saturday night special.

      Buldawg

  7. What a statement to how things go in the world of product design, take a few good ideas (prime rib) and throw it in the meat grinder with fast execution and cheap materials (chicken feathers) and claim best new hamburger in town! The front sight is awesome, Id love to see a bulletproof version on anything, internals welding together? Who could have predicted that?

    • RDNA,

      This isn’t the only gun to have problems with electrolysis. The Schimel CO2 pistol had a similar problem. Many of them break apart when someone tries to repair them today, because their dissimilar parts are welded so tight!

      B.B.

  8. I came fairly close to losing my job over an argument with a manager who told me that aluminum calipers couldn’t go bad. The guy already didn’t like me so I was treading lightly but I opened the Summit racing catalog we always had on the counter to the page that sacrificial anodes were offered and asked him what they were for. I still had to shove the pistons back in and was furnished a hardware kit along with fresh pads to install, but the look on his face was Priceless. Shame this gun suffers from the same phenomenon but it’s the constant expansion & contraction caused by heating/cooling cycles that creates the static charges that can weld or pit the parts and the only solution that I know of is a sacrificial part. How would one direct the charge in a gun?
    I really like break-top revolvers and this one has some cool features as well as light weight but if they’re all doomed to this fate I guess I’ll dodge ’em and just find a Sportsman.

  9. The new company was called the Cody Manufacturing Corporation, and they used an American Bison as their trademark.

    How (un)subtle…

    American bison, commonly called the buffalo… and a company named “Cody”… as in “Buffalo Bill” Cody…

  11. Tom,

    I’m wondering if the bonding between the aluminum and steel parts might be from explosion or friction welding rather than induction bonding.

    Regardless, are there not revolvers made today that have a mix of steel (cylinder) and aluminum (frame) components?

    Michael

  12. Okay, here I go acting purely the heretic, but I’m pretty sure electrolysis has a bit more to do,with it than just simply putting two dissimilar metals together. There HAS to be at least a third factor involved. and if I recall the building-of-a-carbon-zinc-D-cell project in junior high shop class, that had to be an acidic solution of some sort to actually generate the “electro” part of electrolysis. One also sees electrolysis when mixed gold and silver coins are recovered after a century or two living in seawater. And the there’s the potato clock…
    To support my (firearms related) thesis, I hereby present past and current witnesss, namely one each Colt Light-Weight Commander, Colt Cobra, Colt Agent, and the black-sheep of the crowd, a Smith and Wesson Airweight Bodyguard. All have aluminum frames with a great number of steel parts in intimate and energetic contact, both in action and in storage. None of these items has any sort of reputation for electrolysis, rather instead being corrosion resistant, not prone to “welding” themselves together. (Colt even tried a .38 revolver for the Air Force with an aluminum cylinder in an aluminum frame…turned out to be a realy bad idea.)
    I seem to recall NASA (apparently belatedly) discovered aluminum componets in direct contact in a vacum had a rather quick proclivity to “meld ” themselves together. Embarrasing to find you can’t open the door to get out of your recently landed Space Shuttle.
    But there are a lot of alloys out there and a lot of metallurgical knowledge that I know I lack. I would suggest the problem was more a matter of improper alloy or worse than that, no alloy at all selected for tha frame. While raw aluminum may be a tempting material to select for manufacturing…on paper anyway (easy to machine, and the fabrication tools last forever, ) it certainly doesn’t wear well. But as most of us know, it starts to oxidize almost immediately and I would guess that has always been the problem. In othe words, not electrolysis but rather oxidation of raw or improper aluminum alloy is the culprit here.
    But Balistol would still likely work just as well. 🙂

    • I think it’ mainly a matter of expansion rates and trying to keep them the same between the 2 dissimilar metals. That’s where the static charge comes from.
      Interesting about the suddenly locked shuttle door 🙂 .

      Reb

    • Its probably the low quality of the steel, its definitely not smooth stainless so friction, rimfire having more residue and unburnt powder, the gap between the cylinder and bore….

      • I tried to swap another lawnmower motor again the other day. At least one of the 3 steel mounting bolts always breaks off regardless of heating the aluminum to the point I thought it was gonna run down on the grass-(micro fusion?) or welded seems an accurate enough term to me.

        • Reb
          At Harley when we put steel into aluminum it either got some anti seize on the threads such as in spark plugs into the cylinder heads or on case and cylinder parts it was blue Loctite for fasteners that would need removed for normal service work or red Loctite on fasteners such as cylinder studs. There was no steel bolts that went into aluminum that either the bolt was zinc coated or had Loctite or anti seize applied to it first to prevent corrosion and electrolysis to occur.

          I may be wrong but for electrolysis to occur between dissimilar metals there has to be some form of electrical charge occur in the metal such as a dc battery or an ac power source that is using the metal as a pathway for the electrical current to flow thru so a gun has no form or way to produce an electrical charge and therefore the bonding/welding of dissimilar metals was clearly from heat when fired or moisture in the air that would cause oxidation between the two metals.

          Buldawg

          • Mmuahahahaha!

            Please allow me to play the devil’s advocate here. When two dissimilar materials are “rubbed” against each other, a static charge is produced. By rubbing lead and/or copper against steel and steel against aluminum, a static charge will be produced.

            Having said that, your explanation of the oxidation caused by the two dissimilar metals is more plausible.

            • You’re right! The materials don’t have to be metals. as a matter of fact the first demonstration of this phenomenon I recall was in 4th grade and employed a hard-rubber rod being drawn through a rabbit-skin, it was further demonstrated with a glass rod and satin cloth. Kids amuse themselves with it all the time by rubbing balloons on their heads and sticking them to all kindsa stuff.I believe the close fitment of pressed together or threaded together parts exacerbates the problem.And from what Buldawg had to say I also believe the closest we are to a solution is an impervious, non-washable and heat tolerant long lasting lubricant like Anti-sieze. Silicone grease is only good for temperatures under 400F.
              Just found the true name of this phenomenon to be Galvanic Corrosion while looking for the temp range of silicone grease.
              Here’s where;
              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_grease

              Reb

              • Reb

                Or a cork or paper type insulator/gasket if you will.

                Wasn’t it a certain year that I believe it was Ford that came out with that gasket sealer that was used on the thermostat housing. It worked the opposite way. It had aluminum in it. If you used a regular paper or cork gasket the car wouldn’t start be cause they grounded the battery on the side of the thermostat housing and the block to the frame.

                • I never ran into this problem and don’t understand why the fasteners didn’t act as a conductor but I’ve experienced numerous problems with improperly grounded circuits.

                  • Reb
                    They actually used some kind of composite stud.

                    And another thing to break so the dealership could get a repair.

                    But I sent you a email. Let me know if you get it.

                    • Thank you for the e-mail I’m stoked! Too bad you’re sick, I can’t wait to talk again, once you get well. I hope you feel better soon!
                      That stud problem sounds like something one would find on an Escort or Tempo. I did experience a related problem(composite stud) on a ’78 deisel VW Dasher that was running hot and I was told to replace the thermostat on(ouch!).

                      Reb

                  • Reb
                    No problem.

                    Yes my wife had to take the flu shot because she works at a nursing home. Now her and some of the other employees got sick and now I got it.

                    I was off today and didn’t even fire a shot from my guns. Its been a long time since I have been off and not shot.

                    • I been busy trying to get my commode fixed with no funds and trying to get this mess involving this electrolysis vs galvanic corrosion mess cleared up. I was wanting to take the QB-36 outside for some plinking but somehow missed out on a beautiful day. It’s dark here already so I’ll hold out til tomorrow, It’ll all work out for the better in the end. If you got my e-mail could you please post a link to the information within?I’m pretty sure Buldawg got it but yours looked a little iffy.

            • RR
              I stated that I may be wrong on the electrolysis to occur needing an electrical source for it to occur and I stand corrected on that and for a much better explanation see Baron Wulfraeds
              comments below.

              Buldawg

                  • Please follow the link in my 11:18 post and click on Galvanic corrosion for a link to an explanation and many solutions for this reaction,I’ve shared another link directly to GC and requested it’s retrieval and I think it went to Spam also so it will probably be a while before B.B. or Edith will be able to get it posted if they see fit. It’ll give you a jump on everyone else.

                    Reb

                    • Reb
                      That link is for the use of silicone grease on rubber parts and I could not see any other link for the galvanic reaction process.

                      Buldawg

                    • Reb
                      I learned quite a bit that I was unaware of even with 40 years of motor vehicle experience behind me. I have always believed that there is something to be learned every day we are alive as that is part of living and learning. When that stops we obviously we are no longer living.

                      Buldawg

                  • That’s why I been trying to brainstorm this matter so diligently, so we can help B.B. preserve this gun and lead the way for others that may stumble across one or another composition gun. Turns out I didn’t get a shot off all day and still don’t see the direct link but I guess they’re probably out having fun and that’s the really important thing. GF1 said he’ll share it when he gets back to his computer. Unless you’d like to do the honors and get this conversation rollin’ again.

                    Reb

                    • Reb
                      Gunfun beat me to it as I was watching the only football team that I will ever watch and that is the crimson tide and they just pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat with LSU as it went into overtime in the last 3 seconds of the game and they came back and won the game to keep them in the running for the SEC championship. I am not into any ball sports of any kind except for the University of Alabama college team. ROLL TIDE.

                      Otherwise if it does not have a engine in it I am not interested when it comes to sports or should I say what are considered sports. I know most consider shooting air guns as a hobby but it to me is also a sport because it is something you do to have fun and get better at it while you have fun and to that makes it a sport.

                      Buldawg

          • Electrolysis will take place as long as there is a flow of electrons. There doesn’t have to be an electric current pushing the action, though that would speed things up. Just being in contact is sufficient for the exchange of electrons, but slow.

            Rust and tarnish are the result of a metal reacting with oxygen in the air. If you put metals with dissimilar outer shells next to each other, the atoms in “contact” may exchange electrons.

            Iron is 6 columns away from aluminum (iron is almost in the middle — it will react with stuff on both sides of the periodic table). Zinc is just 1 column away from aluminum, very little reactivity — so galvinized or zinc plated iron/steel doesn’t react much with placed in contact with aluminum.

            Anodizing aluminum also alters the outer surface — basically making a thicker oxide layer (tarnish) which reduces reactions with other substances that come in contact.

            • Baron Wulfraed
              Thank you for the detailed explanation on electrolysis and how it can occur as I stated that I was not sure as to whether an actual electrical source was required for it to take place and only knew from what I learned at Harley as to how they controlled the corrosion/ melding of dissimilar metals in the motor vehicle world.

              You have covered it much more thoroughly than I did or could and I am glad to have gained some more knowledge.

              Buldawg

              • Most of those experiments making batteries with light acids or other wet materials use the material to provide a ready source of electrons (ions) which are binding to one or the other metal. That is: the liquid “pulls” electrons from the metal with the loose outer shell, transports them across to the metal with the hole in the outer shell, and deposits it there.

                The load that this “battery” is powering serves to neutralize the charge by carrying the build-up on the second metal back to the first metal. Eventually you run out of the easy transported electrons as the liquid with them is all bound on one side, and the ions with the holes have all bound to the other.

                • Baron Wulfraed
                  Is what you just explained basically how a lead acid battery works and it is the saturation of the electrons to the metals that eventually cause the sulfating and depositing of the used lead in the bottom of the battery case until it is deep enough to contact the separated plates and cause the battery to short circuit internally.

                  Or am I not talking about the same type of battery as you described. I can tell you when a lead acid or gell style battery is no good by voltage and amperage readings of each cell or as a whole but never needed to fully understand how the reactions in the battery took place to determine if the battery is any good or not, but rather just what a good battery would read versus a bad one.

                  Buldawg

                  • I was primarily discussing the potato or lemon juice penny/nickle (or is it a dime) experiments.

                    But pretty much all batteries work the same way — the difference is that some work in one direction only.

                    Lead-acid sulfation is a matter of the charging voltage (the Dung Beetle [Aprilia Scarabeo 500] required just four months to take a new battery to the point where my fancy charger activated a de-sulfate mode; based on the dash read-out, it idles at around 1350RPM and only puts out <12V at that — it needs 1800-2000RPM and a cold day to put out 13.8V [oh, and that is on the 35W high beam — the 45W low beam drags it down to 13.5V).

                    As I recall, a charging voltage around 14.1 is preferred to avoid sulfation

                    • Baron Wulfraed
                      That charging voltage on your Aprilla is just about the standard on most motorcycles as they design the charging systems so that they can keep the battery fully charged at operating engine rpms during cruising speed ranges. There is no cycle or ATV charging system except for your two wheel rolling couch ( goldwings ) that will charge the battery at any rpm below 1800 rpm and that is so the load on the engine is kept low enough so that it can idle at a given rpm, if the charging system was designed so that it would charge 14.2 volts ( the optimal voltage to maintain a battery under load at a full charge ) it would have to idle at 1500 to 1800 rpm to be able to carry the load that the charging system would place on the engine.

                      It is not actually the voltage that is the critical number as much as it is the amperage the system is capable of producing that will determine if the system is able to charge the battery or not. You could have a system that puts out 14.2 volts at 3000 rpm but if it has one phase of the stator bad and only is capable of making 20 amps in a 35 or 40 amp system the battery will not be charged and will slowly be drained by the loads being used while in operation.

                      Harleys charging system is a 3 phase 45 amp system and is designed as is most motorcycles to run only the stock equipment that comes from the factory on the bike and maybe about another 5 to 10 amps max of a load. During testing of Harleys at the Talladega test facility the riders when riding in the winter time as we rode 24/7 5 days a week and sometimes 24/7 7 days a week when testing required it were only allowed to use to item of heated gear die to the limits of the charging system only being able to carry the load of two pieces of heated gear with out discharging the battery, so they could have heated socks and pants, pants and vest, vest and gloves, gloves and socks, pants and gloves etc. so there was some part of their body that was going to be cold because the only time that they did not ride was if visibility was less than 20 feet or the roads had ice on them. Here in Alabama they do not use salt on the roads but only sand and the roads would be closed by the highway patrol if any ice had formed on them.

                      As far as charging voltage to avoid sulfating is concerned it is actually best to maintain a at rest voltage of 13.2 volts for long term storage and that is what all the new automatic motorcycle chargers put out once the battery has reached a full charge state. If you were to put a constant 14.1 or .2 volts in a motorcycle battery continuously while at rest you would cause it to overcharge for one and also cause accelerated evaporation of the water in a non maintenance free battery there by causing an early demise. If it is a maintenance free battery it will cause the same issue except the water cannot evaporate so it just boils and cause accelerated sulfating. In a AGM gel style battery that have a 2 1/2 psi pressure valve in them it will cause the battery to develop enough internal pressure to cause the valve to purge the excess pressure and once that happens the battery is useless.

                      So while the bike is in operation the ideal charging voltage is 14.2 volts to allow for keeping the battery fully charged while also operating the ignition, fuel injection system if so equipped , lighting and instrumentation as well as limited added accessories. but when at rest it is advisable to use a automatic smart charger that will put out a max of 1.5 amps at 14,2 volts and as the battery becomes fully charged it will taper off and down to a amperage of 0.5 amps and 13.2 volts to maintain a fully charged battery with out overcharging and causing long term damage and shorten the life of the battery.

                      I have two street bikes with batteries that are left on battery tenders ( trade name charger ) and the batteries are going on 6 years old with out any signs of diminished capacity.

                      Buldawg

                • I watched a YT video of a self-proclaimed survivalist building batteries out of pennies and paper towel pieces soaked with vinegar. That was very interesting but if I share a link it’ll probably just go to spam and create more work for our hosts. If anyone’s interested just Google “homemade batteries” and choose video.

            • Gunfun
              Not yet as I just got home from the fly in with Loren and had a good time and will be sending you some pictures of the planes when I get done responding to the blog responses and other email.

              I am going to get my new target back stop set up at a 25 yard distance today as it has gotten windy here now and I will have all day tomorrow to shoot and enjoy it at the longer range.
              I also am going to adjust the air orifice just enough to get a average of 925 fps so that I can be able to shoot between 15 to 45 yards with out any hold over and only have to hold over at 10 yards by 1/2 mil dot and hold over at 50 by 1/2 and 55 by 1 mil dot with a zero sight in of 40 yards and a 1 inch kill zone per the chair gun pro.

              buldawg

              • buldawg
                Ok I will be waiting for the pictures.

                So the Chairgun pretty well confirmed what we were talking about then.

                And yo need to try to get another target at 15 yards to. That way you can confirm them distances anyway.

                Let me know what happens. I think that new set up of yours will make you awful happy.

                • Gunfun
                  I have the one target that is 15 yards already so that is taken care of and I was just moving a computer desk that my neighbor threw out over into the corner of my fence and reinforce it with thicker wood and a steel back plate so the pellet’s cannot go thru it and be able to move to the other edge of my porch and make it into a 25 yard range by shooting diagonally in my yard to just shoot the Mrod at the range it is zeroed at right now till I can get it zeroed at 40 yards.

                  I guess we can let the cat out of the bag and let everyone here know that I have just got a deal of a lifetime from the friend I recently met at the FT range I have been going to for the last three months. He gave me a deal of if I build him a 2240 HPA FT target pistol he would give me a 09 model 177 cal Mrod with the factory stock plus a Boyds keyhole laminated stock which the action is in right now with a Simmons 6x24x40 side wheel scope and several other goodies in a grab bag. He has already given me the gun to shoot and get used to while I build his pistol for him. I am totally in love with this gun as it is the best shooting and most accurate gun I have shot to this day and feel that I now can have a much better chance of competing with the other shooters in the club and has raised my confidence level ten fold.

                  Buldawg

                    • Gunfun
                      Yea it was already out of the bag and I had to catch it to put it on the blog LOL.

                      I just sent you a bunch of pics to your phone in several texts of the planes at the fly in and it was pretty cool. They had Spot landing matches, mystery spot landing matches, lucky draw stunt matches and limbo matches that where all pretty neat to watch. look at the first plane of Loren’s I sent you as it has a four stroke opposed twin cylinder engine that is just plain cool looking and reminds me of a BMW boxer motorcycle engine.

                      Buldawg

                  • buldawg
                    The club I flew at had contests like that. They would give out trophies and prizes.

                    It was fun stuff.

                    And my brother fly’s too. He’s got a low wing sport plane that has a supercharged 4 stroke on it. Its a true roots style blower. All I can say is it will swing a big prop and the plane will go vertical real fast. Its very aerobatic.

                    • Gunfun
                      A roots blower on a model airplane that is just way cool. I bet it would climb fast and probably even had a hard time even getting it to stall out It is amazing how much the RC hobbies have grown just about as much as air guns have in the last 20 plus years. Yea it was fun when I used to race RC 10 buggies and on road cars back in the late 80s and early 90s.

                      I want to get my cars going again but just cant find the time to even get all my guns shooting much less the RC cars running.

                      Buldawg.

                    • Reb
                      It was not really a business situation and more of an opportunity that just presented itself by a new friendship that was formed by this truly great hobby of airgunning.
                      It has nothing to do with business and everything to do with respect and friendship that allows two people to be a benefit to each other and form an even stronger bond and lasting friendship and respect for each other.

                      I feel truly blessed and grateful to have been given this generous gift with nothing more expected than to respond with something of the same generosity and respect by building him something that he has asked me to do and will do so with the same pride and quality that I would do if it was for myself.

                      Buldawg

                    • Color me crazy if you will but you got that 3N1 by now don’t you?
                      Are you gonna order a Hipac or build the tubes yourself because I’ll prolly eventually be standing in line for one and I’d like for you to get a little practice in the meantime 🙂 . I’m thinking you could order the tubing blanks and thread them as well as install the fill adapter, maybe cold- blue and be off to the races.
                      Just sayin’
                      Whatever you do,Good luck!
                      Reb

                  • buldawg
                    There was two brands if I remember right that made the engines with the super chargers. They were both 1.2 cut.in. It was O.S. and I think YS was the other brand. They were used in the pattern flying completion planes.

                    As usual in anything once people found out how they performed they started popping up at or flying field.

                    • Gunfun
                      Things like that spread like wildfire when they are discovered and make for some very ingenious inventions and gadgets. I remember back in the early 90s while I was still racing RC cars there was a British person that built a V8 engine that would fit in the palm of your hand and ran just like the real thing on nitro fuels of the time and it was called the Connelly V8 ( I think I spelled it right ) but do a search for it as it was just incredible that someone could build an actual V8 engine that ran and was the size that would fit in a 1/10 scale RC car. I always wanted to get one and put in in a old muscle car bodied RC chassis with zoomies coming out from under the body like funny cars had but never got the chance to as I believe that he only built a handful and they were very costly.

                      Buldawg

                    • RDNA
                      It was a big surprise to me also and am very grateful to him for his generosity and feel honored to be able to build him the very best Ft target pistol that I am capable of as I already have most of it done by using one of the 2240s I have built for myself as a carbine and will just get the parts required to turn it into a pistol with a 10.1 inch LW barrel and steel breech with a HPA conversion for him to shoot in the FT pistol class at our local range.

                      This is an amazing group of first class people and friends here on this blog for sure.

                      Buldawg

                  • buldawg
                    I seen that engine. And later on in a Hot rod magazine I had somebody built a little black T Bucket and put a similar V-8 in it. It had 2 of the carbs for the r/c engines sitting on top and looked like a tunnel ram. And they took the rear hub from a 3 speed bicycle and hooked a servo up to it and made a 3speed transmission out of it.

                    One of the pictures it showed it going sideways while doing a burn out. There was about a foot of posi marks and a space of about 2 inches where it shifted and started the posi marks again. For that little bit of space between shifts he had that thing shifting fast.

                    It looked like the car was about 20 or so inches long.

                    • Gunfun
                      It was pretty cool huh that there are craftsman out there that have the patience and time to make all the micro, parts required to build a actual V8 engine that runs and is in 1/10 scale size. I know I was amazed at the intricate fitment of all the parts and attention to detail that it had. I never saw the article in hot rod mag but I remember seeing the engine in the RC car action mag back in the early 90s and thought it was very cool.

                      There was also another small scale P51 mustang plane built by an elderly Japanese gentlemen that he spent like 10 or 12 years building from scratch and had the 12 cylinder Rolls Royce engine in it that ran also and every part was hand made by him to the exact scale and true representation of the P51. He did all the machining of the parts required to build and complete a working exact scale copy of the plane from steel, brass, aluminum and wood as well as hand mold the outer skin of the plane by bending and hammering the aluminum into the correct shapes and smoothed it out and polished it to look like the real thing once he had it all painted and assembled if you saw picture of it without something to show you the actual scale of it you would think it was a real P 51.

                      Buldawg

                  • buldawg
                    I would of like to seen that Mustang. That’s one of my favorite Warbirds. Its amazing what can be done if you put your mind to it.

                    Its our own self that will usually put a halt to something. The more you think about it the more you can be discouraged. Only you can decide what you want to do. I know people that backed out of businesses because they started think about all of the what ifs would happen. And they were very smart at what they did.

                    Then I knew a few other people that wanted to start businesses and did despite the what ifs. They were ready to go after whatever was thrown at them and did very good.

                    Its all about attitude. Some people can just push on better than others. And some know what is the thing they need to overcome and don’t do nothing about it. While the other person realizes he needs to change to get better.

                    Its hard to change some circumstances. But it will be harder to deal with a circumstance later on that could of been changed. Sometimes you just got to do it.

                    • Gujhfun
                      It was sent to me by a friend in a email and I will try to find it and send it to you as it showed several pictures of it in the different stages of being built and all the miniature nut and bolts and pieces that he had to use tweezers to even be able to assemble it because they were so small that his hands could not manipulate them into the places they had to fit.

                      Buldawg

                    • Gunfun
                      Yea it is and just think of the patience and dedication it took to complete the planes.
                      I get frustrated when working on simple air guns I would probably have no hair or fingernails if I tried to even attempt building something to that magnitude.

                      Buldawg

      • B.B., in light of the new information shared here on this corrosive process I find myself wondering if one might be able to negate(or at least minimize) it’s effect on your new gun by installing a sacrificial anode(small strip(s) of zinc) inside the grip of this fine gun. Is there enough room to do so without interfering with the hammer spring?
        How small is small?

        Reb

  13. The High Standard Sentinial (swing out cylinder, though) was produced during this same time frame and it also had an aluminum frame , and came in several colors.. It was a nice little gun that pointed well ,but the six inch version shot about a foot high at close range. The late Chic Gaylord (who sure looks a lot like BB ) used to promote the snub nosed version of the Sentenial for fast draw practice, using his handmade holsters , that for the time. were quite innovative.

    • Robert,

      I will forgive the slur about looking like Chic Gaylord.

      I always wondered about the Sentinel. Does the aluminum frame stand up to double action abuse? In have always thought they must wear lout over time. But I have no experience with them.

      Have you ever owned one?

      B.B.

        • And B. B. Is somehow under the impression that he doesn’t?
          Edith, love can make you blind in so many ways… :):):)
          …or so my own sweetie tells me.
          I don’t know what she means by that…

        • Although I’ve never met B.B. in person I tend to agree with your conclusion that the two bear little resemblance. One of my Dad’s running buddies(Larry Boyd) was well versed in knowledge of firearms and a governmental pest control agent as well as a good “horse trader” also known for his fondness of King Edward cigars.He was completely bald by high school graduation so the similarities end with their vast knowledge.
          I believe he succumbed to Lyme disease RIP but we’d see him about once every week and when he left it was with me and my brother around both his ankles til he got to the door.

          Reb

      • BB: I have Chic’s book on handguns “Handgunners Guide” published by Hastings House, and since you share the same last name ,I couldn’t resist. Thanks, I was the one who recomended the Stebbins book . You would like Chic’s book as well, defensive shooting has come a long way since it was written , but he was a pioneer.. On the HS Sentinel, I have handled a few but never bought one for my own., The last time i came close was one six incher, NIB,a black finished one, that I almost bought a couple years ago. It was real nice but I passed , then regretted it and went back and it was gone.. Now our (un)SAFE Act and generally the handgun laws in NY , make brief daliences with handguns impractical at best, compared to your free state of Texas. IMO, For the money,they are very well done, like all High Standard stuff , and I think have a much better trigger pull and accuracy than my H&R Sportsman, and Defender which are steel framed. In the late 1970’s, the Sentinel had a makeover and was offered in .22mag., and I’ve handled that one as well. Take care , Robert.

  15. Good morning to all,
    Does anyone have a Air Venturi Diabolo Speedloader that they would like to sell?
    Air Venturi tells me that they are not being made any longer.
    I’d sure like to buy one if it’s not being used.
    This is what they look like:

    /product/air-venturi-diabolo-speedloader-177?a=156

    Randy

  16. B.B.& Edith,
    I found the proper terminology for this phenomenon to be Galvanic Corrosion and shared a link that apparently went to Spam.
    Could one of you please retrieve it?

    Reb

  17. B.B.& Edith, I’ve shared a direct link to Galvanic corrosion that explains the reaction in depth as well as many solutions and a request for it’s retrieval that apparently wound up in spam.Could one of you please check for it?

  18. I wasn’t really paying close enough attention to know whether the comment I made earlier went to spam or just got lost but it’s important enough to make sure it gets heard so my apologies if this is a duplicate.
    B.B.,
    In light of the new information shared here today on galvanic corrosion; How difficult do you suppose a small sacrificial anode of say, zinc would be to fit inside the grip of this fine revolver without interfering with the hammer spring? Slather all fasteners and friction points with anti- seize and check the anode every 100 rounds or so.
    We just may save this fine collectible for the next generation! And still get to shoot it!

    Reb

      • How about I’m done trying tonight? Being consistently spammed makes me feel like an outcast with his hands tied behind his back and I’m wore out from doing it all day.
        Tomorrow’s a whole nother day! Hopefully I’ll be able to pull this solution outta my brain again then so B.B. can shoot this gun and still preserve it.
        Thanks for the support!

        Reb

    • What is Ballistol made of? The reason I ask is because it reminded me of something one of the guy’s from work told me about.

      He came from Bosnia when they had the war there back around 2000 I guess it was I don’t remember exactly. But when the war was going on the soldiers from the other side were making their way through the village and stopping at different houses. He had a pistol and dropped it in a pan of motor oil so they wouldn’t find it. He said the pistol still worked fine and still has it to this day. He said all he did was field strip it and wipe it dry.

      Is that what the Ballistol is doing to protect the metal from fusing?

  21. Lot’s of comments to wade through this morning. Glad I made it to the other side. Several observations about the gun related comments:

    It’s not Dan Quackenbush but Dennis A. Quackenbush. An invaluable resource for airgunners, a pioneer in bigbore creations and a zealot for reminding all of us about airgunning history. His creations are among the very few truly Made in America airgun designs. Not just assembled but completely Made in the USA. Can you name others?

    Pellet fussy trips my trigger. As long as your gun shoots one type of ammo well why do we care? Stock up on that ammo. You’re not going to shoot inferior ammo once you find what works best are you?

    Install an anode in a vintage gun? Seriously?

    kevin

    • I wouldn’t have a problem cutting a small strip out of a penny or so and gluing or claying one inside the grip and checking it ever so often if it makes the difference in how long it takes for the gun to be locked up. It could easily be completely reversible if given a little thought but then again it’s not my gun. I just like it. A lot!
      I think my brain short circuited yesterday due to my frustration level and have left an apology to Dennis under the comment where I got his name wrong. Thanks for pointing that out!
      I will also apologize for the navigational nightmare here. Welcome to my nightmare.

      Reb

  22. Okay, the $30 asking price explains a lot. But how could the pistol get off the ground with that 30-40 pound pull? That kind of stuff for cocking an air rifle with your whole arm. Even the fabled Jerry Miculek trigger finger would have trouble with that.

    Wasn’t the Ruger Single Six invented in this era to capitalize on cowboy films? Mine cost me $600 because it is going strong and one of my very favorite guns. As an aside, I get a blast of shaved lead from the .22 magnum cylinder but not the long rifle.

    Matt61

  23. Tom, let me start right off and say, you were right, I was a fool to question the wisdom of the godfather. About what? you might ask, about box store pellets. Those wonderful gamo bc dome I praised? First tin was great, all fit the same, looked mint, next tin (i don’t remember if i went to the same wall) was like the qc guy hit the loo! If Idve known I wouldve grabbed another tin the first time, maybe it’d’ve been the same, but who knows? I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much variation in pellets, and the ones I just praised! no less. Just ordering the spring for the 95 but next change dumped is on pyramyds counter, for sure.

    • I went the Gamo way back when I first started testing other pellets that were locally available because they were cheap and available. Not long into my testing I became discouraged by not being able to get decent groups outta any of them (3 styles) but a little longer and I had to open up both my 880 and 953 to clear them. They looked alright but apparently they weren’t. Cost me about an hour of daylight that day and got me nowhere! Not sayin’ I’ll never touch ’em again but life’s too short to spend it clearing jams when you could be shooting

      Reb

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