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Volume 42, Sept/Oct 2006 Issue
 Guns out of the Box
We receive emails and phone calls on a regular basis asking us which guns a person should buy for cowboy action shooting, cowboy fast draw, mounted shooting, world fast draw, black powder cartridge silhouette, and more. Just about any of the guns provided by the Western-action firearms manufacturers and importers will do the trick and you can take them to a contest and compete right out of the box. However, one of the assumptions that most people make when buying a new firearm is that it is not only going to function perfectly right out of the box, but that the action is smooth enough for them to be highly competitive with it. This assumption is especially true for those people just getting started in any of the Western-action shooting sports. This assumption is not typically true. They will certainly function right out of the box, however, unless the firearm is advertised by the manufacturer as a tuned firearm, such as those with aftermarket hammer springs and smooth and adjusted triggers, the odds of it being perfect (trigger pull you desire, smooth action, no burrs) for competition are not very good. Neither the manufacturers nor the importers have the time or labor capabilities to check every gun that comes in or goes out in terms of quality of the action or to provide all firearms with what is essentially an action job; this is one reason why gunsmiths are in business. Should the manufacturers/importers do this? You betcha, but the reality of business economics means they would have to charge a higher price for the firearm, and they can’t afford to do this without increasing the price of their products substantially. The firearm business is a tough business and the profit margins are less than most people think.
The majority of firearms we receive haven’t been tuned, but are fully functional and will shoot well right out of the box. However, most of them need to have an action job completed before I would use them in competition and expect to do well. The exceptions, as mentioned above, are generally those that are advertised as tuned firearms.
Many firearms have some small problems that are easily taken care of, like the firing pin being slightly larger than the firing pin hole, or the hammer dragging against the frame as the metal fit is too close. Some need to have the hammer spring replaced; others may only have to have the trigger adjusted and the sear smoothed. On 1873 Winchesters there is actually a screw under the lever that can be adjusted to change the impact weight of the hammer.
You need to look at all of the costs associated with purchasing a firearm. First, assume each firearm is going to need an action job costing $75 to $300 (there are higher priced ones depending upon what you want done to it.) Second, assume that if you are shooting a lot, over the course of a year or two you will have a firearm malfunction due to normal wear and have to have parts replaced. The guns that we use for our sport, and those that were designed in the mid-to-late 1800s, were just not designed to have thousands of rounds shot through them every year, especially with the kind of pressure that is put upon the actions due to the speeds at which we manipulate them.
Many shooters also don’t realize that the sights on every firearm need to be adjusted to their own bodies and eyesight. Rarely will a single-action revolver shoot to point-of-aim for you right out of the box. The front sight may have to be filed or the barrel turned. Each person holds a firearm slightly different, has different eyesight, and probably uses different ammunition than that which was used to test the firearm.
Going into this sport knowing that you will probably want an action job performed on your firearm and that it might be nice to have a couple of spares around when one breaks, especially in the middle of a match, will put you far ahead of the game. Sighting your guns in with the specific ammunition you are going to use in a match and adjusting your sights accordingly will let you hit what you are aiming at. This will also provide you with the hardware capability to perform at a higher level. |
