Dixie Gun Works

I started reading the Dixie Gun Works catalog in the 1980s, when I was in grad school, and making a .45 caliber percussion muzzle loading rifle was the perfect distraction to take my mind off school and my downtown Detroit apartment. I don't shoot muzzle loaders much these days but I still order a copy of the Dixie catalog just about every year. DGW has been around since 1954, which makes it as old as I am, and the Dixie catalog reflects that history. In it, you'll find nearly 700 pages of every conceivable type of muzzle loading firearm, along with gun parts, period clothing, knives, shooting accessories and just about everything a muzzle loading enthusiast might want. Some of the entries and parts are probably unchanged from when Turner Kirkland founded Dixie. Here's a typical page:

That's just a small selection of the hammers and mainsprings they carry. You can find everything from basic unfinished castings to highly polished, finished hammers. Same goes for locks, barrels, kits... you name it. Even if you don't currently shoot a muzzle loader you owe it to yourself to get a copy to spend a lazy afternoon thumbing through. It's only $5, and basic Media Mail shipping is free. Of course if you're like me you'll spend the extra $2 to get it sent UPS.

You can find DGW at http://www.dixiegunworks.com

Gun Lubrication

There are a million wonder oils and greases for guns out on the market, and most of them are no better than some very simple, inexpensive, and common lubricants you can buy. Some are actually harmful. The best source of information I've found on lubricating guns comes from legendary gunsmith Grant Cunningham's "Lubrication 101" essay.  I recommend you read it, but I'll summarize it briefly:

You need two products: An oil, for small parts that carry a heavy load, like triggers, hammer bushings, and pivots of all sorts, and a grease, for parts that slide or rub together, like slides, bolts and sears. The oil should be thin enough to migrate into bushings and around pin, and the grease should be thick enough so that it stays where you put it- and no thicker. There are further requirements, having to do with corrosion resistance and so forth, and if you're interested, read Grant's piece. He explains all the details, as well as why you should never use any chlorinated compounds anywhere on your guns.

Back in the 18th Century and well into the 20th, the preferred oil for small parts under high loads, like clock movements, was whale oil- specifically, sperm whale oil. It has great lubricity, handles very high loads, and never gums up. It was also a major component of Dexron, the first automatic transmission fluid for cars! Whales are no longer hunted for their oil, but there's an excellent substitute- yep, automatic transmission fluid. Any Dextron-type fluid makes a great gun oil, and you can get it for as little as $4/quart- which is a lot cheaper than the $15 or so you'd pay for a 4 ounce bottle of someone's magic gun oil.

A good grease is cheap, too. Grant likes Lubriplate SFL in its lightest weight- NLGI #0.  For hot weather, a slightly heavier (but still very light) SFL is called for. Lubriplate's Lubriplate 10oz Low Temp Garage Door Grease, which is a NLGI #1 SFL, is a good choice and probably available at your local hardware store. That 10oz. tube will probably last you several years.

About that photo at the top of this post: If you haven't gotten it by now, it's a US WWII-era M3 "Grease Gun." Get it? Never mind.

Volquartsen Volthane Grips

My new Volquartsen Volthan grips arrived today, and I wasted no time in installing them on my customized Mark-III Hunter. The gun already has a Volquartsen trigger, Clark hammer and bushing, LCI filler and removal of the magazine disconnect; the grips just sort of complete the package.

I'd been using the Hogue wraparound grips, which are very good, but I wanted something larger as I have largish hands. These fit the bill- they're almost too big for my hands. I can get a very secure grip and I think I have a steadier hold with these than with the Hogues or the stock grips. They're $60, which is a lot for synthetic grips, but not a lot for target grips. Volquartsen's wood grips are $130, and the adjustable anatomical wood grips I found were $180. I suppose if I was a serious Bullseye competitor I'd spring for the $180 grips, but these will do fine for my informal shooting. (Herrett has some nice wood bullseye grips for about $80.00.)

The grips come with an extended magazine release button that slides into the grips, an extended bolt release, and a set of blued screws and washers.  Installation of the extended bolt release (some call it a slide release, but the gun doesn't have a slide) requires partial disassembly of the lower unit, something I didn't bother with although I may do it later. Having the extended release does make it a bit easier to lock the bolt open, something you may need to do at a match or when doing a target check at a range. Releasing the bolt when it locks open on an empty magazine normally doesn't involve touching the release; you just insert a loaded magazine, pull the bolt back, and release it.

Installation of the grip itself is a snap. Slip the extended magazine release button into the grips, and attach using the supplied screws and washers. One installation tip: Don't overly tighten the screws, or you'll pull the washers through the soft grip material. Just snug them- they won't work loose.

While I like the look at the feel of the grips, the proof, as they say, is in the shooting. I'm heading out to the range tomorrow or the next day and we'll see if they improve my shooting. BTW, if you're interested in getting a set to try on your Ruger, Brownells.com has good prices. If you're looking for a set for your Mk-II, Amazon has them as well. Incidentally, if you're looking for in-depth info on Ruger .22 auto pistols, I would recommend The Ruger .22 Automatic Pistol: Standard/ Mark I/ Mark Ii Series for info on the Mark-I and Mark-II series guns.

Altamont Pistol Grips

I've been searching for wood grips for my Beretta Bobcat and my PPK for some time. Beretta grips were just about impossible to find, and the only PPK grips I found were Hogue grips that were either out of stock or custom order or cost $70. Then I happened to notice a mention of Altamont on one of the shooting forums. Their grips were said to be of high quality, reasonably price, and buyers were effusive in their praise of the company's service. I decided to order two pairs.

All their grips are made of composite materials- the Beretta grips above were ordered in "Super Rosewood," which appears to be made of laminated veneers, sort of like a really high quality plywood. It looks for all the world like solid wood. You can also get Super Walnut, Bonded Ivory, white pearl and black pearl. Several varieties of checkering and scrimshaw are available. The grips above cost $45- very reasonable.

(n.b.: I've since discovered that these grips can cause malfunctions when used on the Bobcat- see the comments below. They should work perfectly on the Tomcat, though.)

The PPK grips, which were ordered in Super Walnut, required a tiny bit of fitting- note the lugs on the grip frame:

I marked the area with a Sharpie and used an extremely sharp 1/4" wood chisel to relieve the affected areas. This only took about 10 minutes and afterwards the grips fit perfectly:

The additional thickness of the wood grips, compared to the factory plastic grips, along with the nicely done rear wraparound, should make this gun a lot more comfortable to shoot:

You'd think that these grips should cost a few bucks more than the Bobcat grips, but in fact they cost less- only $30! They also have grips for 19112, the Browning Buckmark and High Power, most Rugers, S&Ws, Colts, Charter Arms, Taurus, and more.

Update (May 2015):

I ordered a set of their target grips for my Mark-III target:

These are the same grips that Ruger uses on the Mark-III Hunter, though they use a different laminate. I liked them- but they were just a bit too small for my XL hands.