It was truly an honor to put this old pistol in your hands. I can't think of anyone else that would take better care of it or appreciate it more. Keep your powder dry my friend.

@jeffreymilosevich1957

11 ай бұрын

very cool pistol. and metal go with it

@Dominic.Minischetti

11 ай бұрын

What a thoughtful gift! You’re a good man! 👍🏻

@22plinkster

11 ай бұрын

I can't thank you enough!

@Eric_in_VA

11 ай бұрын

An incredibly kind gift of your fathers. I couldn't agree more, I wouldn't be able to think of another person that would respect and honor your father's legacy with this pistol.

@frydemwingz

11 ай бұрын

this is awesome, but I cant help but ask the question. You dont have a son or daughter that would take care of this? Im just interested now.

I shot in Bullseye pistol leagues (one hand) back in the day. You would adjust the sights for a 6 o'clock hold, i.e. hold at the bottom of the black to hit the X-Ring in the center of the target.

I think these were also referred to as the old "Camp Perry" model. Those sights are hitting high because they were probably set up for 50m International (Olympic Sport from 1896-2016), the 50 yard Slowfire match in North American Bullseye such as at the National Matches/Camp Perry (from 1905-Present), and/or a traditional 6 o'clock hold on the bullseye as was very common before the latter half of the 20th Century. Sweet piece! I've wanted one for a long time but they are quite desirable, and it seems the people that want them/know what they have, already have them, and they want to keep them.

Please, check the mainspring screw. Is it backed out or has it been reduced in length? This was often done to reduce trigger weight/pull. Tightening it or replacing the screw with the proper length may fix the light firing pin hit. A new mainspring may be indicated, also. Please, don't modify the firing pin as someone else suggested. USRA was the United Stares Revolver Association. You've definitely got a treasure.

What a beautiful weapon and a great memento in that special medal. What a wonderful generous gift. Shows that there still good people in the world

What a cool gun, and kudos to the generous donor who gave it! He could probably have sold it for a tidy sum to a wealthy collector, but instead entrusted it to the .22 Plinkster! Well done! Roger

Loved seeing this Smith and hearing the story about it. I had a 1st Generation that I bought mainly for its sleek, retro looks. It had been reblued and looked really sharp. Fortunately I didn’t try and shoot it. As with any used gun, it’s best to be wary of any issues that might exist-especially with older firearms. I decided to put a snap cap in it and test the trigger pull. I did this several times and it was about 6-8 ounces. More than once while testing the pull weight, the cocked hammer fell by itself without touching the trigger! Apparently someone had tried to do an action job and didn’t do it properly. I can only imagine how dangerous the gun could’ve been if I hadn’t discovered that. Anyway, these are neat guns. If the bug strikes you, start searching for a Pope barrel. That’ll keep you busy, ha ha. Thanks for the video!

Increase your hammer spring tension by turning in the hammer spring tensioning screw on the front strap for the missfires/double strikes. Most all of the old Bullseye shooters used a 6'oclock hold, so if it's hitting 6in high that would be par for the old 12in Bullseye slow fire 25yd targets.

@jsharp1776

7 ай бұрын

You are correct about the adjustments of this firearm. Hopefully he will look at your post. I was going to post the same thing.

@old_guard2431

4 ай бұрын

Thought it might be a hammer spring tension issue.

This video really warms this old man's heart. Thank you so much.

@sylvainster30

11 ай бұрын

A very generous gentleman for sure! ✌🏼😎👍🏼

@blopjones1665

11 ай бұрын

That's awesome 👍🏻

@gailscarpello9599

11 ай бұрын

Very cool. All around!

@jerrykemphfer9436

11 ай бұрын

Pumpkin on the post

@jerrykemphfer9436

11 ай бұрын

Pumpkin on the post. 50 ft champion still makes targets

What a beautiful pistol. It warms my heart that he thought enough of you and admired you and your class. Great video.

Reminds me of my first pistol, a h&r 9 shot 22lr, probably from the 40's, opens the same way and everything, still have it, still fun to shoot

What a wonderful gesture to keep this magnificent pistol in the hands of someone who will use it and appreciate it for what it is. I could just imagine spending an afternoon with a box of ammo and some targets.

Awesome pistol, good luck with it and I totally can appreciate a older firearm being passed down that's such a big part of the sport and I know you will charrish it.

That is absolutely beautiful. Art meets skill.

Great way to end my day watching this. Cherish such a grand gift.

You are so fortunate to have been gifted this beautiful piece of history. I love the old Smith and Wesson pistols. The only one I have is a 1966 model 17 target in excellent condition. Enjoy your antique pistol and shoot one handed with it.

@leonardpearlman4017

7 ай бұрын

I have one of those, and until this moment I regarded it as a real antique! It's hard to imagine dealing with one round at a time, I think people would lose their minds with impatience!

My most important firearm is a commemorative Elmer Keith .44 S&W my grandmother gave me for Christmas after I turned 21. That’s probably the only gun that I’ll never sell or think about selling

I've never even HEARD of that, it's unbearably beautiful! It must be easy to clean! Probably lasts forever too. I would buy one for sure. I well recall having .22 single-shot rifles for training as a kid, you still see them, but don't remember any single-shot pistols. This is really a treat!

When I was much younger, about 30 years ago I saw a pistol that as I remember it looked exactly like your S&W. I was told at the time that it was called the pig gun. My great grandfather had a farm outside of Pittsburgh and the raised and slaughter hogs for market. The sing shot .22 was used to dispatch the hogs. I have always wanted to find that gun but I am sure that one of my long lost second or third cousins probably has it. I never knew what it was until your video, but now I am fairly confident that it was the same gun or maybe the first version to your S&W. Thanks for the great video and story.

One of those pistols appears in the film "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" as a futuristic space pistol. also try rotating the barrel so the ejector snaps back by itself after ejecting the spent case. the ejector might seat itself better allowing for a better and more solid primer strike. I had a similar problem with a 1907 top break .22 revolver and that seemed to solve it. love your videos and have been a fan for many years.

I had a similar pistol except it was a 9 shot. Mine may have been an Iver Johnson however it was a break over pistol that I loved to squirrel hunt with. I left it at my Mom and Dads Lake cabin one week end 30 years ago and some one broke in and stole it while no one was there. Those types of guns are hard to come by. The fact that someone gave it to you brought tears to my eyes because I really enjoyed hunting with that old gun and My old blue tick that I had more than 20 years. That old dog was another one of those things I miss.

Bruce, you're the best kinda man!

I actually inherited a 22 LR bolt action rifle from my great-grandfather through my grandfather... STILL IN THE PACKING GREASE. Tracked down the serial # to a six year period 1891-1897 before the company was absorbed into what became Colt Firearms. I CENTER-PUNCHED A DIME AT 70' WITH IRON SIGHTS USING YHIS RIFLE.

@shaveddave

11 ай бұрын

Things that never happened for $300 Alex

@joshuagibson2520

11 ай бұрын

I'll give you $1000 if you can do it again. In one shot.

Thank you for demonstrating and preserving a valuable piece of history. 👍

This would be a great opportunity for a collaboration video with Mark Novak. If it can be repaired without changing it he'd be your man!

This is a pistol for a very specific and regulated form of shooting, slowfire. This was done at a set distance of either 25 or 50m. The sightpicture would be a 6 o’clock hold either ”balancing” the ringed target on the frontsight, or (for most shooters more effective) leaving aiming in the middle of the white below the ringed target. As a matter of fact, this is also a very popular way to aim for pistol precision shooting here in Europe (I would be surprised if it wasn’t in the US as well, for the same or simplare kind of pistolshooting). This gives a very ”relaxed” taking of the sightpicture and aiming plus it has the very positive effect of giving much better contrast with the black sights against a white background with an out of focus yet well defined black dot ”hovering” above the sights. It does have its limitations though, this method of aiming requires shooting to be done at a Knowles set distance, at a standardised (for size and targetrings) target with fairly slow rate of fire. For that, this method is accepted as optimal. For any shootingsport where targets are of different shapes and sizes at varians distances and at a higher rate of fire, a centerhold is offcourse preferred. That Said, I have occasionally (when too lazy to Change the setting) used my STI 6.0 9mm with its sights set for ”static” precisionshooting during matches with much higher rates of speed (6 shots in 12-16 seconds) at varying distances (changing targets within that 6 shot ”stage” at 7 to 50 meters) and targets of varying shape and size, with pretty good results. You just need to figure out the hold-under for varying distances. It’s defintely not optimal though! Anyway, that’s the kind of shooting this beautiful pistol is meant for, and a pistolshot of your caliber should definitely try it. This kind of shooting is kind of like meditation, very relaxing, because there can only be you, the target, and the distance between the two for you to be succesful. As a last note, remember the history behind pistolshooting. The reason for the onehanded grip was that pistols were weapons of combat used by mounted soldiers (needing one hand for the reigns) or officers on foot (needing one hand for their sword).

Thank you Bruce and thank you Plinkster for sharing ❤

2min into this video and I knew it was a handgun worth dedicating an entire video too. Great gun, and great story.

My dad used to compete in one hand slow fire bullseye matches back in the 60s. His club always shot 25 yds at the standard 25 yd. NRA black bullseye targets. He had his S&W Model 14 K38 set up for a six o'clock hold on those targets, so it would shoot high if you held the sights lined up with the center of the target. It's easier to line up with the bottom of a big black circle than to line up with the exact center of it. On the NRA B-16 25 yd. slow fire pistol targets there's not even an X in the center. I don't know if that's always been the case but the supposedly current pictures I have found of them online, there's no X.

What a great gift! I’ve got a family member who has what looks like the same pistol in .22 lr with the walnut handle and the 10” barrel and a leather case that fits perfectly. Marking are the same except on top where it appears it’s not from Springfield Mass but rather looks like “Smith & Wesson Enrinoriel” with some other faded letter at the end. I ran across an article in Sportsman Vintage Press that said S&W had a “Mexican” model made in the early 1900s but that’s about as much as I could find. Guessing that’s what this one is. Story on this pistol is that “Grandma” would take it in the garden and shoot rattlesnakes or other varmints and that she was a crack shot. She passed those skills to my daughter for sure.

You are lucky to get one... Your sights are set up for the 50 yard Bullseye Match. Which is pretty much Free Pistol now.. Sadly never found one in Australia to buy

Seeing that makes me think of my Winchester 67 .22LR single shot bolt action rifle, circa 1938. Before I left to serve in the Navy in 1968, I sold my old Marlin single shot bolt action .22LR rifle. (I was going to be gone at least 4 years, and had no one to protect it for me.). As soon as I got back ... Jan 1973, I went to my local pawn shop, and bought the Winchester 67, used, for a grand total of $19.00. Load a round, close the bolt, pull back the firing pin, look through sights and fire ... then repeat. A box of 50 rounds takes an afternoon of shooting. Rugged, I always tell folks, drop it out of a plane at 10,000 feet, locate it, put a new stock on it, and it will fire and be as accurate as it always was. A 27" barrel, can give you some pretty good accuracy at a long range ... and just a fun rifle to shoot. With semi autos ... haven't taken it out of the gun safe in probably 14 years ... but going to have to do that again.

Thats a beautiful old pistol, and that ejector system is really cool 👍 in honor of Bruces father you could leave the sights as they are and learn to use them, that would be neat 😊

@bakman52

11 ай бұрын

A really thoughtful idea but believe me my father would want the Plinkster to set it up the best way for him

I be always liked thos channel. I officially RESPESCT this man!!! Mr Plinkster.. the fact you would not 2 hand it. It made me relaize you have a spirtual respect for the pistol amd former owner. You have spiritual awareness in all parts of kife most likely. I find myself being the same wayvwithbold guns and knives. Granmas old kitchen spactual NEVER geta used on frozen or processed foods . Its more than "just a thing" Some people get it and some dont. Now days i m realizing i needa be try to teach more to those who dont get it

Wow, that is a beautiful pistol. A magnificent gift for sure.

I was lucky enough to shoot one back in Tulsa as a child in the 70's and man can that gun shoot! I used Federal lead target 40 grain loads, and it shot under an inch at 50 yards, what a great gift, I am envious of you!

That’s an awesome piece of kit! You should collaborate with Mark Novak to get the hammer and sights addressed. He’s all about “Get in and out without anyone knowing we were even here.” That would be paramount for such a special pistol.

That is a really cool pistol. As for the sight picture, that's how I was tought to set up sights. It might be a generational thing.

What a beautiful gun you are privileged to have it

This kind of stuff is making me feel old. Used to be that when I heard "100+ years old," I thought 1800s. I did the math and that's still in the early 1900s.

Great job. Love those unique items

What an extraordinary little pistol! Enjoy it as I know you will.

It’s not using two hands that’s your problem your not holding your tongue out just right. Beautiful firearm to me it resembles the old Dan Wesson finish, I always liked those

I'm 74 years old and I was taught to use the same sight picture with pistols and rifles with the front sight tip at the bottom of the rear sight groove.

@tomsherwood4650

11 ай бұрын

Thats it. That explains it.

Very nice!! That was a generous gift!

wow you got blessed plinkster, glad for you, i love old single shot pistols ,have a few different stevens that are tip ups,still shoot straight at 100 plus years

That is one of the most awesome stories I have ever heard. thankyou for sharing that.

This is a target pistol meant to be fired with a 6 o'clock hold (hold on the bottom of the black bull). My dad had one of these plus a similar Colt model. These were "free" pistols shot in their own match category. Unfortunately, my dad sold both of the pistols. I was hoping you had one of them, but I guess not as you know the history of the gun.

What a beautiful piece of history!!

I may be an odd duck but I prefer single shots to the fancier guns of today. I guess it reminds me of a time when people weren't in so much of a hurry. Times were slower when I was growing up and a single shot reflects that. Great video and an amazing gun. I have wanted one of those for a long time.

You obviously cherish that wonderful pistol. What a great gift! Do it right and get it working 100% and sighted in for you! Bruce’s dad would want that!

It’s your hammer spring! Take the grips off and clean the roller and hammer spring! I believe that will fix it! Beautiful peace! You are blessed!

I have a Straight Line with the metal box it came in. I got it from my Dad. Great video.

A thing of beauty. What a generous gift.

Awesome gun, love videos like this. Keep up the great work

My Dad has that same .22lr pistol in our safe and won't let me touch it. It was my grandfather's back when he was a kid. It's still in the original box but it will be passed down to me so I'm in no hurry to get it.

Wow that is a great gift, thank you for sharing

Really an amazing story. Thank you for sharing.

lovely piece

What a nice gift I have only seen one of these in my 75 years at a Houdton Texas Gun show several yeaqrs ago

I wish they would make an updated version of this gun and the Colt Camp Perry Model. This is the way to learn marksmanship. The pray and spray stuff teaches little about the fundamentals of shooting. I go to the range and run an NRA slow fire reduced or an ISSF reduced target out to 25 yards next to me are guys with targets the size of a pillow case shooting at 7 yards blasting away. This gun is set up for a six o'clock or sub six sight picture. Sub six is also called area aiming. You aim at the center of the white below the bull. This allows you to see your sights against a light background. USRA is The United States Revolver Association. They used to have some input into the Olympic team selection. They have a history all their own.

That is a beautiful little gun!

Another great video and a most endearing story. One observation: all these beautiful pistols were manufactured before advent of high velocity/pressure ammunition. Kudos to your benefactor!

Im already in love with this beauty 😍

Great video on a great pistol!

Right on Bruce!

Grew up shooting one of these that was handed down from my grandfathers side of the family. Unfortunate series of events led to it being not in the family any longer 😢

@MrTruckerf

11 ай бұрын

Happens all the time.

What a beautiful gun!!

It's a great looking pistol. I bet if you got a hold of someone at S&W they would be able to get it back to 100% working condition

I just saw one of these in the Bryant museum in Galveston TX. Super cool pistol

Great video! I recently got to do a video on an H&R USRA which is similar in both form and function. It was a delight!

This is why I love old firearms. The light strike could be from a number conditions. As someone suggested one could be the mainspring, another could be friction between the sear and hammer or the hammer and it’s retaining screw. The last thing I’d look at would be play in the hammer or the retaining latch not always allowing a good strike. It would be worth the time of a good smith to check it out. Great story for a great firearm.

Tighten the hammer strain screw should fix the light strikes.This was designed to be fired with a six o,clock hold. Great video great old gun take care of it and pass it on when the times comes.

Super cool gift.

We just had a colt camp Perry come through the shop the other day. Cool guns.

The barrel looks exactly like my schofield. Really nice gun!!!

What a treasure and no more deserving person than you to have and keep it forever.

Nice, I like my H&R "Sportsman" Model 999, 9 shot top break 22lr revolver from 1978. It's beautiful.

@janetandrogergibbens6551

11 ай бұрын

I have one of those as well! H&R 999 in PRISTINE condition! Not a great trigger, but exquisite machining and finishing! Love it! Roger

@treborkroy5280

11 ай бұрын

@@janetandrogergibbens6551 It was my father's only gun growing up. I reber thinking this weird ass lil gun is so dumb, why didn't he get a real gun. Years later it's now I finally appreciate what it is.

That's very cool!❤ It may be shooting high because it was sighted with 22 long or 22 short!😮 Something to ponder!

This is a gun from the days when people actually learned the shooting disciplines. Sight picture, trigger squeeze, breath control. It wasn’t about just putting as many bullets as possible as fast as possible down range. USRA is The United States Revolver Association. They ran bullseye shoots up until about 15 years ago.

Great story. Check out Colt "Camp Perry" models. The same concept as this Smith. Also, to follow up on shooting in the old days, in our area there was quite a few "Schuetzenpark"s that were founded in the late 1800's as a social club based on recreational shooting for the working class, in this case Germans. It was a different time for sure.

You would’ve been a really good guy to have as a friend back in the 1850s

About 1982 or so, I briefly owned a similar S&W single shot that as close as we could get to identifying it was the "Olympic Model" . Don't know if there was ever an event at that level where such a design wold be an advantage, but... I do know the trigger was beautiful, the bore was very tight, and the gun overall was a wonderful specimen. I was fresh out of the military with a 4th kid on the way, and a S&W collector offered me an obscene amount of sorely needed cash, so it went down the road. Enjoy that one!

@eladfitz5673

11 ай бұрын

Been there and did it with my old Rolex, many years ago, that one day I would have been able to pass to my grandson.

@arnenelson4495

11 ай бұрын

Olympic model meant it had an Olympic chamber that you had to force the bullet into about 1/32" of the rifling to prevent the jump into the rifling for best accuracy.

@darreldwalton8763

11 ай бұрын

@arnenelson4495 True that. I do recall that ammunition had to be inserted with more than normal effort, but extraction of both fired and unfired rounds was easy. My best accuracy came across a solid rest, or a bag, the light weight took a great deal of effort to retrain muscles in the arm and shoulder. Like shooting a model 27 all morning. Then trying bullseye shooting with a Kit Gin or Chiefs.

Pumpkin on the post sight picture.50ft champion targets slow fire pistol just bought some Saturday

I'd love to see that great man on this channel if he would be willing to do so. What a awsome looking pistol that is. Thank you Plinkster:)

I love single shots. Ruger #1s, TCs, the myriad of custom ones... I'm a millennial with the heart of a Fudd. Plastic guns are all well and good, but...

That is a good looking pistol. Oldtimers really had some style. To bad we wont ever see beautiful cars like the BelAir being reproduced ever again.

Very cool gun!

The hammer firing pin issue is common in those from dry fire practice . But the good news is a firing pin from a s&w I frame 32 is the same and can be acquired

Really nice condition.

Maybe a weak firing pin spring or crud buildup around the firing pin. I shot 22 National Match Coarse in a local league for 10 years. It was almost always spring or crud. Used a Ruger Mk-II bull bl. shot as good as my ability.

If the previous owner was that good with that pistol, the firing pin is simply worn. A skilled person could make a replacement and restore the original. (tig) That thing is a gem!

What a great way to honor his father's memory

Beautiful gun

It was made well, great to see in action

Nice piece

Love the video. I have a .22lr hi standard pistol. Dad said they were made for western auto stores and it came with wooden sights. The rear sight has broken off. I still shoot it though. As for the pistol you have. I think that either the hammer face may be worn or the hammer spring may need to get replaced to put it back to proper shooting condition. If the hammer is worn you may be able to take a small file and touch it up,or square it up so to speak. But with a gun with that history I would take it to a professional gun smith.

Just gorgeous

Ii love those old guns

My local gun shop got one of those in about a year ago. I was one of three of four people who really knew about them. They offered it to me, but I didn't have the money at the time to buy it or I would have.