Paying Attention

by Dave B , Alamogordo New Mexico, Saturday, January 24, 2026, 12:03 (19 hours, 35 minutes ago)

So in the past I have been guilty of buying guns that I really didn't look over as well as I should have. With most I have been lucky, a couple of times I have not. Case in point, 2 years ago I went to a gun show in Ruidoso, spotted a table with a few Ruger single actions, one happened to be a Buckeye Special in 38-40/10mm. I have a 10mm in an SR1911, but I had zero interest in the 10mm in a sixgun, the 38-40 however would get my heart rate up. I don't know why, never had a lot of interest in the 44-40, but the 38-40 has piqued my interest for a good many years. Asked how much, he wanted $1200, offered an even grand in cash and he readily agreed, likely should have been a red flag. Got it home to find the grips were damaged, so I took it out with the 10mm cylinder and shot it, nothing stellar. Acquired some 38-40 brass, used my 10mm bullets I cast and some Herco, shot it, and it was once again OK, but nothing to write home about. Shoved it in the safe and forgot about it. Well with this new year, I decided I wanted to start shooting it, had plenty of brass, Fermin opened the throats just a tad, and I proceeded to load up more of my 10mm 192gr cup point bullets. Ordered a new set of grips from Hogue, they look nice, but when fitting them I noticed the grip frame was not the grip frame original to the gun, serial number was wrong, and the "ears" stick up above the frame by a good 1/8". Definitely overlooked that in my excitement, so now I get to decide do I shop for a new grip frame, or do I have this one blended to the frame. I'm not a collector, I'm a shooter, and any value will be either my widow or my children's concern. In the coming year I may buy am 1892 or possibly an 1873 in 38-40 so I would have a companion to this sixgun. Currently mould shopping, I'm going to stick with a 180 grain bullet, as that seems to be the best do all weight for this caliber. I'd like to say I've learned my lesson, but I know that isn't true, if it's something I really want, my heart seems to override my brain 75% of the time.

Dave