talking about the unusual guns below. Years ago

Gary Reeder
[subject]
Friday, January 03, 2020, 18:02 (2426 days ago)

in 1985 and '86 one of my distributors that was also an importer would call me and tell me he had a small barrel coming to me. The barrel was about 3 feet tall and maybe 16" around. i asked him what was in it, he just said "trust me, write a check for it when it gets there". When the barrel got there it was full of sawdust but also had about a dozen longslide Llama 38 autos in it, marked Llama Especial. They were the early all steel guns and shot like a champ. Never jammed.

On another instance he sent me another barrel that had about a dozen Colt early Woodsman, Huntsman and Targetsman pistols. They came out of South America somewhere. The weird thing was they were all in the white. The finish had been buffed off.

Another time he sent me a crate of Winchester M-12 shotguns with 18" barrels and each was marked "Property of Idaho State Prison". Somebody along the way had done a bit of action job on them and when you pumped them they fired. Great for prison use. We had to re-work them a bit. They were super smooth and really nice shotguns.

When Ruger dropped the #3 rifle he sent me a big crate of them, all chambered in 30-40 Krag. We fancied them up a bit, put a soft buttpad on them and rechambered them to 300 H&H. That gave us a long range rifle in a compact form.

There were a lot more but those were the ones I can remember. I should have kept one of each of them but that never happened.

I have a Ruger #3 in 30-40 Krag...

Huey
[subject]
Friday, January 03, 2020, 18:05 (2426 days ago) @ Gary Reeder

Also, a couple modern Rolling Blocks in it. Still a great cartridge. Another good one that has been all but forgotten.

LOL, that does not surprise me at all.

WB
[subject]
Friday, January 03, 2020, 19:27 (2426 days ago) @ Huey

I think it's perfect for that rifle. I have a full military 1896 KRAG it really looooooooong and the sights allow the most minute precision. Mechanically I find it most satisfying on multiple levels.

Great stories

Greg M.
[subject]
Friday, January 03, 2020, 18:57 (2426 days ago) @ Gary Reeder

Not to hijack the thread but I wish I had one of those longslide Llama Especials. I kind of feel as if Spanish arms makers have been unfairly reviled, or at least it was that way when I was coming up as a kid. Europolitics killed the Spanish arms industry in the 2000s but before that Star was coming out with some really solid and even mildly innovative stuff - JMB basics with Petter improvements and some weird-but-good flourishes.

Regardless, Stars, Llamas and Astras always got tarred with the "Spanish junk" brush by word of mouth and the press even though every example I've had personally was at worst nothing to complain about and at best just as good as anything from S&W or Colt. Maybe it dates back to the WWI Rubies and S&W copies?

Something similar may be going on today with the hate campaign against Philippine makers like Armscor/Rock Island... who make guns that are maybe not super polished but fundamentally solid at 1/2-1/3 the price of their competitors.

I have carried a Star PD since 1978, and own several

gary reeder
[subject]
Friday, January 03, 2020, 20:38 (2426 days ago) @ Greg M.

of them. In the Consumer's Guide to Handguns, the PD was rated the most reliable 45 auto for several years in a row. Jeff Cooper, the 1911 fanatic, carried a Star PD on his hip every day and swore by it. Jim Taylor, John Taffin and I have a very special Star PD.
Here is John's PD
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Here is Jim Taylor's PD
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And my PD..a bit worn from wearing it every day since I customized it in 2014
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My Star PD

Jim Taylor
[subject]
Friday, January 03, 2020, 20:52 (2426 days ago) @ gary reeder

Mine too!!! Love the damn things...

Drdougrx
[subject]
Friday, January 03, 2020, 21:16 (2426 days ago) @ Jim Taylor

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