The Henry Rifle

[Mark]

For anyone interested, here's a link to a pretty immaculate original Volcanic for sale:
http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/volca ... 3A4DCjVXIU

[TC]

Thank you so much Mark.

There is a wish list option on Collector's Firearms.... sitting in India I could only add the rifle to my "Wish List"

For those who love old guns like me... this is a lovely site. I often use this site for pictorial reference.

TC

[timmy]

TC, did you look at this Volcanic and think that it would be just the right size for a 22? I did!

If you get the chance, after watching XL's "Blue Steel" and the deadly "Polka Dot Bandit," watch "Tall in the Saddle," one of my favorite John Wayne "oaters" (a B class Western). The lead actress, Ella Raines, was married to the famous American fighter pilot, Brig. Gen. Robin Olds.

[TC]

TC, did you look at this Volcanic and think that it would be just the right size for a 22? I did!

If you get the chance, after watching XL's "Blue Steel" and the deadly "Polka Dot Bandit," watch "Tall in the Saddle," one of my favorite John Wayne "oaters" (a B class Western). The lead actress, Ella Raines, was married to the famous American fighter pilot, Brig. Gen. Robin Olds.

Timmy,
Even I thought it was a .22 but it was the price tag that took away all my attention .... $ 42,500 !

Timmy getting old westerns is a pain in India. The stores don't go much beyond the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and the all time hits from MGM and other American studios. I have to hunt a lot for original DVDs or copies. Youtube is an option but its no fun for my bad eyes. Will hunt for Tall in the Saddle.

TC

Just to give you an example. High Noon happens to be a favourite of mine. But till date I haven't seen an original DVD in any store. Buying on Ebay or Amazon is the only option for guys like me.

[Safarigent]

Robin Olds! Now that was a man!

[timmy]

TC:

About the gun, these old Volcanic rifles were developed along a pretty tortuous path. They weren't invented by Smith & Wesson. Smith & Wesson got the design from a fellow named Walter Hunt, who invented a "Volition Repeater" with a toggle link action



and (in these days before cartridges), the "Rocket Ball" ammunition, which was used in it.



The powder was contained in the base of the bullet -- there was no real cartridge. The gun was improved by one Lewis Jennings and manufactured in the shop of "Robbins & Lawrence." This shop had a noteworthy shop foreman named B. Tyler Henry. This shop went bankrupt and two men, Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson, somehow got hold of the rights to the Volition Repeater and began making the "Volcanic Pistol" in .41 and .31 caliber. Smith & Wesson brought along the shop foreman, B. Tyler Henry.



During Smith & Wesson's manufacture of the Volcanic Pistol a shirt maker named Oliver Winchester bought into the company and ended up taking it over. Winchester included B. Tyler Henry in the new company. Henry invented the rimfire cartridge, which is why Winchester .22 rimfire ammo has an "H" on the base of it until this day. Winchester continued making guns with the toggle link action, to which they had obtained rights when he assumed ownership of the Volcanic company.

Timmy getting old westerns is a pain in India. The stores don't go much beyond the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and the all time hits from MGM and other American studios. I have to hunt a lot for original DVDs or copies. Youtube is an option but its no fun for my bad eyes. Will hunt for Tall in the Saddle.

I can't help you with most films, but for some of the old Westerns, like Blue Steel, which XL mentioned, copyrights have not been renewed, and these movies have become public domain. For instance, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Steel_(1934_film) and you will see this at the bottom of the wiki page: Blue Steel is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

You can download these files legally, and for Blue Steel, you can grab a 700 MB .avi file. for a 60 minute movie, a 700 MB .avi will look pretty good full screen on a good sized computer monitor, once you have it downloaded. This is because it is a black and white film and it doesn't need nearly as much data to "paint" a picture as a color film twice as long would need.

Should you have trouble playing it, just do a google on "VLC," download, and install that. VLC will play just about any sort of file, and it is available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.

If you click the "more" in that sentence, or here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Wh ... chive_film you can find other public domain films that can be downloaded and watched for free.

I run into these same kinds of problems trying to find decent Indian movies over here. I searched forever to find Sivaji Ganesan in "Andha Naal" (but the wait was worth it!). Also, Bimal Roy's "Devdas" and "Madhumati." However, This past week, I did break down and order "Thillana Mohanambal" and "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer." Here in the USA, we have gotten to the point where Akiro Kurosawa is recognized, but sadly, artists like Aparna Sen and Bimal Roy are not -- yet!

Robin Olds! Now that was a man!

Yes sir! No doubt about that!

[xl_target]

You can also go on YouTube and search for: "Full Movie Western John Wayne" and it will come up with several that you can watch.

[TC]

Hi Timmy,
I read quite a few articles on the volcanic. Thanks for the fresh inputs, especially the bit on the cartridge and the history. Very interesting.
And tons of thanks to you and XL for the links and information on the sources of old Westerns. Downloading seems to be the best solution



TC