Cowgirl Corner: slow and sweet with the Low Wall

[North Country Gal]

Still recovering from a bad accident that has had me in a neck brace for the last month, but I'm doing, nicely, and my strength is building, enough so to shoot one of my favorite rifles and surely one of my most beautiful rifles. It's our Winchester/Miroku 1885 Low Wall Classic 22 LR. It's a limited edition gun, only made for a couple of years. I bless the day I found it at our local shop, lightly used.


I added the Marble's tang peep, shown here. Note the beautiful walnut on the butt stock.


I also added the Lyman globe front. Note the half octagon/half round barrel configuration. This is no lightweight gun, by the way. Not a gun to carry, but about as stable a gun to shoot, offhand, as there is.
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Shooting the Low Wall single shot, today, was a good match for the weather. The clouds were playing peek-a-boo with the sun. The little 3"' bull I was using at 50 yards was visible enough to shoot when the sun was out, but not when a cloud covered it. That meant I had to be patient and wait for the light to be switched back on. No problem. Shooting a single shots is all about patience, anyway. You don't hurry with these guns. You just relax and enjoy the experience.

Did have a bit of a breeze that would come and go, too. Not really enough to affect accuracy, but when the staple pulled out of the target, jut above and to the right of the bull, the bull would flap around a bit in the breeze. Yeah, I could have walked out and re-stapled the target to the frame, but, again, no hurry. I just waited for the breeze to die down and then went back to work.

This is the result. Not my best target, not my worst, but totally sweet to shoot. Had to rest a bit between shots, for the sake of my strength, but I was having too much fun, so no big deal at first. About half way through, though, the fatigue did start to catch up with me, so I dropped to a kneeling position and finished in that position. It helped. Classic position for a classic rifle.


As for the ammo, that was a gift from our very own Sir Henry when he visited us this winter. Thank-you, Gene. The Low Wall and I love it.

So, why is this type of single shot called a falling block, you ask? Here's the 1885 with the lever open. You can see how the action block is pulled, down. Opening the lever also extracts the cartridge. Time to shuck the empty and load in a fresh round.
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Closing the lever pushes the action block back into place behind the chambered round and it also cocks the hammer for you. Now just a matter of aiming and working the trigger.


Make no mistake, working a classic single shot action like this is really an experience all its own. How sweet it is.

[RanchRoper]

Great range report and that is one sweet rifle. I have been looking at an 1885 Low Wall Uberti for quite a while now, and might be on Santa's sled this year.

That must be a really fun rifle to shoot.

[Shakey Jake]

Not sure the difference between falling block and rolling block but I sure love my Ruger No.1 in 25-06. It's a fine rifle. I saw a used Winchester 1885 low wall on sale at Buds. Seemed like a nice rifle but I am interested in other firearms at the moment

[tractortad]

Beautiful, beautiful rifle, NCG. love that burl in the forearm - makes it a real one-of-kind.

[North Country Gal]

Shakey, you're Ruger is another variation of a falling block action. On a falling block, the block lifts and drops and is supported by a deep cut out in the walls of the receiver, making it incredibly strong. A rolling block rolls on two pins in the receiver. Requires no cut out in the wall of the receiver. Makes it less expensive to produce, but it won't be as strong as a falling block action. That's why you see falling block single shots chambered in all the modern high pressure cartridges, but not the rolling block reproductions.

Yes, I love shooting any single shot, but falling block singles are a world of their own. They are special for me. This Low Wall Classic, especially so. It's like stepping back in time, same as shooting a classic reproduction lever gun like RR's 1860 or any other classic lever gun.

[Sir Henry]

You are welcome Joanie, looks like you put it to good use.