Big Ugly Gun

Colt Peacemaker and LeMat

My Deadlands RPG character, Zebulon Vitruvius Pike, was given a LeMat revolver by his sister so as to protect himself in his travels in the weird west. While other players typically munchkin their weapon loadout so as to maximize the amount of damage they can deal out, I chose it for my character because it was a big, ugly gun that you would not expect an apparently unimposing gentleman like Zebulon to carry. But as a mad scientist (or rather, a scientist that I knew later would surely go mad) the potential of the extra shotgun barrel under the main barrel could not be passed up.

Ultimately, I decided that I didn't just want it on paper. I wanted something heavy I could hold in my hand and carry in a holster at conventions.

Arsenal Models had a resin model of Jayne's gun from, "Firefly", which was a modified LeMat, for $45 but I knew that I could get something metal and heavy for only twice that much. I looked on E-bay and found one from Outpost Knives for $79.99 or best offer. I made an offer of $70 and he counter offered $73.99.

Good enough.

The listing indicated I should have it in a week. After two weeks I sent him an email asking what was going on. He said he wasn't sure, that it should have shipped and then he would have to look into it. I waited another two weeks before sending him another, more insistent email.

"It has now been four weeks since I made my payment and I am becoming concerned that I may have made a mistake in going through with this order. Please contact me and convince me that this is going to end well"

He responded that his Internet went down. He got a computer virus. He blamed the warehouse guys. He said I would see it Monday or Tuesday.

It was on my porch Monday when I got home.

It is what I expected, a big, ugly gun. It's actually weighs about as much as a loaded LeMat, which is a hefty 3 lbs 6 oz. I note that with the use of a bore gauge, the shotgun barrel is about 20ga. which, to be historically accurate should be 16ga. The difference is a about a millimeter and a quarter, so not very noticeable. And while the barrel is the proper .42 caliber, I could see that the chambers in the cylinder were too small. I measured them at only 0.34 in. I think the cylinder is solid metal so I could drill that out. I'd have to take a little bit off at a time to make sure that the chamber walls didn't get too thin.

I'll need to make a holster for it because all of those I've found online are butt-forward right side holsters with flaps at $42. I want an open crossdraw holster, like the one I carry my Peacemaker in. I know someone with the tools necessary for the leatherwork so it shouldn't be that hard to do.

I'll also need to "accessorize" it with rocket propelled grenades, like my RPG character developed.