New toy!

Rick H

Well-Known Member
I carry my Stainless 4 5/8" Blackhawk crossdraw as well. Perhaps a touch slower to bring into action than strong side but much more convenient and comfortable for me. I don't seem to bump into things with it as much either. Much easier on the truck seats.
 
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fiver

Well-Known Member
in a smaller vehicle the cross draw is a lot easier to draw without having to get out or looking like your having a seizure..
 

Ian

Notorious member
pushed some of the 230TC through a .451 size bushing last night(came out .4514) and this morning loaded a couple dozen up in acp cases over 5.4 Universal. Shortened the length to 1.175 and made sure to not over crimp. Worked great. Managed to get the gun sighted in a bit better and bounce the 27 yard gong a few times before the chain took a hit on one of my typical "push" anticipations.

A good load. I taper-crimp to about .468-9" or so and size .4515" (Lee .451" push-through).

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Taylor & Co convertible with 1860 Army two-piece grip frame that humans can actually grasp:

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CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
MUCH prefer the Bisley grip. I can make the BH/Single-Six grip frame work, with aftermarket grip sets.

The Colt S/A size makes a lot more sense than the Ruger BH size, but I have and use both. For sport, I have no preference between S/A and D/A platforms. If social engineering is part of the forecast, the S/As stay in the safe.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I think that's the 1860 frame.
I have always liked it too.
it's a bit more upright, rounded, and flared than the 73.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I think that's the 1860 frame.
I have always liked it too.
it's a bit more upright, rounded, and flared than the 73.

It has a nice appearance, more balanced than the '73 plow handle. The 1860/61 did have a better/different feel to them IIRC. Of course, cap & ball recoil was a fraction of that given by 44/40 or 45 Colt loads.

It has become patently obvious to me over the years--I DO NOT LIKE having my gun hand's little finger "in the air" when firing a handgun. Even a 22 LR causes me grief. Most recently, I sacrificed a bit of the S&W Model 642's compactness provided by its OEM grips for the gripping comfort and security of the Com-Pac grip set. MUCH EASIER to shoot well with those larger steering wheels on board. Same story with the Single-Six convertible recently acquired--those tiny plow handles GOTS TO GO. And did.
 
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Ole_270

Well-Known Member
Since El Paso Saddlery is saying they are at 24 weeks delivery due to the Plandemic, I just ordered a Mernickle FC13 Plain Cross draw. The wait begins.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
Got the cylinders in the mail at noon. Steady rain the last 3 days, I just shot a few rounds out the back door at the wood pile. Sights need adjusted for sure. This ain't no target load in the 1911!. Was shooting 8.5 gr Universal with the Lee 45-255rf. Got a break in the weather late afternoon, so set the chronograph up on a tripod in what little sun there was and put a few across the screens. Avg 898 fps, 60 es. from the 4 5/8" barrel. Again, lighting conditions weren't the best, further testing will be needed. Most of what I shot had been PC'd, but hadn't sit but a day or two at the most with some lubed bullets included. Still, a very small amount of lead dust showed on the patches. Lots of learning ahead till I get lined out with a new gun, and cartridge.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
Got a break in the weather this afternoon so I ran a few loads over the chronograph. All loads were the Lee 452-255rf weighing 260 in this alloy and PC’d.
6.5 gr Green Dot 799 FPS. es 30
8.5 Universal 890fps es31
8.5 Unique 923fps es 15
9 Universal 951fps es42
12.5 Blue Dot 995fps es32
13 Blue Dot 1040fps es 65
I was surprised by the Universal/ Unique speeds, was expecting Universal to be slightly faster. The Unique was the tail end of a can left from shotgun loading about 3 years ago and each charge was weighed since there wasn’t enough to make the measure work well.
Came in from the shop after cleaning the revolver and noticed an armadillo in the yard. Loaded up with the Unique load and started the stalk. Ended up with a Texas heart shot at 25 yards. Flipped it end over end. Maybe a bit of over penetration!
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
I've shot a lot of Unique through a Bicentennial BlackHawk 7.5" . The chambers an throats are a little fuller than yours , but your Unique load reflects mine . The 452-255 @ 265 gr gave me 950 @ 8.5 . As I recall that's faster than book suggestions by enough to make one question powder lots .

I shot an armadillo once with the above but with the 452-252 @ 262 gr at 1050 fps ........ Might have been a little more than what is called for for a dillo . Folks told me you have to head shoot them . I'm really glad we were out in the tree line not the front lawn . At 50 ft any point of impact , I suspect , would have done nicely . Sighted for 50 yd the hold under was a challenge with the target sights .

The above load is fine for grazing hogs to 50 yd also . At 10 ft it will give 3+ ft from just inside the right shoulder to a left ham exit . At 50 yd it'll do 17+ through both shields and the soft part of one shoulder blade with a full exit .
These were the 8.5 gr load in a 16" carbine that gave an MV of 1050 . The business end is not a place I'd want to be with such an " old antiquated under powered cartridge " a guy might get hurt or something .

Once a cylinder was aquired , 45 ACP was also quite fast per load over book data . I've settled on 5.5 Unique across the board for 45 ACP with 3 @200 gr and 3 @ 250-265 gr for 3 pistols and a HP carbine . More or less to the sights of the 1918 made Smiths and the carbine and sometimes cracky in the RBH with the 200s .
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
I've been having some trouble with the cylinder locking up at times. Mostly with the loading gate open, you have to bang on the top strap to get whatever is holding to release. I can see the bolt is open so it must be the pawl wedging out against the ratchet. Almost never happens when you cock the hammer, just when trying to free spin with the gate open. It got worse this morning so I decided to tear it down and have a look. Watched a couple videos on disassembly and got into it. Holy cow that thing had a lot of gunk in it. Maybe 500 rounds through the gun, but it looked like thousands inside. Got it cleaned up and could feel quite a few burrs on the various parts. Dug out an assortment of finishing stones from my machine shop career and started de -burring. Some were pretty bad. Took a few tries to re-assemble, only have two hands not the required four.
Talk about smoothing up, feels great now. Still need to do something about the trigger creep and the bolt timing. From the first day the bolt pops back up less than half way to the next cylinder notch. It's making drag marks on the cylinder. Wish there was a decent smith within driving distance.