WHAT OTHER CALIBERS DOES IT COME IN????? PACO
Found some range time on a bright, sunny 65F day in northern PA with which to wring out my new 3.5" 45 Colt Rodeo Storekeeper with ejector rod, a.k.a. "Black Bart." I'm not in the habit of naming my guns, but that's what my wife took to calling it when I was cleaning it of the factory oil.
I fitted a lower weight mainspring to the shorty SA because the USRA mainspring was pretty stout, and all of my SAs have lightened mainsprings.
It was an impromptu range session, so I didn't have any targets with which to print groups. I did set up some claybirds on edge at 15, 20, and 25 yards, but first warmed up on a 4" cube of rock maple. I tossed the maple cube out on the range and it landed between 15 and 20 yards. With five rounds of Winchester Cowboy loads (my "standard" ammo for trying new-to me guns in 45 Colt) in the cylinder I hit the block 4/5 shots, chasing it around a bit.
Next came the claybirds, and I hit all five at 15, four at 20, and all five again at 25 yards. Had to hold at 6 o'clock, maybe an inch low at 6 o'clock in order to hit them. I wiped out the rest of the box of ammo on larger bits and pieces of claybird, and on chasing the maple cube around the range.
Impressions:
1) The 3.5" Rodeo Storekeeper is plenty accurate and reasonably regulated. I like a 6 o'clock hold, and this one is pretty much right there, and can handle a tad warmer loads even.
2) Winchester factory Cowboy loads seem to recoil a bit more "smartly" and with more of a "crack" than a "boom" as compared to the same ammo in my Uberti 4-5/8" 45 Colt SAs. As expected, the shorty Storekeeper climbs a bit more in recoil than a 4-5/8" 45 Colt SA. I attribute that as a function of the lower weight due to 1.25" less barrel length. The bakelite grips are aggressively checkered and do not rotate in the hand like a set of wooden stocks do in a SA. Target reacquisition is much faster as a result.
3) Winchester factory Cowboy load empties fall out of the cylinder by their own weight, as with most other 45 Colt-chambered weapon that I have. The USFA Storekeeper is no exception.
4) After 25 or 30 rotations of the cylinder there's no evidence of a drag line.
5) There's no evidence of leading in the bore, just some black soot tracks that cleaned out with two passes of a patch moistened with G96 Gun Treatment.
6) Balance and handling of the 3.5" USFA Storekeeper is noticeably better than that of a 4-5/8" SA, and those themselves are no slouch in the handling department. There's a touch of front-heaviness in the 4-5/8" 45 Colt SAs that's absent in the Storekeeper.
7) A Brownells "Gunslinger" lightened mainspring is a must. With one installed, the SA hammer doesn't fall like a ton of bricks and jar the sights off of alignment the way the factory mainspring does.
8 ) The Storekeeper goes through ammo was too fast.
9) At $690, the Storekeeper was a steal.
Noah
