The .45 Cowboy Spl. experiment was.. interesting

[2ndovc]

For a lack of a better word.

The .45 Colt Vaquero was all over the map with the Cowboy Spl and .45 Colt loads.
Shooting one handed at 40'. POI was @ 7" left of the 3.
This was the 200 LFP/ 5gr. Bullseye. This was the best C.Spl. combination of the three for both revolvers.


Fortunately, I felt a little vindicated with my shooting abilities after shooting the Bisley.

The flyers were my fault. There was a guy right next to me shooting an M1A SOCOM. Made me a little twitchy.

Neither revolver shot the 300 gr. Cast Performance LFPGC / 8gr Unique load well at all.
That target ended up in the trash. The 300 gr bullet was far more accurate from the Bisley with a 6.5 gr charge.

I'd noticed the base pin in the Vaquero was not an original when I bought it. I'm wondering now if replacing
it will improve the accuracy at all. I have a stainless Ruger base pin that I'll try next time out. Going to take along
a larger assortment of ammunition too.

jb

[Scott Tschirhart]

Thank you. Following this with great interest.

[2ndovc]

I'm going to slow them down ( like Griff suggested) and use a heavier bullet. I still have some .454 Hornadys, so I'll load dome of those as well.

jb

[piller]

Good luck. Hope you find the right combination for that gun.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I'm going to slow them down ( like Griff suggested) and use a heavier bullet. I still have some .454 Hornadys, so I'll load dome of those as well.

jb

I'll bet that swaged Hornady Cowboy bullet would really turn on. It's soft enough to upset and not have a lot of gas rush by it.

Might see if you can catch some bullets in loose cloth.

[2ndovc]

The neighbor is a little slow and a real pain, maybe I'll give him a couple of old towels and ask him to try and catch one.

jb

[Ysabel Kid]

Thank you. Following this with great interest.

+1

[samsi]

The most accurate load I've found using CS brass in a Colt chamber is with Matt's Bullets version of the 240 Keith Auto Rim bullet over Universal, though a 230TC with 5.8 Unique isn't too bad either. Throats on both my Blackhawk and Redhawk have been reamed to .4525", the Blackhawk shot patterns vs groups prior to the cylinder work.

[2ndovc]

Thanks for the info! I have a Lot of Unique, I'll give that one a try.

I think this Vaquero is going to take a little fooling around to get it shooting properly, but I'll figure it out.

jb

[Scott Tschirhart]

Hard to go wrong with Unique.

[Bill in Oregon]

Jason, I don't know if Kelly Schlepp at Belt Mountain is still making his oversized base pins for Ruger sixguns, but one of those might help.

[3leggedturtle]

How big are the cylinder throats? You gonna try a few in your Bond Arms? Mine got sold

[2ndovc]

Bill,

I have a Belt Mountain I can try first. I'll see if it makes any difference.


Todd,

I was going to take the derringer, but forgot to grab it. I'll take it along for the next outing. I haven't measured the throats yet. Probably a good idea.

jb

[3leggedturtle]

Bill,

I have a Belt Mountain I can try first. I'll see if it makes any difference.


Todd,

I was going to take the derringer, but forgot to grab it. I'll take it along for the next outing. I haven't measured the throats yet. Probably a good idea.

jb

Or the easy, quick lazy way, drop a bullet thru the thriats and see how loose or tight they are. I been lucky with Rugers, they all had fairly consistent diameters.

[2ndovc]

Todd,

I was going to take the derringer, but forgot to grab it. I'll take it along for the next outing. I haven't measured the throats yet. Probably a good idea.

jb

Or the easy, quick lazy way, drop a bullet thru the thriats and see how loose or tight they are. I been lucky with Rugers, they all had fairly consistent diameters.

Ok, giving this a try.
Here's the two bullets dropped into the chambers. 300 XTP and a 300 Cast Performance, both sized at .452" They both shoot quite well in the Bisley,


This is where they stopped in the cylinder.


Dial caliper in the throat says .450", if I'm doing this right.


I haven't done this before, so I'm not sure what this means. Any input is appreciated.

jb

[Bill in Oregon]

Jason, that dial caliper is the way I do it. But I am no expert either!
I think you want your cylinder throats to be about .001 or .002 larger than your barrel groove diameter. What you do not want is cylinder throats smaller than groove diameter, or they will reduce the diameter of your bullet before it even gets to the barrel throat and it will not fully grip the rifling nor hold back the gasses that will cut into your bullet base, lead your barrel and give Pelosi accuracy.

[Griff]

Jason, that dial caliper is the way I do it. But I am no expert either!
I think you want your cylinder throats to be about .001 or .002 larger than your barrel groove diameter. What you do not want is cylinder throats smaller than groove diameter, or they will reduce the diameter of your bullet before it even gets to the barrel throat and it will not fully grip the rifling nor hold back the gasses that will cut into your bullet base, lead your barrel and give Pelosi accuracy.

This ↑↑↑

[2ndovc]

Thanks for the confirmation, guys! That's where my thinking was heading, but with all the Ruger revolvers I've had this was a first. I've been reading that it does happen and I'm betting that's the reason the previous owner sold it off.

I've been thinking about sending it off to Mr. Bowen for a work over and some real case hardening from the Turnbull folks.

I like this one too much to just trade it off.

jb

[AmBraCol]

Thanks for the confirmation, guys! That's where my thinking was heading, but with all the Ruger revolvers I've had this was a first. I've been reading that it does happen and I'm betting that's the reason the previous owner sold it off.

I've been thinking about sending it off to Mr. Bowen for a work over and some real case hardening from the Turnbull folks.

I like this one too much to just trade it off.

jb

Or you could send it to Fermin Garza or another smith to ream the throats. Also check the barrel for signs of a constriction at the barrel-frame juncture. Another fun exercise is to take a soft lead projectile, fishing sinker, etc and force it through the throat and measure the portion that contacted the walls. That will give you a bit more accurate measurement than the dial caliper. Glen of cylindersmith.com used to make a bit of cash by reaming Ruger throats to proper dimensions. Unfortunately it reached a point where it was no longer "fun" and the last I heard he doesn't do them anymore. Anyway, to get the pistol up and popping more accurately, I'd contact Fermin Garza and inquire about his cylinder service.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I agree, it looks like those cylinder throats are a little tight.

[horsesoldier03]

I would send it to Fermin Garza, you can find him on Facebook. He will map out your cylinder and ensure all the cylinders are uniform and in perfect alignment. Once you know all the throats are the same, you can determine the best bullet diameter. While you are waiting on the cylinder to get back pick up a Bell Mountain pin. LOL, just noticed that was recommended 2 post up as well. Additionally, I think all he requires is that you send him the cylinder. That will save you the heavy cost of shipping the actual revolver.

[2ndovc]

Thanks for the suggestion. Sounds like a good place to start.

jb