This article was written by CBA member, Tom Acheson and was published in the Mar/April 2003 #162 issue of the Fouling Shot.
The path of my interest in handguns must have started off differently than what other shooters have experienced. In my narrow little world way back then, my focus was on double action revolvers. It just didn’t seem to make sense to have a gun that took “forever” to load and unload. Therefore when I saw the Ruger and Colt single actions, I just looked beyond them as being impractical. But back in 1974, there was no such thing as Cowboy Acton shooting and western movies had slipped in their popularity. So it took me longer than most to arrive at a point where I would eventually appreciate the single action revolver.
Since silhouette shooting is one of my main shoot-ing interests, all of those early year match entries were shot with double action revolvers, starting in about 1980. Oddly enough the very first entry was shot using an S&W Model 25-2 that had been factory-fitted with a .45 Colt barrel (to go along with the original .45 Auto Rim cylinder) and that was the round that I was using. But in 1996 a single action revolver finally found its way into my gun vault. It was made by El Dorado and was a .41 Mag. Oddly enough, that same year, a friend of mine and I were out in South Dakota shooting sod poodles and we somehow talked ourselves into buying two consecutive serial numbered .45 Colt single action revolvers from Doug Turnbull Restorations (716-657-6338). This “pro-ject” eventually took on the look of being more of a his-torical driven need than a shooting need.
These were ordered to be as close to the original 1873 first-model appearance as we could. Doug Turnbull starts with Colt made revolvers from the Colt Custom Shop and then he builds the gun to order from there. Our requested details include use of the screw in the frame that holds the cylinder base pin (not the spring loaded lat-eral pin used on current versions), the pinched rear sight notch in the top-strap of the frame, walnut grip panels, 5-1/2” barrel, bird’s eye extractor push point, checkered hammer tip and the terrific Turnbull color case hardened frame finish.
So here we are looking at the new gun, appearing almost like a piece of jewelry. Since none of the guns in my vault are “wall hangers”, my intention was to shoot mine and work up an accuracy load for it. But like my friend who owns the twin Colt to mine said: “Life is too short to shoot an ugly gun.” This gun is definitely not ugly. But now it was time to find out if it could shoot. The initial goal would be to develop a load that operates at the approximate 1873 muzzle velocities of 810-855 f.p.s. with the 255-grain (lead) bullet.
The first move was to carefully slug the barrel and cylinder throats. Looks like the dimensional gods were not having a very good day when this gun was assembled. The bore came out 0.4495”-0.450” and the cylinder throats ranged from 0.458” to 0.459. If the cylinder throats are smaller than the bore it can be a challenge to get decent accuracy out of a revolver. (See also FS # 96, p.4 for another writer’s comments on this detail.) By comparison my 7-1/2” Ruger Vaquero has cylinder openings that are in the .451” to .452” diameter range and a bore that is closer to .453” diameter.
Then some preliminary experiments were conducted to identify which lubricator sizer die to use when settling on a bullet diameter. The answer seemed to be 0.452” diameter. Bullets of 0.451”, 0.453” and 0.454” diameter were also tried but were not any more accurate than the 0.452” size. (As a side note here the Ruger Vaquero also demonstrated a preference for 0.452” bullets over 0.451” diameter bullets.)
If you walk into any gunshop (that sells components and reloading gear) and blurt out the well-worn question: “What’s the best load for a .45 Colt?” my informal survey says that the answer will include WW 231 or Unique (popularity in that order) as the powder to use. The week-end plow jockeys and pickle barrel guards in these shops all seem to have their own “best recipe”. But as many of us know, every gun is different and needs to have its own load research conducted for it. Now it was time to assemble test loads.
The first loads I tried were the ones that my Vaquero seemed to like the best. It is the RCBS 45-255 SWC bullet with 8.0 grains of WW231 and a Winchester primer (960 f.p.s.). In the shorter barreled and lighter Colt, this load was a little too stiff from the shooting comfort perspective. It was encouraging to see that the very first 5-round group that went through the gun went into a slightly smaller than 2” cluster. But accuracy was not up to what the Vaquero has often produced, not an alarming or unexpected development. The biggest lesson learned during those early range efforts was how high above the center of the 6” diameter bullseye aiming point that the bullets were striking on the 25-yard target. Left-to-right was fine but the elevation thing was getting to be downright discouraging for such an expensive gun (notice I haven’t and won’t talk about the price in print, my family may someday read this article). As testing progressed this elevation impact annoyance was eventually solved by sending the gun back to Turnbull who added a slightly higher front sight to the gun, which lowered the point of impact. But now I have a left to right impact area problem (see below).
The path of my interest in handguns must have started off differently than what other shooters have experienced. In my narrow little world way back then, my focus was on double action revolvers. It just didn’t seem to make sense to have a gun that took “forever” to load and unload. Therefore when I saw the Ruger and Colt single actions, I just looked beyond them as being impractical. But back in 1974, there was no such thing as Cowboy Acton shooting and western movies had slipped in their popularity. So it took me longer than most to arrive at a point where I would eventually appreciate the single action revolver.
Since silhouette shooting is one of my main shoot-ing interests, all of those early year match entries were shot with double action revolvers, starting in about 1980. Oddly enough the very first entry was shot using an S&W Model 25-2 that had been factory-fitted with a .45 Colt barrel (to go along with the original .45 Auto Rim cylinder) and that was the round that I was using. But in 1996 a single action revolver finally found its way into my gun vault. It was made by El Dorado and was a .41 Mag. Oddly enough, that same year, a friend of mine and I were out in South Dakota shooting sod poodles and we somehow talked ourselves into buying two consecutive serial numbered .45 Colt single action revolvers from Doug Turnbull Restorations (716-657-6338). This “pro-ject” eventually took on the look of being more of a his-torical driven need than a shooting need.
These were ordered to be as close to the original 1873 first-model appearance as we could. Doug Turnbull starts with Colt made revolvers from the Colt Custom Shop and then he builds the gun to order from there. Our requested details include use of the screw in the frame that holds the cylinder base pin (not the spring loaded lat-eral pin used on current versions), the pinched rear sight notch in the top-strap of the frame, walnut grip panels, 5-1/2” barrel, bird’s eye extractor push point, checkered hammer tip and the terrific Turnbull color case hardened frame finish.
So here we are looking at the new gun, appearing almost like a piece of jewelry. Since none of the guns in my vault are “wall hangers”, my intention was to shoot mine and work up an accuracy load for it. But like my friend who owns the twin Colt to mine said: “Life is too short to shoot an ugly gun.” This gun is definitely not ugly. But now it was time to find out if it could shoot. The initial goal would be to develop a load that operates at the approximate 1873 muzzle velocities of 810-855 f.p.s. with the 255-grain (lead) bullet.
The first move was to carefully slug the barrel and cylinder throats. Looks like the dimensional gods were not having a very good day when this gun was assembled. The bore came out 0.4495”-0.450” and the cylinder throats ranged from 0.458” to 0.459. If the cylinder throats are smaller than the bore it can be a challenge to get decent accuracy out of a revolver. (See also FS # 96, p.4 for another writer’s comments on this detail.) By comparison my 7-1/2” Ruger Vaquero has cylinder openings that are in the .451” to .452” diameter range and a bore that is closer to .453” diameter.
Then some preliminary experiments were conducted to identify which lubricator sizer die to use when settling on a bullet diameter. The answer seemed to be 0.452” diameter. Bullets of 0.451”, 0.453” and 0.454” diameter were also tried but were not any more accurate than the 0.452” size. (As a side note here the Ruger Vaquero also demonstrated a preference for 0.452” bullets over 0.451” diameter bullets.)
If you walk into any gunshop (that sells components and reloading gear) and blurt out the well-worn question: “What’s the best load for a .45 Colt?” my informal survey says that the answer will include WW 231 or Unique (popularity in that order) as the powder to use. The week-end plow jockeys and pickle barrel guards in these shops all seem to have their own “best recipe”. But as many of us know, every gun is different and needs to have its own load research conducted for it. Now it was time to assemble test loads.
The first loads I tried were the ones that my Vaquero seemed to like the best. It is the RCBS 45-255 SWC bullet with 8.0 grains of WW231 and a Winchester primer (960 f.p.s.). In the shorter barreled and lighter Colt, this load was a little too stiff from the shooting comfort perspective. It was encouraging to see that the very first 5-round group that went through the gun went into a slightly smaller than 2” cluster. But accuracy was not up to what the Vaquero has often produced, not an alarming or unexpected development. The biggest lesson learned during those early range efforts was how high above the center of the 6” diameter bullseye aiming point that the bullets were striking on the 25-yard target. Left-to-right was fine but the elevation thing was getting to be downright discouraging for such an expensive gun (notice I haven’t and won’t talk about the price in print, my family may someday read this article). As testing progressed this elevation impact annoyance was eventually solved by sending the gun back to Turnbull who added a slightly higher front sight to the gun, which lowered the point of impact. But now I have a left to right impact area problem (see below).
RCBS 230 CA, Saeco #456, Laser Cast, Lyman #452454, RCBS 255 SWC.
The load development work included the use of bullets from five bullet molds; all sized to 0.452”, with weights based on alloy of wheel-weights and using my LBT hardness tester average around 14 BHN:Commercially made Oregon Trail Laser cast (252 grains) cast bullets (I won them at the CBA National Tournament in Kansas City in 1998.
Lyman #452424 EV (252 grains)
RCBS 45-255 SWC (261 grains)
RCBS 45-230 CA (227 grains)
Saeco # 456 (231 grains)
The (7) powders included:
Alliant’s Unique
Accurate Arms’ # 5 & 5744
Winchester’s WW 231
Hodgdon’s Tite Group, Universal Clays and Li’l Gun
Some shooters are interested in the bearing length of a cast bullet, expecting to see the most accurate load to be the bullet with the longest bearing length. Here are some dimensions to mull over….
Bullet BL/OAL OAL Bear. Length
RCBS 45-230 CA 0.592” 0.305” 59%
Saeco # 456 0.675” 0.333” 49%
Laser Cast 0.689” 0.390” 57%
Lyman #4524424 0.690” 0.401” 58%
RCBS 45-255 0.722” 0.428” 59%
There is quite a collection of .45 Colt dies in my inventory of loading equipment. For these loads I used a complete set-up of Redding dies for all of the different load assembly steps. They are well made and perform as good dies are expected to.
There are some negatives to using the flake shot-gun powders for loads in large cavernous revolver cartridge cases. Some loads are more position sensitive than others are. And how do we store our loaded rounds in a typical 50-round ammo box? Bullet nose down with all of the powder piled up on the base of the bullet. And when we stuff the rounds into the cylinder, and proceed to shoot where does the powder find itself just before ignition? It’s either still mostly up against the base of the bullet or lying along the bottom of the case. The primer’s flame has to somehow ignite that oddly positioned pile uniformly. In this regard the AA 5744 powder has some possible advantages.
Some theorists believe that the few rare situations of blown-up six-shooters are a result of the former condition where a secondary ignition (due it is thought to the powder being up against the bullet’s base) occurs after the primer is set off. The gun had already begun to flex (as all guns do) and was returning to its relaxed state when the second ignition’s pressure is asking the gun to again flex. Either the metal or the different position of the gun’s components can’t handle the conditions and guns pieces start to take on different shapes than they normally do. So if you accept the above theory then there are peace-of-mind thoughts that may urge you to look at bulkier powders that almost fill the case, heading off the potential development of randomly positioned powder and the worst-case situation consequences.
RCBS 45-255 SWC (261 grains)
RCBS 45-230 CA (227 grains)
Saeco # 456 (231 grains)
The (7) powders included:
Alliant’s Unique
Accurate Arms’ # 5 & 5744
Winchester’s WW 231
Hodgdon’s Tite Group, Universal Clays and Li’l Gun
Some shooters are interested in the bearing length of a cast bullet, expecting to see the most accurate load to be the bullet with the longest bearing length. Here are some dimensions to mull over….
Bullet BL/OAL OAL Bear. Length
RCBS 45-230 CA 0.592” 0.305” 59%
Saeco # 456 0.675” 0.333” 49%
Laser Cast 0.689” 0.390” 57%
Lyman #4524424 0.690” 0.401” 58%
RCBS 45-255 0.722” 0.428” 59%
There is quite a collection of .45 Colt dies in my inventory of loading equipment. For these loads I used a complete set-up of Redding dies for all of the different load assembly steps. They are well made and perform as good dies are expected to.
There are some negatives to using the flake shot-gun powders for loads in large cavernous revolver cartridge cases. Some loads are more position sensitive than others are. And how do we store our loaded rounds in a typical 50-round ammo box? Bullet nose down with all of the powder piled up on the base of the bullet. And when we stuff the rounds into the cylinder, and proceed to shoot where does the powder find itself just before ignition? It’s either still mostly up against the base of the bullet or lying along the bottom of the case. The primer’s flame has to somehow ignite that oddly positioned pile uniformly. In this regard the AA 5744 powder has some possible advantages.
Some theorists believe that the few rare situations of blown-up six-shooters are a result of the former condition where a secondary ignition (due it is thought to the powder being up against the bullet’s base) occurs after the primer is set off. The gun had already begun to flex (as all guns do) and was returning to its relaxed state when the second ignition’s pressure is asking the gun to again flex. Either the metal or the different position of the gun’s components can’t handle the conditions and guns pieces start to take on different shapes than they normally do. So if you accept the above theory then there are peace-of-mind thoughts that may urge you to look at bulkier powders that almost fill the case, heading off the potential development of randomly positioned powder and the worst-case situation consequences.
For my new revolver test loads, I wanted to include a powder that gave a larger (the case being close to full) loading density, hoping to emulate the high loading density that works so well with precise-shooting target guns. Use of the AA 5744 powder moved me closer to this objective. But then a new challenge surfaced; how to eliminate the unburned 5744 powder that was clogging up the extractor rod, which messed up the empty case extraction efforts as the extractor rod binds up from the powder granules that find their way into the clearances around the rod and the ejector rod housing. There are two things here we can try. Use a magnum primer but back off on the powder charge. Or I can follow the sug-gestion of Ted Curtis of the Accurate Arms Company (makers of the 5744 powder I was using). He suggested that a firmer (roll type only) crimp be used, without bulging the case. Unfortunately, neither approach solved the problem.
A pair of almost identical 10-round loads at 25 yards. See text for minor difference in the load.
The challenge with the Saeco mold was that if you seat the bullet into the case and attempt to crimp it on the face of the upper driving band (there is no crimp groove), the OAL of the round (1.704”) is too long for the cylinder. You can trim off the excess from the tip of the bullet to fit a maximum allowable cylinder length of 1.660”, shorten the cases or seat the bullet deeper into the case. My experiments resulted in seating the bullet deeper into the case, which looks a little odd because the case mouth is crimped over the leading edge of the bullet’s driving band (1.571” OAL). But this arrangement shoots OK. And if you are into antique aesthetics, the appearance of the loaded round in the area of the bullet/case juncture approaches that of the original 1873 round. Using 17.0 grains to 18.8 grains of AA 5744 with this load produced a muzzle velocity of 824-885 f.p.s.
The best accuracy load according to the 1978 Lyman Pistol and Revolver Handbook (page 113) says to use the Lyman #4524424 and 9.3 grains of Winchester 630 at 650 f.p.s. Here are some load comments from my experiences, all shot over a sandbag rest at 25-yards, using 5-round groups:
“Best” Accuracy"
Saeco 18.0 gr AA-5744 11/16"
RCBS 255 5.0 gr Universal Clays 1 3/4"
RCBS 255 7.0 gr WW-231 2"
RCBS 230 18.0 gr AA-5744 2 1/4"
Lyman 6.0 gr WW-231 2 5/8"
Fastest was the Laser Cast bullet with 7.1 Tite Group (ES 4, SD 2.3) but produced 3-1/4” to 3-1/2” groups, at 963 f.p.s. Slowest was Universal Clays load (above) at 488 f.p.s.
The (2) 10-round groups shown in the photo use the Lyman bullet with 6.5 grains of WW 231. The upper group measures 5-3/4” and had a velocity of 721 f.p.s. The bottom group measures 2-7/8” and had a velocity of 775 f.p.s. So what’s the difference? The bottom group had a 0.060” thick poly wad at the base of the bullet. It looks like the elevation of the hits is OK but the impact area being too far to the left has to be corrected somehow.
In my small population of test loads, I would rank the accuracy of the bullets above as the Lyman 4254424 as # 1, the RCBS 45-255 as # 2 and the Saeco #456 (actually Redding Hunter, Inc.) as #3.
With a strong interest in silhouettes, I plan to put on a match at our club in 2003 or 2004 that will allow only single action, cast bullet shooting revolvers. You must stand to shoot (none of that sissy layin’ down stuff) using either a one or two-hand hold, and we’ll use the IHMSA Field Pistol targets at 25, 50, 75 and 100 meters. These summer evening contests will reveal the closet John Wayne who may be hiding in our club membership.
On a recent trip to Wyoming I took the new Colt along. I used a new holster and belt made for me by Trail Rider products (303-791-6068). The holster was made to copy a F. A. Menea pattern featured in the book Packin’ Iron, and they did a heck of a job in producing an excellent copy of that old design. Quite a bit of fun was had with the new revolver out in those wide-open spaces. My son Todd was with me and he used the Vaquero.
After all of the test load gyrations and trips to the range, I’m still not satisfied with the 25-yard groups I’m getting. I believe I have the right dies, enough of the different and suitable powders and enough different bullet designs. But is something missing? Either I’m doing something wrong or this gun is just shooting as good as it’s going to. What do you think?
The best accuracy load according to the 1978 Lyman Pistol and Revolver Handbook (page 113) says to use the Lyman #4524424 and 9.3 grains of Winchester 630 at 650 f.p.s. Here are some load comments from my experiences, all shot over a sandbag rest at 25-yards, using 5-round groups:
“Best” Accuracy"
Saeco 18.0 gr AA-5744 11/16"
RCBS 255 5.0 gr Universal Clays 1 3/4"
RCBS 255 7.0 gr WW-231 2"
RCBS 230 18.0 gr AA-5744 2 1/4"
Lyman 6.0 gr WW-231 2 5/8"
Fastest was the Laser Cast bullet with 7.1 Tite Group (ES 4, SD 2.3) but produced 3-1/4” to 3-1/2” groups, at 963 f.p.s. Slowest was Universal Clays load (above) at 488 f.p.s.
The (2) 10-round groups shown in the photo use the Lyman bullet with 6.5 grains of WW 231. The upper group measures 5-3/4” and had a velocity of 721 f.p.s. The bottom group measures 2-7/8” and had a velocity of 775 f.p.s. So what’s the difference? The bottom group had a 0.060” thick poly wad at the base of the bullet. It looks like the elevation of the hits is OK but the impact area being too far to the left has to be corrected somehow.
In my small population of test loads, I would rank the accuracy of the bullets above as the Lyman 4254424 as # 1, the RCBS 45-255 as # 2 and the Saeco #456 (actually Redding Hunter, Inc.) as #3.
With a strong interest in silhouettes, I plan to put on a match at our club in 2003 or 2004 that will allow only single action, cast bullet shooting revolvers. You must stand to shoot (none of that sissy layin’ down stuff) using either a one or two-hand hold, and we’ll use the IHMSA Field Pistol targets at 25, 50, 75 and 100 meters. These summer evening contests will reveal the closet John Wayne who may be hiding in our club membership.
On a recent trip to Wyoming I took the new Colt along. I used a new holster and belt made for me by Trail Rider products (303-791-6068). The holster was made to copy a F. A. Menea pattern featured in the book Packin’ Iron, and they did a heck of a job in producing an excellent copy of that old design. Quite a bit of fun was had with the new revolver out in those wide-open spaces. My son Todd was with me and he used the Vaquero.
After all of the test load gyrations and trips to the range, I’m still not satisfied with the 25-yard groups I’m getting. I believe I have the right dies, enough of the different and suitable powders and enough different bullet designs. But is something missing? Either I’m doing something wrong or this gun is just shooting as good as it’s going to. What do you think?