194 gr Bradshaw-Martin SWC GC

Wonder if I should use a lanyard.......thoughts?
----Dick

*****

Negative. You've made it this far with performance your criteria----not fire & brimstone. However, I'm fixing to shoot, and thinking you sent over some of that Rocky Mountain wind.

Meanwhile, Lee shoots 100, 200 & 300 yard bench rest this weekend in Contender's territory. No Maximum for Lee until he gets done with his bench rest stick.
David Bradshaw

Lee and David,

One of you guys wrote above a photo
"Front sight sketched on pig to show size as it appears @ 25 yards, and POI (Point of Aim)."

I'm kind of fascinated with that idea. Are you using a sideways crayon to simulate a front sight SIZE you saw before the shot? How do you see that? How do you measure it?

How do you interpret that target with the crayon? Estimating drift? Do you convert it for a log book?
Looking at what I think is David's note book, the one that looks like an engineer wrote it; I see something similar merging in with wind and other data.
Do you move that data into a spread sheet or do you use the note book as historical reference.
Please expound.
I see a lot of 1D,2R nomenclature meaning 1" down and 2" right in my logs; but that drawn sight on the target is interesting.


I finally got your message about follow through. The payoff is bigtime.
Now your sense of "sight picture" is what has me intrigued.
I'm pretty sure I'm about to learn something real important that I've been missing.

Prescut

Precut.... all "Bradshaw Reports" are written by me, as are photos. This includes #6, my most recent. Lee writes text and supplies photos for the "Martin Reports." Lee and I will try to clarify the headings for our respective reports. Lee posts all material under his byline, or avatar.

Am not an engineer and do not put dope on spreadsheets. Try to throw lead and have go where I throw it.

When targeting, I record dope in notebooks as I shoot. At 100 yards and greater, I tend to sequence each shot, probably from my habit of calling the shot: only occasionally do I note the call. Usually it on or in the zone of the call. "Calling" is the act of follow through and seeing the follow through. The visual weaves from conscious to unconscious without entering abstraction. Follow through is the act of possessing the shot. By circumstance I often put down the revolver to look through the spotting scope, Thus, a fresh grip each shot. But so what? You have to take a new sight picture each shot.

To think one's grip must remain the same from shot-to-shot to shoot a group is false. We're talking magnum recoil. If a magnum doesn't shift your grip, you're a bench vise!

The brown or copper-color sketches in my report #6 subtend the area the front sight covers @ 25 yards, again @ 100 yards (or, four times as wide). To hold front leg on a pig, or where the leg touches the body, gives a repeatable Point of Aim (POA). In silhouette competition, this hold----providing windage is on----permits more vertical dispersion than any other hold. It also allows for precise wind-doping @ 100 meters or yards, the distance at which wind drift really takes hold (100 yards/meters provides a roadmap for drift out yonder).

Those sketched front sights accurately depict where a bullet that lands on the corner of your front sight goes as distance increases.
David Bradshaw

David ,

Whew, more grist for the mill.

When I said Engineer, I meant it as a compliment. Your writings are technical in nature. Lots of metrics and a deeper understanding, than most of us, of the forces involved. I guess I just assumed the engineer part.

you wrote:
"The visual weaves from conscious to unconscious without entering abstraction."

That's a beautiful turn of a phrase. It may take me some time to grasp the implications.

I remember when I first started trying to shoot more accurately at distance. I was consumed at first by the front sight. Very quickly I changed my mental focus to the trigger. Then more like 80% - 20% split between the two. I've really enjoyed the breathing part you've spoken of in other threads as well.

You seem to be describing your mental focus just before the squeeze as not taking a concrete form. You're not thinking about it? Am I anywhere in the ballpark?

much appreciated,
Prescut

["Front sight sketched on pig to show size as it appears @ 25 yards, and POI (Point of Aim)."

Are you using a sideways crayon to simulate a front sight SIZE you saw before the shot? How do you see that? How do you measure it?

How do you interpret that target with the crayon? Estimating drift? Do you convert it for a log book?
----Prescut

*****

Focussing on the front, see how wide it covers the target. Sketch exact impression in notebook. There are two reasons to sketch the front sight: 1) width of blade on target, 2) elevation hold. All it takes is a horizontal line. Many silhouetters just drew a line to indicate elevation hold. Specify width (as it appears on target) to close in on repeatability.

Hunting, width of front blade provides a gauge for range. You can sort out subtention beforehand on the range. My rough guide: an 1/8-inch (.125") covers about a foot @ 100 yards. As said, this must be sorted out on the range, as subvention is a function of eye relief as well as sight width.

At long range----100 yards and beyond----I want my shots on a third or less the width of the front sight.

Not always possible, but, if you ain't going for it you don't get it.

As to the front sight sketched on a pig @ 25 yards and pig @ 100 yards, the 25 yd target shows shots clustered just to the left. The sight needs windage adjustment (POI is not wind drift). Same on pig @ 100 yards, with four times the error.
David Bradshaw

Thank you much,

I have been reading your posts for several months discussing the front-sight post size and it's relationship to filling the back sight. Seeing the post size as it relates to distance and target fills up my logic hole. I can't wait to get back on the line.

I didn't understand why all the fuss about a front post.
Now I get it.


I'm still scheming trying to figure out how to get some of your and Lee's bullets. I will buy the mold and the lead if anyone wants to cast this beauty and share. PM me.

This thread has been really amazing. So much to learn. Nobody around me to even talk to. These threads keep me active and engaged. In my senior years, that gets tougher and tougher all the time. 2018 has been rough on my lady's health issues and it keeps me real close to home.


thanks much to David and Lee,
Prescut

Coogs called, got his paws Bill Jordan's Ruger .357 Maximum 600-00087, the lowest serial number Coogs reports finding with 7-1/2" barrel. For those just starting to shave, the late and very tall Bill Jordan possessed mischievous humor and a lightning fast draw, which came into play during a racy era when a hammer strap was never snapped unless you had to run somewhere. Jordan was the main instigator for the Smith & Wesson Model 19, a gun which screams Don't wait to get shot! Bill Jordan taught Ken Oehler the art of pouring Wild Turkey on your mother's fruitcake and eating it with a spoon. These things and more stood Jordan to receive a Blackhawk Maximum. So the question remains: was this the first production Maximum with 7-1/2 inch barrel?
David Bradshaw

Thanks David,

More incredible history for the unwashed masses. Awesome people in awesome times.

Saturday I revisited AA1680 with our 194 gr Bradshaw-Martin bullet. Previously I used 22.0 grs which was a bit light. This time I loaded 100 rounds split evenly between 23.0 and 24.0 grs. Average velocity over five shots:

23.0 = 1,521 fps
24.0 = 1,587 fps



David and I both need to work more with 1680 and our bullet before forming conclusions. But so far, it's a close second to IMR 4227 on group size. My best targets with each load:

23.0 AA1680 @ 100 yards - 12:00 looks like two hits due to how the paint chipped. 3:00 are two shots that touched.



24.0 AA1680 @ 100 yards – 4x4 is around 3". The third shot out of five walked up nearly 4".



This coming weekend I plan to try H110 again, but lower charge weights (20.0 & 21.0). If you recall, 22.0 grs was extremely fast but gave erratic accuracy.

This one keeps haunting me. I need to get off my butt & order the mold.

We have way too much snow to shoot here, can't even get to the pistol range without having a snow plow on the front of the truck.

Dick

That's why Miss Penny says she'd never live in the west. She HATES cold & snow. She sees snow on the TV & gets cold. When our local weatherman says "snow in the higher elevations,, she calls them names,, even though we don't get any.
Me? I don't mind it to a point, and I don't cuss it like she does.
Still,, having to plow snow just to go shooting,,, that's NOT funny!

I had let this bullet & mold simmer in my mind as other projects took it's place. I went back & re-read all the stuff posted on the other forum about it. I'm going to place my order for the mold,, as I have waited way too long. I let my 45 cal stuff last summer rule my thoughts,, but this one was always in the back of my mind. Gonna have to get off the pot & "git 'r done!"

Got my mold ordered today!

Saturday I tried 20.0 and 21.0 grs of H110 with the 194 gr Bradshaw-Martin. To assess consistency, or lack thereof, I fired fifty of each load. Average of five shots:

• 20.0 grs H110 – 1,636 fps
• 21.0 grs H110 – 1,707 fps



H110 velocities are surprisingly fast. 22.0 grs gave nearly 1,800 fps from the 10.5" barrel. Backing off 2.0 grs still puts H110 ahead of other powders tested. Group sizes at 100 yards were no better or worse than 22.0. H110 just hasn't printed as tight as 4227, 1680, or 4198. These two targets are the best for each load on the day.

20.0 grs H110



21.0 grs H110



On more than a few 5-shot strings, I could only land 3 or 4 on the steel. I felt good behind the gun and the wind flags were calm throughout. I'm hoping David again tries H110/W296 with our 194 gr. If we both fail to get it to group, we'll move on.

I'm planning on starting with the 4227 to see how my results stack up before I try to venture anywhere else. It seems that so far,, that's the way to go.

I really appreciate the load development/history part of this thread. The question I was going to ask was answered as I typed it. Thanks for what you all are doing.
gramps

Kevin.... photo (I think #12) shows the two forcing cones used on Blackhawk Maximums. If bullet drops in deep, it's the 5-degree forcing cone favored by Bill Ruger, Jr. If bullet wheelbase barely enters barrel, it's the shallow 11-degree cone favored by this shooter.

Which forcing cone is in your barrel?
David Bradshaw

David:
I'll check next week. It's Spring Break and we are down at the beach right now. Thanks for bringing this thread up though. I remember reading through it last Fall. I do reload, however, I don't cast my own bullets. I did get some 4227 and some of the heavier 180 grain coated bullets for the Max; based on your advice.