.45 Colt shootout

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Jeff Hoover

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 25, 2009
Messages
919
Today was an interesting day. I went shooting with two old friends and had a head to head competition of sorts. My first old friend was a blued Ruger Bisley sporting a 7.5" barrel. I blame Ross Seyfried for owning this gun. It was thru reading his articles and praise on this particular gun and caliber that made me yearn for one. It was also his fault for getting me involved in casting my own slugs. Over the years I think of his influences on me and how easy it was to replicate the things he talked about. The man knew his stuff!

Upon finally obtaining my new Ruger Bisley nearly 20 years ago, I knew there was work to be done to make this gun shoot to my satisfaction, and Ross's. The Bisley's in .45 Colt came with unusually tight throats. This was a simple remedy. It is always easier to remove metal, than add it. I would take the home fix route and do it myself with a hand drill, split steel rod, and emery cloth. Next, the trigger spring was replaced with a reduced Wolff trigger spring. While the stocks were off, the hammer strut was removed and polished. A belt mountain base pin replaced the factory pin. These do it yourself remedies worked wonders to make this gun feel like a semi custom shooter. Heck, I even shot a few impregnated lapping rounds thru the bore to smooth things up on the inside. The Bisley now locked up tight after cocking the hammer. The trigger was light and crisp. It was a good shooter, and a favorite for years. Heck, I even bought a back up for it. As other guns came to reside in the stable, the Bisley was shot less, and finally forgotten.

The other friend was my Pre-premier Freedom Arms model 83 in .454 Cassull with an auxiliary .45 Colt cylinder and 7.5" barrel. I call this my Aunt Connie gun. She was my Mom's younger sister. She died about 7 years ago and had a nest egg which she shared with her 27 nieces, nephews, and siblings. It was the first time I ever inherited anything. Most was invested, and a small portion used to purchase the above gun. Being used, I got it for a song from my local gun shop. Freedom Arms are considered the Cadillac's of single actions, and for reason. Bob Baker does a great job keeping tolerances down to a minimum. These guns are tight! Almost too tight! But boy do they shoot!

So there you have it, the stats and background of the 2 contestants for today's friendly competition. I had a couple boxes of .45 Colt loaded with 260 gr. Keith homecast slugs over 20 grains of 2400 sparked by a large pistol primer. This load has always proven accurate. I got this load from reading a story on one of the gun forums where the individual talked of meeting Elmer Keith at a gun show. He told him he was shooting his published load of 18.5 grs of 2400 with his bullet and was getting a lot of unburned powder left in the barrel. He said Elmer winked at him, and told him to bump it up to 20 grains, "It's what I do!"

My cast slugs were a tad different than what Elmer shot. Rather than using traditional lube, these slugs were powder coated(PC). These Pepto pink penetrators can shoot! My first groups were shot at 50 yards, and then the target moved to 25 yards. As usual, the blue painters tape is 1.5".


The guns prior to competition.


The old Bisley shot amazingly well! Just might have to hunt with it some this year.


The "Connie gun" shoots boringly well. What else would you expect from a Freedom Arms?!

It was a beautiful fall day and things came together nicely. Old guns, old ideas, new ideas, and reminiscing with Elmer and Ross. All in all, it was a pretty good day.
 

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,148
Location
Lake Lure NC USA
It's funny (to me) you have posted this. It's early Sat morning,,, and last night I was preparing my stuff for todays bear hunt. I'm sitting here waiting on my buddies to call & tell me where we are going to meet & I see this.
I drug out a pair of guns,,, trying to decide which one to carry today.
My Premier FA in 454, (I didn't get a Colt cylinder with mine,) or my 45 Colt El Dorado.
Both of mine enjoy good accuracy,, and I have some lipstick red 285 grn pills to use in either one.
I still haven't chosen the gun for the day yet.

Your guns are very nice & I do know you enjoy those Bisleys. And the 45 cal is a given for a favorite. Gotta love it all. Nice shooting & I'll just say you may have to do what I've been thinking,,,, carry one of the guns one day & switch to the other gun the next day & switch back & forth until you tag out.
 

Jeff Hoover

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 25, 2009
Messages
919
Tyrone, that has always been one of the biggest decisions for me to make during hunting season! Which gun to carry, be it long gun or revolver? There is a lot of creed to the old saying beware the man with one gun...he knows how to use it, heck, he has no decision at all to make! :lol: :lol: :lol: Then again, how fun is that?! :lol: :lol: :lol: :roll: :shock: :) :)
 

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,148
Location
Lake Lure NC USA
Well, I decided to take both guns with me to make the decision "on site." I had my El Dorado riding in my Barranti NW Hunter rig,, and my FA with a UltraDot riding in a modified chest rig. We went out where we knew some bear had been last night,,, but the dogs just didn't strike. We thought one did a bit,, but he returned soon after he was turned loose. I was home sooner than I expected, and that made Miss Penny happy. We had a wedding to attend this evening.
I have been shooting both of these two a lot more lately, & I'm going to start alternating between them.
 

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,148
Location
Lake Lure NC USA
Miss Wendy,,, I keep Miss Penny happy enough by spoiling her rotten. One of my favorite expressions is that her pedestal is so high,,, she needs an elevator to get on it. :D
Still, we had a great time at the wedding as it's not very often I'm in a suit, much less shoes. In fact,,, this wedding was for my Match Director, and several "shooters" were there. All of them had to look to see if I was wearing shoes. According to them,,, many had never seen that, and some pics were going to end up on the net somewhere.

Tank,,, I'm going to tinker some more today with my 45's I mentioned above. I've gotta cast some more slugs to play with!
 

Joe S.

Hunter
Joined
Feb 4, 2011
Messages
4,803
Location
Central MS
Mighty fine guns. I want a FA so bad and this doesnt help. Maybe one day! :)

I've also been eyein those 5.5" Bisley's in the classifieds gunsbam69 keeps throwing out for sale. He's gonna dangle the worm one day and i'm gonna bite. I'm not even a Bisley grip fan. I blame Mr. Bradshaw and his custom Bisley for my current lust for one. :)
 
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