I wanted a smallish revolver with adjustable sights and chambered in 45ACP. Last week I bought a Lipsey Ruger New Model Flat Top … 4.75" convertible.
My first thought was to buy it, wring it out at the range for a few months and decide whether 1) it was just a "rental" gun and sell it quickly or 2) keep it, in which case I'd have to personalize it to suit me. Fer sure, the barrel paragraph would have to go…meaning a reblue….might as well modify the sights and color case harden, etc. while I'm at it. After 2 trips to the range I've decided it's a keeper.
My first impressions were, "very nice fit and finish." I like the polish and the color. I was surprised that the nearly hidden warning, and very lightly struck at that, is enough to make me consider leaving it as is. So removing it is not the priority I imagined. I'd heard about the "gunfighter" grips but was wasn't prepared for the slimness. They felt strange at first....but they're growing on me.
The first thing I did was slug the ACP cylinder chambers and they are .4515 +/- .0002. Next, I found that my handloads for the Colt auto won't chamber. That little pistol insists on bullets seated long for reliable feeding, like the 2 on the left. The Ruger chambers won't tolerate more than about .020" of full-diameter bullet exposed. A quick ckeck found that factory HP's (3 in the middle) chamber easily (of course) but I had to reseat my handloads until there was a minimum of exposed shoulder, like that on the right.
No big deal, just good to know that I need to segregate my ammo for the 2 guns.
I pulled handloads that I had developed for the Colt 1911 over many, many range sessions. I simply seated the bullets a bit deeper a went to the range. For plinking I'm devoted to the various copper plated bullets available for $12-14/100 delivered to my doorstep.
This is the Berry 200 HP & Alliant Power Pistol with the sights bottomed out. I was shooting at a bullseye above, about where the pins in the gun are.
My only disappointment is the sights. That's no slight on the gun, it's just that my only interest will be 200 grain bullets in the 800-1000 fps range, period. So new sights are sure to be a part of any modification package I pursue in the future. In the meantime, I'm ecstatic with the accuracy potential I've seen already.
I had to max out the elevation to get near the bull with the Rainier 200SWC and the Xtreme 200HP over WST. Four of those HP's went under 1/2" center-to-center and the fifth opened it to 1" @ 50 feet. Wait till I fine tune it.
That's not going to be acceptable and my next move is to try to locate some higher sight blades.
For 3 loads grabbed "off the shelf" I'm very impressed. I still have Bullseye, W231, 452AA, AA2 and AA5 to try and it looks like I may have to go out to 25yds to detect the best load. I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's experiences with the FT 45's.
My first thought was to buy it, wring it out at the range for a few months and decide whether 1) it was just a "rental" gun and sell it quickly or 2) keep it, in which case I'd have to personalize it to suit me. Fer sure, the barrel paragraph would have to go…meaning a reblue….might as well modify the sights and color case harden, etc. while I'm at it. After 2 trips to the range I've decided it's a keeper.
My first impressions were, "very nice fit and finish." I like the polish and the color. I was surprised that the nearly hidden warning, and very lightly struck at that, is enough to make me consider leaving it as is. So removing it is not the priority I imagined. I'd heard about the "gunfighter" grips but was wasn't prepared for the slimness. They felt strange at first....but they're growing on me.
The first thing I did was slug the ACP cylinder chambers and they are .4515 +/- .0002. Next, I found that my handloads for the Colt auto won't chamber. That little pistol insists on bullets seated long for reliable feeding, like the 2 on the left. The Ruger chambers won't tolerate more than about .020" of full-diameter bullet exposed. A quick ckeck found that factory HP's (3 in the middle) chamber easily (of course) but I had to reseat my handloads until there was a minimum of exposed shoulder, like that on the right.
No big deal, just good to know that I need to segregate my ammo for the 2 guns.
I pulled handloads that I had developed for the Colt 1911 over many, many range sessions. I simply seated the bullets a bit deeper a went to the range. For plinking I'm devoted to the various copper plated bullets available for $12-14/100 delivered to my doorstep.
This is the Berry 200 HP & Alliant Power Pistol with the sights bottomed out. I was shooting at a bullseye above, about where the pins in the gun are.
My only disappointment is the sights. That's no slight on the gun, it's just that my only interest will be 200 grain bullets in the 800-1000 fps range, period. So new sights are sure to be a part of any modification package I pursue in the future. In the meantime, I'm ecstatic with the accuracy potential I've seen already.
I had to max out the elevation to get near the bull with the Rainier 200SWC and the Xtreme 200HP over WST. Four of those HP's went under 1/2" center-to-center and the fifth opened it to 1" @ 50 feet. Wait till I fine tune it.
That's not going to be acceptable and my next move is to try to locate some higher sight blades.
For 3 loads grabbed "off the shelf" I'm very impressed. I still have Bullseye, W231, 452AA, AA2 and AA5 to try and it looks like I may have to go out to 25yds to detect the best load. I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's experiences with the FT 45's.
