gunhaus
Bearcat
It always seems like all the really cool guns go out the doors with the customers, and I never seem to find the time, or money to put one together for myself. I finally decided that I just had to do something about it! I had just finished putting together one of the Lipsey 44 specials for a guy, and it had come out so nice that i said "This is the one" I rounded up another 4/-5/8" Blued version, and went to tweeking it just a bit - Corrected chamber throats, forceing cone, Belt Mountain base pin, free spin pawl Bisley Hammer, Vaquero trigger, some nifty burl maple grips, a bit of timing, a bit of tuning, and here we go:
As long as I'm doing my part it'll put 5 of the 429421@ 1000fps or so into 2" give or take at 50 yards. I decided this was going to be my opening day gun - Hunting with the ghosts of Elmer and Skeeter so to speak.
A couple of bucks went through right at daybeak, but a bit out of range. Then about 8:30 this middling sized spike walked right down the run beneith the ridge in which I was perched. At 50 yards he hauled up, and i let the front sight settle on his ribs. At the shot he ran about 15 yards and lay down, obviously pretty sick. He was still looking aroud though, so I gave him a "coop-da-gracie" in the neck just to settle things. It wasn't really neccesary, but better safe than sorry. The little 44 was initiated:
After field dressing and pics, I climbed back up the hill to my stand, and poured a cup of coffee. I don't know how many of you are aware of this: Coffee is the greatest game attractor known to man. Especially if you have no convenient place to set the cup down. I had barely taken a sip when three fat does came down the same run. I was there, and i had a doe tag, so it seemed like a pretty easy decision. At 72 yards she stopped, and I planted a 250 right behind the shoulder. She went 10 yards and piled up. Game over.
I cleaned up the coffee from my lap - You just can't balance a cup on you leg, follow a deer, and shoot, without something going hinky! And then i went to dress her out. I wish I could post her pic too, but the batteries ran dry on deer number one.
As expected, you could "eat right up to the hole" on both critters. Since this is probably the only day I'll be able to get out of the shop to hunt, it was pretty satisfying all in all. I still want to replace the front sight with a pinned in blade, and I haven't installed the Bowen sights that have been sitting on the bench for awhile now. But I couldn't be happier with this bit of firearms self indulgence. Got to go - - Back straps for lunch ya know.
-John
As long as I'm doing my part it'll put 5 of the 429421@ 1000fps or so into 2" give or take at 50 yards. I decided this was going to be my opening day gun - Hunting with the ghosts of Elmer and Skeeter so to speak.
A couple of bucks went through right at daybeak, but a bit out of range. Then about 8:30 this middling sized spike walked right down the run beneith the ridge in which I was perched. At 50 yards he hauled up, and i let the front sight settle on his ribs. At the shot he ran about 15 yards and lay down, obviously pretty sick. He was still looking aroud though, so I gave him a "coop-da-gracie" in the neck just to settle things. It wasn't really neccesary, but better safe than sorry. The little 44 was initiated:
After field dressing and pics, I climbed back up the hill to my stand, and poured a cup of coffee. I don't know how many of you are aware of this: Coffee is the greatest game attractor known to man. Especially if you have no convenient place to set the cup down. I had barely taken a sip when three fat does came down the same run. I was there, and i had a doe tag, so it seemed like a pretty easy decision. At 72 yards she stopped, and I planted a 250 right behind the shoulder. She went 10 yards and piled up. Game over.
I cleaned up the coffee from my lap - You just can't balance a cup on you leg, follow a deer, and shoot, without something going hinky! And then i went to dress her out. I wish I could post her pic too, but the batteries ran dry on deer number one.
As expected, you could "eat right up to the hole" on both critters. Since this is probably the only day I'll be able to get out of the shop to hunt, it was pretty satisfying all in all. I still want to replace the front sight with a pinned in blade, and I haven't installed the Bowen sights that have been sitting on the bench for awhile now. But I couldn't be happier with this bit of firearms self indulgence. Got to go - - Back straps for lunch ya know.
-John
