Post by Lee Martin on Apr 8, 2015 16:00:34 GMT -5
The crown, source of endless debate, fountain of easy business for gunsmiths. Round, tapered, flat----it doesn't matter, as long as it's clean and cut square to the bore. Accuracy begins in the chamber.
Forcing cone of nickel M-29 8-3/8" is concentric to bore. Chamber-to-bore alignment is excellent, with runout of a couple thousandths. S&W long ago proved minimum runout achievable in production without line-boring. Barrel pin removed years ago; may restore one of these days. Pinned barrels are a redundancy.
Drop forged, case hardened hammer, with hammer nose (firing pin) mounted to hammer, characterize old school gunmaking. Advances in MIM technology are making metal injection molded parts better than ever. Nevertheless, first hand reports of failure fuel real-world suspicion. Against the service record of S&W case hardened and Ruger through-hardened triggers and hammers, MIM will need many years of flawless service to claim equality.
Cylinder gap affects velocity, while playing little or no part in accuracy. Barrel/cylinder gap of nickel 8-3/8" measures wide at .010-inch, yet revolver has recorded 5-shot groups of two inches at 100 yards. Accuracy is on a par with blue 8-3/8", which has tighter lockup and .004" gap. Both revolvers have concentric forcing cones, excellent rifling, and excellent chamber-to-bore alignment.
Tree limb rest, 109 paces, Federal 44A 240 JHP. With one shot over target, 4x5=4.3".
Federal 44B 180 JHP, as proven on deer as its 240 JHP counterpart, both loads having never been fired twice at the same deer from a variety of revolvers, including nickel 8-3/8. Target at 106 stretch snowshoe paces. Cardboard mostly hidden by a brow of snow twenty yards in front. Three shots skim 15 feet of snow, two keyhole top of target, the third shot evidently over. Two shots hit with interference in 4-inches.
Resume Federal 240 JHP at 109 pace; down several clicks. 5x5=7.4-inches, with 4x5 into 5.6". Burris 24x60mm spotter works at this distance under late afternoon light much better than the excellent Zeiss 10x40mm binocular.
-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"
Forcing cone of nickel M-29 8-3/8" is concentric to bore. Chamber-to-bore alignment is excellent, with runout of a couple thousandths. S&W long ago proved minimum runout achievable in production without line-boring. Barrel pin removed years ago; may restore one of these days. Pinned barrels are a redundancy.
Drop forged, case hardened hammer, with hammer nose (firing pin) mounted to hammer, characterize old school gunmaking. Advances in MIM technology are making metal injection molded parts better than ever. Nevertheless, first hand reports of failure fuel real-world suspicion. Against the service record of S&W case hardened and Ruger through-hardened triggers and hammers, MIM will need many years of flawless service to claim equality.
Cylinder gap affects velocity, while playing little or no part in accuracy. Barrel/cylinder gap of nickel 8-3/8" measures wide at .010-inch, yet revolver has recorded 5-shot groups of two inches at 100 yards. Accuracy is on a par with blue 8-3/8", which has tighter lockup and .004" gap. Both revolvers have concentric forcing cones, excellent rifling, and excellent chamber-to-bore alignment.
Tree limb rest, 109 paces, Federal 44A 240 JHP. With one shot over target, 4x5=4.3".
Federal 44B 180 JHP, as proven on deer as its 240 JHP counterpart, both loads having never been fired twice at the same deer from a variety of revolvers, including nickel 8-3/8. Target at 106 stretch snowshoe paces. Cardboard mostly hidden by a brow of snow twenty yards in front. Three shots skim 15 feet of snow, two keyhole top of target, the third shot evidently over. Two shots hit with interference in 4-inches.
Resume Federal 240 JHP at 109 pace; down several clicks. 5x5=7.4-inches, with 4x5 into 5.6". Burris 24x60mm spotter works at this distance under late afternoon light much better than the excellent Zeiss 10x40mm binocular.
-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"