Amateur Hour: Grandad's .44 Flattop
Jan 20, 2018 15:35:47 GMT -5
Stump Buster, awp101, and 4 more like this
Post by Burnston on Jan 20, 2018 15:35:47 GMT -5
I expect there are several guys on here about like me; perhaps don't know as much as they think they should and wanting to know more but are hesitant to ask. I've decided to bite the proverbial bullet as it were and hope that my ignorance sheds some light on similar issues others are having. I have no one close by who can watch my work and correct my mistakes, which means 9/10 of what I do is trial and error. Hopefully, some of you old hands will read through this and offer some insight into how I might improve, and in doing so answer a few of those questions that go unasked by others.
Back in July I bought a New Model Flattop 50th anniversary BH in .44 mag- the SBH frame on the XR3 grip did not suit me, so I swapped the NM to my father for my grandfather's worn out OM Flattop .44 mag. Below is the condition in which it was delivered to me.
As you can see, it needed some care. The 2nd picture shows where the ejector rod housing bushing busted off. An amateur (not me) with more drill bits than sense tried to reattach it and in doing so drilled all the way through the barrel, requiring a new one, which was furnished to me by a valued member of this forum.
I took the pistol, the barrel, and a new steel ejector rod housing to a local gunsmith in my area with a request to restore the pistol to its original condition. I requested a new barrel installation, fitting, a new front sight fabricated and attached, and reblued. Seven months later, I was pleased with the visual result.
As it turned out, he took the liberty of fitting an oversized basepin and a few other odds and ends I did not ask for, though as I understand it, these are fairly standard adjustments to make when it comes to such a project. He sent me home with the pistol and instructions that the chambers were all a uniform .430'.
Today, I took it out to shoot for the first time. I just ordered a batch of .255gr EK lead bullets from Steve Kuzniki, but these things take time so I dug out some .240gr .429' JHPs and some .240gr .430' SWCs just to wet my feet with. I've never liked either of these bullets which is why I still have an abundance of them. Being the only .44s in the house at the moment, they had to do.
Not wanting to go full magnum yet, I ended up putting each bullet over 10gr of Unique in once used Winchester brass with No. 350 CCI Large Pistol Primer (Magnum) primers. I use a single stage RCBS "Rock Chucker" with RCBS dies from the 1970s (inherited from my grandfather) and had a bit of a hard time seating the jacketed bullets, as you can see, so future adjustments will take place.
As you can see, I do my shooting the way I do my ranching here at the Running River B; if you're familiar with the term rawhide and bailing wire operation, then you have a pretty good grasp of how things are done here.
I began at 25 yards with the JHP from a seated bench rest; my first shot was not even on paper. I made a slight adjustment with the standard Micro sight leading to a slightly more desirable result with my second shot.
It was at this point that I discovered a user-error. I had not seated the bullet properly and was a little too conservative with my crimp, leading to the following result.
I placed these bullets in the "take care of later" category and pulled out the SWCs. I've used these particular bullets before with very limited results, which is why I still have a pile of them unused in my study, only to be pulled out for lack of a better option. At this stage I was hoping for less user error and more favorable results. Unfortunately my grouping was embarrassing. I sought to adjust accordingly, but only managed to make five shots, none of which were bragging material.
It was after my 5th shot that I noticed a few problems with the Flattop, both of which are featured in the following two photos.
Not only was my oversized base-pin creeping forward, (which I've heard is not unusual, thus the allen screw) but I managed to lose the irreplaceable sight screw. This put a serious damper on the outing, and lead to several hours of screw searching in the pasture grass to no avail.
In order to try and regain some of my self esteem I then turned to my Ruger SR1911, for which I've just begun reloading using LRN bullets. I have a long way to go in this reloading process as well. On hand I have 230gr LRN featuring a sing lube groove which I placed in twice used Winchester brass over 4.5gr of TiteGroup and a CCI No. 300 large pistol primer. I have some seating adjustments to make, and I managed to cut a groove in the nose of each of my bullets; this particular seating stem is designed for SWCs, so it will be replaced if I continue in my round nose dabbling.
I began at 15 yards for this phase, and chose to stand using both hands to fire. After two shots with flawless cycling, I ejected my magazine and the in-battery round to examine if there was any creep between bullet and brass. Though my seating does need adjusted, all was as it should have been, with no sign of deformation on the nose, ensuring that they remained clear of the magazine. I repeated this process after every round fired through the first mag with the same result. My grouping was again not as desired, but everything cycled and it was a very pleasant round to fire.
I backed up another five yards and using the same stance went through another magazine, this time firing straight through with no intermittent examination. I was much happier with my second grouping, though still significant room for improvement. I then celebrated with a final magazine of blasting away at water bottles. I then began the tedious task of retrieving brass.
What I learned:
I. Proximity and convenience is a poor reason to use a gunsmith. Not that the work done was poor or lacked significant skill, but there are men I actually know who would have been glad to help had I simply been willing to ask.
II. Always check between rounds when using a new load on a new firearm. My lack of attention has cost me an irreplaceable Micro Sight screw.
III. The Flattop is in need of a taller front sight blade.
IV. TiteGroup is a FILTHY powder, but a sincere pleasure to build starting loads with. I am optimistic about its future application.
V. One size does not fit all when it comes to dies.
VI. The auto reloading process is slightly different from the revolver reloading process. I had to learn to use a taper crimp, and still have a ways to go.
VII. I would prefer a wider front sight on the 1911.
If you've made it all the way through this extremely lengthy post, I hope those of you who know more than I do will be merciful enough to point out some adjustments and make some suggestions. As you can see, I am in the very early stages.
Back in July I bought a New Model Flattop 50th anniversary BH in .44 mag- the SBH frame on the XR3 grip did not suit me, so I swapped the NM to my father for my grandfather's worn out OM Flattop .44 mag. Below is the condition in which it was delivered to me.
As you can see, it needed some care. The 2nd picture shows where the ejector rod housing bushing busted off. An amateur (not me) with more drill bits than sense tried to reattach it and in doing so drilled all the way through the barrel, requiring a new one, which was furnished to me by a valued member of this forum.
I took the pistol, the barrel, and a new steel ejector rod housing to a local gunsmith in my area with a request to restore the pistol to its original condition. I requested a new barrel installation, fitting, a new front sight fabricated and attached, and reblued. Seven months later, I was pleased with the visual result.
As it turned out, he took the liberty of fitting an oversized basepin and a few other odds and ends I did not ask for, though as I understand it, these are fairly standard adjustments to make when it comes to such a project. He sent me home with the pistol and instructions that the chambers were all a uniform .430'.
Today, I took it out to shoot for the first time. I just ordered a batch of .255gr EK lead bullets from Steve Kuzniki, but these things take time so I dug out some .240gr .429' JHPs and some .240gr .430' SWCs just to wet my feet with. I've never liked either of these bullets which is why I still have an abundance of them. Being the only .44s in the house at the moment, they had to do.
Not wanting to go full magnum yet, I ended up putting each bullet over 10gr of Unique in once used Winchester brass with No. 350 CCI Large Pistol Primer (Magnum) primers. I use a single stage RCBS "Rock Chucker" with RCBS dies from the 1970s (inherited from my grandfather) and had a bit of a hard time seating the jacketed bullets, as you can see, so future adjustments will take place.
As you can see, I do my shooting the way I do my ranching here at the Running River B; if you're familiar with the term rawhide and bailing wire operation, then you have a pretty good grasp of how things are done here.
I began at 25 yards with the JHP from a seated bench rest; my first shot was not even on paper. I made a slight adjustment with the standard Micro sight leading to a slightly more desirable result with my second shot.
It was at this point that I discovered a user-error. I had not seated the bullet properly and was a little too conservative with my crimp, leading to the following result.
I placed these bullets in the "take care of later" category and pulled out the SWCs. I've used these particular bullets before with very limited results, which is why I still have a pile of them unused in my study, only to be pulled out for lack of a better option. At this stage I was hoping for less user error and more favorable results. Unfortunately my grouping was embarrassing. I sought to adjust accordingly, but only managed to make five shots, none of which were bragging material.
It was after my 5th shot that I noticed a few problems with the Flattop, both of which are featured in the following two photos.
Not only was my oversized base-pin creeping forward, (which I've heard is not unusual, thus the allen screw) but I managed to lose the irreplaceable sight screw. This put a serious damper on the outing, and lead to several hours of screw searching in the pasture grass to no avail.
In order to try and regain some of my self esteem I then turned to my Ruger SR1911, for which I've just begun reloading using LRN bullets. I have a long way to go in this reloading process as well. On hand I have 230gr LRN featuring a sing lube groove which I placed in twice used Winchester brass over 4.5gr of TiteGroup and a CCI No. 300 large pistol primer. I have some seating adjustments to make, and I managed to cut a groove in the nose of each of my bullets; this particular seating stem is designed for SWCs, so it will be replaced if I continue in my round nose dabbling.
I began at 15 yards for this phase, and chose to stand using both hands to fire. After two shots with flawless cycling, I ejected my magazine and the in-battery round to examine if there was any creep between bullet and brass. Though my seating does need adjusted, all was as it should have been, with no sign of deformation on the nose, ensuring that they remained clear of the magazine. I repeated this process after every round fired through the first mag with the same result. My grouping was again not as desired, but everything cycled and it was a very pleasant round to fire.
I backed up another five yards and using the same stance went through another magazine, this time firing straight through with no intermittent examination. I was much happier with my second grouping, though still significant room for improvement. I then celebrated with a final magazine of blasting away at water bottles. I then began the tedious task of retrieving brass.
What I learned:
I. Proximity and convenience is a poor reason to use a gunsmith. Not that the work done was poor or lacked significant skill, but there are men I actually know who would have been glad to help had I simply been willing to ask.
II. Always check between rounds when using a new load on a new firearm. My lack of attention has cost me an irreplaceable Micro Sight screw.
III. The Flattop is in need of a taller front sight blade.
IV. TiteGroup is a FILTHY powder, but a sincere pleasure to build starting loads with. I am optimistic about its future application.
V. One size does not fit all when it comes to dies.
VI. The auto reloading process is slightly different from the revolver reloading process. I had to learn to use a taper crimp, and still have a ways to go.
VII. I would prefer a wider front sight on the 1911.
If you've made it all the way through this extremely lengthy post, I hope those of you who know more than I do will be merciful enough to point out some adjustments and make some suggestions. As you can see, I am in the very early stages.
