dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Sept 17, 2021 12:45:07 GMT -5
Spoke to Dave Clements about this idea today. He says it'll be no problem. Recommended starting with a 357, 9mm or 44 Special Midframe and lineboring it. Probably pursue this venture next Spring. Did some measurements and this gun would easily handle the 45 Cowboy Special Loads too. Basically, a standard rimmed version 45 ACP instead of the thick rim of the 45 Auto Rim... My shooting partner found a NOS 45 Colt/ACP 7.5" Blackhawk last year and we wanted to try the Starline 45 Cowboy Special brass in the 45 ACP cylinder. After some throat work and trimming the brass a little (don't remember how much exactly but around .010"ish), it just works slick as snot. The 45 ACP cylinder with the 45 CS brass, 5.5 grains Universal, and a me cast Accurate Molds 230 TL FP is so accurate that he rarely sees the need to put the 45 Colt cylinder in the revolver. I PC these bullets and the barrel stays clean. The only real problem is finding more brass as, you guessed it, Starline has been out of stock since before we started this project. The 100 pieces of headstamped Cowboy Special brass should last a long time but 500 pieces is better than 100... This is such an easy shooting accurate gun. No barrel jumping, loud as glass packs, flame shooting 2' out of the barrel shenanigans here.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Aug 21, 2021 18:00:58 GMT -5
Someday I'd like to have a 353. There's one local to me, but it's got a short (6-inch) barrel. I've always thought an extra cylinder in 357B&D or 360DW would be pretty cool. Maybe all three... for ballistic investigations and whatnot... Mine is a 6" and it can show some impressive numbers. I tend to shoot only 170+ grain bullets. While the other FA83 357 I have access to is a 7.5", my 6" gets real close velocity wise. Accuracy is a wash as they're both better than good. I like the idea of a 360DW cylinder but the 357 in an 83 is pretty awesome as it is.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Aug 20, 2021 8:07:59 GMT -5
I have multiple pairs and they have all aged/yellowed. To compare apples to apples, one pair is from Texas Grips and they have not yellowed as much as the others. They are a cream color now but were almost white when new.
2 pair that were made a few years ago probably had Tru-Oil as the finish and they have yellowed nicely.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Aug 20, 2021 8:00:40 GMT -5
It's a head scratcher with what happened. You stated it had sat at a shop for some time, so it could have easily been dry fired then. That's not to say it could have just decided to break for the heck of it because it was a Tuesday...
Between my shooting partner and I, we've had 2 broken pins between us on the 83's. My 44 was second hand and I have no way of knowing if the previous owner had dry fired it or not and the other was an ordered 357 that wasn't ever dry fired. At least the revolvers weren't tied up and it was a quick fix. We keep a spare FP's just in case. Even though we have FA snap caps for each revolver, we just don't dry fire them.
I have an older 454 with the unreplaceable FP and it'll have to go back when and if it breaks. My main complaint isn't the $$ for the work, it's what UPS charges for the shipping. It sounds like you're going to do what I did when my 357 FA went back (for the action job) and getting extra stuff done while it's there.
While I find that FA's can be picky, I will say that every time I shoot handguns at least one goes along for the ride.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jul 19, 2021 19:59:09 GMT -5
Wheelguns gives you a good suggestion. .004" on a hard cast bullet can be a pain to size. You can throw them in a toaster oven @ 400° for 20 or so minutes, let them air cool, and them run them through the sizer if Wheelguns suggestion is still tough.
If the bullets don't have any lube on them (doesn't sound like it yet) you will need something on them to keep them from leading the sizer die. Back to Wheelguns suggestion....
Even when I size PC'd bullets using a Lee die (it's about all I use anymore), I'll use Hornady OneShot to make them slide on through.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jul 19, 2021 12:26:09 GMT -5
I cannot provide any specific load data for the 86 as my 40/65 is a Remington Hepburn target rifle. I can suggest looking for a Mike Venturino article where he worked up loads for for one. I don't remember what year/month unfortunately.
Loading a 40/65 for a lever action and a single shot might as well be a completely different cartridge. I only shoot heavy cast bullets and case fulls of BP.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jul 19, 2021 12:12:19 GMT -5
Now Im questioning my decision on the "Potato Judge". If you close your eyes, lift up the revolver, then open your eyes are the sights near inline? I know this is like asking someone if they prefer cotton or synthetic shirts, just thought Id ask. That was one of the first things we noticed when grips got fitted to the original Dealer, that the the sights were aligned when you brought the revolver up to eye level. The first thing we noticed was how good it felt in hand! Some times a mistake isn't a mistake after all......
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jun 29, 2021 13:04:31 GMT -5
That might be the answer, putting the replaced Ruger rear sight in the Bowen box. I tend to do that and mark which gun it went on on the little box.
I've got revolver stuff all over the place it seems. It makes perfect sense to me but thinking about it, I suspect my bride won't understand my superior storage ideas. She's gonna have fun if I leave before her. Luckily my son wants all of the revolvers and also luckily my daughter wants some of it too! The children (mid 20's) at least know there's a big difference in price between revolvers marked "Freedom Arms" and "Ruger".
I doubt much of anything I've accumulated makes it onto Ebay...
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jun 20, 2021 6:20:30 GMT -5
I have one each of the Trijicon red dots (RMR/SRO) and have had good luck with both. Neither have been through what you could call high volume shooters but I have used the SRO the most. I do find the SRO easier to find the dot and like the 1 MOA size.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jun 19, 2021 14:06:48 GMT -5
I am at 6.5 grains using either HS6 or N350. I didn't use HS6 data to find a good load with N350 as I worked up loads individually some time apart. As you've noted, there just isn't much information available for N350 in 327 so it's a work up. It just ended up that both powders were shooting great with more or less the same charge. I seem to remember N350 is slower in the charts than HS6 but charts don't always tell the whole story. This time it seems they are interchangeable for me.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jun 19, 2021 13:42:02 GMT -5
Another FA97 327 shooter here. How did you order yours? Mine has a 5.5" barrel, Black Micarta, Action Job, and fluted cylinder.
If you cast, take a long look at the MP Sledgehammer GCHP. Of course, the 314-640 115gr GCHP mold is another winner. I use AA9 the most but will use H110, HS6 and N350. In short, there aren't too many loads that won't shoot well. I'd love to have gotten some of the Speer 115 grain Gold Dots....
I originally put a 1 MOA Trijicon SRO on mine, then wanted to see just what it would do and put a Leupold 2.5-8 on it. Impressive it is but it's bigger brother (83 in 357 Magnum) can usually edge it out in accuracy.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jun 17, 2021 10:54:46 GMT -5
I've always enjoyed watching them ignore shooting when they're used to it. A whitetail tends to not appreciate any shooting near them in my area.
I've attended LRPR schools in NM where they told us to roll off of the rifles until the muleys ambled away. They'd just pop up behind the berm all of a sudden. This was after shooting had been going on for a couple hours.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jun 17, 2021 6:15:58 GMT -5
An older S&W J Frame. Depending on how much she'll shoot it would be the deciding factor on whether or not it would be a lightweight. In a perfect world I'd get her an aluminum frame for carry and a steel frame for shooting. The only change I would make would be to find a set of "boot grips" for it.
Lord knows I love any Ruger BH/Single Six but I don't own any Ruger DA's as there are still S&W revolvers available on earth.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jun 17, 2021 5:53:52 GMT -5
I have not used it in anything larger than the 357 but do use it in 327 Federal with heavy cast (Sledgehammers). It compares well with HS6 in my experience and I love HS6 for medium loads and heavy cast bullets. I always keep one MTM 100 round box loaded with a split of HS6 and N350 and both powders are interchangeable as far as accuracy is concerned (smile worthy).
I've got a 8lb jug of it and some other revolver level VV powders and find they are very clean and accurate. My suggestion for N350 would be to pick a HS6 level load, drop it 10% or so, and work back up. Similar to HS6, I found it wants to run pretty warm for best accuracy. Unlike HS6, I did not notice it being "dirty" at to light of a load. I would not suggest using it as a light load powder. It seems to me lots of space in manuals are spent on light loads and heavy loads but "medium" loads aren't given much ink.
I cannot even offer a guess using N350 with jacketed bullets as I don't use light or medium powders with jacketed.
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dhd
.327 Meteor
Posts: 941
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Post by dhd on Jun 11, 2021 16:30:19 GMT -5
Same deal with MP Molds for me. I've got at least 10 of them and none took more than 5 days. Same also for both Midway/Brownells being slow and McMaster-Carr getting it the next day (though you pay for it).
I do know that UPS has declared war on all of my packages shipped through them. The last couple had been repeatedly hit with JDAM's. I just hope no one died during the shipments but I suspect a couple dozen did. Sad for the families....
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