David Bradshaw Photos - Vol. XIV

[Lee Martin]

Full cock: Freedom Arms Model 83, .454 Casull 4-3/4”; Ruger 03 .45 Colt 5-1/2”.


Top: Freedom Arms M83 4-3/4" .454 Casull, with 45 Colt and 45 ACP cylinders. Ruger 03 .45 Colt, with .45 ACP cylinder.



Ruger New Model Blackhawk .45 Colt 7-1/2”.


Ruger New Model Blackhawk .45 Colt/.45 ACP Convertible, engraved by Bill Johns.


Ruger Bisley Blackhawk 7-1/2" in Bradshaw leather


Ruger New Model Blackhawk Convertible .45 Colt/.45 ACP engraved by Bill Johns. Colt 1897 Peacemaker .45 Colt, 4-3/4”.


David holds Colt 1897 Peacemaker .45 Colt: Chamber exit holes (throats) measure .4525”; groove diameter .451” or .452”-inch. According to an old shooting buddy much more knowledgeable on Colt single actions, these firm dimension are known to occur among the early Peacemakers.


Browne Linder spotting, David made 5x6 hits on one of his TinMan targets, offhand, lasered 190 yards. Cast 255 SWC deep seated over 6.7/HP-38 (Hodgdon label for Winchester 231). Held about 1/3 front blade, about 2-foot right. These were David’s first shots following a tight offhand grout @ 20 yards. Sights shaded by a tree, no wind.






-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"

[hammerdown77]

Man I love that Colt!

[Fowler]

David,

So what is your opinion of the different Ruger grip frames? Since you seem to have them all whats your favorites? I also notice you dont seem to modify these near as much as you do your Smith grips...

[Stump Buster]

May 17, 2013 10:59:36 GMT -5 Lee Martin said:

"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"

Love the engraving on this one!!! Just right!

[bradshaw]

Hammerdown.... the Colt .45 dates to 1897. Belonged to a late friend, who insisted I shoot it. Shot a close pattern on a cowboy action plate at about 20 yards. Roughly two inches off the sights at 8 o'clock. My ammo: commercial cast 250/255 SWC (with the dreaded bevel base), seated deep----to crimp above the front band----over 6.7 gr./HP-38 (Win 231). Since I had more or less got TINMAN to singing with the Ruger 03, my friend suggested after painting the target that I try his Colt.

Three Tinman 1/4" steel plates stood across his bass pond, the closest 190 yards, the farthest 200 yards. I selected the closest. Holding a good bit of the front sight about 2-1/2 feet right, I squeezed, offhand, hitting Tinman 5x6. We measured groove diameter of the Peacemaker at .451 or .452, and the chamber exits at .452.-inch. I was astounded at these dimensions, but a shooting buddy later told me that firm dimensions are to be encountered on some early Colts.

Fowler.... You step into a two hour discussion of Ruger single action grips, which cannot at this moment be serviced. The Blackhawk grip is great for .357 mag and .45 Colt----through a modest upload. The Blackhawk grip is brutal in .44 magnum. The Super Blackhawk grip was Bill Ruger's answer to the Blackhawk .44, for good reason. The extreme taper of the SBH grip from wide bottom to narrow top works to defeat the longer SBH handle. Reckon I was the last competitor to switch to Pachmayr on the SBH, well past the first International Revolver Championship. But not having the Pachmayr literally cost me the 40x40 revolver record, as on the last chicken of my first bank, the "Silhouette Super" rolled in my hand---which was dry as a cork leg----slipping a shot over the chicken. I was wreckage-angry at that leak, and thereafter did not scratch the perimeter of a pig or turkey or ram, for a plague-bitten 39x40.

Shot-to-shot control of a Peacemaker or Super Blackhawk grip with heavy loads requires the scales be of uniform thickness on the sides----bottom to top. Today, everyone knows that, or should.

Bill Ruger wanted to introduce the .357 Maximum with a Bisley grip. I did not encourage him. Bill Ruger, Jr., also thought the Maximum would be a great instrument for its introduction. My mind was clouded by the old Colt Bisley, which, when Bill, Sr., asked what I thought of it, I said, "The Colt Bisley is an abomination of Victorian design."

"It doesn't have to be like that," said Ruger.

As we learned a few years later, "the Old Man" was right.

Aesthetically, the Ruger Bisley is beautiful in a way that Colt Bisley is ugly. Ruger's Bisley flows from the lines of his single action. The Colt Bisley flows against the lines of the Peacemaker. The Colt Bisley was designed for pocket pool offhand (gallery shooting). The Ruger Bisley was designed for work.

This is a piece of the answer.
David Bradshaw

[tek4260]

Glad to see that I am not the only one who prefers them thinned to the same thickness top to bottom on my Supers. Here is a set of factory laminates next to my 45.




Even the BFR gets thin grips



Every shooter will get the same treatment around here.

[bradshaw]

Glad to see those guns get shot. I shot my brass grip Super from Maine to California. If dry fire and fast draw could have killed it, it would have been dead before handgun silhouette came along. And when handgun silhouette came along, rams were set full-foot on the rail, so a little meatball effect was a good thing.

Always liked the heft of the brass grip frame. When I handed the revolver to Bill Ruger, Jr., in hopes he would pronounce the gun as shipped from factory with brass frame, he said, "Looks like we installed it, but there is no way to verify it."

I do believe that grip frame screws loosen more slowly with the brass frame.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

Bill Johns engraved the Blackhawk Convertible.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

Trevor.... in your search for leather to pack a 3-pound sixgun, your Gallagher .44 Mag, consider a wide, SINGLE LAYER belt. I made the belt shown many years ago, age 18, along with buckle carved from 1/4-inch brass with copper tongue cut from water pipe. The belt is 2-3/4-inch (with Bisley Super Blackhawk .44 7-1/2”) spends most of its time lugging the Ruger 03. Also sees use with Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter and a 10-1/2” “Silhouette Super” from the first batch in 1979. The open bottom holster doesn’t collect dirt, sheds water, and permits various barrel lengths.

A wide, single layer belt flexes with your anatomy, spreads weight over the hips without digging in. A double-layer belt which does not respond to your every step up and down the mountain eventually bites muscle & nerve and may wrench your back. The exaggerated brass work represents my first buckle. My second and others following borrow the buscadero concept, with a 1-3/4-inch tongue and buckle on a belt 2-3/4” to 3” wide. I like suspenders attached to trousers for long hikes, to support sixgun, ammo, rope, trousers, etc.
David Bradshaw

[contender]

Once again,, great pics of some really nice guns,, AND the stories that go with them.

[bradshaw]

Ronnie,
Thanks for bringing that up. And for explaining my observation from the firing line.
David

[ezekiel38]

What a nice collection! Enjoy them for many years to come.

[bradshaw]

To the question of WHEN WHERE and HOW did Colt and Smith & Wesson go astray on chambering the .45 Colt?

This 1897 Colt Peacemaker has .452-inch CHAMBER EXIT HOLES and a GROOVE DIAMETER of .451-.452-inch. It his an astounding accurate revolver. On my first shots beyond 25 yards, holding a fair portion of blade above the notch, and to the right of Tin Man @ 190 yards, I squeezed 5x6 onto his torso, offhand. Holding to right----one width of Tin Man----compensated for printing 2-inch left @ 25 yards.

The point, Colt made this Peacemaker right for today----back in the black powder era. We are all just inheritors of brilliance coming out of shops in Gun Alley on the floor of the brass cartridge. I personally know that this quality of work inspired men as diverse as Bill Ruger and Dick Casull, and this care in manufacturing helped concentrate my care in marksmanship.
David Bradshaw

[bigmuddy]

SAA’s are indeed special. Purchased my first new one in 1994. It did fine at distances needed for CAS competition but trying a shot beyond 20 yards was literally “hit and miss”. Cylinder throats were huge and the bore .452.

Found a .357 3rd Gen cylinder and sent it to Alan Harton for a rebore. Alan bored to tight dimensions with exit throats .452. He also beveled the cylinder as found in the early 1st gen Guns. Brass life is much longer now and the gun is superbly accurate. Now that gun spends more time on my hip and less in the safe. Definitely a PPP.

Dan

[bradshaw]

Ronnie Wells.... Vol. 14, pictures of the a Peacemaker made in 1897 with the conical firing pin. The 1873 .45 is original, no marred screws, etc., with CHAMBER EXIT HOLES measuring .452-inch and similar GROOVE DIAMETER.
David Bradshaw