David Bradshaw Photos - Vol. XLIII

[Lee Martin]

Freedom Arms Model 83 .454 Casull with .45 ACP cylinder. Federal Gold Medal Match 185 FMJ SWC ain't no slouch, rolled industrial nylon belting for a rest, at 77 yards. Leupold 4x28mm LER (Long Eye Relief) scoped factory fitted with target turrets----1/2"click @ 100 yds., and Duplex reticle.


Federal 185 FMJ SWC, 4x5 into 0.7-inch @ 77 yds. One shot opens group to 1.7", probably attributable to the simian on the trigger. Nevertheless, capable of a rabbit or partridge on the trail.


Federal American Eagle 230 FMJ needn't be confused for match ammo, nor was long range accuracy the intent of this economy round. When manufacturers were asked about poor accuracy from FMJ pistol ammo, several replied that it is especially difficult to control uniform jacket thickness in forming the round nose. Ammo makers learned the technique, but to apply a flat point is far easier. Alas, the round nose dies hard, as mass buyers demand the curved profile for the many guns which balk at a flat or hollow point, John Browning's original Model 1911 among them.


Federal American Eagle 230 FMJ shows its true colors @ 50 yds. 4x5 bullets on target, one miss, @ 50 yds. Examination deterined small rough hole upper right is from .38 or .357, after it punctured 3/4"plywood at 25 yards. Consider volume of fire at 7 yards from civilian and law enforcement practice, and we must be grateful most commercial ammo shoots better.


Remington Golden Saber .45 230 JHP over 8.5/Accurate #5 turns 925 fps from the FA 4-3/4". This load delivers accuracy from a variety of pistols, from Ruger 03, Blackhawk Convertible, FA M83, Kimber Gold Match, Rock River 1911, to Les Baer 1911. (Les Baer Super Tac has recorded 5-shot groups down to 2.2" @ 100 yds, with several in the 2.5-2.7-2.9-inch range.)


Remington Golden Saber 230 JHP, two bullets recovered inside hide after puncturing both lungs of running 7-point buck at about twenty yards. Deer showed no response to first shot, slumped mid-stride after second shot and crashed. Both rounds enter behind right shoulder, and punch both lungs. One bullet clunked into gut bucket as buck was skun. Second bullet stuck to tissue of skin, to be plucked with fingers.


Rem Golden Saber 230 JHP, Fed .45 ACP brass, Fed 150 primer. COL=1.230". Velocity: 1) M83 4-3/4"= 925 fps; Ruger 03 5-1/2" = 915 fps; Les Baer 1911" = 866 fps. Bullets from deer slain with Les Baer 1911.


Rem Golden Saber 230 JHP fired via primer into rifling of Kart barrel of Les Baer 1911. Note left hand twist typical of John Browning's 1911. Reminiscent of driving band on artillery shells, Golden Saber intends a land-diameter bearing surface along base of ogive.


Leupold 12-40x60mm spotting scope sets standard for rotten weather performance.


Huge eyepiece should be standard on all spotting scopes. Non-critical eye relief and placement; perfect with glasses.


Tilt-All tripod remains, after decades of service, simple, rugged, steady. This one predates anodized finish, which today is what you want.






Les Baer 1911 Super Tac .45 ACP: Remington Golden Saber 230 JHP, 8.5/Accurate #5, Federal 150GM, Winchester case. 5 shots average 866 fps. Offhand @ 100 yds. Les Baer has one of the pig targets with 5 sandbag rounds in 2.5 or 2.7-inches @ 100 yards. Best group from sandbags to date: 5x5=2.2” @ 100 yards. Pencil sketch of front sight on cardboard (rear sight sketched in white) subtends sight picture @ 100 yards.


M83 4-3/4" with .45 ACP cast 225 Truncated Cone Bevel Base over 5.5/231 @ 100 yds. Not particularly impressive, but will due for rabbits out to 50 yds.


Les Baer 1911 Super Tac with cast 225 TC BB over 5.5/231 @ 100 yds.


M83 with cast 197-204 grain SWC over 5.1/231, offhand @ 100 yards.


.45 ACP @ 100 yds
Top: Hornady 230 XTP +P

Bottom: Hornady 185 XTP

Note point of impact (POI) 7-inches lower for lighter, 185 grain bullet.




100 yards----Les Baer 1911 Super Tac with .45 ACP Hornady 230 XTP P+.


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

[cj3a]

Nice work at a 100 yards with the Les Baer.

[cmillard]

very well done!

[Fowler]

Now I want to do some serious testing at 50 and 100 yards with my Les Baer Super Tac, love that gun...

[schunter]

That Les Baer is a laser! Fine shooting David...

[bradshaw]

Bought a World War I Colt 1911 and learned to field strip and re-assemble it before I had a driver's lisence at sixteen. At the time, the expression "shoot rings around the target" was much in vogue. Jargon for "very accurate." My First Wold War Colt had other ideas, as, at 50 yards it literally shot rings around the target. Pistol cost twenty hard-earned dollars, and surplus hardball was $3 per 100, with 1943 zinc-wash steel cased ball often $2 per 100 rds. You could not jam that pistol. Never handloaded for it, all it saw was ball, and it functioned 100%.

Then came the dawn of "performance" projectiles for auto pistols, and gunsmiths good and bad went to work, hogging out metal from feed ramp to frame, many of them never really learning what makes an auto pistol tick. Les Baer is one student whose comprehension and skill results in a pistol at once supremely reliable and supremely accurate.

More accurate than much of the ammunition out there.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

thelastgoodfight.... Vol. 43 (XLIII)... includes a few commercially made lead bullets----cast and swaged----with groups out to 100 yards from a Les Baer 1911 Super Tac. Also, a Freedom Arms M83 with .45 ACP cylinder. The Les Baer has a Kart barrel with standard .45 ACP 1:16” twist. The Model 83 has Dick Casull’s 1:24” twist for the .454 Casull. Despite Leupold scope, the M83 cannot match Les Baer accuracy with some loads. I attribute bigger groups from the Freedom Arms to a looser groove diameter and slower twist than the Les Baer.
David Bradshaw

[ezekiel38]

Learned a lot about 45 and the ole "hardball" round. Shooting results: I envy greatly.

[bradshaw]

harold89.... in reference to your thread: FA 97 45 ACP Advice, in Reloading and Wildcats, I believe Freedom Arms uses the same 1:24” twist for .45 barrels in Both Model 83 and Model 97, the twist Dick Casull settled on as most accurate for his .454 Casull. Casull sought, and achieved, power through high velocity from a big bore revolver scaled for practical carry afield.

The .45 ACP is not a velocity cartridge, yet makes for a fine auxiliary chambering in a .45 Colt single action----which extractor doesn’t care whether the case is rimmed or rimless. I believe the rub is with the slow twist.

A 1:16” twist is standard for .45 Colt and .45 ACP. Some .45 ACP rounds print tighter from my Les Baer 1911 Super Tac and the Ruger 03 with iron sights than from my FA Model 83 with a quality scope. I call my shots. No shots were called out on targets shown here. With two supremely accurate .45 ACP loads----Remington Golden Saber 230 JHP, 8.5/Acurate #5; Hornady XTP 230 JHP +P----the Les Baer 1911 and Ruger 03 have recorded considerably tighter groups @ 100 yards than shown here.

While it takes a lot of velocity to equal stability grained from a slightly faster twist, to seek it defeats the sensibility of a .45 ACP. Some bullets, notably wadcutters, and bullets with a beveled heal, shed stability when pushed at or above the speed of sound.

Especially in the case of the FA Model 97 .45 Colt, which should not pretend to be a Model 83 .454 Casull, it makes sense to use the standard 1:16” twist.
David Bradshaw

[harold89]

Thanks David, I appreciate your insight into what I may expect to discover through testing. And I might have to bring along the LB Boss & see how it compares. It’s a sweet shooter in its own right.