David Bradshaw Photos - Vol. XLVII

[cmillard]

keep up the good work!! love these articles.

[bradshaw]

The .45 276 grain Volcano----or WHP: Wide Hollow Point---requires the slow-angle forcing cone-type seating plug, as on the Redding Competition seat and some Hornady dies, or a .38 SWC slug turned upside down, nose first in the Volcano. I have come to like the long drag of the cast slug in the Colt case and, for the moment at least, see no reason drive this bullet to vaporizing velocity. And I doubt accuracy would hold up, although only the target will tell.

The object of this note, however, is to separate seating and crimping into two passes. Unlike a conventional SWC or Keith bullet, there is no sharp shoulder to pass the case mouth and roll the crimp without shaving. The Wide Flat Nose profile wants the crimp rolled separate.

Seating is critical to any handload. To this end a flat SWC seater plug, pressing against the base of the .38 SWC, with SWC nose in the concavity of the Volcano, starts and guides the bullet straight into the case with minimum flare of the case mouth. Doubt a round nose seater would guide as well.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

Note that when Lee and his father hollow-pointed the Speer .30 110 grain Spire SP for seating in their .30 Streaker, they started with a bullet of jacket-rearward construction.

One should not hollow-point a bullet of jacket-forward construction----an FMJ bullet----due to the risk of stripping off the jacket in the forcing cone. The caution applies to revolvers, single shot pistols, and rifles. Details such as chamber/bore misalignment, rough forcing cone, in the case of single shot pistol or rifle, rough leade, may cause the bullet core to blow through. Silhouette shooters learned that not all guns come off the production line equal. Some rough barrels came out of Thompson/Center Arms in Rochester, New Hampshire. I have seen the Sierra .357 170 FMJ strip its jacket skirt in a .357 Herrett with rough leade. If the stripped jacket skirt moves forward enough to chamber another round, the next shot may ring the barrel. A stripped skirt likely will tie up a revolver, as it jams in the forcing cone without clearing the cylinder.

Note that I do not recall a Sierra .357 170 FMJ stripping its skirt in a revolver. If it was going to, it should have happened in a Colt Python. It was not uncommon to encounter a Python with .359" chamber throats and .355" groove diameter. Cones, however, tended to be the short and smooth. Excellent accuracy with good retained velocity made the Sierra 170 FMJ popular, especially with Python shooters.

No doubt, some of the rough barrels from T/C helped inspire gunsmiths to rebarrel. Against these problem barrels, T/C is notable for producing many out-of-the-box barrels ready for championship competition.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

John.... when testing artillery for Jack, trust you have a Pachmayr for the Freedom Arms M-83. Quite confident Dick Casull broke my middle finger when I touched off one his mounded-over .454 loads. Recoil came lightning fast, freight train hard. Naturally, with the grip Dick contoured to his own hand.

For Rugers customs, I reckon you test with Jack’s reworked Bisley. Ronnie Wells is at work on his brass re-designs of Ruger Super Blackhawk and Bisley grip frames, so I’d keep an eye out there, too. As for the double action hump, you hand under heavy recoil should last much longer with Pachmayr or Hogue rubber, than any wood.

My experience, as illustrated in this photo piece, shows a change of grips does not necessarily change Point of Impact. But the individual must shoot his or her own test on the Firing Line. For the cannons, GRIP PRESSURE develops a marriage of STRENGTH and RELAXATION.
David Bradshaw

[flyingzebra]

Thanks for the note here Mr Bradshaw

Almost all of the FA guns through the shop retain their rubber grips.
Those guns have a lot of crisp sharp edges, and the clients seem to like them that way. They seem to handle fine for me, but if I owned one of them I'd spend some time on a refinish to dehorn the edges.

On the topic of Jack's big bore hammers, nearly all of them are specified with proper grip frame and grip stock clearance and shape.
They tend to usually handle well for me, and I'm able to shoot them accurately during the initial test-drive even though each client's gun is best made for their hands, not necessarily mine.

On the double action guns - they're different. We've done some 500s on the Ruger double action models. Some of them have the special rubber Ruger grip stocks which tend to work for keeping the shock down. From time to time the client wants to retain a factory wood grip, which on their double action guns tend to be small and narrow. We did a Dan Wesson style slab-sided shorty (3" or so if I recall) shrouded bulldog 5-shot 500 with the tiny Redhawk wooden grip stocks.
That thing was a monster with full-hit loads.
We did a 2" barreled 5-shot 500 on an Alaskan that ended up being somewhat entertaining with the hot loads, but it retained the factory Alaskan stocks.
Big difference.

I have a couple of projects coming up some time soon, both double action, both 500 - a 500JRH on a Redhawk and a new 500 cartridge in a N-Frame.
My goal with the grip stocks is mostly to keep the trigger guard away from my middle finger, and also to get enough width across the back of the stocks to keep *my* hand filled and comfortable.

Reading your comments on the rote repetition and *rules* of initial purchase/grasp/execution of the firing grip - and from daily discussions with Jack on grip stock design and ergonomics, I'm setting myself up to be very careful and critical of how I go forward with those two projects.

On recoil management, handling these Magnum hunting handguns is a completely different experience than the running of Action Pistol type pistols. I tend to let the guns recoil naturally. I definitely hear you on the comments regarding the balance between Strength and Relaxation.

Every day is a new day in the classroom.
Soon I have three Big Bore Maximums to test drive with their full-hit ammunition.
Those can be very exciting!

Thanks again

[bradshaw]

squawberryman.... you’ll find a photo here of brass Punch Bullet 420 grain Long Flat Nose fired 1,200 fps from Ruger Blackhawk 5-1/2" built by John Linebaught in .500 Linebaugh. Shot the bullet into caliche in New Braunfels, Texas while shooting with John and has friend Jerry Halfrich. Bullet base has a small lead core. Could reload it and shoot it again. Penetration: a few inches in the hardback caliche (limestone soil).
David Bradshaw