Huntington 45 Colt

[c.r.]

I received my 6-shot 45 Colt from Mr. Huntington today.

This gun came from Ruger as a 7 1/2" SBH. I simply couldn't stand the squared back SBH grip frame. Not that it bites me, i just don't like the slope of the butt. then the 7.5 barrel.....i had to do something with it, so I gave Jack a call.

We had some phone calls, Jack talked to me, I listened, I talked to Jack he listened. Just an all around pleasant experience. I learned quite a bit. I find it interesting how different smiths aproach projects differently. However, in the end they seem to arrive at the same place.

Jack took the gun replaced the barrel with a 5 1/2" straight taper barrel with a barrel band. They modified the SBH grip frame, stocked it with micarta and chambered the cylinder to 45 Colt.

Some details are:
FA front sight system
the belt mountain base pin does not have a set pin, instead we opted to use one of Belt Mountain's hardened cross pins
some really nice checkering on the front of the ER handle.
blocked action/over size cylinder bolt
slow twist barrel
free-wheeled cylinder
2.5 lb trigger with an internal trigger stop

I was having trouble with this loading gate opening up under recoil, jack and his folks took care of that for me.

Jack mentioned the orange insert on the front sight and we decided that he would go ahead and install it, and if I don't like it, i can easily contact FA and order other sights. I can't call FA and get one with an orange sight. I also decided to stay with the factory rear sight. For this project I wanted the lower profile over the bowen. However I have a Bowen sight here that i might try on it.

Holding this gun, you can definately tell there is some heft to it. However once you grab it by the grips, it balances extremely well and the "heft" isn't so recognizeable.

well I've rambled enough.......can't wait to shoot it this weekend.

[Aggie01]

Looks good. Also looks like a little softer finish than Ruger brushed.

Sept 30, 2009 19:49:28 GMT -5 c.r. said:

some really nice checkering on the front of the ER handle.

Jack mentioned this to me during project wrap up. I never mentioned it or asked for it, I just noted that the ejector rod head had machining marks that needed taken out. Jack told me afterwards that he had went ahead and checkered it too. Can't wait to see it in person.

Jack is actually a big fan of the SBH grip frame according to our conversations.
Any chance of a grip tracing laid over a SBH grip tracing?

[c.r.]

here are some less than perfect pics i just took of the SBH grip with a grip from this gun.


the "top corners" are squared up on the grips. definately not the best pics, but they do show where the contours differ and of course the length.

As you might know, Jack takes an outline of your hand and uses that to make the grips, so they are somewhat fitted to individual hands. These grips do feel awfully good.

[rigby]

Very cool he did a great job with that grip frame. Looks very natural, not a BH but not a Bisley either.

[Lee Martin]

That turned out great....love the barrel band.

-Lee
www.singleactions.com

[whitworth]

Absolutely gorgeous! This is why I don't let anyone else build my guns for me........

Congratulations!

[Charger Fan]

That's a beauty, thanks for showing it off.
The barrel band is a cool touch, I'd like to have that done to one of mine one day.

[bisleyfan41]

I love the whole deal.
Looks great.

[bloodhound]

LOOKS GREAT....IT TURNED OUT PERFECT....LET US KNOW HOW IT SHOOTS....I'D LIKE TO SEE A RANGE REPORT....

[Markbo]

Holy Smokes that's a good lookin revolver! Well done! ;D

[carl]

Nice! Its always fun to see something a bit "different" and this one has some neat features. One just doesn't encounter many "customs" using the MR3D grip frame.

Thanks for sharing!

Carl

[c.r.]

thanks for all the complements

I was able to get to the range this morning before the rain and get some shooting in.

I didn't bother loading up anything other than my "stand by" 45 Colt load...9.6 grains of unique, 255 grain SWC. I wanted to use this load since I had plenty of data to compare to from my other guns.

Off hand at 50 yards, I don't know that I've shot any of my factory guns any better. I contribute this to the great trigger and balance of the gun. The modified grip frame feels awfully nice at this recoil level.

from a rest, while not horrible, I just didn't shoot as tight as I wanted. Could have been being unfamiliar with the front sight, the trigger, the grip...........or this particular load.

I brought my 5 1/2" bisley along and shot a group with it so I would have camparison from the same day, same temp, etc. The 5 1/2" Huntington gun shot this load at ~1110 fps, ~43 fps faster than the Bisley.

I'm not worried at all, this barrel has a different twist than factory barrels. I wouldn't expect it to like the same load. I have some 265 gr Ketihs and 310 LBTs on the way to work up loads with.

Again, the modified grip feels great. I'm curious how it's going to handle some heavier loads. The way it balances in my hand hides the add'l weight of the barrel.

downside....."dirty" loads and min spec chambers and tight tolerances don't get along too well. i had difficulty chambering some cartridges. Cylinder tried to bind up a few times. I also have to look at these particular bullets. they have always caused the brass to look like a snake swallowing an egg. In factory chambers I never had a problem. However, this definately contributed to difficulty in chambering some rounds.

Overall, I am very pleased and can't wait to let this gun stretch it's legs.

~c.r.

[Ken O'Neill]

You mention a "straight taper" barrel. It seems significantly heavier than the stock barrel...or is it an illusion perhaps caused by lighting?
It's very nicely done.

[AxeHandle]

Some very good things to be said for a 6 shot 45 Colt Ruger with minimum spec chambers... John Gallagher and I had a discussion on the subject during my last visit... The 44 he built for me would have been a 45 if he'd had an octagon barrel in stock... My full up custom 44 was an eye opener for me... slick as snot and lock up like a FA... I have promised 2 Dawgs to get it out and put some shots on paper...

Hmmm Got me thinking that I NEED a Gallagher 5.5 Octagon 45 Colt now... ;D

[c.r.]

Oct 4, 2009 9:01:37 GMT -5 Ken O'Neill said:

You mention a "straight taper" barrel. It seems significantly heavier than the stock barrel...or is it an illusion perhaps caused by lighting?
It's very nicely done.

Ken,
now that I'm thinking about it, straight taper isn't the correct term. The barrel is .8" at the frame and .8" up to the barrel band. the barrel band steps up to .88". You are correct, the pic does give the appearance of a taper. that has to be because i took the pic a little cockeyed.

now that i think about it, straight taper would indicate there is taper straight from x to a diameter small than x. There is no taper to this barrel

This barrel has a larger diameter than a factory barrel, but I don't believe it is as heavy as the barrel Mr. Huntington uses on his five shots.

I really need to grab a scale of some sort and weigh this thing. While I can tell there is add'l weight, once I grab it by the grips, it balances very well in the hand. It does not feel nose heavy at all. Any weight difference doesn't seem noticeable.

~c.r.