I'm spoiled

[ohnomrbillk]

This holiday weekend will be one full of academic work for me. With little hope of R&R, zeus came to rescue and took me shooting.

I have 2 Bisley's at Dustin Linebaugh's, and cas the cylinder smith has every other single action cylinder I own except for the 357 Ruger Max that is hiding in the back of my safe. I wanted zeus to get to try something new (a challenge, no doubt) so I grabbed my 4" 45 Redhawk, and a very quiet 22 for zeus to try.

We loaded up the targets provided by Fowler, and headed out to the range. Setup was quick, and the thought and design that went into the targets was readily apparent.

Zeus then produced a who's who of fine craftsmen of wheel guns, leather, and cutlery for me to try. First of experiences for me included a 500 Linebaugh built by both John and Dustin, the 458 lightweight, a Gallagher 445 SuperMag, and a FA 83 in 454 Casull. Holsters provided by Mike Barranti and Rob Leahy. Fine Cutlery by Bill Snow.

The bad news is that my wish list doubled yesterday. I discovered things I didn't know I wanted. This includes the skill needed to hold MOA at long range with a handgun.

The good news is that despite the mountain of reading I have ahead of me this weekend, I had one of the more enjoyable shooting sessions i can remember.

A big thanks to Zeus for a great time.

[zeus]

We did have fun! Bill brought a 4" redhawk and gave me the option of buffalo bore or cowboy action loads. Guess which one I chose......its a good shooter but feels really different from the usual single action that I'm used to. The suppressed 22s are always fun so it was nice to burn a little powder in that one too

Don't let Bill fool you. He handled my 500 much better than I did yesterday, I almost sent it home with him since it liked him better than me. I'm finding out quickly that I'm aging pretty fast I just don't find the big guns all that fun anymore with the 450 grain slugs when they get going much over 1100 fps. I truly think that is plenty anyway so it works out well I guess. I'm good for about a cylinder of the 1200 fps stuff and then my right hand starts shaking so bad, it takes the fun out of it for me so I just don't do it. Its still sore today and the load was only a 465 at about 1175 or so. But.....Bill did it and kept doing it until we almost ran out of ammo. I kept a handful for a hunt this week and told him to shoot the rest, I don't want too many of the ones that bother me laying around loaded

He took the 500 out to somewhere between 50-60 yards and centerpunched the plate at the end of the day so I'd say he held up well. He took the 445 supermag out to about 75 yards and center punched the plate three times in a row. He even shot the little minature 458 caliber vaquero and it centered the plate, at least my guns seem to be sighted in for him. They still hit the dirt when I aim them

We took the 454 out to 150 yards and played with it some. Not all that far but as far as we could get with the lay of the land in the area that we had the targets placed. The casull pleased me as usual. I've yet to have to work a load up for that gun, it shoots them all pretty well. This was a new one that I wanted to try with some WC820 that I have a ton of laying around. It will be the primary sixgun on the hog hunt next week for extended ranges. I can't wait. I really wanted Bill to get to shoot this one. He had been wanting a bisley in 45 that he could scope and I told him to wait till he had a chance to shoot the Casull. I prefer the gripframe of the FA to all others and have always loved the way it handles recoil. I think he was pleased with it.

This was the first time that I have had a chance to shoot the plates on the target stands that I got the parts from Fowler for. I have to say I was very impressed with the set up. They went together very quickly as in less than a minute and are fold up when you put them back in the truck. Can't ask for much more than that. I'll be getting more the next time he makes a batch for sure.

I had a great time and look forward to going again. Next time, we may run up North and meet up with our buddy in the Northland of Kansas City. You would really enjoy that trip.

Here are a few pics of Bill in action. One of them is him getting ready shooting at 150 with the casull which he did very well with, one is with the 458, and then a couple with the 500.

[tek4260]

So what exactly is the 458 Vaquero? Is it simply a 45 that has been barreled .458 and the chambers opened so you can use .458 bullets? Internet searches leaving a lot to be desired...

[ohnomrbillk]

Sept 6, 2010 0:32:07 GMT -5 tek4260 said:

So what exactly is the 458 Vaquero? Is it simply a 45 that has been barreled .458 and the chambers opened so you can use .458 bullets? Internet searches leaving a lot to be desired...

This is a rarity to say the least. Gallagher built many 458-400 express, which was a 45-70 case cut to 1.4". This one uses a 1.29" case also based on the 45-70. You could use 480 Ruger cases, and resize to use the 458 bullet. It runs the 400gr at 900 fps. Low on recoil, light on weight, and has surprising knockdown power.

[kings6]

That Zeus has almost as many nice toys as 2 Dogs doesn't he? I believe his nickname for the Gallagher 458 Vaquero is "The pocket rocket". It is one cool little tuck away gun that is for sure! Shoot, you are lucky Bill. I traveled all the way from Oregon to Kansas and all he let me do was eat ribs for hours upon hours then just look at those great guns. I wanted to use the pocket rocket on one of the backyard bunnies but he wouldn't let me pull the trigger. What a spoiled sport! ;D

[zeus]

We just didn't see any bunnies once you got here....and...still trying to figure out how to make that one quiet I do wish we had ammo loaded and the time to go shoot when you were here though. As it was, I actually just enjoyed relaxing As far as what is in the safe, its a mere shadow of what you have stashed away so don't start with me on that I was telling Bill about some of yours that you brought to Boise and told him next time you come, you have to check some luggage He would really appreciate seeing that luggage I think.

Bill is right about the "pocket rocket". I'm using 480 Ruger cases run through my 458/400 express dies. The loads that Bill used were a 405 cast slug at about 850. There are only about 3 of these out there that John has built. He has one and I know where the other two are also. He built these as his personal guns, didn't build them for the public for liability reasons I imagine. You can tell someone of the limitations of a gun and they sometimes just don't listen and its never thier fault They are neat guns but the masses wouldn't really appreciate it I imagine because it doesn't shoot 1500 fps with a 400 grain slug. The 5 shot full length versions were more like a 475. This short version actually holds 6 of the rounds and the recoil is pretty low in my opinion. It hits like a hammer though. The grip frame of this one has been completely milled out except for necessary areas which cut a lot of weight out of the grip. The main frame has been scalloped both in the front and on the recoil shields. It has a nice little ramp front sight and a modified oversize base pin. The barrel is a 4" Douglas and John beveled the front of the cylinder. Neat little gun and rides really nicely in a perfectly fitted holster from Thad Rybka. I'm working on a set of new stocks for it just haven't finished that project yet........

Here is what the little one looks like:

Here is the holster from Thad. If anyone has a 4" vaquero that they want a really nice holster for, I know that John happens to have an extra of these that he got last week that he is going to sell. A holster ready to go with no wait from this maker is hard to find I think the price is $100 shipped if you need one.




Here is one of the rounds compared to a 454

[AxeHandle]

"Spoiled"
Reminds me of my Grandfather... When comments were made about his grand kids being spoiled his standard reply was, "They are supposed to smell that way!"

[needsmostuff]

Sept 5, 2010 14:56:23 GMT -5 ohnomrbillk said:

The bad news is that my wish list doubled yesterday. I discovered things I didn't know I wanted.

For safetys sake, never touch any gun your not looking for.
P.S. Why does Bill shoot straight up in the air so much?

[warhawk]

Looks like a wild hog hammer to me!

Wonder if he'll do another one? Would be a dandy caliber in a short barreled Redhawk too.

[kings6]

I am glad to hear John picked up another holster. I talked to him a few weeks ago and he said he was going to order one or two more and I told him I'd take one and he could ship it when he finishes the 45 and the 44 Special. I'll give him a calland remind him to drop one in the package when they get done.

Shoot I'm just a piker compared to Zeus when it comes to neat toys. He and 2 Dogs are my heroes in the area of custom guns.

[ohnomrbillk]

Sept 6, 2010 9:56:52 GMT -5 needsmostuff said:

For safetys sake, never touch any gun your not looking for.
P.S. Why does Bill shoot straight up in the air so much?

That is for sure a good safety plan. Don't touch anything you don't already want.

As for me shooting straight up, I always learned a firm hand grip with slightly loose elbows to absorb the recoil. I'm not man enough to hold that 500 down....I just hung on for the ride.

[joeg0812]

Love the front sight on that Vaq. Think Bill is playing one of those TV cops with the gun held up there. At least it isn't sideways.

[zeus]

He can point it anywhere he wants when he keeps hitting the plate, I ain't gonna pick at him

I don't see John doing anymore of those for liability reasons alone. Besides the fact that dies would be a booger to find these days

[brettov]

Sounds like a great time .I always enjoy switching guns with a friend and trying new to me guns .