Well....... I helped steer Brad's cylinder throats thread off course so let me take it back with a
"Tale of Four Cylinders."
I have mentioned my .45 Blackhawk already. The .452" bore and .4525" throats...... polished...... I mean polished so I could shave with the surface finish if I could get my
face in there!!!! AND IT IS ACCURATE!
But not my most accurate revolver!
I have a Smith Model 15 6". It is just as accurate as the Ruger. Bore is .3575".... throats are .3585" Smith's work not mine. Throats are smooth
with visible machine marks.....
I have a Colt Single Action Army .44 Special. I've had it for years.... bought it new. 7 1/2" Colt barrel was .429" groove. Cylinder throats are .432" It was very accurate. I say was... because I re-barreled it some 40 years ago now. The groove diameter is now .431". I shoot .4315" sized bullets and it's
my second most accurate revolver! Colt throat's are smooth but WITH VISIBLE MACHINE MARKS.???
My most accurate revolver is as ugly as a sow's ear. It belonged to a longtime friend that passed away. It was a gift (tip) to Bob who was an outfitter who got this gun's owner onto a nice elk. I got the gun from Bob while he was still alive. He said it shot good but he wanted to know
just how good.
It started life in 1918 as a Colt New Service .45. Some guy named Corbett re-barreled it with a
10" ventilated rib over the frame with adjustable sights addition that was hard to look at. I liked the deep rifled 8 land and groove rifling though. I put it in the safe.... It was SO ugly I had to take small bites... A couple months later I pulled it out of the dark. I took some .45 Auto Rim loads for my 5" 625 .452" bullets and shot over bags at my 40 yd pistol target. A cylinder full went into 2 1/2".... Hummm? Not too bad I thought.... I brushed out a little lead past the cone. I put it back in the safe. Maybe six months passed. Sitting with a cup of coffee I remembered those WW1 Colt's had large cylinder throats. "Where did that thought come from?" I said aloud. But I went to the safe.......
.456" !!
I slugged the bore. The rifling looked good on my slug. I miced it.....
.4545"!! I had a premonition it would shoot at that moment! I did not have a mold that cast big enough! (Except .45-70 stuff to heavy) I wanted a bullet that would size
.4555"! I put the sow's ear back in the safe.
I had made some point forming dies for .45 that I though of one day...... I dug them out along with some telescoping gauges.... Ah-hah! I "bumped" up some Saeco 058 215gr bullets to .4565". I polished a Lee push through out to size
.4555".......
6.2grs of WSF (I have it to burn) and the above modified bullet with 4Q lube in
good lighting (necessary for an old
f@@
t) will have all 6 shots touching in a tight bughole if I do my part! Nothing handgun-wise I have will touch it! (no Contenders included) I have shot it 500 yards with that same load and it shoots way better than an old man can see even way out there.
The cylinder throats done by Colt exactly 100 years ago have visible machine marks!
Pete