Mechanics are done on my Walker conversion... time to shoot

I've actually already gotten the itch...

I've been curious for a long time... I guess enough so, that I'm finally going to scratch that itch...

my next project... a single action 25 ACP revolver... anyone ever gone down this road??? I've thought about it many times over the years, & always the .251" barrel diameter was the tough thing to come up with... however, when when I ordered the new barrel liner for the Walker, from TJ's, I noticed they had .251" liners, that I could buy by the inch, so I had them throw 8" of .251" on my order... the current 22 LR shortage might have something to do with it, but I've wanted a small reloadable cartridge, long before the current 22 LR shortage, bad enough, that I've already done a lathed turned cased 22 center fire magnum ( loosely based between 22 CCM & the 22 Velo-dog )... the ready formed case, & available factory ammo of the 25 ACP is much more appealing than lathe turned cases ( besides 200 lathe turned cases were very expensive )... lower cost & target sights will be a priority, so I'm thinking about the target 38 special version of the Uberti Stallion as the base gun for the build...

http://www.uberti.com/stallion-revolver
 
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The new extractor has been machined, & should be ready to try again, this weekend... BTW, I stopped at the local gunsmith "refinish" shop that has my lil S&W spur trigger getting a master blue, & discussed bluing the frame of "big Walker"... they think if it's highly polished, it won't take a finish, but if bead blasted, I can get a satin finish blue that will hold on the hard finish of the frame... so, after I get the bugs worked out, sights regulated, etc. I'm thinking satin blue, with nickel grip frame & cylinder, but I likely won't want to give it up, until fall, for metal finish... actually, I think not being able to do a high polish blue on the case hardened frame has to do with the high carbon content at the surface, because of how this was hardened... they'll still be able to polish out any major tool marks,( which there really aren't any on the frame portion, as my buddy polished that, before case hardening it ) then bead blast everything to an even satin finish, then blue, & all the components should end up the same "color" of blue throughout the various parts

... picked up the revolver again this morning, looks just about the same, only instead of skelletonizing the the extractor thumb tab, he just thinned the tab, leaving the thinnest portion that goes though the tube slot as original thickness for strength, the tube is now a high strength alloy, instead of stress proof, & the end that cracked off before was left about twice as thick, at the end of the slot, to where the set screw goes into the barrel... should be good to go for a life time or two now...

loaded up 100 rounds last night, 50 of the Unique loads, 50 of the IMR 4198, have yet to load the Trailboss or the black powder loads

looking to see if I can get to one powder I like best, & get a basic sight in, with 50 rounds of each... BTW... still hating those Hornady 460 cases... I'd think you'd want a firm crimp on a 460, & even with a much lighter crimp with the 45 BPM, than I'd want if I were shooting 460, I've gotten a couple wrinkled case bodies... of course throwing out those nasty Lee lock rings, & installing some new Redding rings helps alot with keeping the dies screwing in to the proper depth, also really happy with how soft my case mouths are after annealing them... but again, if I were loading 460, I think they may be too soft, to retain the bullets under heavier recoil... they will be fine however, for the 45 BPM
 
got the chance to do some more shooting over this last weekend...

10 paces at a target, I shot all 3 loads & see I do need to take some off the front sight, in varying amounts, depending on what I choose for a load... Trailboss was 6-7" low at 10 paces, 4198 was 4-5" low, & 2-3" to the right, & Unique was 3-4" low... there was a very strong cross wind from the south, & I found holding the big gun in the wind, may have opened my groups some... as most groups were strung out horiziontally

so I went back to 60 ft, & shot with my hands rested on sandbags off my bench... groups actually opened up disproportionately to the distance

anyone shoot open top revolver at slightly longer distances, find the hammer "V" rear sight to be the problem??? it seems to work great at cowboy distances, but at 60 ft... something is going on ???

anyway Unique had the best group at 10 paces, & 2nd worst at 60 ft...

will have to file my front sight down, & get groups closer, so when get my chrony out soon, I don't shoot it, ( again :o ) but all the groups at 10 paces I thought were acceptable at 2-4" without a rest, all had enough pressure to keep the cases clean ( no sooting ) & also low enough pressures that nothing needs sizing yet ( no swelling at the web )... so I could go up a little when trying to dial in the best group sizes later...

so next goal is get it shooting closer to point of aim, & get some speeds on the bullets through the chrony...

BTW... gun functioned perfectly this time, with no hick ups
 
Interesting conversion and the first full conversion I've seen on a Walker. I've seen a few Walkers where they only replaced the cylinder with an R&D cylinder. Have you tried the PRS bullets yet? I bought a custom six cavity mold a few years ago and that particular bullet design has worked best in all my .45 Colt blackpowder loads.
 
I haven't yet... I usually buy my CAS bullets because of the quality I shoot... a 250 grain round nose flat point, & that's all I've tried loading so far...
 
If you shoot CAS you may have heard of the Maverick Dutchman mold .44 cal, The Snakebite Mold .357 cal. or the PRS .45 cal. mold they were designed with a huge lube groove. My PRS mold casts a 250gr RNFP I found that they worked great with both blackpowder and smokeless and worked equally well in my CAS rifles and pistols. Here is a pic of the bullet design.

Dick Dastardly was putting together some group buys on these molds over at The Frontier Spot a few years ago and mine was built on a Lee Custom six cavity mold. I think he's having em made by Lyman or Saeco now They also offer a similar design for BPCR's in .45 Cal After going with several different bullets the PRS was the best I found and they were popular in CAS.
http://www.biglube.com/
 
thought I better throw up a few more pictures...

gun has been shooting great... as soon a fall sets in, she'll go for cosmetic finishing...

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I've got several 100 rounds through it over the summer, only thing I did, was reshape my bullet seating stem... was getting the bullets slightly off center, & thus slightly bulged, so they wouldn't chamber ( the 460 S&W dies are set up for those pointed FXT bullets ), filed the front sight down to shoot to point of aim with my loads, & shoot it... I'm having a hard time choosing which of the 3 powders & loads I like, they all are shooting great... been wanting to stuff some black into a few cases, but I've yet found the time...

the guys that did my S&W #2 that I just posted pics of today, will be doing the cosmetic finishing... after it starts getting cold, & I'm willing to give up the gun for several months :)
 
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