I procured an early Bridgeport awhile back after looking for a nice one for the last year. SN 248,xxx dates it in the area of 1974. This one was ANIB, with a faint drag line from the front frame pin backing out slightly to abrade the cylinder. Single action pull is about 4 lbs, double action 10-11 lbs. The double action is smooth without stacking, single action has a nearly imperceptible "tic" at the point of release only noticeable when shooting over a rest. The cylinder gap is .004 left and right. The barrel is a very smooth and bright .429" without any roughness; the charge holes run .432" and are uniformly smooth. One of the chamber extractors was a little high, dragging on extraction. A little smoothing of the leading edge of the extractor fixed that issue.
100 rounds of .44 Special were taken to the range for accuracy and velocity testing; clearly, the .429 Gold Dots were a little unstable and shot 6" low at 7 yards, whereas .431 LWSCs shot to the point of aim, 6 o'clock. Preliminary results with conservative handloads and two factory loads follow. All were fired over a rest at 7 yards.
1. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 5.0 700x Ave. 740 fps, ME of 291 FP.
2. .431 185 gr. Full WC over 5.0 700x Ave. 740 fps, ME of 291 FP
3. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 6.0 Unique Ave. 734 fps, ME of 287 FP
4. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 5.0 Trail Boss, Ave 701 fps, ME of 287 FP
5. 429 210 gr. GDHP over 6.5 Unique, Ave 714 fps, ME of 237 FP
6. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 4.5 Bullseye, Ave. 704 fps, ME of 261 FP (The RSO was looking over my shoulder for this one.....
7. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 5.0 231, Ave. 637 fps, ME of 216 FP
8. .429 Blazer 210 GDHP factory load, Ave. 868 fps, ME of 351 FP
9. .429 Hornaday 165 gr. FTX Critical Defense, Ave. 958, ME of 336 FP
The energy level was calculated E=(MxV sq)/K [450,435]. 45 ACP hardball runs about 368 FP. For comparison, the usual carry load in a 38 Special from a 2" barrel runs 221 FP for the 158 gr. "FBI" load, and 202 FP for the short barrel Speer GDHP 135 gr load. I'm not inclined to get into an internet debate over the merits of the .44 special for defense, but all of the above, with the exception of the wimpy 5.0 231 load, clearly exceed the 38 special loading commonly carried. Further testing by increasing the above accurate benchmark loadings will pursue getting into the 45 ACP hardball energy territory. But 240 gr. of LSWC at 740 FPS is nothing to stand in front of!
100 rounds of .44 Special were taken to the range for accuracy and velocity testing; clearly, the .429 Gold Dots were a little unstable and shot 6" low at 7 yards, whereas .431 LWSCs shot to the point of aim, 6 o'clock. Preliminary results with conservative handloads and two factory loads follow. All were fired over a rest at 7 yards.
1. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 5.0 700x Ave. 740 fps, ME of 291 FP.
2. .431 185 gr. Full WC over 5.0 700x Ave. 740 fps, ME of 291 FP
3. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 6.0 Unique Ave. 734 fps, ME of 287 FP
4. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 5.0 Trail Boss, Ave 701 fps, ME of 287 FP
5. 429 210 gr. GDHP over 6.5 Unique, Ave 714 fps, ME of 237 FP
6. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 4.5 Bullseye, Ave. 704 fps, ME of 261 FP (The RSO was looking over my shoulder for this one.....
7. .431 240 gr. LSWC over 5.0 231, Ave. 637 fps, ME of 216 FP
8. .429 Blazer 210 GDHP factory load, Ave. 868 fps, ME of 351 FP
9. .429 Hornaday 165 gr. FTX Critical Defense, Ave. 958, ME of 336 FP
The energy level was calculated E=(MxV sq)/K [450,435]. 45 ACP hardball runs about 368 FP. For comparison, the usual carry load in a 38 Special from a 2" barrel runs 221 FP for the 158 gr. "FBI" load, and 202 FP for the short barrel Speer GDHP 135 gr load. I'm not inclined to get into an internet debate over the merits of the .44 special for defense, but all of the above, with the exception of the wimpy 5.0 231 load, clearly exceed the 38 special loading commonly carried. Further testing by increasing the above accurate benchmark loadings will pursue getting into the 45 ACP hardball energy territory. But 240 gr. of LSWC at 740 FPS is nothing to stand in front of!
