CA Bulldog Club

[Legionnaire]

I just loaded up a box of Matt's 215 gr button-nosed wadcutters; ran the range from 6.0 to 7.5 grains of Unique. Hope to be able to find the time to shoot them over a chronograph this weekend.

 

[loose noose]

I definitely appreciated that video, always did like his videos, I did see his video on the 2.5" Charter Arms. The other day when I took mine (3" CA) out I had the Pachmeyer grips on it and the recoil was definitely felt shooting the 240 grain rounds.

 

[Legionnaire]

Definitely like the look of the Classic (CA's stock pic, not mine). I'm going to have to start looking for one ...

 

[35 Whelen]

I've had problems with my Bulldog when shooting past 15 yds. or so in that my .430" sized cast bullets would become unstable. Mine has very short lands which I thought was the problem. Casting harder, shoeternal bullets helped, but the problem persisred with heavy semi-wadcutters. Finally I came to my senses and the checked the obvious; the cylinder throats. Mine measure .432". So ooo I cast up a batch od 429215's and sized them .432". Problem solved.

Surely mine is not the only one out there with this problem. Anyone else experienced this?

35W

 

[Thomas Traddles]

Does anyone here have the mag pug? Do the cylinder throats run big on it as it seems to on the Bull Dog?

 

[loose noose]

Should have that Bulldog .44SPL in SS with the 2.5" barrel,. tomorrow afternoon I'm kind of like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I'll have to chronograph the two, the 3" and the 2.5 and see what, if any difference there is in the velocity of 1/2"..

 

[Legionnaire]

We want pics and a range report!

 

[Legionnaire]

I've had problems with my Bulldog when shooting past 15 yds. or so in that my .430" sized cast bullets would become unstable. Mine has very short lands which I thought was the problem. Casting harder, shoeternal bullets helped, but the problem persisred with heavy semi-wadcutters. Finally I came to my senses and the checked the obvious; the cylinder throats. Mine measure .432". So ooo I cast up a batch od 429215's and sized them .432". Problem solved.

Surely mine is not the only one out there with this problem. Anyone else experienced this?

35W

Still working on loads for mine. But I haven't measured the throats; will have to do that next time I have it near the reloading bench. Hope they aren't too different from my GP100!

 

[loose noose]

Well Legionnaire, here is my range report, note that the 200 grain Jacketed semi-wad cutter, and the 240 grain lead semi-wad cutters were loaded back on 03-12-2000, and stayed in the garage until recently when I found them after cleaning out the mess. The Hornady Critical Defense loads were purchased just prior to my ordering and receiving my new Bulldog in SS with the 2.5" barrel.

Now the 165grn Hornady Critical Defense ammo appeared to be the most accurate at 15 yards, grouping within 3-5" at that range. According to the box the muzzle velocity is supposed to be 900fps, however out of the 2.5" Bulldog it averaged 917fps, and 948fps out of my 3" Bulldog according to my chronograph. The 2.5" had an extreme deviation of 13fps, and the 3" had a 17fps extreme deviation.

The 200grn jswc, using 5.2grns of HP38 gave a measly 485fps with an extreme deviation of 19fps out of the 2.5" Bulldog, the 3" Bulldog had an average velocity of 564fps with a 63fps extreme deviation. ( apparently due to the age and condition of the stored ammo). Note I shot at least 10 rounds of each ammo in order to get the averages.

The 240grn lead swc. using 4.5grns. of HP38 shot fairly well out of the 2.5" Bulldog averaging 635fps, with an extreme deviation of 29fps. out of the 3" Bulldog it averaged right at 669fps, with an extreme deviation of 25fps. Both the 2.5 and the 3" placed the rounds in about 5" groups of 5 at 15 yards. I noted a couple of fliers on all the loads, however once I became more accustomed to the 2.5" they and I improved immensely. Below is the range and photos of the two revolvers and the target after extensive shooting. Note the last rounds are at 7 yards, as I would not attempt a longer shot at much over 10 yards with the sight radius. Also I had to put orange paint on the 2.5" in order to get any kind of a sight picture. Overall the 3" seems a bit more accurate, but it has been used quite a bit more than the other newer one, I'm sure with practice I'll become proficient with both. BTW the chronograph was set 6 feet out from the muzzle of the gun The next time I'll have freshly loaded .44SPL ammo along with the factory.

 

[Tallball]

Nice work!

 

[loose noose]

Thanks Tallball, incidentally I've got some 185grn JHP, as well as some 200grn JHP by Sierra and Hornady respectively, that I'm going to have to try. I do believe for CCW the Hornady Critical Defense loads will stay loaded in that firearm for self defense however.

 

[Legionnaire]

Thanks for the report, loose noose; nicely done! Hoping to get to the range myself tomorrow.

 

[loose noose]

Going to shoot some trap tomorrow, but plan on taking the newly acquired Bulldog along just to show it off. (probably do some shooting with it also) BTW I've got a Charter Arms AR7 along with an extra barrel also, that is a really neat little rifle. If I remember right I paid just under $100.00 for it way back when, still have it.

 

[loose noose]

BTW, the felt recoil was really light considering the weight and size of the firearm, I'll report later on some stiffer 240 grain loadings in as far as the felt recoil, I plan on ordering some 165grn. pills here before long too, as they proved to be the most accurate in both firearms.

 

[Legionnaire]

Got to the range with the Bulldog this morning. Weather was overcast, temperature right around 50 Fahrenheit. Rained a couple of times.
Not happy about how age is affecting my eyes. For the life of me, I could not get a good sight picture. I didn't think to start looking over the top of my progressive lenses until after I had put the Bulldog away; unfortunately, my groups showed it. Chronograph was set 15 feet in front of the line; all shooting done with my hands rested on a beanbag on the table. Started with the target at 15 yards, but given my difficulty getting a sight picture, I moved it in to 12 yards. All loads in Starline brass using Winchester LP primers.

First up was two cylinders of 200 grain Missouri Bullet #5 Cowboy RNFPs, coated, over 5.0 grains of TiteGroup. This is a pleasant load to shoot, and I wanted to make sure the chronograph was set up properly.
Average: 710.6 FPS
SD: 11.3 FPS
Min: 697 FPS
Max: 728 FPS
Spread: 31 FPS


Second was a cylinder of Matt's 215 grain button-nosed wadcutters over 6.0 grains of Unique. I don't have much experience loading full wadcutters, and thought 6.0 grains was a reasonable starting load. I was suprised by the recoil and velocity, and decided to stop right there. The load has promise, but I see no reason to go higher with this bullet in this lightweight gun.
Average: 836.2 FPS
SD: 16.0 FPS
Min: 821 FPS
Max: 863 FPS
Spread: 42 FPS


So then I shot a couple of cylinders of the same BNWCs over 4.8 and 5.0 grains of Trail Boss. I like these loads a lot!
Average: 726.6 FPS
SD: 10.5 FPS
Min: 714 FPS
Max: 738 FPS
Spread: 24 FPS

Average: 728.4 FPS
SD: 13.0 FPS
Min: 710 FPS
Max: 746 FPS
Spread: 36 FPS


That was it for the Bulldog. I had loaded the BNWCs all the way up to 7.5 grains of Unique, but decided to run them through the GP100.

Bottom line: I need to play around some more with the 200 grain RNFPs from Missouri Bullet, varying the load of TiteGroup a bit, and also loading some up with Trail Boss.
Don't know that I'll reorder the BNWCs. I like them okay, but think first I'll experiment with Rim Rock's 200 grain DEWC, the same bullet loaded by Buffalo Bore for their Bulldog-safe "Anti-Personnel" round.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

For the life of me, I could not get a good sight picture. I didn't think to start looking over the top of my progressive lenses until after I had put the Bulldog away

Interesting info Legionnaire! The Bulldog stainless steel sights basically aren't there for my 73 year old eyes.

I bought some pearlescent white and bright orange fingernail polish. A couple of coats of white on the front sight ramp then a couple of coats of orange on top of that and I can see the sight!

14 months later of almost daily carry and the front sight is still bright.

I've since done all my revolvers the same way.

 

[Crowman]

I painted my front sight so I can see it. Used red fingernail polish, the "striper" bottle. They are narrow & have a finer brush than the regular polish. Put two coats on front sight, letting each coat dry between applications. After second coat dried, I then applied a top coat of clear protectant polish and have a marked sight finish that wears well, and is easy to see. Can use other colors. I tried white, but had trouble seeing it in my woods.

 

[loose noose]

Nice shooting and very interesting range report there Legionnaire, all my shooting was done off hand, and that is why I had the chronograph so much closer. I hear ya Cocked & Locked about my 70 year old eyes aren't much better, had to paint the front sight bright orange in order to get any type of sight picture. Incidentally the weather was right at 75 degrees, but I had a slight breeze in gusts of 5-10mph, out here in the desert, ya kind of get used to wind and sand..

 

[loose noose]

Perhaps, someone could tell me why the differences are so great in the two revolvers for example, the Critical Defense 165grn were 917fps in the 2.5" and 948fps in the 3", or worse yet the 200grn at 485fps in the 2.5" and the 3" at 564fps. Even the 240 grain showed a significant rise in velocity over a 1/2" in barrel length. I do know the longer the barrel length generally when using the same cartridge the longer barrel will have the greater velocity at the muzzle, but just 1/2" would show that much of a difference?

 

[Legionnaire]

Got the Rim Rock wadcutters in today. Plan to load some up with Trail Boss and TiteGroup. Goal is an accurate load in the 800 fps range. Will report progress.

 

[mavracer]

I finally think I've learned my lesson and am in the club to stay. I'm on my fifth bulldog now it's a stainless 2 1/2" with a hammer that I got from Bud's when they were having a clearance sale on the Crimson Trace equipped version I sold the CTs and put compact Pachmyers on it.
I use Georgia Arms 200gr Gold Dots for carry and mimic them with Nosler JHPs for practice.

 

[greenmtnguy]

With revolvers, not only is it barrel length, but barrel/cylinder gap, size of chamber throats, and even the land/groove diameter differences in the barrel can all contribute to some lesser or greater extent on velocity differences with the same ammunition. Depending on the powder, sometimes just a little but more barrel length gives you a better burn and some more efficiency too. But, a different charge weight with the same bullet may not have the same degree of velocity differences comparing between the same (2) revolvers.

 

[mavracer]

But, a different charge weight with the same bullet may not have the same degree of velocity differences comparing between the same (2) revolvers.

Yep, I've seen quite a few situations that don't follow the so called rules.

 

[loose noose]

I do thank you for clearing that up a bit, I noticed both revolvers have a .430 cylinder, however the 3" seems to have much shallower lands and grooves.

 

[loose noose]

BTW I just got my Matt's .44 .430 diameter hollow point bullets, really quick delivery time, and anxious to load up some and try them out. Do like the hard lube in the bullet groove, noted they are all within .2 of a grain in difference, which I believe is due to the lube. Once I get them loaded up I'll try some in water filled jugs and give a report out of both the 2.5" and the 3" revolver.