FACE-OFF: Heavy-duty 6" 357

[dannyd]

Which parts?

Hammer, cylinder, barrel and some parts of trigger assembly; always been like that from the first GP100 I purchased in 1989. You can find some parts but most of them are used.

They do return it to you as factory original.

I have had a little experience with Ruger.

 

[eddiememphis]

Hammer, cylinder, barrel and some parts of trigger assembly; always been like that from the first GP100 I purchased in 1989.

Numrich has barrel and hammer listed and in stock. Are these aftermarket? I thought they sold factory parts.

 

[dannyd]

Numrich has barrel and hammer listed and in stock. Are these aftermarket? I thought they sold factory parts.

Looked at that yesterday and today; most are not factory new but every once in a while they do get new factory parts. I don't know how, but Ruger's policy as been we will gladly fix it for you.

I buy spring's and other parts from Numrich to replace if I'm doing a trigger job.

Worst part about GP100's is the double action out the box; they are rough.

Little cleaning up and single action gets better 2 and 4 pounds, but double start's out between 12 and 14 pounds. So you definitely have to work on it.

 

[murf]

i just gave one to my niece. i'll have to get a pic and show you. may take a while and, heaven forbid, i may be wrong.

murf

found it!



the no-dash is the upper gun with the bird on the pinned front sight. the lower gun is newer and, regrettably, a fixed baughmann.

murf

 

[DMW1116]

I hadn't thought of a Blackhawk, but since it's going to be a range gun only, why not?

I read somewhere else here that the Bisley grip makes recoil easier to handle than plow? ...or is that just preference.

Edit: Seems Bisleys are only made in 44 Mag, 454 Casull or 32 mag. and most of those are distributor exclusives.

I've been following your 357/38 escapades with interest for a couple of weeks. I had a GP100 and now have a Blackhawk. When I had the GP100, I didn't have the chance to shoot much and really see what it could do. Now that I do have the chance, and a Blackhawk, I'd recommend a Blackhawk every day and twice on Sunday. Mine is a range gun, purchased specifically for longer range handgun shooting out beyond 50 yards. Then I started shooting bullseye at 25 yards. With developed loads, it's as accurate as my target 22. This is just 10 yards, but it shows what it can do with a good load.

 

[dannyd]

That Blackhawk will definitely get out to 50 yards.

 

[DMW1116]

I have a few dozen 357 cases to clean and load back up with the long-range load. It's a minimum charge of CFE-P pushing a 125-grain cast and coated bullet. It groups about as good as a wadcutter load, but at 1250 fps. Anyway, for Smaug, there is a good reason single action revolvers are still around. They're lots of fun.

 

[Mr.Revolverguy]

Find yourself a good used 8shot 627 like I did WOW 8 rounds of 357 Magnum

 

[stonebuster]

In addition to above, DW barrel system doesn't have a very common problem on many other revolvers; barrel chocking where it is screwed into frame. Marshall Stanton had excellent article how he fixed barrel constriction by firelapping, combined with opening cylinder chambers on something like .4525". groups shrunk dramatically, from almost 4" to 1.5". Unfortunately his website where are all those articles is inactive. Hope that somebody knows some of those archive websites where it could be found.

Another approach to eliminate barrel constriction is so called Taylor Throat. Some say no improvement, some say considerable improvement. Here is what Iowegan, gunsmith an moderator on another forum has to say;

"I have personally seen badly constricted barrels that would not shoot better than a 6" group @ 25 yards from a bench rest and after Taylor Throat reaming they would hold groups under 1". Post # 6 at http://web.archive.org/web/20020606140647/www.sixgunner.com/dad/throat.htm

More here https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=taylor+throat+revolver .

Another, very interesting statement, that links Taylor Throat with Dan Wesson revolvers:

Sometime after this two friends, Ed Wosika of Hanned Precision and Bud McDonald took this idea and began playing with it. They experimented on several guns and confirmed what we had found. They had reamers made up to cut the throating in several different calibers. When they had finished most of the tests they took the results to Wesson Arms. Wesson Arms began testing, again confirming what we had "discovered". (I am sure someone, someplace, had already done something similar.) They contacted Dad and asked his permission to use it in their firearms. Dad had been befriended by Major Doug Wesson in WWII and thought, "What a neat way to repay an old favor!" He gave Wesson Arms his permission to use the throating system. In return they named it "The Taylor Throat". Today Wesson Arms offers it in their revolvers.

http://www.sixgunner.com/dad/throat.htm

It would be interesting if you check rear end of barrel on your DW revolver. If there is no rifling first half inch or so, it does have Taylor Throat, see scetch:

View attachment 1111553

That might be one of the reasons why Dan Wesson revolvers were so accurate.

I checked a 6V original DW barrel off a @1978-79 15-2 and another 8VH DW barrel and the rifling is not set back the 1/2" on either, apparently not Taylor Throat. I always like learning something new about my revolvers though. Interesting read.

 

[Smaug]

I’m leaning toward the long barreled 38 in a S&W 14, but am having sticker shock.

I guess it’s cheaper to buy what I want the first time instead of trying to convince myself I want something else, buying it, confirm it wasn’t what I wanted, resell at a loss, then buy the thing I wanted in the first place anyway.

 

[Russ57]

You could look for a model 10 PPC gun. Typically guns worked over by gunsmiths sell for a discount unless they are by the big names like Clark.

 

[Smaug]

You could look for a model 10 PPC gun. Typically guns worked over by gunsmiths sell for a discount unless they are by the big names like Clark.

What's PPC?

 

[JohnKSa]

Police Pistol Combat Competition. It was pretty big back in the days when the issue LE gun was the revolver. Strings of fire are 6 shots, or 12 (one reload) fired at 7, 15, 25 and 50 yards. No motion on the clock, the clock starts with the gun holstered. Positions include standing, kneeling and prone with some strings using a barricade.

http://www.ppc.nra.org/documents/pdf/law/competitions/rulebook.pdf

 

[Russ57]

Smaug, let's say you take a model 10 and ship it off to a pistol smith. He installs a new slab sided match grade barrel with full length under lug and ramp on top, a nice set of adjustable sights, and slicks up the trigger/action. The gun is now more accurate than a model 14, has a better trigger, but costs less than a stock model 10 because it has been bubba-rizerd by a no-name gunsmith.

For you, you get to eat your cake and have one too, because you want a target .38 and don't care about resale value.

I'd be looking for proof it can hold 2" at fifty yards and would consider any handgun capable of such accuracy for a thousand or less a
bargain.

Just another avenue to explore.