Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

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First Shirt
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by First Shirt »

Hey, I've got some 300 gr. WFN bullets that work like gangbusters in my .45 Colts, both revolvers and carbine. If you want to try some, let me know!

I load mine over stupid amounts of H-110, and can get 1200+ fps from a 5.5 inch bbl.
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Lindy Cooper Wisdom
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Netpackrat
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by Netpackrat »

Thanks, but it's going to be a while still before I can do any loading. I still have several boxes of 255gr LSWC that I originally loaded for my Stampede, so I am good for now. I am planning on sticking mainly to standard pressure/subsonic loads for this because that's all the Octane 45HD suppressor can take, although the gun of course will handle +P loadings. This is mainly a fun gun; if I need more power from a lever gun, I can use my .450 Marlin. :twisted:
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First Shirt
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by First Shirt »

Okay, does the Marlin use .452 bullets?
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Lindy Cooper Wisdom
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Netpackrat
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by Netpackrat »

Nope, .458/.459
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Netpackrat
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by Netpackrat »

Thanks to this timely video from Ian and Karl, I now have a clue about what's up with not feeding .45 Schofield 100%:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bycRlMMW_YQ

I had known that the Army had issued "Schofield" ammo that worked in both the SAA and the S&W Schofield revolvers, but I hadn't realized there was a difference between the two cases besides just the length. The Schofield rims are just a hair wider than .45 Colt, so they are more likely to hang up in the tube magazine, and per the video Schofield cartridges won't work right in an SAA, either. The "short colt" ammunition issued by the army apparently used the narrower .45 Colt case head, with Schofield length cases. And thus they worked fine in both types of revolver issued by the Army.

The rims of the Schofield cartridges I have are about .010" wider than those of the Colt cases. So, at least I ended up learning something new out of my attempt at regaining a little magazine capacity. The Schofield ammo seems to fit just fine in my Beretta Stampede revolver, however, so maybe it's dimensions are a little more forgiving than those of an SAA, or the box of current production .45 Schofield isn't quite the same dimensionally as the late 1800s stuff.
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First Shirt
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by First Shirt »

So, could you use .45 Colt brass, trimmed to .45 Schofield case length, to help magazine capacity?

Since you're running factory velocities and pressures, it shouldn't make any difference, should it?
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Lindy Cooper Wisdom
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Netpackrat
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by Netpackrat »

I could do that, but I don't care that much about getting the 6th round into the magazine.
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Netpackrat
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by Netpackrat »

Got the receiver engraved with my trust info today (along with my Suomi and Scorpion). Local guy did it with a pantograph machine while I waited, right next to the factory engraving for the model and serial number. Except it looks better than the factory engraving, and he only charged $25 per gun. I just need for my #$(*^*(#$ stamp to show up so I can buy a stock for it. Big thumbs up for Keith Stegall out in Wasilla if anybody local ever needs engraving done.
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"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
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Netpackrat
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by Netpackrat »

As I said in the other thread, the Form 1 was approved, and late this afternoon the brown truck brought a new stock and forend from Boyd's... Not really happy with Boyd's; they would only ship UPS air, and refused to do USPS which is normally a no-go for me, but in this case I wanted the stock yesterday so I bought it anyway. I bought both the stock and forend because I assumed that would give me my best odds of ending up with matching wood, which ended up being true, but also not.

The Boyd's forend is a pretty close match with the stock (not exact) but it doesn't $#*^&#$^*& fit the rifle. It's close, but the barrel band will simply not slide over the stock, and the wood is too thin between the barrel and mag tube to really relieve much there. It could probably be made to work if I were willing to remove a bunch of wood from where the barrel band slides over and refinish. I know that it's not uncommon to have to do some fitting with new aftermarket wood, but I also think it's reasonable to expect FINISHED furniture to fit properly and not need woodwork... Especially when the area that needs to have material removed is on the exterior where it will show if not refinished. So, I ended up putting it all back together with the original forend. I will probably leave it as-is for now since taking that area apart is a PITA given the nature of the modifications.

Image

The Boyd's stock actually fit, although poorly. There's are some noticeable gaps around the tang and the wood stands a little proud of the metal where they should be flush. I probably wouldn't have paid enough attention to that to care, if I weren't already annoyed about the forend. I'll probably shitcan the Boyd's forend since I am going to have to refinish something anyway if I want a match, so I may as well try to refnish the stock and the orginal forend (that actually fits) to more closely match each other.

Anyway, looking forward to taking it back to the range to zero the sights. I'm pretty sure I will need to remove a bunch of metal from the extra high front blade I installed. It just barely fits in the Midway medium size case.
Last edited by Netpackrat on Sun Feb 19, 2017 10:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
Cognosce teipsum et disce pati

"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
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Netpackrat
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Re: Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

Post by Netpackrat »

You know, it occurred to me that I succeeded in making a non-California legal lever action. Image

Fired this at the range yesterday before work. I zeroed it for 25 yards off the bench; I didn't have to touch the windage but I had to take the front sight down quite a bit with my cordless Dremel, and finished up with a file. I think there will be enough height to still see the sights over the can, although I may decide to get another tall blade and switch to a tang sight at some point. The standard pressure .45 Colt reloads seemed mild enough out of the 12" barrel.

Took a few shots at one of my rifle plates at 100 yards. I hit it a few times, but it's definitely not a 100 yard gun. There seemed to be less drop than I expected there to be at that range. In the process of learning that, I managed to nail the horizontal piece of my target hanger, so I will have to make another one out of EMT. I would have brought it back to 50 but I didn't want to get into an argument with the range guy about minimum distance for steel at the rifle range, and I didn't want to pack up and move to one of the pistol ranges (even though I was shooting a pistol caliber). Now that I have the sights adjusted and won't need the bench, next time around I will shoot it on the pistol side.

I'm also pretty sure one of the 100 rounds I fired had a double charge of Unique based on the flash and recoil. I loaded them on my progressive press with auto index several years ago, and I have never had that happen before. I'm glad that round didn't make it into my Stampede revolver, but the Ranch Hand seems none the worse for wear. I've fired several hundred rounds of that batch with no other issues, but I am going to be sure to use them up in the rifle and then maybe find a load that is better for filling the case for the next batch, to avoid any repeats. I bought a box of American Eagle factory ammo for when my brother and I can get together to try it with his can.
Cognosce teipsum et disce pati

"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
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