I've always admired the slim lines of this pistol so I finally ordered a kit and slapped it together.
The bore is rather nice. Eight narrow lands mic .451" and the wide grooves mic .461". I don't know the twist but it is pretty quick.
The lock is a POS. Traditions doesn't offer a really good lock and the lock supplied with this kit is their cheapest. No bridal nor fly for the tumbler. It does have a screw to adjust sear engagement but if you adjust it really light the hammer will stop at half-cock. It needs a fly. This issue is compounded by the fact that the trigger is well placed for comfortable handling but is way too far forward to properly engage the sear bar. They had to bend the sear bar forward to reach the trigger blade and it still only reaches the very back of the blade. That makes the leverage all wrong in both places, thus a heavy pull.
I didn't care for the supplied sights, a thin brass blade up front and a tiny V notch rear. I kept the rear but cut a deep U notch. I sorted through my junk boxes to come up with a steel blade for the front.
I also fabricated a belt clip out of spring stock and fitted it to the left side retained by a longer lock bolt.
First time out I got a couple of surprises!
Surprise number one was that the first shot was in the ten ring of the 6 bull rifle target! I had just grabbed a front sight of about the same height as the rear and knocked them both into their dovetails to look about centered. It wasn't a fluke, three more were inside the 9 and 10 rings. I was shooting 15 grains of Goex 3f, some old .440" balls home cast from a LEE mold and .022" cotton canvas patching with spit lube.
Surprise number two came when I looked at the chronograph. Those first four averaged 902 fps! This with just 15 grains of powder. I know it would take at least 25 grains in my .44 C&B revolvers to hit 900 fps.
But then came the fifth shot. It dropped into the 7 ring and the chrono read only 798 fps. No idea why but it sure spoiled my group. Still and all, even including that slow shot the group measured 2 1/4" which shows some potential for a first outing. Next time I'll try a larger ball and thinner patch, that usually seems the better combo bore a shallow groove barrel.
Here is the finished product and the first try target.
Here's the left side with the belt clip. The gun weighs 30.3 ounces.
And here is a "shooters eye view" of the modified sights as I like pistol sights to look.
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The bore is rather nice. Eight narrow lands mic .451" and the wide grooves mic .461". I don't know the twist but it is pretty quick.
The lock is a POS. Traditions doesn't offer a really good lock and the lock supplied with this kit is their cheapest. No bridal nor fly for the tumbler. It does have a screw to adjust sear engagement but if you adjust it really light the hammer will stop at half-cock. It needs a fly. This issue is compounded by the fact that the trigger is well placed for comfortable handling but is way too far forward to properly engage the sear bar. They had to bend the sear bar forward to reach the trigger blade and it still only reaches the very back of the blade. That makes the leverage all wrong in both places, thus a heavy pull.
I didn't care for the supplied sights, a thin brass blade up front and a tiny V notch rear. I kept the rear but cut a deep U notch. I sorted through my junk boxes to come up with a steel blade for the front.
I also fabricated a belt clip out of spring stock and fitted it to the left side retained by a longer lock bolt.
First time out I got a couple of surprises!
Surprise number one was that the first shot was in the ten ring of the 6 bull rifle target! I had just grabbed a front sight of about the same height as the rear and knocked them both into their dovetails to look about centered. It wasn't a fluke, three more were inside the 9 and 10 rings. I was shooting 15 grains of Goex 3f, some old .440" balls home cast from a LEE mold and .022" cotton canvas patching with spit lube.
Surprise number two came when I looked at the chronograph. Those first four averaged 902 fps! This with just 15 grains of powder. I know it would take at least 25 grains in my .44 C&B revolvers to hit 900 fps.
But then came the fifth shot. It dropped into the 7 ring and the chrono read only 798 fps. No idea why but it sure spoiled my group. Still and all, even including that slow shot the group measured 2 1/4" which shows some potential for a first outing. Next time I'll try a larger ball and thinner patch, that usually seems the better combo bore a shallow groove barrel.
Here is the finished product and the first try target.
Here's the left side with the belt clip. The gun weighs 30.3 ounces.
And here is a "shooters eye view" of the modified sights as I like pistol sights to look.