new guy

[ribber@shaw.ca]

Hello out there, I'm the new guy, I last cast and shot cast boolits about 12 years ago when I shot IHMSA matches, some things are long forgotten , some I think I did yesterday, go figure. I've bought a Ruger Bisley in .45 Colt and I think I'm really going to enjoy it. A couple of questions though , my chambers measure .4525" -.453" , what size do I size my boolits? I used a Lee 300gr mold and their sizing push through die in .452 but the liquid Alox make the cartridges hard to chamber after lubing them twice ,[ before and after sizing]. Should I go to a .453 die in a Lyman lubri-sizer? and do I have to use gas checks at 1300 fps. with this mold? Thanks in advance for your help and I know I'll be asking more questions soon. Thanks again ribber

[Heavy lead]

Love those Bisley's, got some myself. How does it shoot with what you're using now? And with what powder? Generally I would say you should size to 453, but if it shoots well now, you may need not to change it. I have used this boolit and like it, but never without a gas check. My belief is that if a mould has a check you should check the boolit, but some guys don't and it works out fine, but usually only with light loads. IMO you don't need a gas check design with 1300 fps with the correct alloy and sizing, but certainly a gas check will work fine too, and probably is more forgiving for alloy and sizing discrepancies.
Oh, welcome. You'll find a lot of good advice here, much of it from people a lot smarter than myself.:-D

[docone31]

Ribber,
Welcome!
I do not cast for that caliber. I did hear, that Rugers are a little sloppy. I do not know if this is true or not. You will have to slug the barrel to find the best start place.
I use Lee Push Thru Sizing Dies. Inexpensive, and I can get different sizes at nominal cost.
I shot Sillywet back in the early '80s days. Did ok. Jacketed only though.
Remember the Hand Cannon Days?
I made a monster XP-100. Remember them? Necked down .375 30 H&H. Hey, I had more strength then. Glad it was only 20rds. They did not like me using that pistol. Made holes.
I saw some pretty serious competitors though. I mean, castings that were flawless, perfect scores, walking around with hats with propellors in the heat, little stick on opticals on their glasses, that serious look. Got a nice Dan Wesson Supermag from one of them, they had gotten a .445 Supermag. I loved that .38 on steroids.
Welcome, have fun.

[ribber@shaw.ca]

Hi, actually I had both a XP-100 in 7 BR. and a Dan Wesson .357 Supermag Ah, the good old days when gas was cheap and so was I. In reply to Heavy Lead ,my load for the Colt is [so far] between 22 and 23 gr. H4227 with a Winchester case and WLP primer, heavy crimp and my groups first day out were 3-4" at 25 yds. I have H110 , No.9, some 680 and some 1680 to try yet. I started with H4227 ''cause I have a bunch of it.

[44man]

The Lee 300 is a good boolit. I size to .452 for my Vaquero.
My suggestion is to dump the 4227, it gets funny when the gun warms.
Use 21.5 gr of 296 and the Fed 150 primer if you want accuracy and make sure you have good case tension on the boolit. Use a harder boolit like water dropped WW's so you don't size the boolit when seating. You only need enough crimp so boolits don't move under recoil.
Here is what my Vaquero does at 50 yards with two boolits, one is the Lee and the other is the Lyman 452651, same load.

[Heavy lead]

44man, did you have to regulate the sights on that Vaquero or did they shoot to point of impact out of the box, and if you did regulate, what did you have to do and how did you go about it?
Man you're a good shot.

[Blammer]

Welcome!

If you need Gas Checks, (GC) keep an eye out on the swap and sell.

I may have some left over from the group buy.

[copdills]

Welcome to the forum

[ribber@shaw.ca]

Hi, me again, thanks guys your tip about the 296 is a good one, I was using the 4227 to get a feel for the gun and I am water dropping the wheelweight boolits and where did you get those grips? I am unable to find softer grips for the Bisley ribber

[44man]

44man, did you have to regulate the sights on that Vaquero or did they shoot to point of impact out of the box, and if you did regulate, what did you have to do and how did you go about it?
Man you're a good shot.
I have changed the sight many times for different boolits until I settled on my loads for deer. Broke the first out and silver soldered a new one in. It got filed too much so I broke it out again. This one is glued in with steel bed. So far after many, many heavy loads, it is still there. I never had much problem with the windage though.
I have to work loads from Creedmore with the Vaquero so I can get the sights far from my eyes.
My best shot was to drop a deer in her tracks, off hand at 100 yd's with a neck shot. She was facing away from me and I put the Lee boolit right over her back into her neck. Last season I shot one at 76 yd's.
Ribber, those are Pachmeyer grips for the Black Hawk. I don't know about grips for a Bisley, I don't like them. My hands and knuckles are too big for the Bisley and it beats my knuckle. I also do not get the accuracy with Bisley grips, they are more sensitive to how you hold them.
I took my .475 BFR out this afternoon to get a nice meat deer for the neighbor lady. Tomorrow is the last doe day until the end of the month. I shot a button buck at 40 yd's, he ran into the ground in 25 yd's.
I hunted a total of 10-1/2 hours this year and shot 5 deer, 2 with my bow and 3 with revolvers.
Did I tell you I LOVE revolvers? :drinks:
The neighbor down the road must have shot 15 times with scoped rifles for 1 deer! :bigsmyl2:

[ribber@shaw.ca]

:Fire:44man, that's the problem I have with the Bisley, the trigger guard just kills my knuckle, after 50-75 shots it's blue for 2 days. I'll keep looking for softer bigger grips and Blammer, I'll keep your offer in mind