Shot the Ruger BH 45 ACP today.

[Ben]

I shot my Ruger today.

I'm pleased ! !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/013-25.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/haysb/media/013-25.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/451.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/haysb/media/451.jpg.html)

[44man]

I imagine! What a nice gun. Good shooting.

[Gibbs44]

Good group, looks like you've got good combo going.

[gon2shoot]

Just think what it would do if you used the right hand lol

[Ben]

gon2shoot

My right hand is on the shutter button of the camera in that photo.

I'm not left handed.

[Ben]

I'm fairly certain that the slight vertical stringing is me. Not holding consistent front sight height.

I had 5 fairly tight " in the white " and pulled the 6th round a little ( the one that struck high ).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/123.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/haysb/media/123.jpg.html)

Ben

[44man]

I'm fairly certain that the slight vertical stringing is me. Not holding consistent front sight height.

Ben
No excuses, good shooting.

[x101airborne]

That is great shootin no matter how you hit it.
Nice weapon, also.

[Dennis Eugene]

Now that is the perfect combination of the gun making the shooter look good while the shooter makes the gun look good. :wink: Dennis

[MtGun44]

My conv BH shoots .45 ACP more accurately than .45 Colt, at least so far with
the loads I have tried.

Great group.

Bill

[Dale53]

Ben;
Good shooting! My Ruger Bisley .45 Colt/.45 ACP convertible shoots very well, also. Ruger sure hit the jackpot with these revolvers!

Here's mine with the .45 ACP cylinder:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/DalesPistolsRevolvers4Selects-0385.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/DalesPistolsRevolvers4Selects-0385.jpg.html)

Dale53

[EMC45]

Well done!

[rexherring]

Very nice group. I wish my old BH had a .45 ACP cylinder.

[DougGuy]

OP that is a nice looking gun AND a nice looking group!

If you think it was you who pulled the last round, ehh maybe, but no biggie, still some damn fine shooting. I will impart this one tidbit that works very well for me:

The objective, is to be able to fire or dry fire the gun while focusing on the front sight, and have the sights not move left or right, up or down, when the hammer falls. The stiff factory springs and the amount of overtravel in the trigger can make this a less than fun exercise for most. BUT...

If there was one single thing that will help a single action Ruger shooter, it would have to be addressing the trigger spring. Some opt for the PMTJ (poor man's trigger job) by taking a grip panel off and pulling one leg of the spring off the retaining pin, others install the Wolff shooter's kit which is a lighter trigger spring and a lighter hammer spring. The results of this, and the way it helps groups, can easily be proven by dry firing the gun both before and after.

Practice dry firing the gun, focusing on the front sight, and take a mental image of the sight picture when the hammer fell. Did the sights remain still? did the front sight move left or right a bit? Now take one leg of the trigger spring off and practice again. I use the shooter's kit, available from Midway and I can pretty much hold them motionless now, they don't move, and the consistent groups reflect the much improved control.

[birch]

I have a Colt SAA that has the .45acp cylinder as well. It is the only dual cylinder gun that shoots exactly to point of aim at .25 yards with both calibers. I can tell no difference in POA until 50 yards when the .45colt takes over and lets me know why the acp was designed for a close quarters round. I can load up some hot acp rounds that still group to POA, but factory loadings tell the story of trajectory.

[jonp]

I would be extremely pleased with this group. Is bullseye the only powder your going to use?

[Ben]

I would be extremely pleased with this group. Is bullseye the only powder your going to use?

I've only had the revolver about 2 weeks.
No,.... B'eye won't be the only powder used in this one.

I have about 20 powders suitable for the 45 ACP, in time....I'll probably test all of them.

Ben

[Ben]

sgt.mike

I have Amer. Select on my shelf, I'll try it.

Ben

[9.3X62AL]

Fine shooting indeed, Ben!

I'm another admirer of the good work that Unique can do with 250 grain-class boolits in the 45 Colt. 8-9 grains runs well in all of them, 10.0 in a Ruger gives about 1000 FPS like the original blackpowder loads provided. 90% of my 45 Colt shooting gets done with Unique.

[Ben]

I keep hearing people grumble about how dirty Unique is. I just have not found that to be the case for me.

Maybe I'm shooting it in a higher PSI range that helps the burn to be more complete ? ?

Ben

[jonp]

I was in the local Gander Mountain today and looked right at your guns twin. Looked....and looked...and looked...saw a 41mag BH for $499 stared at that a bunch and thought of the new siding I need on the house and walked out...UGH!!!!

[BCall]

Nice Ben. Mine will look like Dale53's, hope it shoots as good as yours does. I tend to have that vertical stringing problem with iron sights, but I know it's me. Either that or inconsistent grip from those short grips. That's why I got the bisley, the extra length seems to help me.

I've got some 45 acps loaded up and waiting for when it arrives next week. I don't have a big problem with Unique, but I decided to start with titegroup and Universal, just to try them out.

[gray wolf]

Ben that is a beautiful pistol and your shooting ability makes it look even better.
I always look at your post and admire those itty bitty groups you shoot.
Good shooting and sharing.

Sam

[Ben]

Fellows ,

My groups probably aren't as good as many of yours.
My groups that look horrible, I never post on the forum.
You only see the nice looking ones.

Ben

[Shuz]

Nice shootin' Ben! Nice pics too!

[swheeler]

Fellows ,

My groups probably aren't as good as many of yours.
My groups that look horrible, I never post on the forum.
You only see the nice looking ones.

Ben

Thanks for posting that Ben, I was beginning to think you were some kind of a rifle/pistol shooting Jedi:)

[Vulcan Bob]

Very nice! I had thought that the .45 ACP would not shoot all that well in the Ruger convertibles. That .451 bullet rattling down that long cylinder and shaking hands with the forcing cone all a kilter had me thinking that this will not work out so good. Boy was I wrong! I picked up a 5 1/2" .45 Colt/.45 ACP Ruger BH a few years ago and gave the ACP a go with great results also. Just bought the new mid size flat top .45 convertible with the same results. Enjoy that one!

[Ben]

Thanks for posting that Ben, I was beginning to think you were some kind of a rifle/pistol shooting Jedi:)

No, I'm not much more than average when it comes to shooting skills.

[Ben]

I think Ruger may have been " listening " to shooters.

Ruger has really tightened up the throat and bore dimensions of these convertible 45 ACP / 45 Long Colt revolvers. It is hard to get a .452" bullet through the throats of my cylinders. My revolver has tight throats doesn't lead and shoots real good.

[Dale53]

My Ruger convertible as pictured did NOT shoot well when received. With the .45 Colt cylinder it actually shot well with my cast bullets sized at .452" until about 35 shots and I could tell, even tho' I was shooting standing, that the group was opening up. I took a look at it and found serious leading. I couldn't even load the .45 ACP cylinder if ANY of the bullet shoulder extended past the case mouth. Those were "clues". When I used gauge pins, I learned that both my cylinders were .449-.450" (undersize). I borrowed a good friend's reamer kit and reamed both cylinders to .4525" (I was trained as a machinist). After that, my revolver shot extremely well with .45 Colt and NO leading. Now, I could also load .45 ACP's with a bit of shoulder sticking out from the case mouth. Again, excellent accuracy and NO leading.

My bullet alloy is WW's+2% tin. My .45 Colt Bullet is a Mihec version of the RCBS 45-270-SAA (actually weighs 285 grs in my alloy) sized at .452". My .45 ACP bullet is the Mihec version of the H&G #68 sized at .452". The beauty of this is that the target load I use in my 1911 .45 ACP will work perfectly in both guns. I don't have to keep loads segregated.

Here's the first group I shot with the .45 ACP cylinder (indoors at fifty feet off a makeshift rest). I hadn't even adjusted the sights:
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/img072.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/img072.jpg.html)

One more item of note. My particular piece will zero both loads with the existing sights. Of course, each has it's own sight setting.
I bought my revolver along with two friends (three revolvers at the same time). It was kind of a "group buy". All three sets of cylinders were undersize. I reamed all of them and it was MOST successful for all of them. We treasure our convertibles.

I hope the O.P. pardons me for adding the long post as it is a subject dear to my heart. These are FINE revolvers.

FWIW
Dale53

[Trey45]

Something I did that I do not regret doing is having the acp cylinder faced to accept 45AR. Since the ACP headpsaces on the case mouth you can still shoot ACP in it after facing.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52780&d=1319479327
All this does it make a 2 caliber convertible a 3 caliber convertible. Then again, I'm the kind of guy that likes to shoot 255gr keiths in 45AR. So go figure.

[RobS]

Nice work there Ben. I have a small frame Ruger Flat Top 45 Colt/ACP that I did load development for and found some 45 ACP loads that shoot very well. I use the NOE 230 RF with 6 grains of Herco and I'm very pleased. I also shoot one of my own 225 grain designs that I used for a combo boolit (has a crimp groove to use with 45 Colt brass) and it too makes nice tight little groups with the same charge. These Rugers are fun with the 45 ACP cylinder and my wife loves shooting this revolver.

[Ben]

Something I did that I do not regret doing is having the acp cylinder faced to accept 45AR. Since the ACP headpsaces on the case mouth you can still shoot ACP in it after facing.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52780&d=1319479327
All this does it make a 2 caliber convertible a 3 caliber convertible. Then again, I'm the kind of guy that likes to shoot 255gr keiths in 45AR. So go figure.

That is NICE ! !

[Trey45]

Something like 40 bucks at the little local engine machine shop. Well worth it. Had it done a few years ago and have enjoyed it since. The ACP really shines as an accurate target load in these convertibles, the 45 Colt is the workhorse, and now the AR is the range toy. Best of all worlds in one gun. I have my eye on a 4 5/8 45 convertible that when/if I buy it, the ACP cylinder will be sent to Andy Horvath to have it reamed out to 45 Schoffield.