whopist
07-28-2013, 08:45 PM
Top Breaks have always intrigued me. Started out in 1999 with a brand new H&R 999, Sportsman 9 shot 22 caliber. It served me so well I wanted a larger caliber Break Top. Four years ago I found an affordable hammerless H&R 38S&W 5 shot black powder Break Top. It only fueled my thirst. One year ago I purchased a 1970 vintage H&R 38S&W 5 shot Top Break and thought I was finished buying Top Breaks. Not so!
Uberti started chambering some of their Top Breaks for 38 Special. I especially liked the Uberti/Beretta Laramie, but didn’t think I would find one in my price range.
The Laramie features that appealed to me are:
It has a rebounding hammer (retracts firing pin away from primer)
It has a hammer block safety (I load all six chambers).
It has a hammer coil spring (easy to alter or replace).
It has adjustable rear sights (I can really see them).
As received, this used revolver looked ok; although, it had a few scrapes and bruises. That was no problem because it was purchased to shoot.
Shooting was a problem. Some were mine and some were the guns’. Out of the box the gun was big and heavy, (3.5 lbs without cartridges), the grips were nice but slippery and hard to hold. Did I mention the gun was heavy, 6.5 inch barrel and all. To aid in “hanging on” to the thing I replaced the factory grips with new reproduced textured S&W New Model No 3 black plastic grips. This helped a bunch and along with learning how to hold on to it, I find it a real pleasure to shoot. Please understand I am not talking about recoil. Being this heavy it shoots like a 22LR. I reload lite.
Here it is with new grips!
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/LaramieRSsm1_zps3873c080.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/LaramieRSsm1_zps3873c080.jpg.html)
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/LaramieLSsm2_zps67b9a7d1.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/LaramieLSsm2_zps67b9a7d1.jpg.html)
First time out it failed to fire 1 out of 25 times and shot like a scatter gun. I opened it up and found foreign loose bits and pieces from the manufacturing process were still in there. The hammer firing pin had impact signs of contact with the frame firing pin access channel. Once cleaned and a little polishing of hammer inferences all seams well; in that, the rebound and hammer block seem to coexist and operate smoothly. No more light strikes either.
More shooting and getting comfortable with the piece, the shot groups were down to 12” diameter at 25’ with point of impact 6” high. Switching from 160gr to 122gr lead bullets brought the POI and POA together as much as possible for a 12” group.
Looking elsewhere for tight groupings I discovered the cylinder throats looked good and all six seemed to be the same diameter, light finger pressure and bullets slide right through. Lock up was tight and timing seamed ok, but the barrel forcing cone was terrible. So, I started lapping the forcing cone with a 11 degree Lap. I lap a little and go shoot it. The groups immediately started getting smaller. I have repeated this process 4 or 5 times, the cone is much better and my groups are smaller. Hope this progress continues.
The 4th lapping/shooting cycle produced this 12 shot 2.25” group. Not counting the 1 flyer.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/Cone4th1sm3_zps4881a041.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/Cone4th1sm3_zps4881a041.jpg.html)
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/Cone4th2sm4_zps41ca5780.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/Cone4th2sm4_zps41ca5780.jpg.html)
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/Targetsm5_zps6e946839.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/Targetsm5_zps6e946839.jpg.html)
But the question is, WHERE DO I STOP?
Uberti started chambering some of their Top Breaks for 38 Special. I especially liked the Uberti/Beretta Laramie, but didn’t think I would find one in my price range.
The Laramie features that appealed to me are:
It has a rebounding hammer (retracts firing pin away from primer)
It has a hammer block safety (I load all six chambers).
It has a hammer coil spring (easy to alter or replace).
It has adjustable rear sights (I can really see them).
As received, this used revolver looked ok; although, it had a few scrapes and bruises. That was no problem because it was purchased to shoot.
Shooting was a problem. Some were mine and some were the guns’. Out of the box the gun was big and heavy, (3.5 lbs without cartridges), the grips were nice but slippery and hard to hold. Did I mention the gun was heavy, 6.5 inch barrel and all. To aid in “hanging on” to the thing I replaced the factory grips with new reproduced textured S&W New Model No 3 black plastic grips. This helped a bunch and along with learning how to hold on to it, I find it a real pleasure to shoot. Please understand I am not talking about recoil. Being this heavy it shoots like a 22LR. I reload lite.
Here it is with new grips!
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/LaramieRSsm1_zps3873c080.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/LaramieRSsm1_zps3873c080.jpg.html)
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/LaramieLSsm2_zps67b9a7d1.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/LaramieLSsm2_zps67b9a7d1.jpg.html)
First time out it failed to fire 1 out of 25 times and shot like a scatter gun. I opened it up and found foreign loose bits and pieces from the manufacturing process were still in there. The hammer firing pin had impact signs of contact with the frame firing pin access channel. Once cleaned and a little polishing of hammer inferences all seams well; in that, the rebound and hammer block seem to coexist and operate smoothly. No more light strikes either.
More shooting and getting comfortable with the piece, the shot groups were down to 12” diameter at 25’ with point of impact 6” high. Switching from 160gr to 122gr lead bullets brought the POI and POA together as much as possible for a 12” group.
Looking elsewhere for tight groupings I discovered the cylinder throats looked good and all six seemed to be the same diameter, light finger pressure and bullets slide right through. Lock up was tight and timing seamed ok, but the barrel forcing cone was terrible. So, I started lapping the forcing cone with a 11 degree Lap. I lap a little and go shoot it. The groups immediately started getting smaller. I have repeated this process 4 or 5 times, the cone is much better and my groups are smaller. Hope this progress continues.
The 4th lapping/shooting cycle produced this 12 shot 2.25” group. Not counting the 1 flyer.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/Cone4th1sm3_zps4881a041.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/Cone4th1sm3_zps4881a041.jpg.html)
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/Cone4th2sm4_zps41ca5780.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/Cone4th2sm4_zps41ca5780.jpg.html)
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/Targetsm5_zps6e946839.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/whopist/media/Targetsm5_zps6e946839.jpg.html)
But the question is, WHERE DO I STOP?