I got my first HAND CANNON!!!

[Angus]

Ok, maybe hand cannon is a bit of a stretch, but hey, it's my first boomstick without a buttstock. Ruger New Blackhawk in 41 mag, after almost 4 months of waiting for the FBI and NY to climb out of my rectum. I spent the day with my dad and a piece of fiddleback maple and came up with some snazzy new grips for it. Now I just need to learn how to shoot it. It sure is a steeper learning curve than a rifle or shotgun.

Before:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff264/DeathPenalty23/blackhawk1.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff264/DeathPenalty23/blackhawk2.jpg

Right now I am trying 7gr of red dot under a Lee 210 TL SWC tumbled in JPW. The leading is minimal and it's WAY quicker than trying to screw with my lubrisizer.

[44man]

NICE GRIPS!
But the .41 is a tinker toy, for all the effort to get it, you could have had a .475. :bigsmyl2:

[Angus]

effort yes, cash... not so much

I got the gun, dies, sizer, size die, top punch, 2 Lee molds, 1 Lyman mold, most of a box of gas checks, a lb of AA #9, and a bucket of wheel weights for $400. If you know of a 475, even a 480 with all those trimmings for the same price, let me know where to go... hehehe

So, any tips on how to shoot this thing better than maybe hitting an 8x11 sheet of printer paper at 10 paces?

[dubber123]

Nice job on the grips! The single biggest difference I find in shooting a handgun Vs. a rifle is learning to keep a consistant grip. Pick a grip you can repeat, and stick to it. Gripping tight for one shot, light for the next will keep you in shotgun patterns. Learn to squeeze slowly is the next biggest thing. I help run some of our ranges pistol shoots, and guys yanking on the trigger to get the gun to go off "right now" is the most common problem. Have fun!

[missionary5155]

Good evening
I have numerous 41 mags and personally I think they are just fine for every hunk of flesh I have ever slamed a boolit into. Revolvers and leveractions have ALL been accurate and easy to load for. You may not easily find a 300 grain mold for the 41 but 265's are out there and IF I need a bigger boolit I will just grab a lever action anyway.
The Blackhawk is light and easy to carry all day and with just a bit of work can have a descent trigger.
In 1984 I won the Illinois State Revolver IHMSA with a 41 mag .... been shooting a 41 ever since when up north here with no regrets.

[44man]

effort yes, cash... not so much

I got the gun, dies, sizer, size die, top punch, 2 Lee molds, 1 Lyman mold, most of a box of gas checks, a lb of AA #9, and a bucket of wheel weights for $400. If you know of a 475, even a 480 with all those trimmings for the same price, let me know where to go... hehehe

So, any tips on how to shoot this thing better than maybe hitting an 8x11 sheet of printer paper at 10 paces?
Good deal! I don't have a .41 but can tell you it will do an inch or under at 50 yards. My friends have them so I can only tell you that it is a waste of time to shoot it close. Use a rest to work loads.
You might want to load some light loads with Unique to start. Get used to the gun. Yeah, you can shoot close to start, but don't stop there. As you get better and find the right loads, you will be shooting 100 yards.
Don't shoot at big targets, shoot at small spots, aim small, hit small.

[Angus]

missionary5155, do you ever really find a need for anything heavier than 210 on whitetail or small black bear? I keep reading that 40+ caliber, 200 grains or bigger, 1000fps or faster will run the length of a whitetail. It doesn't seem that increased penetration is really needed, or is it? Not meaning to question, just new to anything shy of a 22" barrel.

44man, I'm pushing it with red dot at the moment, I'm sure they are probably just as light or lighter than what I can put together with Unique. Besides, I hate spending money I don't have, and I have a bash of red dot from a summer of trap shooting. I tried playing a little farther out, although I hadn't really read up on the fundamentals of trigger pull and how to check a flinch. Tomorrow after work, weather permitting, I'll go put another 50 downrange and go from there.

[dubber123]

Just skip a round or two in the cylinder and give it a spin. When you expect a bang, and get a click, your flinch will show up pretty quickly. A hammer fall with no gun movement is what you are after. But you prolly knew that already...

[odis]

effort yes, cash... not so much

I got the gun, dies, sizer, size die, top punch, 2 Lee molds, 1 Lyman mold, most of a box of gas checks, a lb of AA #9, and a bucket of wheel weights for $400. If you know of a 475, even a 480 with all those trimmings for the same price, let me know where to go... hehehe

So, any tips on how to shoot this thing better than maybe hitting an 8x11 sheet of printer paper at 10 paces?Repetition is the mother of skill.

[canyon-ghost]

Historically, the 41 was meant for law enforcement, they said no. It' s a good round, I've shot a TC silhouette handgun with a 2-7X scope. It hit repeatedly at 100 meters without all the recoil! Okay, technically, the 22 Hornet will do that but, doesn't have the guts a 41 Mag does. It' s a superbly accurate round and a bit of a status symbol among handgun shooters.

It's on my list....

[DanWalker]

I try to dryfire practice with my harder kicking handguns as much as I possibly can. Every time I open my safe I grab one of them first. Then, after checking to be sure it's unloaded, I dryfire 6 shots at a target dot stuck to my wall 10 yards away. Gets the muscles trained up to properly grip the gun, squeeze the trigger, and follow through after the shot. Recoil and muzzle blast are my enemies with these guns. I find that dry fire practice helps me tremendously. I also shoot an air pistol a lot in my basement too. it helps quite a bit also.

[Heavy lead]

Beautiful grips, I have a lot of hand cannons, the most powerful being the .475. My favorite cartridge is now the .41. I shoot a lot of the NEI 220 Keith knockoff that weighs about 230. A 210 grain boolit should kill anything you would hunt with it. You've made a great buy, on a fine shootin' iron and acceseries, congratulations. The .41 recoils not much more than the .357 and hits much more like a .44, the perfect balance IMO.

[Blkpwdrbuff]

Angus,
Great looking .41!! Love the grips!
I have owned one with a 6.5" barrel for nearly 30 yrs.
One word to the wise, Check the throats on the cylinder.
Ruger is famous for undersize throats on the .41.
Mine went from .406 -.408. A little small for a .410 bore. Had my gunsmith open them up, along with n 18* forcing cone and have been in love ever since.
a few years ago I also bought a .41 mag Marlin 1894FG. It sure makes a great combination!
Enjoy and don't ever let anyone tell ya you bought the "wrong gun".
Blkpwdrbuff:castmine:

[canyon-ghost]

Lyman 48th edition- 7.8 grains of Unique most accurate load for cast in 41 Mag , whenever you get to town to buy something.

Also shows AA#9 to be between 15.0 and 16.7 grains, want to do load development?

[Echo]

Lots of good advice above, Angus, but remember - the Front Sight is WHERE IT'S AT! Trigger control is of great importance, as is grip and presentation uniformity, but to be a good pistol shot you MUST concentrate on the front sight - not just focus, but CONCENTRATE! The dry firing practice is good, as is the Ball & Dummy practice, allowing you to self-coach. Hang in - I've got faith you can do it!

[missionary5155]

Good morning
That is one fine looking revolver with those grips !!!
A 250-265 grain boolit made of 50/50 mix will probably penetrate a BIG white tail from any angle even after smashing through a hip or shoulder. A 210g made of the same mix would be iffy.... And I would rather have a a heavy softer slug doing the job. To get the same amount of smack that a 250grain+ moving at 1250 fps a 210 has to be cooking along at about 1500. That kind of presure on the base of a boolit is going to need gas checks and pure wheel weight. To get pure WW to expand the way that a 50/50 mix does I have to start using my hollow point rig which is more time involved per boolit plus you are loosing weight as you drilll out the hollowpoint. But then you still will not have the penetrating punch the 250 grains + gives.
Granted a .410 hole is completely sufficient to drain out a vitals shot deer. If the only shot I ever took was a broadside through the ribs / lungs than a 210 boolit of 50/50 mix is very adequete. But what IF the only shot you have is from the "rear quarter panel"? Would a 210 grain of 50/50 mix get through ? Would a 210 of pure WW or harder get the job done ? Will that boolit exit so there is enough drain outside that critter to give a blood trail to follow visibly or are you going to have to get a dog team to track that deer ? I will not say a 250+ grain boolit is a garentee that all ends well... but it sure comes closer. This is the same basic reason hunters still use a 38-55 over the 30-30.... bullet weight & penetration. 200 grains versus 250 grains...
So within the world of any caliber... the heavier the projectile the more it will penetrate. That extra penetration force lets me use a softer mix that makes a bigger hole that lets my near 59 year old eyes see the blood trail that much easier.
I probably should shoot a .50 S&W... But I just like the 41 and if that will not get the job done I grab my 41 leveraction.... or the 45 Colt lever ... or the 45-70. And IF all that is lacking I still have my 12 guage double Fox B loaded with round ball. Now THAT is the real SMASHER ! But sadly all the wooly elephants were havested with spears and rocks and traps a long time ago. But I hear Indiana is going to release some elk down at the southern tip... maybe one will migrate up north here a bit.

[GLynn41]

You have chosen well my padawan learner good buy and yes it is a hand canon even if their are bigger a3" canon is still a canon even if their 5'' or 16" --a 200-240 cast will pretty much sail through any whitetail any angle do not worry you have plenty of gun- guys claim elk with them --I never found the tumble lube that accurate --I would a more normal cast bullet //my .2 and like the grips// practice light and move up -- what bullet do you want hunt with

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

The grips LOOK Nice, but the questions is can you hold onto it?

My Blackhawk .357 Mag with factory grips in my big hands did not work, took me many years of mediocre shooting to get some rubber Hogue grips, love it now! Yes I know it does not look as cool, but I can make the shot count!

[Angus]

Diesel, the grips are nice and fat. They have a nice full palm swell, little shelf for the heel of my palm, and a little shelf for my thumb on the other side. I just shot it with the new grips today, and it's a totally different experience. I do get the occasional whack on my middle finger, but it is quite infrequent.

I grouped about 4" at 10 paces today, offhand with a TL210-SWC over 7gr of red dot. I moved back to 20 paces and didn't even hit the paper. It took me another 10 rounds to realize my sights were WAY high at 10 yards farther out, and by then I was out of ammo. Tomorrow after work I'll get out again, weather permitting, and see how much better I can do.

I just need to keep chanting "front sight... front sight..." as I slowly squeeze the trigger and I seem to do much better. I did 50/50 live round/empty chamber and my flinch is getting less noticeable.

[lylejb]

Congrats on your new blackhawk. I'm sure it will serve you well.

I would suggest, however, to not make the same mistakes I did with my first pistol.

My first pistol was a S&W 629 44mag. I got a great deal, it was in good condition, ect. As this was my first 44, i didn't load for it (yet) i just bought factory ammo. After 100 rounds or so, I COULDN'T HIT THE BROAD SIDE OF A BARN. I had picked up a flinch....and bad.

The fix for that was in 2 parts. First, i started loading light maybe half power loads. That's plenty to punch paper with. this will allow you to get familar with the pistol and pistol shooting in general, without getting beat up by the blast, recoil, and jump.

The second part was i bought a 22 pistol. This allows alot more easy practice. I learned alot more accuracy from the 22 pistol, quicker and easier, than i ever did with the 44.

About now, you might be thinking the same thing I was when I was told to get a 22. "I just bought the (big) gun I want, why would i want some wimpy little 22?" Well, the answer is that sight alignment and trigger control are CRITICAL to accurate pistol shooting, and are easier learned when the gun isn't beating, blasting, and jumping all over the place. It's the same skills, and once learned, can be transfered over to any pistol you shoot.

One of the biggest things i learned was to focus my eye on the sights, not the target. It seems natural to want to look at the target, to aim at just the right spot. But that's wrong.
The eye cannot focus on the sights (close) and the target (far) at the same time. A very small error in sight alignment can easily be several inches at the target.

I was taught this by one of our club match pistol shooters. I was shooting (poorly) at the indoor 50ft range. He told me this, and could tell i was somewhat skeptical. He had me fire a group (and i use that term loosely). Then he turned my target BACKWARDS, and had me fire a second group. Having no target to look at, i must have focused on the sights. My group was half the size, instantly. Lesson learned.

hope this helps, be safe and have fun.

[targetshootr]

You'll be surprised what a handgun can do. Once you get a feel for the trigger and a particular load, try shooting a gong from 100 yards. You'll be surprised how often it goes 'tink'.

[O.S.O.K.]

I will just say congrats on a fine purchase! And a heckava deal to boot!

And I will add that a 210 grain swc boolit traveling at 1300 fps will do just fine on whitetail - if, like any other boolit, it's placed well.

[Angus]

lylejb, I never intend to put a factory round down the barrel. I load em light for now, probably the next 500 or so loads. By then I think I'll have enough under me to start working up to a hunting load. As for a 22, if it were in the budget it would definitely be a purchase. However, shooting my own cast I'm spending about $0.06 per shot which isn't much more expensive than decent 22 ammo.

[lylejb]

Angus,
I know the cost of cast boolit reloading is close to the cost of 22's. That wasn't my point.

I simply said what I have done, and where I think I could have done better. My point in recommending the 22 was that it was very beneficial for me. I learned alot of marksmanship with an old ruger MK1, and learned it much quicker and easier.

The lessons learned with that 22 have transfered over to my 44, 45, 357, and a 22 target pistol since then.

In any case, have fun and be safe.:D

[leadman]

I too shoot a 41 mag. A Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter with a T/C 2X scope. I really like the Saeco 220gr. truncated cone Gas checked boolit pushed by Lil' Gun.
2 to 3 " is easy to do a 100 yards with this rig. Bought a mold for the Lyman SWC but haven't shot any yet.
As you step up in power you may want a different boolit as my experience with the tumble lubes are not good for full power.
Contact me when you are ready for some GC boolits. Leadman

[Thumbcocker]

Dan Walker nailed it. Dry fire the dog snott out of that rascal. It will smooth the action and go a long way toward whipping flinch. Also what Echo saind, make the front sight the Zen center of your universe.

[Angus]

I opened up the cylinder throats, as they were all between .005-.008 too tight. I used this guys method:
http://www.castbullet.com/misc/accrsa.htm

Tomorrow I need to cast up some more boolits as this afternoon after work was spent picking my .243 up from the gunsmith after getting a dose of accraglass and a new 1-piece scope base. Now that my sizer is up and running worth a damn I'll swap back to the Lee 195 SWC and lube it with the LBT Blue I got with the sizer. I really started tightening up at the end of my last session, this next one out should start demonstrating what the pistol is capable of.

[pmeisel]

Good looking grips. How did you finish them?

[Angus]

pmeisel, they have about eight coats of linseed on them at the moment. I'm probably going to put on a couple coats of matte lacquer to seal em up, I'm on the fence though.

I loaded up what boolits I had left, lubed with some ancient lyman graphite lube and, well, WOW. I think I still have a barrel constriction because there is a bit of leading about 3/4" past the forcing cone, but it's a very short distance and it wiped out easily. It's very different than it was before opening the throats. I'm dialing in a lot better, I did about 4" at 45 paces today resting the grip on a notebook on the bench. However, my rear sight is all the way to the left and I still shoot about 2" right at that distance. I've heard that this could be due to a front sight misalignment which REALLY bugs me. If I send it off to Ruger I _might_ get it back in time for deer season. Is there a way to remedy the problem without sending it off? I would chock it up to me pulling it, but it is very consistent, never a shot going to the left of my target.

Just a theoretical question, can a given load hit different horizontally by such a wide margin?

[targetshootr]

Looking at the barrel from the front, it's fairly easy to tell if it's at 90 degrees with the top strap or not. A local smith can turn it if need be.

[dubber123]

pmeisel, they have about eight coats of linseed on them at the moment. I'm probably going to put on a couple coats of matte lacquer to seal em up, I'm on the fence though.

I loaded up what boolits I had left, lubed with some ancient lyman graphite lube and, well, WOW. I think I still have a barrel constriction because there is a bit of leading about 3/4" past the forcing cone, but it's a very short distance and it wiped out easily. It's very different than it was before opening the throats. I'm dialing in a lot better, I did about 4" at 45 paces today resting the grip on a notebook on the bench. However, my rear sight is all the way to the left and I still shoot about 2" right at that distance. I've heard that this could be due to a front sight misalignment which REALLY bugs me. If I send it off to Ruger I _might_ get it back in time for deer season. Is there a way to remedy the problem without sending it off? I would chock it up to me pulling it, but it is very consistent, never a shot going to the left of my target.

Just a theoretical question, can a given load hit different horizontally by such a wide margin?


If you send it back to Ruger, you "might" get it back with the sight still to the side, 2 screws boogered up and some missing blue off the barrel.... I did! This was a new Bisley .22 ordered by me, so I know all the new "Boo-boo's" were done at their "repair" facility. I would send it to a well respected gunsmith first.

[Sprue]

....these three things:


Consistent firm grip
Trigger Finger positioning
Front Site Concentration


A consistent firm grip, trigger finger placement and the front site is key.

A sure sign of improper trigger finger placement (for a righty) would be the POI being left of POA.

Use the pad of your finger and not the finger groove or fold.

Concentrate on the front site. The front site should be your focal point.

[Big Dave]

Really beautiful set of grips and a nice looking gun. I shoot 200 gr wadcutters with light loads of Bullseye for practise and a 200gr gas checked semi wad cutter hollow point with with Unique for real

[Big Dave]

NICE set of grips. I have had a 6 1/2 in since 1966. bought a couple of Lyman molds for it, a plain base full wadcutter and a gas checked hollow pointed semi wadcutter. Both cast close to 200 gr. 5 gr of Bullseye with the wad cutter makes a mild load for general plinking and 10 gr Unique with the hollow point will put down about anything you hit right. A little lighter bullet and more velocity for a flatter trajectory always made scence to me.