Accusport .45

[doghawg]

I've been looking for one of these .45 Colt Bisley's and finally stumbled on this one. I've heard there were issues with throat and barrel dimensions on some of these so I slugged the barrel. It came out at .4506" as close as I can read the mic and the same soft swaged slugs come out of the cylinder at just short of .451"...maybe .4509".

I know the proof will be in the shooting which hopefully will be later this week. I feared the worst...as in a .453" barrel and .450" cylinder throats...although there was some slight constriction in the barrel at the frame jct. I'm thinking to start out with the 270 SAA sized to .452" and lubed with BAC and hopefully this thing will shoot well without any fixin'.

[Dale53]

I have a SS Bisley .45 Colt/.45 ACP Convertible. I reamed both cylinders to .4525" and now ALL is well with my Bisley.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/DalesPistolsRevolvers4Selects-0386.jpg

Dale53

[jandbn]

doghawg,

Your Bisley sounds/looks identical to mine (non-convertible) that I bought new the end of last August and was manufactured in 2009. Slugged bore at the time and after a good cleaning and prior to shooting (lead only) was .4509 at it smallest diameter. All cylinder throats when new were between .4518-.4519. I was surprised at the throat uniformity after all the horror stories I read about some of the older Ruger 45 Colts.

I also had and still have a slight restriction at the barrel frame junction and the ejector housing screw. I started lapping the bore, but still have some restriction. Thought I should shoot for a while to see how it behaves before lapping any more. After the lapping that has been done so far, groups are a little better but I need a lot more practice pulling the trigger and uniform reloading practices.

On a good day I can rest 2” groups @ 25 yards but on most days groups open up to 3+” due to a flyer or two which always seems to be in vertical alignment with the rest of the group. The real sad part is half the time, 3 or 4 out of the 6 will be 1” to 1 1/2” and then my inability to shoot and lack of uniform loads takes over and expands the group.

I just started using a chronograph and now know why I string the shots vertically; some loads of H110 with WLPs have as much as 160 fps extreme spread with 280 LFNGCs and 300 WFNGCs. There isn’t any manufacturer published load data that I could find for my bullets of choice (reason for chronograph) so I had to extrapolate load data, start low, and I’m still working up to see where groups are smallest and then start to expand again. I probably need to get rid of the fliers first before I can notice much more improvement with groups.

I’m not after velocity, just group size but groups are definitely better with the heavier charges. And depending on charge weight, there is a definite difference between the light and heavier charges of H110. Seems like loads around 1150 fps and up make a nice authoritative “crack” and are more accurate. For lack of a better term, loads slower then that seem to exhibit what I call a boom and are do not shoot what I call groups.

I’ve also played with Trail Boss and the 280/300 grainers for wife and kid loads. Again, the heaver TB loads shot better than the lighter loads. But the youngest boy (just turned 16/115 lbs) said the H110 1100-1200 fps 280 and 300 grainers weren’t a problem; He even shot the H110 loads better than the TB loads and only his 3rd time shooting a handgun! Sure wish we could get out together more often. He says he wants to shoot more, learn how to reload, and get involved with pouring our own when I get the rest of what we need to cast boolits, but a girl seems to have his attention for the time being. So needless to say, I'm having to wait on him getting his "priorities straight" and get more involved with shooting/reloading.

Hope you enjoy your Bisley as much as I’m enjoying mine!

[doghawg]

jandbn

My accuracy results on the first outing with the Bisley were about the same as yours. I'm getting old and wear bifocals but my bench technique is refined to the point where a 1" group at 25 yards is still possible but the Bisley was more like 2" to 2 1/2". I had some old loads left over from an ill-fated attempt to get a Smith 25-13 mountain gun to shoot....9 grains of H-Universal under the RCBS SAA 270 for 940 fps and then the RCBS bullet (my cast WW's sized to .452") over 17 gr. of 2400 for 1025 fps.
The throats on this gun are the same size as the tightest spot on the barrel (just under .451") and I was hoping to find a workable combination without having to resort to any gunsmithing or worse yet....sending the gun off to one of the big name smiths and turning a "good deal" into a thousand dollar gun.
I still have lots of things to try. Going up a grain or two of 2400 is one and also the Lee 255 RF and Lee 300 gr. GC have done very well in Freedom Arms .454's for me and they might do ok in this Bisley too.
I'm thinking you may have better luck with a faster burning powder. H110/296 is notorious for wanting to be run at full throttle and magnum primers only. Do you have any 2400 or HS6? Blue dot or Unique??
One more thing.......Tell your 16 yr. old son that an old bull shooter (spelling?) said that it's much easier to have a rewarding relationship with a revolver than a girl...

[Dale53]

doghawg;
I have been extremely happy with my Bisley Convertible after reaming the cylinders. If you are not equipped to do the job, Cylindersmith.com reportedly does a quick turn around and is VERY reasonable.

FWIW
Dale53

[kingstrider]

I also have one of the Bisley convertibles. Haven't played around with it that much due to school but the fun factor is pretty high.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/kingstrider/45Blackhawk2.jpg

[doghawg]

doghawg;
I have been extremely happy with my Bisley Convertible after reaming the cylinders. If you are not equipped to do the job, Cylindersmith.com reportedly does a quick turn around and is VERY reasonable.

FWIW
Dale53

Thanks for the tip Dale. Given a .451" bore what size would you have the cylinder reamed to? I need to make sure it's broke before it gets fixed but am curious....The same size as yours? Then I 'spose I'll need a .453" sizer die...:groner:

[Dale53]

doghawg;
The Manson Reamer Kit (complete with a variety of pilots) reams to .4525". My .452 sized bullets work just fine. My general alloy is WW's+2%Tin. If I were running heavy "Ruger Only" loads then I might go for a bit harder.

So far, I have just used the NOE Lyman clone of the 454424 bullet but have some MiHec 45-270-SAA hollow point bullets to run through mine. I am looking for at least as good a result and probably better with that somewhat better bullet design.

Dale53

[jandbn]

doghawg,

I don’t think I’m capable of shooting any better groups until I can get better extreme spread. The powders I bought after getting the Bisley were H110 and Trail Boss. I do have maybe 100-200 grains of Herc 2400 in a paper canister from 23 + years ago when I dropped out of shooting (due to life’s up and downs and new family). I’m just now getting back into shooting again with the purchase of the Bisley and I don’t trust the 2400 I had in storage (both inside and out) for so long. I don’t even know why I hang on to it. I even have a new full metal can of IMR 4227 left over from back then, but I don’t think it is of much use in a 5 1/2 “ barrel. I chose H110 for 1100-1200 fps loads, but I am not sure I want much more recoil with 280/300 grainers and H110 so may have to break down and buy something on the order of 2400/V110.

One of the reasons for starting with H110 was that I was shooting for 1100-1200 fps with 280 grain and heavier bullets. I don’t remember the recoil from the 44 Ruger SBH/240 grain loads I was shooting way back when being quite what the 280/300/325 grainers I put through the 45 feel like now. 1200 fps out of the Bisley now-a-days is about enough. If I speed up burn rate with a different powder, I would like 90% fill rate in the case if possible. I still need to research volume density of various powders to see which may fall into that fill rate yet have a faster burn. Hopefully I can bring the extreme spread down to an acceptable level. I have a feeling that case tension will be as much if not more of the problem than burn rate. I’ve only put 400’ish rounds through the 45 and neglected to segregate the cases by times fired. (I was in too much of a hurry to just send lead down range.) I only neck size, but some of the cases have only been shot twice and others up to five times. As you can tell by the number of shots fired through the revolver over the past year, I need to shoot a lot more and and pay more attention to reloading detail.

Oh yeah, I have tried to tell my youngest son that at his age, there are a lot of fish in sea to catch and more than enough time to catch a few. His older brother is just the opposite; he eats and sleeps hunting/fishing/shooting. The only reason the oldest seems to set foot inside of a building is for his job, food, and to sleep on a bed. I remember “gurls” very well; I gave up the yearly hunting trip to deer camp (more than once) with grandpa, dad, uncle, and my younger brothers when I was about the youngest’s age. Hormones will be hormones, so I can’t rib him too bad!