REVOLVERS - A STRANGE DESIGN EH !

I know that I'm waiting for my new Ruger SP101 revolver to arrive - but when you think about it - it's odd that 'six-guns' actually work as well as they do - because they are no more likely to work well than a bumble-bee is to be able to fly!

If we hadn't seen the experts demonstrate what feats of trick speed shooting can be done - you'd put good money on a bet that they'd just miss. Revolvers were a very early way of getting multiple shots that worked.

                                                THE 'ENOUY' REVOLVER of 1855
                             - I wonder why they only made one of these 48 shot guns !

 - There was a later 12 shot pin-fire M1857 Lefaucheux revolver in 9mm way back when.

These short barrelled revolving firearms have a lengthy lead-in to the rifling with a leaky breech - multiple (five, six or more) chambers of various dimensions that are misaligned to differing extents - and the bullets have to jump that gap between the front of the chamber and the rear of the forcing cone before they can get down to the business of accelerating down the bore and spinning to gain stability

                                             That's a great photo of the gasses.

 - before popping-out at the muzzle - only then to be overtaken by a rush of high pressure gasses and powder residues set on pushing past to overtake and knock them off-course. - If you look - there are plenty of gory photos online of "flame-cut thumbs" said to have been 'cylinder-gapped'.

                                               Hickok45  has gas.

No wonder I get all overcome with the raptures when I manage to put three .38" shots touching on the paper. Various makers over the years, Nagant et al, have tried 'Gas Check' designs with their 1895 design and special cartridges - but just like some other revolver features - I think I'd play real safe - for example - next time anyone offers me a cylinder of full-power .44" Magnum to try - I'd say thanks very much but I'm just going for a pee!

                                           Part 2:  Hickok45 is braver than me !

- Mind you - among the various stupid things that I've done in public - I have shot a semi-auto pistol with my thumbs crossed behind the slide (Oh No!). - Once.
 It took a couple of weeks for the nasty ragged cuts on the web of my hand between thumb and finger to heal completely. - There are a lot of hard, sharp bits in the recoiling underside of a nine millimetre steel slide. - Never mind - mustn't grumble eh.

 

Did anyone ever tell you that a firearm is a simple 'heat-engine' of very low efficiency ? (NRA 'FACT BOOK') - a decent rifle can achieve around 30% fuel efficiency - which is a lot better than the average car engine does. - Of course, our leaky revolver won't be anywhere near as good as that. The wasted 'fuel' energy slips away as friction losses, heat losses and obviously in all that gas pressure escaping, as in the above shots - but the bullet still manages to leap-out of the barrel and do its job down range.

Marty K

AK47 in 300 Blackout - can do. & 'Ranchin'

All things being equal - which of-course they are not - an AK built in 300AAC Blackout would be useful here in New Zealand. - But both gun and the ammo would be pricey (when you consider that 7.62x39 can be bought ex China by the crate). I have to accept that this "double" conversion of a very sound rifle from its perfectly good original chambering - is a very 'roundabout' way of making progress.

- The question is - why convert an AK platform into .223" NATO - then convert it again into a novel 'blended' cartridge - the .300 AAC Blackout ? - And maybe even do a further non-standard and expensive conversion perhaps using a 'Definitive Arms' magazine-well conversion that lets you use standard AR15 type magazines with a last-round hold open and a release button?

                     Good - But might be better with the 'Definitive Arms' conversion.

- Well the cheeky answer would be that you've got more money than sense ! - But I think that this is going to start happening soon.

      'Arsenal' SLR-106U re-chambered to 300AAC Blackout by 'Troy' of 'In Range'

- Because the 300BLK works as a service suitable and great hunting calibre .30" cal. super-sonic round in the AR15 'Black Rifle' - better than both the .556 NATO round and the Russian .30" calibre round. - And the AK platform is sturdier and more reliable than the AR15. - And the 300AAC BLK makes a most effective heavy-hitting sub-sonic round for silenced use.

                              - And the AK can have a folding stock fitted.

Right now this is all going to cost several small fortunes and might only be afforded by Dentists or Lawyers who have got their 'E-Cat' endorsement and are persistent - but I forecast that this is going to happen. - Someone, probably Norinco or Saiga (or Valmet?) are going to see the lightning flash through the "blackout" - then hear the thunder and wake-up and put it all together - but it'll take time and some prompting from us all.

- It's starting to happen - Let the people speak!

                            - WANNA SEE SOME BLING - BURN SOME GAS?

- All those mobile gun-racks, Kevlar helmets, tricked-out rifles with expensive optics - but the store must have sold-out the day-glow Zombie targets. ( all the targets!)

Marty K

Shooting Uphill or Downhill & Wind Drift.

Most of us will be doing the majority of our shooting on the flat and at moderate ranges - but if you are a fit outback 'mountain man' with your sights on bagging a Thar on the high alpine slopes you may well be shooting up at a 45 degree angle - or maybe if you have climbed real high or are shooting from a chopper you'll be shooting down at a similar angle.

- Have you ever missed an "easy" shot like that?

The old NRA 'FACT BOOK' points-out that a 45 degree sloping shot at 300 yards is only 210 yards horizontally - so if your rangefinder has been set for 300 yards - the shot will likely pass over the top of the target.

                Note: This Illustration is not an instruction on How to Shoot Sheep in NZ !

- That 300 yard uphill (or downhill) shot is only affected by the downward pull of gravity for 210 yards. - So the short answer is to aim a couple of inches lower on these steep shots.

I bought my copy of the NRA Firearms Fact Book (3rd edition) maybe 20 years ago at an Australian Gun Show for Au$13.
- More recently I ordered the later replacement - The NRA FIREARMS SOURCEBOOK from USA and it cost me over eighty NZ dollars as they use a shipping agent to mail their stuff who charges like the proverbial 'wounded bull'.

They are both very good books packed with everything you don't need to know - so if you find a used copy - grab it quick. - Here's another useless -oops - interesting piece of information from the Fact Book : - Most of us would feel that the higher the velocity of a rifle round - the less it will be affected by wind drift - and that's mostly correct.

- But when it comes  to .22" Rim-fire ammunition - the standard .22" Long Rifle at 1145ft.per.sec is less deflected by side winds than faster 1335f.p.s ammunition - because of the very rapid increase in wind resistance in that zone around the speed of sound 1125ft/sec (or 340.29 metres/sec at sea level).

 This is explained by the fact that wind deflection is not proportional to time of flight - but rather, it is proportional to the amount of delay in the flight caused by air resistance. (Huwhattt?)

 - So Standard ammunition is the choice for precision rim-fire target shooting.

Marty K
After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870

OIL FILTER SUPPRESSOR / SILENCER

Here in New Zealand  'Silencers' or Sound Suppressors are unrestricted - but generally the cheap ones have a plastic thread that can work loose letting the silencer droop and cause rounds to impact internally and mess-up the internals. The "Good" ones tend to be pricey but I'd say they are great value - face it, if a silenced gun is shot when anyone close has forgotten to put on hearing protectors - the value is paid-off a hundred times by saving their hearing.

 -I've had 'tinnitus' now for several years in one ear - and I assure you - you do not want to have that "ringing in the ears" - it can drive you mad! - I believe that my tinnitus is more closely related to working at an airport for 29 years than to shooting - but I wore ear-muffs there mostly - as I always do when shooting.

I'm told that there is a simple and quick cure for tinnitus - but it involves decapitation.

I came across these American adaptor 'bushings' for using oil filters as suppressors and thought "what a brilliant idea". - I do understand that in USA they are illegal unless registered with BATF - but that doesn't apply here.

                                      Hickok45 demonstrates Oil Filter Suppressor

- What a useful idea - you could use as small or as large a can as suites and when fitted to a scoped rifle you should still be able to use the sights. You'll have to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the barrel thread here may be either a 3/4" -16 or a 13/16" -16 thread - or maybe we have gone metric?

                                                          US Oil Filter Adapters.

- So, How long will it take for an enterprising kiwi gunsmith to start retailing something like these?
- such a good idea.

Marty K
After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870

HAMMER SAFETIES ON REVOLVERS

You know how it is - one thing leads to another. I was reading (and writing) about the Ruger Revolvers and how they introduced their system of a TRANSFER BAR to their products after they had built their first 'Old Model' single actions - which were built with the same hammer and sear (with half-cock, full-cock position) system as the COLT SAA 1873 Models ('Peacemaker'). This older system on the Colts, Colt Replicas (and Old Model 3 Screw Rugers) required that a savvy user loaded only five rounds into his six-gun and rested his hammer over an empty chamber.

                                                                 Transfer Bar.

From 1973 Ruger introduced their 'New Model' revolvers all fitted with their 'transfer bar' system designed to totally prevent contact between hammer and frame mounted firing-pin until the trigger was moved rearward. - Prior to that time - from the early 1950s to 1972,- Ruger S/A Revolvers needed to be loaded in a similar safe manner as the Peacemaker originals and their replicas.

                                            Ruger Vaquero showing Transfer Bar.

Smith & Wesson use a different system of a hammer-block that prevents their hammers/ firing-pins striking the primer until the hammer-block is raised out of the way by pulling the trigger rearward. - All S&W revolvers produced after 1945 have such hammer-blocks other than a few "hammerless models". The story goes that a US Navy sailor had a negligent discharge when he dropped a S&W revolver to the deck - causing an enquiry and report..

                                                                Hammer-Block.

It probably is not a particularly good idea to shoot any of those older original SAA guns regularly as they do need to be treated with extra care for both Safety reasons - and out of respect for their age and condition. - But if you are lucky enough to have an example of these old ladies - no doubt you will know how to respect them.

Both systems put an additional safety tool into shooters hands - but of course it all comes down to what you've got between your ears and safe gun handling at all times. - Both systems involve a 'bar' of steel that pivots off the upper rear surface of the trigger that is raised as the trigger is pressed rearwards - but they work 'opposite ways' to each other, because the raised transfer bar completes the linkage between the hammer and firing-pin - while the hammer-block removes a 'block' thereby allowing the hammer to fully fall.

These 'passive' inbuilt mechanisms are excellent - like the multiple internal safeties in Glocks - but I really dislike the external 'safety-switches' that most firearms other than revolvers have fitted.

The way I see it - manual safeties all seem to work differently - up for safe, down for safe, - forward for safe, back for safe, -in for safe, out for safe - and there have been so many tragic 'accidents' where the gun handler says "- It's all right - the safety's on - look - *BANG*". - Many "safeties" are located with other levers that can even lead to a user mistakenly operating a different switch while thinking that he's done the right thing.

                         Six Different controls visible in this photo of a Colt 1911.

I always teach new shooters that 'Safetys' should be renamed 'Dangerouses'  - and that the only "safe" gun is one that has its action open and has been checked as unloaded.

- Mind you, - when I have an occasional "Anti-gun" visitor who hates guns "because they are dangerous" - I have been known to place a checked, unloaded gun on the ground and just stand-back silently - watch and wait. - Inevitably they ask "What are you doing?" - then I say that I'm waiting for that 'dangerous gun' to get-up and shoot someone!

Marty K.

RUGER SP101 .22R/F Revolver.

I've bought one of these - well, I've ordered it and paid a deposit - all I've got to do now is wait for ten weeks as quoted (that is the time expected for my order to be shipped ex USA and processed - not an enforced "cooling-off" period) and then get my permit to procure, pay the balance - and see just how I like the eight shot when it's in my paw.

                        Aww - That's pretty! - Ruger SP101 Eight-shot .22" Rim-Fire.

A lot of the reviews from USA seem to slate the SP 101 .22 for having an excessively heavy double-action trigger pull and too small a grip. - Well we'll see how I get-on with mine - but meanwhile I've ordered a Hogue Monogrip and a 'spring kit' from Brownells (USA) in case I agree and need to change them.

- All the reviewers like the SP101 for its quality and strength - and I like it because here in New Zealand it is priced about a third cheaper than a similar S&W. - Plus I already own a Ruger  GP100 in .357 Magnum that I love - it's so solid!

                              Hickok45 Reviews the Ruger SP101 in .22" Rim-Fire.

Now - I'd rather listen to Hickok45 all day than most any other reviewers - but he seems to like my choice - so that's very pleasing. - Honestly, I've got nothing against S&W products at all (!!):

 - The fact that they were owned by an English lawn-mower manufacturer and they cost too much, and that they aren't as strong as a Ruger - and that they now build their revolvers with some weird internal lock mechanism having a common key, that can and does jam - has nothing to do with it at all

 - or that they are said to have copied the Glock design for their first polymer framed s/a and had to settle out of court for lotsa dollars - it's all by-the-way! - So too is the fact that S&W were boycotted by US Dealers in 2000 for doing a deal with the Clinton Administration.

Their ownership has changed hands more often than a randy teenager with a dirty book - I just don't like to buy anything from a (Smith & Wesson) Holding Company - don't trust holding companies.
 - I really like Smith & Wessons.

 - But, back-on-topic - the Ruger SP101  optic fibre front sight looks sexy - and the old joke applies - that if you can't hit 'em you can always throw it at 'em - and the more solid the lump is - the more momentum it will smack with.

- So here I am fidgeting like a big kid - asking over & over "- How many more sleeps is it mum?"

 - I reckon that there are at least two good reasons why older shooting folks get to like revolvers better than semi-autos: First, as you get a few decades under your bulging shirt you begin to think more kindly about other old things, antiques and classic cars etc.

 - And with a revolver - you can eject the spent shells into your hand or a container - thereby avoiding having to make that embarrassing Grunt to bend down on creaky knees and scrabble around in the dirt and leaves looking for most of your brass thrown out by a semi-auto (for reloading). - That is another good reason to 'take a kid shooting'!

Marty K

CHIAPPA - RHINO and other Products.

I was exploring the Italian CHIAPPA website the other day - I was actually interested in their M1 -9 Carbine, that might be good to import into New Zealand as it comes with a small capacity (ten round) 9mm magazine,- doesn't have a "free-standing pistol grip', and has some sort of 'bayonet lug' that looks readily removable. I see that the US company Legacy Sports is offering these carbines as the 'Citadel' carbines. The carbines are a blow-back operated gun, and also come in .22" Rim-Fire.

- I need to clarify for overseas readers: - any centre-fire Semi-Auto long-arm that has a magazine holding more than seven rounds (Or looks like it does!) - or has a bayonet lug,- or has a "Free-Standing Pistol Grip" is considered a more dangerous weapon in New Zealand and is classed as a restricted E-Category weapon requiring an extra endorsement to the standard Firearms License,- may only be bought with a Police 'Permit to procure' - and has to be registered.

- When I enquired about NZ importation - the nice Italian lady replied that a large Kiwi gun dealer was already on the job (with smaller seven round magazines - made by Beretta) - so we pistol range shooters may soon be able to buy an affordable A-Cat 9x19mm carbine to use on restricted pistol calibre ranges. - Currently any used Marlin Camp Carbines or Ruger 9mm Carbines that are offered for sale fetch a premium price ("costalotta!").

Anyway - when wandering about the Chiappa website I spotted the 'Rhino'  revolver again and was  reminded that it was a bloody ugly way to execute a clever idea!

- To be fair - it's not all that ugly - but someone seems to have decided that they will change just about everything from the norm - rather than merely change the chamber that is fired from.

Bringing the centreline of the bore down that much must really make a gun that jumps a lot less than a conventional revolver and that's cool -

                                                   Fast Action With A RHINO.

 

But here's a thought - How much closer are your fingers and thumb to that bottom-chamber cylinder gap - and are not the risks of flame-cutting your digits much increased? - I think that having to use both hands to tell the barman that you want another round of five drinks might be a pain. - If you watch the full-length (27 minute) review video - you'll see Jerry Miculek complain that he burnt his thumb with the .38 Special ammo. There's certainly plenty of flame exiting that cylinder gap.

He says that his Rhino is the "White Rhino" Stainless Steel version - then goes-on to explain that it's actually an alloy frame that's been plated. - Just showing my prejudices - but I'd prefer a full stainless steel gun to a plated alloy.

Chiappa make some interesting stuff - including muzzle loaders and a "Mares Leg" lever-action shorty. Hmmm.

Marty K