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April 2005 No. 234Rifle Magazine Presents - HANDLOADER

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Ruger’sImproved

New Vaquero!

CLASSIC SIXGUN: COLT NEW SERVICE!

LatestLoads!• Handgun Shotshells• Remington 7mm SAUM• Taurus Model 80 .38 Special

LatestLoads!• Handgun Shotshells• Remington 7mm SAUM• Taurus Model 80 .38 Special

Ballard CustomHigh Wall

.45-70

Ballard CustomHigh Wall

.45-70

Handloader 234

AMMUNAMMUNITITIONON REL RELOADING NG JOJOURURNALAL

RIFLE'SFLE'S April-May 2005Volume 40, Number 2

ISSN 0017-7393Issue No. 234

4

Page 38. . .

46 Making andTesting HandgunShotshellsShort-RangeEffectivenessMike Venturino

52 Handloading theTaurus Model 80.38 SpecialTop-NotchMatch Loads!Steve Gash

60 7mm RemingtonShort ActionUltra MagRemington’s PeskySevenJohn Haviland

68 Colt New ServiceRevolversA Man’s SixgunAl Miller

38 At Last, Ruger’sNew Vaquero!A MidsizedSingle ActionBrian Pearce

Page 28. . .

Page 68. . .

6 CorrectingMistakesReloader’s Press -Dave Scovill

10 .32 RemingtonCartridge Board -Gil Sengel

14 RugerGP100From the Hip -Brian Pearce

18 VihtavuoriN133PropellantProfiles -R.H.VanDenburg, Jr.

22 .45 ColtVariationsMike’sShootin’Shack -Mike Venturino

28 The Traditional.45-70, CheaplyStrictly Handloading,No Black MagicJohn Barsness

Page 22. . .

Page 46. . .

5April-May 2005

On the cover . . .The Ballard High Wall .45-70 is out-fitted with an Axtell tang sight. Thenew Ruger Vaquero is available instainless steel or blued barrel andgrip frame with colored frame. Riflephoto by John Barsness. Pistolphoto courtesy of Sturm, Ruger &Co., Inc.

76 Tipton Gun ViseProduct Tests -R.H. Vandenburg, Jr.

80 What’s New inthe MarketplaceInside Product News -Clair Rees

84 Catalog CornerSpecial AdvertisingSection

87 Colt Army Special.32-20 WinchesterBullets & Brass -

94 Seating DepthHunting Handloads -John Barsness

Page 68Page 28Page 38

Publisher of Handloader™ is not responsible for mishaps of any nature that might occur from use of publishedloading data or from recommendations by any member of The Staff. No part of this publication may be reproducedwithout written permission from the publisher. Publisher assumes all North American Rights upon acceptance andpayment for all manuscripts. Although all possible care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept responsibility forlost or mutilated manuscripts.

Publisher/President – Mark Harris

Editor in Chief – Dave Scovill

Managing Editor – Roberta Montgomery

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Handloader® (ISSN 0017-7393) is published bi-monthly by Mark Harris Publishing Associates, Inc.,dba Wolfe Publishing Company (Mark Harris, Presi-dent), 2625 Stearman Rd., Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona86301. (Also publisher of Rifle® magazine.) Tele-phone (928) 445-7810. Periodical Postage paid atPrescott, Arizona, and additional mailing offices.Subscription prices: U.S. possessions – single issue,$4.99; 6 issues, $19.97; 12 issues, $36.00; 18 issues,$48.00. Foreign and Canada – single issue, $5.99; 6issues $26.00; 12 issues, $48.00; 18 issues, $69.00.Please allow 6-8 weeks for first issue. Advertisingrates furnished on request. All rights reserved.Change of address: Please give six weeks notice.

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Prescott, AZ 86301Tel: (928) 445-7810 Fax: (928) 778-5124

Copyright © Mark Harris Publishing Associates, Inc.

John Barsness

Brian Pearce

Clair Rees

Gil Sengel

Ron Spomer

Stan Trzoniec

Mike Venturino

Ken Waters

Issue No. 234 April-May 2005

AMMUNAMMUNITITIONON REL RELOADING NG JOJOURURNALAL

Background Photo: ©2005 Donald M. Jones

Page 80. . .

6 Handloader 234

powder level, before you seat thebullets.

Of course, the other problem wasthat the author of that piece used aprogressive press, and it is a bitdifficult to visually check the pow-der level in each case. (If you don’thave a die to check the powderlevel, get one.)

Quite frankly, I was more thanjust annoyed at the notion thatsomeone would attempt to avoidthe basic responsibility that goesalong with handloading. If youmake a mistake, fix it, even if itmeans pulling the bullets. No ques-tions asked. In this case, all thebullets could have been pulledin the time it took to create thespread sheet, and the guy wouldhave been back in business. Talkabout dead-end busy work!

If you think about it for a mo-ment, consider that he was willingto put his handgun, his own safetyand the safety of others at risk justto avoid an hour or so pulling bul-lets!!

In contrast, a reader e-mailed re-cently to relate that he had inad-vertently used CCI Small Rifleprimers instead of Small Pistolprimers in his .38 Special loads. Hewanted to know what to do aboutit – a very sane question.

Two questions cropped up re-garding his dilemma – are the rifleprimers hot enough to raise pres-sures significantly with 4.3 grainsof W-231 under a 158-grain castbullet, and are the primer cupshard enough to resist the blow ofthe firing pin, causing hangfires ormisfires?

I didn’t know the answers, so Icalled Allan Jones at Speer. Allanhas been the driving force behindthe last three Speer reloading man-

Sometime back I was reading

Cowboy Chronicles, the monthlynewspaper that is included withmy Single Action Shooting Society(SASS) membership. There was ashort piece from a SASS memberdescribing how he had developed a“spread sheet” on a computer thatused cartridge weight to determineif one or more cartridges con-tained significantly more powderthan he intended to load. The pointwas simply that he had used apowder measure and inadvertentlydispensed more powder in somecases than prudence would allow.So he used the spread sheet to cal-culate the maximum weight varia-

tion – the total of case, primer,power charge and bullet – attrib-uted to components, so he couldpull the bullets on cartridges thatweighed too much, assuming theexcess weight was due to toomuch powder. The main point ofhis work was to avoid pulling allthe bullets.

I disagreed then, and still do, withthe attempt to avoid the obvious,“when in doubt, pull the bullets.”So, I wrote a letter to Cowboy

Chronicles and outlined the properuse of loading blocks, so it is asimple matter to just look down inthe cases, to visually check the

www.handloadermagazine.com

CORRECTING MISTAKES

RREELLOOAADDEERR’’SS PPRREESSSSD a v e S c o v i l l

our visit. At some point, I notedthe New Model Blackhawk andVaquero were big sixguns, muchtoo big to be chambered for a .357Magnum or even a .45 Colt or .44Special. He agreed, but like the big

Handloader 234

uals and is currently working onNo. 14. With about a gazillionhours in the ballistic lab it seemedhe could shed some light on thesituation.

After some discussion, Allan de-cided – if the sixgun hadn’t beentricked out with a reduced weighthammer spring – the rifle primerwould not contribute to signifi-cantly higher pressures with a castbullet, and since the rifle primer

Model 77 MKII Magnum .375 H&H,he wanted them to be indestructi-ble, hence the large frame Black-hawk and the huge MKII actionthat was originally built to accom-modate the .416 Rigby and .458Winchester Magnum – both ofwhich produced a bunch more re-coil than the somewhat mild, rela-tively speaking, .375 H&H.

I pointed out that, at the time,there were at least 40,000 potentialcustomers (cowboy action shoot-ers who usually buy two hand-guns) for a downsized Blackhawk/Vaquero. Mr. Ruger acknowledgedthe potential market, but admittedit probably didn’t have legs, mostlybecause he was “out of the loop,”and the new president and boardwould, mostly likely, “deep six” it.

When Brian Pearce forwardedthe feature on the New Vaquerofrom Ruger, I thought, oh boy, herewe go again. Does this mean an-other level of .45 Colt loads for themidsized sixgun between theBlackhawk and Colt Single Action?At about the same time, a readerwanted to know the strength levelof the Smith & Wesson Model 25.45 Colt.

On the other hand, the readercould have called Speer (AllanJones) himself. All ammunitionand powder manufacturers havean open line – e-mail or telephone– to customers who have ques-tions. So, if you pull a dumb stunt,don’t be embarrassed – most of ushave done the same thing – orwaste time procrastinating, get ex-pert advice. The only other optionis to pull the bullets and start over.

cup is about the same hardness asthe pistol primer (this does notapply to relative hardness of otherpistol/rifle primer combinations),they should fire reliably in a re-volver. Allan’s only caution wasthat he wouldn’t recommend firingthose “mistakes” if the handgunhad a dubious pedigree – aka“cheap” manufacture. With that,we e-mailed Allan’s comments toour reader.

My initial reaction was “Goodgrief, will it never end?” but Iwould rather have the midsizedVaquero .45 Colt and go throughthe trials and tribulations of work-ing up another set of loads thannot have it.

Here’s why. Just before BillRuger Sr. passed on, he asked if Iwould come to his home for a visit.We cussed and discussed a lot ofgun-related subjects and a numberof not-so-gun-related issues during

8 www.handloadermagazine.com

* * *

DOWNSIZED RUGERS

April-May 2005

And, I haven’t forgotten. For themidsized New Vaquero .45 Coltand Smith & Wesson N-frameModel 25, maximum suggestedloads are those listed in the start-ing loads from the Speer Reload-

ing Manual No. 13 for the RugerBlackhawk. The same applies forthe post-World War II Colt SingleActions that are in as-new shape.For Colt reproductions, stick withthe loads listed for the Colt Single

Action in the Speer manual, andno, I don’t approve of loads belowthe listed starting loads in anyform. Allan Jones tells me Speerwill be coming up with pressuretested loads for the RCBS .45-270-SAA design in the not-so-distantfuture. I suggested he might wantto shoot them in a downsized NewVaquero. I’m not sure, either thephone line went dead, or he hungup on me.

I noted that the company was justgiving the business to Uberti orColt, but it was their call, and wewent on to other topics of mutualinterest – including Mr. Ruger’sbeloved cars, boat and art work.Two weeks later, the most remark-able gun designer in the history ofour country was gone.

I doubt very much that Mr. Rugerever mentioned the downsizedBlackhawk/Vaquero to anyone atthe company. Nevertheless, wehave it, and I’m going to buy one, iffor no other reason than as a trib-ute to the few hours spent with Mr.Ruger. Neither am I suffering fromany fanciful notion that I was theonly “writer” to come up with theidea. I’m sure others proddedSturm, Ruger & Co. as well, includ-ing Mike Venturino, John Taffin,Jim Wilson and Brian Pearce, notto ignore some 40,000 cowboy ac-tion shooters who were lugging thefull-sized Vaquero around stuffedwith spit-wad loads.

The other sixgun to come out ofthis downsized philosophy atSturm, Ruger & Co. is the new OldModel Flattop 50th Anniversaryedition. I have representative OldModels in .357 Magnum, a Turnbull.44 Special, a near-mint Old Model.45 Colt with a .45 ACP cylinderand a three-digit serial number OldModel .44 Magnum with the longgrip frame and 7.5-inch barrel.They are all excellent sixguns, andif anyone cares, it’s about timethey were brought back.

During our visit, Mr. Ruger toldme the story about how someonedug the fired .44 Remington Mag-num cases out of Smith & Wes-son’s trash and dumped them onhis desk. Without Smith & Wessonknowing about it, Ruger had aBlackhawk ready for the marketalmost immediately, not withstand-ing blowing up a couple of prepro-duction guns first. How I miss thedays of rambunctious, pugnaciousentrepreneurs who ran companiesby their gut feelings and the flamein the seat of their pants. Sadly, thecorporate gut (speaking of the in-dustry collectively) nowadaysoften lacks the stomach for thelikes of Bill Ruger.

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•

38 Handloader 234www.handloadermagazine.com

At Last,Ruger’s NewRuger’s NewBrian tested a Ruger New Vaquero stainlesssteel .45 Colt with a 45⁄8-inch barrel. Theholster rig is El Paso Saddlery’s Duke 44.

A Midsized Single ActionA Midsized Single Action

Brian Pearce

turm, Ruger & Co. has dis-continued its popular single-action Vaquero revolvers tomake way for the “New Va-

quero,” which in my opinion is a dis-tinctly improved version with someimportant design changes – betterbalance and handling qualities and im-proved chamber tolerances.

To help understand the significance of the changesimplemented to the new sixgun, it seems appropriateto take a brief glance at the original Vaquero. Intro-duced in 1993, features included fixed sights, blue fin-ish with case colored frame or all stainless steel, andit was available in .45 Colt (with optional extra cylin-der in .45 ACP), .44 Magnum, .44 WCF and .357 Mag-num. The grip frame was steel (rather than aluminum

like the Blackhawk) and was essentially the sameshape and feel as the XR3-RED and XRN3-RED

designs found on Ruger Blackhawks (as well asNew Model Blackhawks) since 1963. The cy-linder frame had the same internal dimensionsas all Super Blackhawks and New ModelBlackhawks.

Regardless of caliber, all Vaqueros feature a“.44 Magnum” frame size. To date more than

700,000 have been sold, confirming justhow great the demand is for a good sin-

gle action. While some may think the rel-atively new sport of cowboy actionshooting accounts for a large portion ofthese sales, it should be pointed out that there arearound 70,000 SASS members. So the majority ofVaqueros ended up in the hands of non-competi-tive shooters.

The New Vaquero naturally features fixed sightsand is available in all stainless steel or blued finishwith case colored receiver. Barrel lengths remainthe same at 45⁄8, 51⁄2 and 71⁄2 inches and initial offer-

ings are in .357 Magnum and .45 Colt, with the samplebeing in the latter caliber. The frame is smaller, closeto the Colt Single Action Army revolver, although stillslightly larger. A Colt cylinder measures 1.650 inchesin diameter and 1.610 inches in length, while the newRuger measures 1.685 inches in diameter and thesame 1.610 inches in length. (Neither is countersunk.)

The web, or thickness between chambers, runs .038inch for the Ruger, while the Colt SAA measures .040to .042 inch. The new Ruger outside chamber wallthickness is .080 inch while the Colt is .065 inch. (Forcomparison the old Vaquero cylinder measures 1.730inches in diameter (all calibers) and 1.705 inches inlength for the .45 Colt, with .063 inch between cham-bers and .080 inch outside cylinder walls.) The NewVaquero cylinder dimensions are similar to the Black-hawk “Flattop” .357 Magnum (produced from 1953through 1963) and old model Blackhawk .357 (1963through 1972), although still slightly larger (about .010inch) in diameter.

The “.357 Magnum” frame size, as it is often referredto, was discontinued in 1972 and has been sorelymissed. Because of its tidy size, it has been a popular

April-May 2005 39www.handloadermagazine.com

Vaquero!Vaquero!

The New Vaquerohas some design changes.

Due to the new grip frame andextended hammer spur, theNew Vaquero is easy to cockand offers improved balance.

SS

Handloader 234

that leaves between .030 to .035inch actual chamber wall thickness(which varied some from chamberto chamber). Considering thesteels Ruger is currently using andwith the above cylinder measure-ments, indications are that the gunis absolutely safe with loads thatgenerate 22,000 to 24,000 psi. Cer-tainly the gun will take evengreater pressures than this, butwith safety first priority, as well aslongevity, I would advise against

using loads that exceed that limit.Just for the record, 200 roundswere fired that were in this pres-sure range and were digested with-out a hitch.

The New Vaquero has some de-sign changes that have improvedits balance and makes loading/un-loading easier. For starters, regard-less if the gun is in blued finish orstainless, all parts are steel – thereis no aluminum. The grip frame isidentical in shape to the earlyRuger Blackhawk Flattop XR3 butis .060 inch narrower and is fittedwith checkered black, hard rubberstocks. The result is a feel and bal-ance that resembles the Colt Single

40 www.handloadermagazine.com

New Vaquero!New Vaquero!

Below, note the shorter frame and base pin of the New Vaquero (top) ascompared with the original Vaquero (bottom).

Below, the hammer spur of theNew Vaquero (left) is longer thanthe original Vaquero (right).

The New Vaquero (top) will replace theVaquero (bottom). The new version fea-tures a smaller cylinder frame, Colt SAAshaped grip frame, extended hammerspur and a new ejector alignment pawl,making the gun easier to load and unload.

frame to build custom conversionsto .44 Special, .45 Colt and .32-20.We now have basically the sameframe size but with fixed sightsand the new model action featur-ing a transfer bar to allow the safecarry of six cartridges.

After the possibility of boringsome readers to tears with theabove figures and measurements,some may wonder why so muchfuss over the dimensions of theNew Vaquero. The reason is sim-ple: For decades there has beenmuch handload data published for“Ruger .45 Colt” revolvers thatoften runs 30,000 to 32,000 CUP.Absolutely all this data was in-tended for the larger frame (.44Magnum frame size) Blackhawk,New Model Blackhawk, Bisley,(old) Vaquero and Redhawks. TheNew Vaquero is a strong revolverbut is not as strong as the abovemodels built on the larger frame.Therefore, +P type .45 Colt hand-load data generating the above fig-ures should not be used in theNew Vaquero. To my knowledge,Ruger has not made any clarifica-tion of this distinction, but it is myown assessment.

This raises the question: Whatloads are safe in the New Vaquero?The weak link, so to speak, is thecutout for the locking bolt notches

April-May 2005

Action Army revolver, which hasgenerally been considered a mas-terpiece in this department. Thisgrip frame also has less leverageon the shooter during recoil, givingthe impression that recoil is re-duced. The Ruger is a bit heavierat 38 ounces (with 45⁄8-inch barrel),while the Colt SAA .45 with 43⁄4-inch barrel tips the scales at 36ounces.

The Ruger hammer spur has beenextended back toward the shooterand again is similar to the Coltspur. The combination of the im-proved grip shape and the ex-tended hammer spur makes theNew Vaquero easier to handle andbetter balanced than the originalVaquero, making it much easier(and faster) to cock with eitherthumb. If the hammer is cockedwith the thumb of the shootinghand or “thumbed” with the off-hand, the spur is easier to reachand seems to give a bit more lever-age to compress the mainspring,giving the impression of a lighterhammer pull.

Holding the two sixguns side byside and working the actions willinstantly reveal the improved han-dling and balance. This is not justmy opinion, as I requested morethan a dozen shooters to handlethem side by side, and the NewVaquero won unanimously. Thesetwo changes are something I hadpetitioned Sturm, Ruger & Co. fornearly a decade to implement, bothin writing and verbally, and amtickled to see them in a productionrevolver.

In addition to having the NewModel lock work (introduced in1973), which features a transferbar to allow the safe carry of sixcartridges, the New Vaquero hasan Ejector Alignment Pawl. Thispatent-pending feature helps alignchambers with the loading trough,while loading and unloading. Thereis also a lock work change that al-lows the chamber to be rotatedwell past the loading trough(clockwise) then reversed to allowthat chamber to be aligned forloading or unloading, a welcomeimprovement over conventionalNew Model Ruger single actions.

41www.handloadermagazine.com

Due to a shorter base pin andsmaller cylinder, the New Vaquero’sejector rod easily kicks cases clearfrom the chamber.

A new patent-pending EjectorAlignment Pawl helps align thechamber with the loading trough.

The New Vaquero outside cylinderdimension is 1.685 inches, notice-ably smaller than the previousmodel.

An internal lock complies with cer-tain states requiring such devices.

The chamber aligns naturally withthe loading trough, clearly an im-provement over older Vaqueros.

The New Vaquero features a largerejector rod head.

The New Vaquerohas an Ejector

Alignment Pawl.

Handloader 234

hammer is thumbed and the actionworked.

The New Vaquero base pin has noshoulder (as previous Vaquerosdid) and is shorter, which com-bined with the shorter frame andcylinder allows the ejector rod toextend farther out the chambers,ejecting empty cases more reliably.There is a new ejector rod headthat is shaped similarly to the ColtSAA revolver but smaller, and it isnoticeably more comfortable for

resulting in excess cylinder end-shake, as well as keeping theplunger working smoothly. Due tothe Ejector Alignment Pawl, thereis an additional audible click as the

extended shooting sessions. An in-ternal lock that is key-activated(stocks must be removed to ac-cess) will prevent the gun fromfunctioning. For those, such as my-self, who never plan to use this de-vice, it in no way affects thefunction or reliability of the gunand can simply be ignored.

Information coming from Rugerindicates the New Vaquero is builton new tooling and this samplegun is fit tightly and well ma-chined. Cylinder side-play andend-shake are held to reasonabletolerances, the forcing cone is cutsmooth, and the barrel/cylindergap measures .004 inch.

Over the years I have measuredthe throats of dozens of older Va-queros and Blackhawks cham-bered in .45 Colt. Virtually all gunsbuilt in the last 15 years havethroats that measure .448 to .450inch, with .449 inch being mostcommon. Combined with a groovediameter of .452 inch, accuracywas not up to its full potential untilthe throats were opened to .452 to.453 inch, depending on bulletsize. (This is a simple job and mostgunsmiths charge around $40 to$50 for the work and only requirethe cylinder be sent.) In measuringthe throats of the New Vaquero,I found they measured .452 inch –right on the money for best ac-curacy.

The first load tried was Reming-ton’s 250-grain lead bullets at anadvertised 860 fps, which clusteredaround 3 inches low (depending onhow I viewed the front sight) and 2

In the New Model design, oncethe chamber was rotated just pastthe loading trough, it couldn’t bereversed, and the cylinder had tobe rotated completely around toaccess that chamber again. TheEjector Alignment Pawl indexesthe cylinder at the location re-quired for loading/unloading and issimply a plunger located in therear of the frame that is activatedfrom the cylinder ratchet – verysimple, yet will undoubtedly provereliable. A drop of light oil on theratchet (as well as the end of thecylinder), however, smooths cylin-der rotation and helps slow wear

42 www.handloadermagazine.com

New Vaquero!New Vaquero!

Above left, two cast bullets that gave good performance in the New Vaquerowere the RCBS 45-270-SAA at 285 grains and Lyman 454190 at 255 grains.Right, Brian was pleased with the overall accuracy of the New Vaquero.

Load Data for Ruger New Vaquero .45 Coltbullet powder charge velocity

(grains) (grains) (fps)

225 Speer JHP Universal Clays 9.3 844230 Hornady XTP-HP AAC-5 12.0 907240 Sierra JHP Power Pistol 9.3 860250 Hornady XTP-HP Unique 9.0 861

2400 18.0 988250 Oregon Trail Cast RNFP W-231 7.1 835

Bullseye 6.0 848Universal Clays 9.0 956VV-3N37 11.5 1,003HS-6 11.5 855Unique 9.5 1,007Red Dot 6.0 810

260 Lyman 454424 cast AAC-9 17.3 924255 Hornady Lead Cowboy FP Red Dot 5.5 703255 Lyman 454190 cast VV-3N37 11.5 1,023

Unique 8.5 972Red Dot 6.0 852Power Pistol 8.5 875HS-6 11.5 877AAC-5 10.5 888

255 Lyman 454424 cast Unique 9.0 935260 Speer JHP VV-3N37 11.0 904285 RCBS cast 45-270-SAA HS-6 11.5 876

Unique 9.0 951Power Pistol 8.5 837

Notes: All loads fired from the 45⁄8-inch barrel of a Ruger New Vaquero .45 Colt. Winchester cases andFederal 150 primers used throughout. Temperature during testing was 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data.

A new ejector rod headis shaped similarly

to the Colt SAA.

Handloader 234

inches to the left at 25 yards. Sev-eral groups were fired and, as longas I did my part, grouped around 2inches. Winchester Ammunition’s225-grain Silvertip hollowpointload with an advertised velocity of920 fps grouped 5 inches low andclustered into 11⁄2 inches.

Ruger has provided a tall enoughfront sight, so this sixgun can eas-ily be sighted for most individualsshooting standard .45 Colt loadsdriving 250/255-grain bullets in the850- to 900-fps range. Not everyonesees sights the same, and neitherdo they hold (or grip) the same,therefore handguns shoot to vari-ous points of aim for differentshooters. Nonetheless, I suspectthis sixgun will shoot low (withstandard loads) for most, and thefront sight can be filed accord-ingly.

The New Vaquero was tried witha variety of handloads that in-cluded both jacketed and cast bul-lets, ranging in weight from 225 to285 grains. Overall accuracy wasgood, which is probably due to thecorrect throat tolerances, goodchamber alignment and a qualitybarrel. Bullets should be chosenthat keep the overall cartridgelength to 1.66 inches or less, orbullets may protrude out the cylin-der, tying up the gun. Generallythis is not a problem but should benoted, as some commercial castbullets feature a nose length ex-ceeding .375 inch and are intendedfor Ruger Blackhawks and “old”Vaqueros.

A bullet that worked particularlywell in the New Vaquero comesfrom RCBS mould 45-270-SAA(weighs 285 grains when cast ofwheelweights) and was designed

44 www.handloadermagazine.com

Jeff BartlettGovernment Surplus

Reloading Components

Jeff Bartlett

800-714-6348Fax: 270-684-6249

1309 W. 9th St.Owensboro, KY 42301www.gibrass.com

April-May 2005 45www.handloadermagazine.com

grains of Alliant Unique, it shootspretty much to the point of aim at50 yards and often groups close to2 inches. Since this is the bulletand velocity I would use in this six-gun for everyday use and whilekicking around in the hills, there isno need to file or make adjust-ments to the front sight. So loaded,I wouldn’t hesitate to hunt deer,black bear or even elk under goodconditions.

For those wanting to duplicatethe more than century-old, orshould we say “proven,” smokeless.45 Colt factory loads containing255-grain bullets at something be-tween 850 to 870 fps, cast bulletsfrom Lyman mould 454190 are agood substitute. When cast fromwheelweights, it is a trifle heavier,at near 260 grains, which willprove insignificant. This bullet fea-tures a plain base, rather than ahollow base, with a nose and ogiveprofile that are correct. At 25 yardsit easily grouped under one inchwith several powders. Further-more it offers good penetrationand, in spite of having a rathersmall meplate, is a capable gamebullet. There is no crimpinggroove, but it is seated to about1.580 inches (depending on exactcase length) then roll crimped overthe ogive. The above bullets I cast

myself and am unaware of a com-mercial source for them. A bulletthat is of different design but canbe substituted with the same pow-der charges is the Oregon TrailBullet Company 250-grain RNFP(PO Box 529, Baker City OR 97814;1-800-811-0548).

Frankly, with its New Vaquero,Ruger has given us a great gun –more than we had hoped for. Sug-gested retail is $583.

by Editor Dave Scovill specificallyfor the Colt Single Action Army.(The new Ruger shares the samecylinder length as the Colt SAA.)This bullet is a modern Keith de-sign with greater bearing surfaceon the three driving bands to bet-ter hold the rifling and, of coarse, alonger nose (.375 inch) to help sta-bilize and maximize the full use ofthe cylinder/chamber length. Itsdesign maximizes powder capac-ity, reduces pressure and utilizesas heavy a bullet as can generallybe used without increasing thefront sight height. As a bonus,when this bullet is driven 850 fpsusing 8.6 grains of Alliant PowerPistol, or to 950 fps using 9.0

The New Vaquero wastried with a variety of

handloads.

•

76 Handloader 234

lowered for cleaning, but not se-curely. The Tipton Gun Vise is justthat, a vise. Shooters with sometime in the sport will immediatelysee the resemblance between theTipton Gun Vise and the olderDecker Gun Vise. The Decker hasbeen around for quite awhile. Itwas made of wood, oak I believe,with those areas that came in con-tact with the rifle covered inpadded leather. It was quite attrac-tive and priced accordingly. I say“was” to all this because recentlySinclair International, the benchrest and high power specialists ofFort Wayne, Indiana, purchasedthe rights to the Decker vise andnow offer it as the Sinclair/DeckerRifle Vise. It has been changedslightly, now with a polyethylenebase and oak trim. It’s still hand-some and fairly pricey.

The Tipton Gun Vise is made of aheavy-duty polymer with somesteel parts where necessary. It sac-rifices the beauty, and much of theprice, of the others but adds a fewworthwhile features the othersdon’t have. It is 32 inches long, 71⁄2inches wide and 91⁄2 inches tall atits highest point. It weighs approxi-mately 7 pounds. The predominatecolor is gray with the contact posi-tions a softer synthetic material ofa burgundy color. Metal parts arechromed and two knobbed handlesare black.

The front raised portion of the

There must be few shooters

alive, in the United States atleast, who aren’t familiar with Mid-wayUSA of Columbia, Missouri,the large mail-order company spe-cializing in shooting, reloading,gunsmithing, hunting and outdoorproducts. Fewer, however, mayhave made the connection be-tween MidwayUSA and BattenfeldTechnologies, Inc., Midway’s sistercompany. While Midway sellsproducts, Battenfeld manufac-tures, or has manufactured, a num-ber of products such as barrels,stocks, gunsmithing tools and sup-plies, reloading tools, shootingaids and gun cleaning supplies.These Battenfeld products are of-fered under a variety of brandssuch as Adams & Bennet replace-ment rifle barrels, Frankford Arse-nal reloading tools and Tipton guncleaning supplies. In all there arenine trademarked or copywritedbrands.

In recent months, I’ve beenspending quite a bit of time with acouple of the Tipton products: theTipton Gun Vise and the TiptonDeluxe Carbon Fiber CleaningRod.

When we think of devices to holdfirearms, particularly rifles, inplace for cleaning or minor gun-smithing, we are forced to think interms of vises that hold the gunssecurely and cradles that supportthe guns, usually with the muzzle

www.handloadermagazine.com

TIPTON GUN VISE AND CLEANING ROD

PPRROODDUUCCTT TTEESSTTSS

April-May 2005 77www.handloadermagazine.com

Rod. As have most shooters, I’veaccumulated a number of cleaningrods for handguns, rifles and shot-guns in varying sizes for differentcalibers or gauges. Among themare aluminum, wood, fiberglass,brass and steel, coated and un-coated, jointed and one-piecerods. Some I have simply becauseI’m loath to throw anything away;others I’ve come to cherish be-

cause they do the job properly andwell. For most rifle cleaning, I’vecome to prefer one-piece, un-coated, stainless steel models withhandles that actually allow therod to turn as the patch or brushis being pulled or pushed downthe bore. Whenever possible, I usea bore guide. I have to admit,though, I may have found a newfavorite.

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tool has a multicontoured V tohold barrel and forends of varyingwidths. Approximately midway isa rest that usually contacts a riflestock behind the pistol grip. Far-ther back is the vise. It consists ofone padded rectangular fixed sur-face and one round, padded, mov-able “jaw” that threads in and out.Range of movement is about 1⁄2 to21⁄2 inches. At the back is a leverthat activates a cam that, in turn,moves a pivot arm to which thevise jaw is attached. When thetool is properly adjusted, it allowsfor the quick and repeatable cap-ture and release of the gun stock.It’s really quite a desirable featureand one not found on other gunvises.

The other features unique to theTipton vise are a series of recessesmoulded into the base to hold gunparts, oil and solvent bottles, etc.Four are round with flat bottoms,two are round with curved bot-toms (perfect for screws, etc.) andone, about 3x10 inches, for thebolt. Each end is notched on oneside to hold a cleaning rod whennot in use. These are all nicetouches and, again, not found onother models. Four rubber feet areattached to the bottom and help re-tard movement.

I’ve used the Tipton Gun Vise forcleaning, scope mounting andminor gunsmithing on severalguns. It lends itself best to bolt-action rifles, perhaps, but I’ve alsoworked on lever actions and shot-guns. Cleaning is really facilitated,with the vise holding the stock se-curely. The same is true for minorgunsmithing such as installingscope bases.

Weaknesses, such as they are,and this is true of all such tools, in-clude the difficulty in dealing withstocks having a cheek piece. Themovable jaw pivots, but it is a bitof a nuisance. Also, if I had mydruthers, there would be more ad-justments, particularly in the cen-ter rest and vise area. Still, onceaccustomed to using a gun vise, Isuspect you, as I, will wonder howwe ever did without it.

The second Tipton product is theDeluxe Carbon Fiber Cleaning

Handloader 234

The Deluxe Carbon Fiber rod it-self is, well, carbon fiber. The tip isbrass, threaded to accept 8x32 ac-cessories. The other end is also

ameters and three lengths: .22 to.26 and .27 to .45 calibers in 26-, 40-and 44-inch rod lengths. The rod Ireceived for testing is the smaller,listed in the MidwayUSA and Bat-tenfeld catalogs as for .22 to .26caliber but carried a tag assertingits range as “.22 through .27 cal.” Ithas a 40-inch rod length. Overalllength is 471⁄4 inches. Diameter ofthe rod is .210 inch. A comparablestainless rod on hand measures.200 inch. Without applying ex-treme pressure, both rods seem toflex about the same.

The attributes that make carbonfiber a natural for a cleaning rodare that it does not take a set ifflexed excessively, instead return-ing to its original condition. It ishard enough to not pick up gritfrom cleaning materials or barrelresidue, yet soft enough not towear the steel barrel upon acciden-tal contact. A bore guide is stilla wise precaution, however, toprotect the barrel and preventcleaning residue from entering theaction. The handle on this rodturns as smoothly as any I’ve usedand the handle extension beyondthe gripping surface is appreciatedas I’ve broken more than one plas-tic-handled wonder over the yearsjust tapping with the heel of myhand.

Nits to pick are few and far be-tween. For my personal needs incleaning barrels that run from 20to 26 inches, regardless of actiontype, I would prefer a rod length of36 inches. On the tip end of the rodis a rubberlike sleeve that serves tocenter the tip as it is drawn backthrough the barrel. It is soft andprevents any nicks as the tip entersthe muzzle. A good idea, but Ifound the sleeve sometimes movesas it becomes wet with solvent. Ifit slips over the tip, it can create adiameter too large to enter the bar-rel and must be pushed back inplace. A little Super Glue, judi-ciously applied, seems to solve theproblem.

Despite my carping, this may bethe best rod I’ve used. When clean-ing chores arise, it and the gunvise will see a lot of use. – R.H.VanDenburg, Jr.

brass where it attaches to a steelhandle. A grippable section of aburgundy-colored polymer ismounted to the handle via two setsof ball bearings. The handle ex-tends beyond the gripping surfaceabout .5 inch and can be tappedwith a mallet if it becomes nec-essary to apply force to dislodge arecalcitrant patch or other ob-struction.

The rods are available in two di-

78 www.handloadermagazine.com

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•

April-May 2005 81www.handloadermagazine.com

burning and non-corrosive, Pinna-cle is designed to deliver higher ve-locities than conventional blackpowder does. “It’s accurate,”GOEX says, “with standard devia-tions similar to authentic blackpowder.”

Pinnacle is available in FFg- andFFFg-equivalent burning rates. It’ssaid to be a “low-pressure replace-ment for other replica black pow-der propellants providing a similarprofile for muzzleloading.” Thecompany claims Pinnacle resistsmoisture and remains stable overprotracted periods of time.

GOEX has been manufacturingblack powder for more than 90years. For more information, con-

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THUMLE

R’S

TUMBLE

R

ing the powder charge indicates acompressed load.

bullet charge velocity(grains) (grains) (fps)

7mm Remington Magnum140 69.0 3,100150 64.0 2,870

.300 Winchester Magnum150 softpoint 80.0c 3,150180 78.5c 3,035

Regular-cut 7828 powder is notcapable of producing the followingvelocities:

bullet charge velocity(grains) (grains) (fps)

.26-06 Remington75 59.7c 3,48590 59.5c 3,375

.243 Winchester90 48.0c 3,130

100 46.0c 3,010

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PINNACLE –

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POWDER FROM

GOEXMuzzleloading fans now have yet

another black-powder alternativeto choose from. GOEX, Inc. hasjust introduced Pinnacle, whichthe company calls, “A new ‘bore-friendly’ smokeless replica blackpowder that looks like black pow-der, loads like black powder andcan be used like black powder inall black powder firearms.”

While I haven’t had a chance touse the new powder yet, it lookspromising. Described as clean-

tact: GOEX, Inc., Dept. HL, POBox 659, Doyline LA 71023-0659;or visit www.goexpowder.comonline. •