Range report #1: 41 magnum python does not blow up at the range!

[D.R.E.]

So tonight I blasted a bunch of ammo through a 41magnum python (conversion by Jack Huntington) and it didn't blow up. A lot of people were skeptical a python could handle 41 mag loads so it was a pretty nerve wracking first few shots. However things went smoothly, other than I had some misfire issues in double action that I've still not figured out yet.


Here's the runthrough of the revolver: http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=197384
And here's about fixing endshake: http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=200502


Jack stated that you could run 1,000 fps 41 mag loads through it all day and it'd be fine. After shooting around 150 or so (the range was closing so there wasn't time for a serious stress test) his statement seems plausible. The recoil isn't as sharp as near max 357 loads. And the gun seems very consistent. I wasn't aiming worth a damn but it'd pretty much put it where I pointed it: e.g., a 12 shot string all in a 4 inch shoot N C at 15 yards with no fliers. I was using Unique, which doesn't seem to meter well in my dillon so that is saying something.

Before we could shoot we had to make ammo. So here is what we have to work with. 500 new starline cases and two 500 bullet boxes of lasercast 215 gr bullets.


And here's a close up of new brass porn!




For comparison: 357 on left, 41 mag on right.



According to lyman's, 215 gr with 7.8 gr of Unique will give around 960 fps, so we make about 500 of these:



I have to say, it was not the most fun process. My dillon vibration based primer loader wasn't working worth a damn. Then the crimping part of the hornady dies kept falling out (first time this has ever happened) and the dillon crimper was behaving very strangely. (If I didn't know better I'd swear it was putting a taper crimp rather than roll crimp.)

However in the end we more or less wound up with what we wanted.

[D.R.E.]

Making brass

After running the above through the gun at the range we get:


I'm going to do a more rigorous test with light and a bit less rushing, but as it stands, I think Jack did no harm to the accuracy. I'll not be shocked if 41 mag turns out to be slightly more consistent than 357, at least for my reloading setup.

Here's some photos of possible stress points: everything seems fine so far.

The forcing cone looks fine, though like all of the gun at this point, very dirty (I've not found lasercast to be a clean round: I like Penn bullets a lot better, but they take months, so ...):



No cracks in the rear of the frame, though I don't remember there being shell outlines to this degree:


The previous owner stated he only fired 6 (or 8?) rounds through the gun, so we've increased that by a factor of 20x on our first visit and it shows

No obivious damage in the chambers from at least a cursory inspection:

[D.R.E.]

Failed attempt at diagnosing misfires

The one downside is that I was getting a lot of misfires in DA. Single action was fine, but if I did double action I'd get one or two misfires per cylinder. I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm using CCI large pistol primers which are pretty hard. The misfire looks like a light strike (much lighter than the fired chambers) but does not seem to consistently happen on just one chamber. The action is light, but I didn't think it was that light. Though perhaps igniting LP primers using a action setup for small pistol primers requires more force? I'm using a longer firing pin, so that's not an issue.



Along with headspace, firing pin potrusion, or a too light mainspring, another obvious thing to check when you get misfires is whether the hammer is hitting the rebound when it falls. We do this by pulling the trigger back, holding the rebound lever down:



We then pull the hammer back (I recommend two hands and no camera for this):


And release it, checking to see if we feel any vibration in the rebound:


If you feel a hit, the rebound needs to be adjusted.

Unfortunately in this case, there's no problem, so I'm still not sure what the issue is. TBD.

I'm pretty happy with this gun. I'm looking forward to shooting it a bunch. At least as soon as I figure out the misfire cause...

[hybridatsun350]

Good stuff. Glad to hear you still have all of your fingers!

[madmike]

It probably doesn't apply to this, but I have heard that after lightening up a Ruger GP100, sometimes the hammer needs to be filed to keep it from striking the frame before it can push the firing pin all the way forward. If that makes sense. I don't know the Colt's inner workings very well, so I don't know if this would apply at all.


-madmike.

[sargenv]

CCI's are some of the hardest primers available, Get ye some Federal Large Pistol primers and light strike problem should go away, unless it is sooo light that it won't even ignite those. It's what we ICORE competitiors use for our tuned and lightened trigger jobs.

[D.R.E.]

CCI's are some of the hardest primers available, Get ye some Federal Large Pistol primers and light strike problem should go away, unless it is sooo light that it won't even ignite those. It's what we ICORE competitiors use for our tuned and lightened trigger jobs.

Yeah, I know about fed primers That's cheating! My other pythons are 1 to 2 lbs lighter and have no problem with them, so I think there's an issue w/ the gun. Of course, they work with SP rather than LP primers, so perhaps that's a difference.

[Californio]

No Gas Checks on the bullets? How is the lead in the barrel?

[D.R.E.]

No Gas Checks on the bullets? How is the lead in the barrel?

No gas checks. Dunno about lead at this point. It's only ~960 FPS so should be fine w/ lasercast.

[Californio]

No gas checks. Dunno about lead at this point. It's only ~960 FPS so should be fine w/ lasercast.

Can't wait to see the groups. This sure looks like a fun project.

[D.R.E.]

I got a ransom rest a while ago. Just need to attach the thing to a big board and lug it to the range. Should be really helpful for answering a bunch of accuracy questions. Including whether 41 mag shoots worth a damn