Author Topic: Handgun caliber choice  (Read 12673 times)

mtnbkr

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #25 on: May 13, 2012, 12:43:06 PM »
He probably fired some "ruger only" 45 Colt loads, where the 44special stuff was probably "cowboy" level loads.

The Ruger-only 45 Colt loads are 44mag or greater power levels.

Chris

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #26 on: May 13, 2012, 11:18:47 PM »
He probably fired some "ruger only" 45 Colt loads, where the 44special stuff was probably "cowboy" level loads.

The Ruger-only 45 Colt loads are 44mag or greater power levels.

Chris

I have loaded some Ruger only 45 colt loads and they are closer to a 454 casull than a 44 magnum.

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HankB

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #27 on: May 14, 2012, 09:00:27 AM »
I have loaded some Ruger only 45 colt loads and they are closer to a 454 casull than a 44 magnum.
Be careful with that . . . when Ruger bought out a .454 Super Redhawk, they switched to a higher-strength steel and special heat treatment to give them a good margin of safety.
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mtnbkr

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #28 on: May 14, 2012, 09:58:44 AM »
Be careful with that . . . when Ruger bought out a .454 Super Redhawk, they switched to a higher-strength steel and special heat treatment to give them a good margin of safety.

In a recent discussion about why they won't build a 5-shot 480 on their Blackhawk frame, it was pointed out that the only reason the custom guys can build a 480 on the Blackhawk is because they can hold the tolerances much tighter (pics of the forcing cone area, the tight B/C gaps, etc bear this out).  For Ruger to be comfortable given their manufacturing realities, they would need the inherent strength of the gun to be much higher.  So, while a Blackhawk can possibly safely handle 454Casull level loads, it would not be within their comfort zone, hence the new alloy.

Chris

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #29 on: May 14, 2012, 03:32:10 PM »
He probably fired some "ruger only" 45 Colt loads, where the 44special stuff was probably "cowboy" level loads.

The Ruger-only 45 Colt loads are 44mag or greater power levels.

Chris
Quite possible.  They were some "Hot reloads from a friend".
 All I know is I saw a big flash, it was night, the beer can target flew way up high, and I was done. 
"There's five more.".
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Tallpine

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #30 on: May 14, 2012, 05:48:43 PM »
Quite possible.  They were some "Hot reloads from a friend".
 All I know is I saw a big flash, it was night, the beer can target flew way up high, and I was done. 
"There's five more.".
"No thank you."

Yeah, I shot six 1500+fps .45 in a "friend's" Bisley Vaquero  :O

Really wasn't that bad except the back of the trigger guard really hammered my middle finger :(


"Cowboy loads" (~750 fps) in a heavy Ruger are about like shooting a .22 for recoil.
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charby

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #31 on: May 14, 2012, 05:50:42 PM »
Be careful with that . . . when Ruger bought out a .454 Super Redhawk, they switched to a higher-strength steel and special heat treatment to give them a good margin of safety.

I have a 454 Casull Ruger SRH
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charby

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #32 on: May 14, 2012, 05:52:54 PM »
Yeah, I shot six 1500+fps .45 in a "friend's" Bisley Vaquero  :O

Really wasn't that bad except the back of the trigger guard really hammered my middle finger :(


Ouch!

Quote
"Cowboy loads" (~750 fps) in a heavy Ruger are about like shooting a .22 for recoil.

yep in my SRH you scratch your head and wonder if it was a squib.
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AmbulanceDriver

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #33 on: May 14, 2012, 07:28:27 PM »
Sounds similar to the .38 special loads in my S&W 28-2 (N-frame revolver - the biggest they made before moving to the "X-frame" for crazy calibers).  Those just make the front sight twitch a touch.  Full house .357, little more flash, little louder bang, but still not that much movement.    :)
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brimic

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #34 on: May 15, 2012, 12:41:04 PM »
Well that sucks.
The place I was going to buy from was Gander Mountain "Gun World."
In the light of recent events, I had to send them a letter...

Dear Sir or Madam:

It has come to my attention that Gander Mountain stores were planning to host NRA events in support of Scott Walker but were cancelled due to political pressure from an fringe anti-gun group (WAVE).

GunWorld is exactly 8 minutes from my home (I actually timed this trip when I first moved to the area as I was very excited to live near a Gander Mountain store), I've been shopping this site for the last 11 years and have purchased thousands of dollars in firearms, hunting, reloading, and fishing merchandise from it. I was just in GunWorld this last weekend looking at Ruger Blackhawks, I didn't buy one because I couldn't decide whether I wanted one in .357 or .45 Colt. After a few days of thinking about it, I was planning on getting the .45 Colt and maybe going back for the .357 at a later date.
Now that I've heard that Gander Mountain cares more about leftist interests than their core customers, I will go elsewhere (Cabela's and Fleet Farm are literally a stone's throw away). Good luck selling handguns to your new found political 'friends' as I won't support a firearms business that refuses to support the most pro-gun Governor we've had in my lifetime.


http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?102861-Gander-Mountain-Bans-NRA
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mtnbkr

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #35 on: May 15, 2012, 12:49:18 PM »
There was a Cabelas nearby and you stepped foot into Gander Mtn? 

Chris

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #36 on: May 15, 2012, 12:53:37 PM »
There was a Cabelas nearby and you stepped foot into Gander Mtn? 

Chris

Both are overpriced on firearms, Sportsman Warehouse and Scheels usually do better on prices.

Want to have pucker feeling, go hit Bass Pro and look at reloading components. eeek!
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brimic

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #37 on: May 15, 2012, 01:11:18 PM »
Unfortunately, the Sportsman's Warehouse that we had nearby only lasted about a yea, and the nearest Scheels is about 100 miles away.
The prices were actually pretty good for around here at GunWorld for BlackHawks- they wanted around $460 (pretty much everything else is grossly overpriced).
Cabela's charges about $100 more.
Though Cabela's has a 3-screw .357 in their gun library for a pretty good price, but the barrel is longer than I wanted.

I might just go to the gun dealer/Ace hardware 40 miles up the road and order one there- its a bit out of the way for me, but the prices can't be beat.
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Tallpine

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #38 on: May 15, 2012, 01:13:32 PM »
Both are overpriced on firearms, Sportsman Warehouse and Scheels usually do better on prices.

Want to have pucker feeling, go hit Bass Pro and look at reloading components. eeek!

Scheels refuses to sell any evil black rifles  :mad:
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mtnbkr

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #39 on: May 15, 2012, 01:15:13 PM »
Both are overpriced on firearms, Sportsman Warehouse and Scheels usually do better on prices.
True, I was speaking more to the selection and quality of service.  I don't know about gun prices, but reloading stuff is dirt cheap at Sportsman's Warehouse.  The reopened the one in my wife's hometown (it closed a couple years ago).  Primer prices were better than any other place I've seen and at least as good as the gun show. 

Quote
Want to have pucker feeling, go hit Bass Pro and look at reloading components. eeek!
No kidding!  Gander is just as bad though. 

Chris

mtnbkr

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #40 on: May 15, 2012, 01:16:44 PM »
Unfortunately, the Sportsman's Warehouse that we had nearby only lasted about a year

As I mentioned above, the SW that was open in my wife's home for about a year before closing has reopened.  Hopefully yours will return as well.

Chris

brimic

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #41 on: May 15, 2012, 01:21:18 PM »
Quote
As I mentioned above, the SW that was open in my wife's home for about a year before closing has reopened.  Hopefully yours will return as well.


Its been closed almost 5 years. The two other stores that I knew of in my state also closed. :'(

The first week it was open, I spent almost $2000 on a new rifle and reloading stuff. :P

When it closed, I bought a few Spydercos for really good prices.
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mtnbkr

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #42 on: May 15, 2012, 01:22:58 PM »
It was closed about that length here as well.  They closed a bunch of stores all of a sudden several years ago.  I don't know if the one they reopened in SW VA was a fluke or not, but they even went back to the same building as before.

Edit to add: ours closed 3 years ago.  I pulled up the old announcement.

Chris
« Last Edit: May 15, 2012, 01:29:29 PM by mtnbkr »

brimic

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #43 on: May 15, 2012, 01:42:35 PM »
Seems to be about the same time frame. Just looked it up, the local store closed in 2008 (I remember it opened around June 2006), the other two stores closed approximately a year later.
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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #44 on: May 15, 2012, 01:52:52 PM »
Interesting on the Sportsman's Warehouse. They built a ginormous one a few years back where my folks live.  They closed it less than a year later. I simply don't understand how they can afford to do that with it appearing that they seem to do it a lot. Sadly, I didn't get into the store until I saw an ad that they were closing, and by the time I got there. most of the inventory was gone, so I've never been to a fully stocked Sportsman's Warehouse.

I was at my first Cabela's when Amy and I were in OR a few weeks ago. Rocketman told us it was one of the smaller ones that had taken over a pre-existing building, vs one of the "built from the ground up" stores. I was still impressed with the size of it, and they actually had some good prices on pistols I was familiar with.

Nothing like a Cabela's or Gander Mountain exists anywhere near me. We're going to Idaho via HWY395 in a couple of weeks, so we plan on stopping at both the Reno and Boise Cabela's on our travels. It will be Amy's birthday, and her present is that she gets to pick whatever she wants (within reason) at Cabela's.
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brimic

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #45 on: May 15, 2012, 01:59:10 PM »
Yes, I am very lucky. Cabelas is 5 minutes away from plus we have various Fleet farm stores nearby and a Dunham's, not to mention a smattering of independent shops nearby.

If nothing else, I like to stop at Cabela's or take the kids there a few times a month just to look around and kill time.
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mtnbkr

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #46 on: May 15, 2012, 02:02:23 PM »
The SW in Va is about as big as the average Gander Mtn, but has a better selection and much better prices.  They forgo the fancy displays and other junk.  It's just "stuff".

The only Cabelas I've been to is the one in Hamburg, PA.  It is HUGE.  If you're into guns, hunting, shooting, fishing, camping, etc, it's almost a religious experience.  Yes, prices on some stuff can be a bit high, but they have items nobody else carries.  We take a vacation about once a year to once every other year there.  I get several hours at Cabelas and my kids get to go to Hershey or the Crayola factory an hour or so away.  Last time we found a really neat flea market type place that sold local crafts, foods, and furniture.

Chris

charby

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #47 on: May 15, 2012, 02:24:28 PM »
Scheels refuses to sell any evil black rifles  :mad:

Not the one near me, they would have a rack full of them but they don't stay inventory long.

 
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Tallpine

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #48 on: May 15, 2012, 02:27:28 PM »
Not the one near me, they have a rack full of them.

I tried to just order a Saiga some years back, and they refused.  I actually had an email argument going with one of their corporate head honchos for several weeks: they never backed down and I never set foot in one of their stores again.  :mad:

I wonder what changed  ???
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makattak

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Re: Handgun caliber choice
« Reply #49 on: May 15, 2012, 02:42:17 PM »
I tried to just order a Saiga some years back, and they refused.  I actually had an email argument going with one of their corporate head honchos for several weeks: they never backed down and I never set foot in one of their stores again.  :mad:

I wonder what changed  ???

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