FA .45 LC story...

[dbriannelson]

Seven months ago I ordered a Model 97 in .44 Special as a woods gun to replace a Forkin Custom Old Model similarly chambered. That 3 5/8" carry gun was nicked and gnarly and ready for a cleanup then retirement. Anyway, while waiting for the FA .44, a new 5 1/2" Model 97 in .45 Colt showed up at the local shop. I walked away. Several times. Then I bought it, got the dies and molds, shot it a bunch, and tried to carry it on my dog-walk rambles in the Black Hills.

I made a high ride holster, but the 5 1/2" barrel made it tough to draw, the butt getting close to my armpit in the process. With "Ruger-only" loads the sharp heel of the butt dug into the heel of my hand and even the toe of the butt sometimes hurt the supporting hand. On top of all that, the black ramp front sight was very difficult to see. So I put it in the safe and went back to the .44 Old Model.

Now, I could have sent the .45 back to FA and had them shorten it to 3 1/2" and round it, but first I called David Clements and got a quote on those things, plus a deeper muzzle crown and breaking all the sharp edges that drag leather every time it was holstered. He gave me a reasonable quote, so I shipped the gun off, and ordered a couple of his semi-patridge front sights at the same time.

Clements estimated three months, but shipped it back in three weeks. Good workmanship, better sights, and all. I built another holster with improvements over the old homemade one and began carrying and shooting it again.

Eventually I settled on FA "Express" sights, as the brass bead shows up nicely against ponderosa pines, and thinned the bottom of the grips. It now shot better than I could hold and rode high and handy behind my right hip bone. Deciding I'd be keeping this one, I ordered an El Paso Saddlery "Double Agent" holster, the one that doubles as a cross-draw for long drives.

The holster has some minor issues, but it's on my hip sixteen hours a day, at least now that the snow's gone. With my home-made holster (and likely with the EPS one) the hammer and corner of the rear sight wore through the stitching and almost through the fabric of a fine Filson Mackinaw Cruiser coat. While shopping for fancy leather for the new faux-ivory handled .44 FA, I discovered the Hank Sloan holster that Mike Barranti makes, and ordered it. It's designed to protect coats. Ordered one just in time to get it by next winter.

Back to the gun. It's now got 1345 hot handloads through it, all with bullets I cast from wheel weights and other scrap lead alloys. The finish is scuffed and there are some scratches. The laminated wood grips are, to my eye, ugly. I'd rather have plain walnut or other real hardwood. But I can get it out fast, shoot it well enough, and it feels real good on my hip when the bushes start shaking and the dog crouches behind me.

P.S. The load I finally settled on launches a nominal 260-grain flat point, round nose bullet at 1095 feet per second. Not .454 territory, but good enough for anything in South Dakota.

[cobrad]

That's a fine looking gun alright. Mine is a 7.5" .454. Mostly I shoot .45 LC loads similar to what you are shooting. I have FA's chest holster, and it works great. Some day I would like to add a .22.

[zac0419]

You'll like Barranti's holster. I have 2 at home now and a third on order. Whenever one get's delivered I put a deposit on another.


Here is a Barranti 2DXD with my FA 97 45





Do you mind going into detail with pics what work you had done. I'm interested in the new crown, rounded edges, and grip reshape. I'd love to hear more about it.

[picturerock]

Now that is an excellent story to start a Sunday!  Well done with the modifications.  FA ought to consider coming out with a model just like that from the factory, and call it their "easy packing" pistol, or something similar.  There is nothing so fine as a walk in the woods with a FA revolver on the hip.

[dbriannelson]

Here you go, zac0419:

First the muzzle crown and front sight base. The initial thing I noticed when I handled my first FA is that it can cut you if you're not careful. That precise internal machining also shows on the outside, and aside from the grips, there's not much compromise on the man-machine interface. Some probably prefer the outside to reflect the internal precision, but I'd rather have a little softening of the angles.



On the left is the factory crown on a .44 Special FA97. You can see that it's rounded and does protect the end of the rifling. On the right Clements cut the barrel square then beveled inside and, importantly, out. The sharp outer edge on the factory crown shaved leather. As did all the sharp edges of the sight base. On the right those edges have been softened. That also makes handling the gun when cleaning more comfortable.

Here's a better picture of those sights. On the left is the Clements semi-patridge, a huge visual improvement on the standard FA serrated ramp. On the right is the FA "express" front, featuring a shiny brass bead. When paired with their "V" profile rear, it's quick to pick up and precise enough for a walking gun.



Below on the left is the factory profile for the 97 round butt. You can see that these grips have been radically thinned near the bottom, but the profile is unchanged. On the right is the profile I requested from David Clements, with the grips also substantially thinned by me. I find the factory profile to be more attractive, though the rounded toe is easier to grab hold of.



You didn't ask about holsters, but here are pix in the order mentioned above.







The bottom holster, the El Paso Saddlery "Double Agent" is very secure, and has two loops on the back of the body to allow for crossdraw use. I've used one of these, highly modified, for daily carry and IDPA competition with a 1911 for several years.

(There's a Barranti "Hank Sloan," basketweave, black, on order for the walking gun, and a dark brown, floral-carved "Threepersons" coming for that .44 with the faux ivory grips.)

Did I miss anything? Posting from the phone, I can't see the question and post at the same time.

[HGunner]

I really like your 45.  I have heard that FA now offers a custom ejector with a hollowed out button allowing it to pass over the base pin.  This offers a longer ejector stroke and allows for cylinder removal without removing the housing.  Have you looked into this option?  Not sure if it's still offered.

[dbriannelson]

I'd read about that as well. Looking at mine now, I can see how stroke length would increase, but because the ejector button pivots away from the barrel during its stroke, but sits close to the barrel at rest, I don't see how it would allow normal removal of the cylinder pin.

The shortened ejector stroke with the 3 1/2" barrel hasn't been any kind of problem. And as a screwdriver is already required to remove the cylinder pin, using it to remove the ejector and housing is about a ten second additional task.

Maybe someone with a 3 1/2" factory barrel can comment here.

Don

[gcrank1]

Nice stuff, Don!
(and I like the way ya tell about it all; good readin', almost like bein' there)