Newbie with a problem

[45Jack]

Howdy, this is my first post but I've been reading the forum for a bout a month now.

35+ years ago I was rated as an 'expert" shooter by the USMC... That seems to have gone down hill in the interim. Haven't shot for a while and a friend and I are just getting back into it. (last daughter graduated college) :grin:

Thought it would be fun to work with single action and levergun - Single action is proving to be quite the challenge.

My buddy and I are puzzled...

Both being fond of anything "45", we each bought Rugers in .45 Colt. I got a Blackhawk convertible and he picked up two Vaqueros.

Now, we used to shoot together and neither of us has shot for a decade or so and we're getting back into it, but we still have some basic skills.

Here's the problem - none of the Rugers really shoot a group. Admittedly, with older eyes I can't shoot what I used to but I can still print a group with my 686 and 1911, and he can load the same .45's into his Model 25 and shoot a 2" group at 25 yards.

We took our targets and taped them to "D" size engineering drawings so we could see where they are hitting -
All three of them hit consistently low, but other than that there is no rhyme or reason. more like a buckshot pattern than an actual group.

We've used slugs of 200, 250, 255, and 300 grains, and more loads than I can recall - same results. These are cast slugs, haven't tried jacketed bullets yet.

I've got a 1955 Single-Six that I bought used in 1968 - and it shoots better than these new guns.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jack

[Lloyd Smale]

first guess since its a ruger is that the trigger pull is to hard to shoot well off hand. Most rugers come from the factory with a 6-10lb trigger and you just cant shoot off hand with a trigger like that. Another thought if its your first single action is your grip. SIngle actions tend to want to wonder around in your hand between shots and you have to pay real close attention to making sure your grip is in the same spot and with the same tension each shot. One more thing to check on your guns is in .45 ruger had a tendency to cut there throats a little small try pushing a .452 cast bullet through the chamber if it goes there probably fine if not you may need to have the guns throated.

[johk01]

I'll agree with Lloyd about the cylinder throats possibly being under sized. I've had 2 Ruger 45 Colt cylinders reamed to .4525 because they were a about .004" undersized. Do a search on cylindersmith, 45cylinderdoctor, and the like. You ought to be able to find someone to open them up if they are undersized.