Single action revolver discusson and general shenanigans

[awp_101]

Looking at shorty Vaqueros in .45 Colt and .44 Mag and I need to layout my thoughts and talk myself through them.

The .44 would see Specials and Russians only. The .45 would see light Colt, Schofield and ACP loads once I source an ACP cylinder. I have brass for all of those calibers (well, except for Schofield brass) and the use case is just for fun. Once an ACP cylinder is installed, that would probably be what I shot the most.

The .44 is local but would need the birds head grip frame swapped for a regular one (~$200 for grip frame and upgraded grips). The .45 is an online purchase and would need the ACP cylinder which appears to be hard to find right now.

What to do, what to do…and “both” isn’t an option.

[Lost River]

This Flattop .45 convertible is the favorite, hands down. Did a few things to it, to make it that way. Still need an action job, but it balances the way I like with its aluminum grip frame and short barrel. Nice and light. Mostly fed either .45 Colt loads of a .270 wide nose Keith at 900 FPS, which will handle pretty much everything, or .45 ACPs for plinking.




Shown here with Milt Sparks holster after I managed to take an unintended dip in the river while hiking along the edge.



Fortunately it was warm out, so it dried quickly.

Older pic:

[awp_101]

@Lost River, a 4 5/8” FTBH is probably “The Answer” to my analysis paralysis. I just cringe at the going rate now.😂

[okie john]

I just cringe at the going rate now.

All the more reason to buy now. They're not going to get cheaper.


Okie John

[JEC]

@Lost River, a 4 5/8” FTBH is probably “The Answer” to my analysis paralysis. I just cringe at the going rate now.😂

Just a FYI, Ruger is building a run of Flattops in 45 Colt convertible, 357 convertible and Bisley 44 Special now for us. It's been a while since they have built any.

[feudist]

Has anyone ever handled or messed with a "Slip gun"? This is a different thing from the CAS technique of "slip firing" using the offhand to cock the hammer while holding the trigger back with the gun hand.
I read about the idea in Uncle Elmer's Sixguns. Apparently it was a brief thing in the late 19th and early years of the 20th century when the Colt SAA was still considered a top tier defensive pistol.
It's mentioned by McGivern and by Hatcher in their books.
This is alleged to be the Croft Slipgun mentioned in Sixguns.



As I understand it...The idea was to make the gun more reliable by removing some parts that frequently broke(19th century metallurgy) while simultaneously making the accurate rate of fire much higher, as in 6 shots at a thrown can with 4 hits, which seems...optimistic?. This was achieved by grasping the gun in the holster with the web of the thumb covering the hammer "peg" and using the weight of the gun as it's being drawn to cock the hammer. However, since the trigger is either tied back or removed entirely(another breakable notching surface removed from the equation) the eared back hammer "slips" from under the ball of the thumb and fire the gun.
Supposably this action could be repeated much faster and more accurately at gunfight ranges than thumb cocking and triggering. Elmer, natch, shot the Croft at 700 yards.

He wrote up the idea in the Febuary 1930 issue of The American Rifleman(available on line here:https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.ed...l?id=amerrifle)

I'd be interested to know if anyone has any historical more info or experience with these.
Imagine the bowel ructions something like this would cause today.

[BobM]

Just a FYI, Ruger is building a run of Flattops in 45 Colt convertible, 357 convertible and Bisley 44 Special now for us. It's been a while since they have built any.

Do you know the barrel length on the 357? Also, any 32 calibers on the horizon?

[JEC]

Do you know the barrel length on the 357? Also, any 32 calibers on the horizon?

4-5/8 and 5-1/2" models in both blue and stainless. We still have many models of Single Seven 327 Fed Mags on order, but no ETA on those right now.

[Dov]

Just a FYI, Ruger is building a run of Flattops in 45 Colt convertible, 357 convertible and Bisley 44 Special now for us. It's been a while since they have built any.

Anyone know how good/bad the convertible Rugers tend to be? I assume with the 357/9mm they tend to shoot better with on or the other?

The nerd in me has wanted one or two of each just because for some time.

[HeavyDuty]

Looking at shorty Vaqueros in .45 Colt and .44 Mag and I need to layout my thoughts and talk myself through them.

The .44 would see Specials and Russians only. The .45 would see light Colt, Schofield and ACP loads once I source an ACP cylinder. I have brass for all of those calibers (well, except for Schofield brass) and the use case is just for fun. Once an ACP cylinder is installed, that would probably be what I shot the most.

The .44 is local but would need the birds head grip frame swapped for a regular one (~$200 for grip frame and upgraded grips). The .45 is an online purchase and would need the ACP cylinder which appears to be hard to find right now.

What to do, what to do…and “both” isn’t an option.

My birdshead Vaq is a 5152, a dedicated .45 ACP model (not a convertible.) I’d like a second dedicated .45 ACP 4 5/8” with regular gripframe, but I have no fire in the belly to find one - it would probably have to be custom, I don’t think Ruger ever did one like this.

.45 ACP in a SA makes for a nice combination.