American Handgunner Jul/Aug 1981 - Jeffersonian

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The oWb Lat;eo~For "IQ B Bore fi I oh ~ By Jerry Ahern Photos By Sharon Ahern ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR caliber conversions in recent years has involved taking an N-frame Smith & Wesson-usually a Model 27 .357 Magnum or the .41 Magnum four-inch M&P-and converting to .45 Long Colt. To be sure, there were plenty of excellent single actions in the still popular frontier cartridge, but the Colt New Service was the last DA made in the round. The .45 Long Colt offered several advantages as a cartridge for defense and sporting use. The big, 25D-grain lead bullet was a proven manstopper and when handloaded with modern bullets the veteran cartridge was excellent in the field. And, this performance potential could be realized in a non-magnum cartridge-hence lesser recoil and pressure. The only double action revolver available in any .45 caliber round was the Smith & Wesson Model 25 1955 Target, but this only in ACP and Auto Rim. To use factory ammo with better than the standard military ball performance, the Auto Rim had to be abandoned and the ACP round used with three-round half-moon clips. Then, Smith & Wesson startled the shooting public with the announcement of a limited edition 125th Anniversary commemorative Model 25 in .45 Long Colt. The relatively few guns produced were enormously popular and most P\ liO \ lier 00 erL::::; likelynev~rshot,especi~llythosewit~special V V 1 V' V 125th Anmversary markmgs. But the Idea ofa .45 LC d.a. that actually came that way from the factory was even more popular. Roy Jinks, Smith & Wesson historian and noted firearms author, indicated that offering a production .45 LC version ofthe 34 AMERICAN HANDGUNNER· JULYIAUGUST 1981
Model 25 wouldn't be quite as simple as one might imagine, this as he gestured towards a display rack of new Smith & Wesson handguns at the 1978 National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers Show in November ofthat year. One ofthe guns he gestured to was a Smith & Wesson Model 25-5-in .45 Long Colt. Jinks and others at Smith & Wesson had wanted a longer cylinder if the gun was to be made at all-not a standard Model 25 but chambered for the Long Colt round. This was it. Meanwfiile, the new .45 revolver demanded a few thingsnamely the new Federal 225-grain lead hollow point semiwadcutter load and a suitable holster. The obvious choice was Lawman Leathers Dirty Harry Holster. Made for the six and one-half-inch 29 in .44 Magnum, it would easily accommodate any caliber N-frame with similar barrel length. And similar is the word. Smith has standardized its N-frame barrel lengths to 4,6,8 inch-no more 3\12 inch or 5V2 inch Model 27 .357, the 8¥s inch N-frames. And no more the 6V2. The Model 25-5 was a six-inch. When it arrived at the cooperating dealer's shop, it was hard to imagine proprietor Sid Harper grinning any wider. The 25-5 is that impressive. The 25-5 is available in the customary three barrel lengthsfour, six and eight. The rear sight is windage and elevation adjustable, the fixed front ramp featuring a bright red insert, easy to pick up in the white outlined rear notch. Grips are the Goncalo Alves oversize target stocks, hand-filling and leaving plenty of room for constructive whittling if the owner wishes to alter the profile. The trigger is the grooved target type, case hardened, as is the wide-spur checkered target hammer. The 25-5 is cased in a French-fitted walnut presentation box, the gun complete with cleaning rod and accessories. The Lawman Leather holster, comfortable with a big gun such as this, is easily adjustable to any average sized person. Women or very Left: Tile gun looles grea' In a DirtyHarry type 1I0ls'er. Hols'er Is.yLawman and ammo.yFederal. Tile .arrel Is 6'~ Tills gun Is proof.posl,lve ,lIa' Sml,1I responds '0 slloo'er In'eres'. Lef,: Here's 'lie long.awal,ed, new saw Model 25·5 In a nifty Frencll. fitted presen'a"on case. " lias a Y2" sllor'er .arrel ,lIan 'lie gun Sml,1I used for ~lIe 125'" Anniversary .ut spor's a· sllglltly longer cylinder. small men might find the rig a bit oversized. With the unique cylinder cut out in the holster, surrounded by spring steel, the Dirty Harry holds the 25-5 comfortably and securely. modern gun, it was decided to test the 25-5 with only modern ammo-the new Federal round. At a nearby outdoor testing facility the 25-5 proved its mettle. Because ofthe 225 gr. bullet ofthe new Federal round and the hotter loading, recoil with the 25-5 was noticeable, yet not at all unpleasant. At twenty-one feet, then again at thirty feet, cloverleafing with the 25-5 was more the rule than the exception. Going back out to fifty feet, firing from a modified kneeling position, this writer was able to obtain consistent groups ofabout three inches-and yours truly isn't noted for marksmanship. The technical aspects of the 25-5 were just what one expects from a top-of-the line Smith revolver: indexing was accurate; lockup achieved well before the hammer reached full stand; cylinder alignment was even, with no wobble when the cylinder was spun open and consistently even light areas showing between the cylinder and the crane and frame. Single action trigger pull was even and broke cleanly with minimal overtravel, while DA pull was steady and smooth. This new Smith & Wesson is a gun American shooters have been looking for for quite a long time, and proof that Smith & Wesson does respond to shooter demand and is just as interested in the sportsman as the policeman. Yet, with the 25-5 in .45 Long Colt, Smith & Wesson has catered to both. On the frontier, the .45 Colt round was used for game shooting, defense against predators, enforcing the law and ordinary self-defense. The new .45 Colt sixgun-the one from Smith & Wesson-will have no less versatile a future. And, this new gun in this massive non-magnum caliber may be the first step towards high performance handguns without magnum recoil-a dramatic step backward in time but forward in technology. As this is written, suggested retail for the six-inch Model 25-5 is $419.83, and the guns are in full production and available on dealer's shelves, though with their popularity you may ~ spend a good amount of time hunting one down. ~ AMERICAN HANDGUNNER· JULYIAUGUST 1981 35
Page 2 and 3: Like every Model 700, the BDL has o
Page 4 and 5: AMERICAII JULY/ AUGUST 1981, Vol. 6
Page 6 and 7: MO~~~Rlp· • S & W: SQUARE BUTT K
Page 8 and 9: I The Magnificent Beretta MINX .22
Page 10 and 11: INDUSTRY INSIDER JERRY RAKUSAN the
Page 12 and 13: SILUETAS PHILIP C. BRIGGS NRA SILHO
Page 14 and 15: COMBAT SHOOTERS now have a low cost
Page 17 and 18: , . Wh~n you go to pick a firearm,
Page 19 and 20: 397••ON. The Colt Trooper MKII!
Page 21 and 22: Making a high performance optical s
Page 23 and 24: Complet .45 Combat Modifications Sp
Page 25 and 26: BULLSEYE BANDGUN ACCESSORIES .The C
Page 27 and 28: Not Eve!)' La"" OHicer Qualifies In
Page 29 and 30: ise, and found himselflooking down
Page 31 and 32: for comfort-the seeds ofhis gun wer
Page 33: EVERY POSTER A COLLECTOR'S ITEM HUR
Page 37 and 38: B. WITT GUN WORKS (Carl Witt), 4020
Page 39 and 40: Ikey's trigger jobs are among the b
Page 41 and 42: tions had to be exactly right, it w
Page 43 and 44: Your Initiation To The Big Boomers
Page 47 and 48: .. 47
Page 49 and 50: OM H-S PRECISION The first time tha
Page 51 and 52: A new dimension to the study oftoda
Page 53 and 54: .22 SILHOUEnES THE .22 PISTOL A wor
Page 55 and 56: good clean IV2 pounds and still pro
Page 57 and 58: SIGHT SETTINGS (Continued from page
Page 59 and 60: HANDLOADING (Continued from page 22
Page 61 and 62: Can you imagine what happens when t
Page 63 and 64: J960 Colt SheriH's Model .45 calibe
Page 65 and 66: ASP (Armament Systems & The Carpent
Page 67 and 68: HANDLOADING (Continued from page 59
Page 69 and 70: Buy One IfJBl1 Book, Get One Free!
Page 71 and 72: loosened, the bottom end of the wel
Page 73 and 74: this assignment, of course. The ind
Page 75 and 76: lose velocity potential because of
Page 77 and 78: ngton 2112 primer, as will17.5/Blue
Page 79 and 80: into Open standing class (legal und
Page 81 and 82: All the big shots read GUNS. it off
Page 83 and 84: sure that the barrel lugs mate perf
Page 85 and 86:
HANDGUN HUNTING (Continued from pag
Page 87 and 88:
only 5000 rounds through either P9S
Page 89 and 90:
NEW S&W GUNS (Continued from page 4
Page 91 and 92:
REDHAWK VS M29 (Continued from page
Page 93 and 94:
Customize your own gun with the lam
Page 96:
·ous. That's the best word to escr
show all

American Handgunner Jul/Aug 1981 - Jeffersonian

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?