SHOTLOADS(Continued from page 25)of the countersink. The end needs to beflat and smooth, perpendicular to thelength of the dowel. Pin or glue the dowelin place. Pinning is best unless you happento have some "Super Glue" or similarcyanoacrylate adhesive handy. This isyour "crimping die," used with a hammerand care. Place a prepared case uprighton a smooth, solid surface. Put the dieover the case mouth, aligning it carefully.Now rap the top of the die with a plastichammer. A little practice will teach youhow hard to strike. The chamfered edgeof the pipe will turn the case mouth overthe plastic wad, while the dowel keepsthe wad from jumping out or becomingcocked in the process. After crimping,your full-charge, .44 Bulldog, shot load isfinished. Depending to some degree onthe wads you have used, and the wallthickness of the .30-40 brass, these loadswill contain up to $5 ounce of number 9shot-and that is about 285 pellets. Thisis the shot-charge equivalent of a standard.410 gauge shotshell load.The short, three-inch, rifled barrel isn'tdesigned to produce optimum patternswith naked shot. There isn't any choke,and the spiral rifling not only deformsshot pellets but tends to swirl them outinto a doughnut-like spread at any greatrange. Compared to a proper, choked,smoothbore barrel, the results are lessthan ideal. However, the purpose of asmall-gun shot load is serious use atranges measured more in feet than inyards. Under those conditions, most, ifnot all, of the shot charge will be on targetand will have considerable penetration.At ten feet, this load (in a .44 Bulldog) willput enough of its pellets on a No. 2 tomatocan to knock it galley-west and well perforated.And, there's no reason you can'tcarry a couple of these loads in yourBulldog, along with a trice of standardball loads.Actually, shot-load performance can beimproved a bit, but it will cost you theprice of a new Bulldog cylinder. On theother hand, it will eliminate the need forextra resizing and for that odd crimpingdie. You can get a spare cylinder (assumingyou want to retain the gun's originality)and ream its chambers straightthrough. Do this with a 7116-112 inch expansionreamer, opening up the chamberthroats until they are a straight extensionof the chamber. Then, prepare and fireformcases exactly as before. They'llcome out straight, rather than bottlenecked.Loading proceeds exactly as before,except that there'll be no bottle-neck tointerfere with wad-seating and there willby George Nontebe more room for shot. This time, youmay resize full length in a standard .44Special die. You'll also be able to crimpthe over-shot wad in place in a standard.44 Special or .44 Magnum seatlcrimpdie. Just run the seating screw down tohold the wad in place, then adjust the dieupward to produce a proper crimp on thelonger case.If you're worried about not being ableto use bulleted cartridges in the alteredcylinder, don't; you can. Don't use standardcartridges. If you do, the bullet willupset to fill the oversize chamber, andwill place excessive stress on the barrelforcing cone as it is swaged down. Theresult is likely to be a split forcing cone.Instead, just load wadcutter bullets (ofusual .44 Special diameter and weight)into the cylinder-length cases. Seat themflush with the case mouth and crimpingsecurely. Lacking wadcutter bullets,simply invert any standard bullet andload in the same manner. Most effectivein this sort of load is Lyman number429422, a hollow-base, semi-wadcutter,cast verv soft. and loaded inverted toform a massive, cup-point bullet thatopens up in target almost like a grenade.In short, the Charter Arms Bulldog offersthe ideal vehicle for a small-gun/shot-load combination. You have to makethe ammo yourself, but afterthat it's downhill all the way.One of the world's best known writers sets the stage for this,book which, because of even tighter government regulations,becomes more important to handgun owners every day. Theacquisition of skills necessary to do everything from the simplework of touching up a blueing job to the more complicated rebuildingand accurizing is made easier with the step-by-stepadvice. Pistols, revolvers and automatic pistols can be fixed,improved, and maintained properly following directions forwelding brazing, soldering, hardening, tempering, revolver tuningand timinsmfinishing and more, completely illustrated withphotos and drawings.r -----------------GUNS MAGAZINE1 Book Dept., Suite 200,591 Camino de la Rolna, ATM, San Diego, CA 921081 Please forward ____ copy(s) of PISTOLSMITHING. Enclosedis $14.95 plus 50Ã postage and handling per book.1 NAMEII ADDRESSIS T A T F 7 1 P -1Allow 6 weeks for deliveryAMERICAN HANDGUNNER JULYIAUGUST <strong>1978</strong>
Here's what makesDan Wesson revolvers unique:, '.'QUICKSHFT inter. tiangeable barrelassemblies, availab ? in Z1/2", 4" 6"and 8" lengths. For i irget models 10".12" and 15" lengths re also availableas are 4 styles of bai el shrouds: regular,regular with vei tilated rib, heavy,heavy with ventilat d rib.QUICKSHIFT interchangeable walnutand zebrawood grips in four styles:Target (smooth or checkered walnutor zebrawood). Combat (smooth walnut),Sacramento (smooth walnut) orTraditional (smooth or checkeredwalnut). A walnut blank, inletted tofit the gun, is available for those whowish to carve their own grip.QUICKSHIFT interchangeable frontsight blades with red inserts are standardon all target models. Yellow andwhite arealso available.r"Con tillationson t e verv bestrevolver I have everheld in my hand!"officer Gerald E. Wheeler, VirginiaShown: Model .15-2VH8 withoptional checkeredzebrawood targetgripFor the past couple of years we've been tellingyou how great our Dan Wesson revolvers Are. Howthey're THE MOST ACCURATE, MOST VERSATILE,MOST DEPENDABLE .38/.357 magnum doubleactionrevolvers on the market.. . BAR NONE.Then a lot of you started telling us the same thing and now we'reswamped with letters from people all over the country saying the mostincredible things about our guns. Frankly, we're really excited! Wenever expected such a terrific response. Just look what they're saying!"This has to be the best handgun produced in the world today."Robert T. Cassidy, Massachusetts"The versatility of the gun with 2%" to 15" barrels is unbelievable!"Tom Wheeler, Georgia"The most accurate handgun I have held in my hand."Norm Doyal, Texas"I think these are the finest firearms available for today's policeman."Jay Scott, Missouri"It's hard for me to believe that I could get such a quality gun for such a reasonableprice."Paul Mangold, California"You are producing a superb revolver embodying the tradition of oldtime workmanshipwith innovative design."Robert N. Newton, Pennsylvania"Your service does iusticeto the quality of your fine arms andproves the value of your warranty."Ashley Lane, North CarolinaUnique placement of the cylinderlatch close to the barrel-cylinder gapstabilizes the cylinder in its alignmentto the barrel, aiding accuracy.A wnne oumne on me rear sightis standard equipment on all targetmodels.Five year warrantyon every revolverFor more informationwrite Dept. 16sDan Wesson A"My new Dan Wesson 15-2VH is thebest gun I own. "Bleep and Bleep"and "Bleep" just lost a customerand you have gained one."Bob McGarity, GeorgiaIsn't it time you stepped upto a Dan Wesson?293 Main StreetMonson. Massachusetts 01057 (4131267-4081 made in Monson, Massachusetts U.S.A.
- Page 1: " I THE AMERICANAUNOFFICIAL MAGAZIN
- Page 6 and 7: INDUSTRY INSIDERBy MASSAD F. AYOOB
- Page 8 and 9: -NIARLES C THOMAS-PUBLISHEI- I?r ?I
- Page 10 and 11: -'.. : ,,. . .{b-.$, \:..', -.,.IOO
- Page 12 and 13: SNUBmNOSEDREVOLVER1 FREE: Targets a
- Page 14 and 15: PA DISSENTING VIEW ON MAGAZINE SAFE
- Page 16 and 17: The New PistolcraftAt Jeff Cooper's
- Page 19 and 20: The Evolution ofModem PistolcraftBy
- Page 21 and 22: Sykes back in the 1930's. This prov
- Page 23 and 24: Charter544 Bi^gShot LoadsBy GEORGE
- Page 25 and 26: Throat opening can be done with cas
- Page 27 and 28: Now you see it trimmed down to mana
- Page 29 and 30: , .- - A --.-ng. As analternative,
- Page 31 and 32: Little is known of his second ventu
- Page 33 and 34: engaging the cartridge case groove
- Page 35 and 36: AMERICAN HANDGUNNER . JULYIAUGUST 1
- Page 37 and 38: II ShootingIll Law EnforcementPart
- Page 39 and 40: neared completion, factory manageme
- Page 41 and 42: Smith & Wesson Model 595107 Rear Si
- Page 43 and 44: By MASSAD F. AYOOBT THE time of the
- Page 45 and 46: when an automatic is adopted. One r
- Page 47 and 48: of WW 296 in CDM cases sparked by C
- Page 49: Zen, a td, lean, mustached western
- Page 53 and 54: Cutter T-1 is the most delicate of
- Page 55 and 56: standing Handgun Hunter Award is Da
- Page 57 and 58: INTRODUCTION TO 39/59(Continued fro
- Page 60 and 61: ''mentioning the fact that, with th
- Page 62 and 63: The .a57 MagnumHE .357 Magnum was d
- Page 64 and 65: Durable liaht weiaht cast aluminum
- Page 66 and 67: exceeds this record of rejection-af
- Page 68 and 69: 1 fire the first shot DA anyhammers
- Page 70 and 71: THE AMERICAN. . . the only magazine
- Page 72: When your 22 has to do more than it
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