American Handgunner May/June 1978

happening is increased if the firing-pinspring happens to be a bit weak~and inour experience this is often the case. Whathappens is that the gun comes to anabrupt halt while the firing pin tends tocontinue forward of its own momentumand-if the impact is hard enougkvercomeits spring and strike the primer; thismay only mark the primer lightly, or itmay fire it. The other way is actually justopposite in that the gun is dropped andstrikes a hard surface on its hammer spurand/or grip-safety tang; if the hammer isfully down and the impact is sharpenough, the firing pin can rebound off thehammer face, perhaps with sufficientforce to overcome its spring and strike theprimer. The probability of the firing pinacquiring enough energy in this fashion toactually fire a primer is slight; but onesuch incident was reported to me about adecade ago.It isn't common knowledge, evenamong .45 Auto buffs, but forty-odd yearsago Colt began equipping the G.M. serieswith a firing-pin safety just to prevent suchoccurences. Unfortunately, this was justbefore WWII, and when wartime productionof the big .45 began, the safety wasdeleted. It was not reinstated after the war,most likely for economic reasons. Thisautomatic safety functioned in such amanner that the firing pin was mechanicallylocked to the rear (in its retractedposition) at all times except whenthe trigger was deliberately held to therear. Obviously, the presence of this safetywould prevent the malfunctions just described.At present, there isn't any practical andeconomic way to fit a firing pin safety tothe G.M. pistol-though I know of at leastone custom pistolsmith who is developingjust such a device for after-market installation.The first step you can take towardprevention is to make certain that the firing-pinis not weak; if in doubt, replace itwith a new one from Colt (not one from asurplus-parts dealer which, may be wellused).A more effective step in this directionis to obtain from Wolff Spring Co.(Box 232, Ardmore, Pa. 19003) an''Extra-Power" firing pin spring and installit in the gun. This spring is stifferthan the factory supplied-item and substantiallydecreases the probability thatdropping the gun will cause the primer tobe struck by the firing pin. You'll immediatelybe able to tell the difference betweenthis spring and the stock item, andit costs but little. The Wolff spring ismade stiffer, but not so stiff as to causeignition problems, providing that themainspring is full strength; if the latterhas taken a set from use, or is kinked, orhas been shortened in an effort to reducethe trigger pull and cocking effort, thenthe hammer blow may not be heavyenough to overcome the Wolff firing pinspring and produce consistent ignition.Again, if there exists any doubt at all, Isuggest replacingthe . . mainspring with anew one, also from Wolff. Wolff is alsothe major source for all manner of handgunreplacement springs, both modifiedand standard. I've used them for manyyears with complete satisfaction.While no such item is currently available,a lighter-weight firing pin would alsohelp, but too much reduction in weightwould cause ignition problems unlesscompensated for by a more powerfulmainspring producing heavier hammerblow.Quite frankly, I would like very much tosee Colt do a little imaginative work inthis area-a few minor modifications tothe ignition system of the G.M. wouldmake a fine gun even betterin regard to safety.ByGEORGEBREDSTENHANDGUN CARTRIDGES FOR BIG GAME-PART IllHE .38 Special handgunlcartridgeT combination can be very accurateand, with proper loads, powerful enoughto take Category I: A big game. Althoughacceptable loads can be fired through themedium frame revolvers, the better .38Special loads should be fired throughlarge frame revolvers; e.g., the Colt SingleAction Armv or the S&W 38/44 Outdoorsman.However, these revolvers arenot only scarce, they are also heavierand/or bulkier than some of the .357 Magnumrevolvers currently available. Onecould load maximum performance .38Special ammunition that would be safeONLY in the T/C Contender or .357 Magnumrevolvers, but the practice cannotgenerally be recommended. Thus, formost big game handgun hunting purposes,the .38 Special can be consideredas having been superceded by the .357Magnum.Whenever the .357 Magnum is mentioned,either favorably or unfavorably,there often follows some of the strangestdemonstrations of rationalization likely tobe witnessed this side of a mental institution.Many .nowhandgunners and evensome handgunners of limited experiencecontinue to believe the .357 Magnum tobe a hand held piece of ordnance havingthe power of a howitzer! Even well knownhandgunners are sometimes given to makingodd utterances. For example, one authorrecently wrote that he considers the.357 Magnum to be suitable for use onanimals to but not exceeding the size ofpeccary. Thus far each of,,& would re-. -spect-if not agree with-the man's opinion.However, in another publication, thesame author describes a jaguar huntwhere he carries and intends to use a Colt.38 Super.Now an adult jaguar would have to besuffering from extreme malnutrition orsome other debilitating affliction not toexceed the size of an adult peccary (Collaredor White-lipped species), and whilethe .38 Super is a fine handguncartridge-neither as appreciated nor aspopular as it perhaps should be-it is ballisticallyinferior to the .357 Magnum. If itis not odd that individual bias can somehowenhance the capability of a favoritecartridge to the degree that the cartridgecan perform beyond its potential, 'tis certainlyconvenient!Although many different .357 Magnumloads have been and are being used totake big game, handgun hunters reportingbig game kills to ABGHA indicate a decidedpreference for bullets (cast and/orjacketed) of from 140 to 175 grains. Thefavored jacketed bullets include the Speer140 gr. HP, the Sierra 150 gr. JHC,,theRemington 158 gr. SJHP (B22938), andthe W-W 158 gr. JHP (B3574HP). Themore popular cast bullets include theHensley & Gibbs (H&G) numbers 43 and51; the Lyman numbers 358156,358429,358439 and 358477. A few handgunhunters reported using the Remington125 gr. SJHP (B22866), the Sierra 125gr. JHC or the Speer 125 gr. JHP, andlisted performance as satisfactory only ifbroadside shots were made directly into*' Â ¥ 7, , AMERICAN HANDGUNNER MAY/JUNE 1978