Present from the wife, SW 1854 45 colt.
Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2024 12:13 pm
Well, I couldn't resist. My BBX is at henry for warranty work, but I missed shooting 45 colt. I picked this up locally, and pulled all my loads for my henry as test units.
I shot about 300 rounds yesterday and another 100 today.
All the testing was at 50 yds. It does well.
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Group 9
So what do I think of it? It's better out of the box than my henry bbx. It was more accurate with just about every load. Like the henry there are a couple of cast lead issues. It didn't care for the 200grn lead swc I have (with this powder) or the random box of 250-grain lead rnfp. The randoms were with a 4" group at 50 yds. Some of that might have been me; I'd been running the gun straight for over an hour, taking notes and trying for groups. I put 60 rounds of the randoms into my steel plates (6" and 8") at 50 yds and only missed twice.
It did not like Hornaday 300-grain xtp at all. Again, it could have been me. I shot those two groups prior to the randoms, but it was, at best, a 5" group. I think that these might work better with a powder like Unique versus cfe-p.
The straight trigger doesn't bother me at all. Which is quite nice because I despise them on pistols. I found the lever to be good. It's only got 400 rounds through it. It's not nearly as smooth as my 45 colt was when I sent it in. It has improved in that 400 rounds of shooting. The mag tube dump feature isn't probably going to be of use to me, (the henry isn't either) as i run a muzzle device and a can.
The cross bolt safety. I've forgotten it is there. I leave the chamber empty, load tube, and then chamber a round. As for rounds, depending on COAL, I can fit 9 in the tube and 1 in the chamber.
How is the fit and finish? Good, very good. I like the stock better than the Henry; it fits my eye height perfectly. (this is the same scope and rings that were on my Henry BBX 45colt. I needed a comb riser for it.
Down sides, 11/16x 24 threads. Yeah, I'm waiting on a muzzle device so I can try this suppressed. The lever was much stiffer out of the box than the henry, and it was harder when the gun was not perfectly vertical. It's a thousand times better now. I bet in a few hundred rounds it will be the cats meow.
So, in general, how did it do accuracy-wise? Yesterday, it took me about 40 rounds to get it sighted in. The scope that was on the BBX was 2 feet to the right. Once i got it on, it handled everything from 200 grain lSWC (blue bullets) to blue bullets 320grn rnfp, well. So well, that I kept shooting for poops and giggles instead of chronographing everything. I also didn't put up new targets. The gun was quite hot when I was done. I was simply having too much fun, and I guess that should say all that needs to be said.
This is the target from the 320grain RNFP I shot last night.
So, I've not shot any (ruger, TC, Freedom arms) 45 colt loads through this yet. Actually, I didn't shoot any Rifle load data rounds through it yesterday, either. So, that is one area I've not tested.
I shot about 300 rounds yesterday and another 100 today.
All the testing was at 50 yds. It does well.
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Group 9
So what do I think of it? It's better out of the box than my henry bbx. It was more accurate with just about every load. Like the henry there are a couple of cast lead issues. It didn't care for the 200grn lead swc I have (with this powder) or the random box of 250-grain lead rnfp. The randoms were with a 4" group at 50 yds. Some of that might have been me; I'd been running the gun straight for over an hour, taking notes and trying for groups. I put 60 rounds of the randoms into my steel plates (6" and 8") at 50 yds and only missed twice.
It did not like Hornaday 300-grain xtp at all. Again, it could have been me. I shot those two groups prior to the randoms, but it was, at best, a 5" group. I think that these might work better with a powder like Unique versus cfe-p.
The straight trigger doesn't bother me at all. Which is quite nice because I despise them on pistols. I found the lever to be good. It's only got 400 rounds through it. It's not nearly as smooth as my 45 colt was when I sent it in. It has improved in that 400 rounds of shooting. The mag tube dump feature isn't probably going to be of use to me, (the henry isn't either) as i run a muzzle device and a can.
The cross bolt safety. I've forgotten it is there. I leave the chamber empty, load tube, and then chamber a round. As for rounds, depending on COAL, I can fit 9 in the tube and 1 in the chamber.
How is the fit and finish? Good, very good. I like the stock better than the Henry; it fits my eye height perfectly. (this is the same scope and rings that were on my Henry BBX 45colt. I needed a comb riser for it.
Down sides, 11/16x 24 threads. Yeah, I'm waiting on a muzzle device so I can try this suppressed. The lever was much stiffer out of the box than the henry, and it was harder when the gun was not perfectly vertical. It's a thousand times better now. I bet in a few hundred rounds it will be the cats meow.
So, in general, how did it do accuracy-wise? Yesterday, it took me about 40 rounds to get it sighted in. The scope that was on the BBX was 2 feet to the right. Once i got it on, it handled everything from 200 grain lSWC (blue bullets) to blue bullets 320grn rnfp, well. So well, that I kept shooting for poops and giggles instead of chronographing everything. I also didn't put up new targets. The gun was quite hot when I was done. I was simply having too much fun, and I guess that should say all that needs to be said.
This is the target from the 320grain RNFP I shot last night.
So, I've not shot any (ruger, TC, Freedom arms) 45 colt loads through this yet. Actually, I didn't shoot any Rifle load data rounds through it yesterday, either. So, that is one area I've not tested.