I've been just itching to shoot this old sixgun, made around 1873. It is a 2nd Model American, 44 Russian model, commercial version, with an 8" barrel. Photo is shown below ...
It was a bit cool outside today when I went to the range. We have an indoor range, but I wanted to chronograph the loads, so set my target up in the snow, at 25 yards. Here's a photo of the set up ....
First, I wanted to see how accurate this old sixgun is, so I set up a sandbag on a block and squeezed off 5 shots at 25 yards. Remembering the old gunfighter's advice to aim for the belt buckle, I aimed at the bottom edge of the paper. The 5 shots gave a group of 2 & 5/8". These were the very first shots I'd ever taken with this old pistol and I'm sure the group would improve with a bit of practice with these sights, but here's a photo of the group ...
The load (12.5 grains of 5744 under a 256 grain Keith bullet) chronographed at 770 fps, with an E.S. of 45 fps and a S.D. of 17 fps. I also chronographed 5 shots taken with my original NM#3 with the somewhat rare 6" barrel and got about the same average velocity (774 fps with the shorter barreled NM#3). What I noticed is that the 2nd Model American's grip felt much better in my hand than the grip of the NM#3. I wondered why they had changed the grip to something more uncomfortable.
Then I wondered how this old 2nd Model American shot offhand. I'm not a good pistol shot be any stretch of the imagination, but I'm working on it. I fired off 20 rounds offhand at 25 yards. Some of the shots in my first 10 rounds drifted off to the right, but the next 10 shots were mostly in the black. Here's a photo of the target ....
As you can see, I ain't no fancy pistol shot, but it was dadgummed cold and my fingers were getting numb. I guess I've gotten a bit soft over the summer. Winter will fix that. Since I didn't seem to be drifting off to the right anymore, I put up a new target and shot the remaining 18 rounds offhand at 25 yards. These shots were numbers 31 to 48 and I was getting a bit sloppy and the fingers weren't getting any warmer. Always handy to have an excuse. Anyway, here's the final target showing my final 18 shots ....
All told, I put 43 rounds through this fine old sixgun and I'm very happy with the way it shoots. It does not shoot as high as the NM #3 (which shoots about 14" above POA). Before I packed up, I figured I'd take a picture of the Old Geezer himself, holding the two old sixguns and peering through the icicles. I had a good time, even if it was a bit chilly out.
It was a bit cool outside today when I went to the range. We have an indoor range, but I wanted to chronograph the loads, so set my target up in the snow, at 25 yards. Here's a photo of the set up ....
First, I wanted to see how accurate this old sixgun is, so I set up a sandbag on a block and squeezed off 5 shots at 25 yards. Remembering the old gunfighter's advice to aim for the belt buckle, I aimed at the bottom edge of the paper. The 5 shots gave a group of 2 & 5/8". These were the very first shots I'd ever taken with this old pistol and I'm sure the group would improve with a bit of practice with these sights, but here's a photo of the group ...
The load (12.5 grains of 5744 under a 256 grain Keith bullet) chronographed at 770 fps, with an E.S. of 45 fps and a S.D. of 17 fps. I also chronographed 5 shots taken with my original NM#3 with the somewhat rare 6" barrel and got about the same average velocity (774 fps with the shorter barreled NM#3). What I noticed is that the 2nd Model American's grip felt much better in my hand than the grip of the NM#3. I wondered why they had changed the grip to something more uncomfortable.
Then I wondered how this old 2nd Model American shot offhand. I'm not a good pistol shot be any stretch of the imagination, but I'm working on it. I fired off 20 rounds offhand at 25 yards. Some of the shots in my first 10 rounds drifted off to the right, but the next 10 shots were mostly in the black. Here's a photo of the target ....
As you can see, I ain't no fancy pistol shot, but it was dadgummed cold and my fingers were getting numb. I guess I've gotten a bit soft over the summer. Winter will fix that. Since I didn't seem to be drifting off to the right anymore, I put up a new target and shot the remaining 18 rounds offhand at 25 yards. These shots were numbers 31 to 48 and I was getting a bit sloppy and the fingers weren't getting any warmer. Always handy to have an excuse. Anyway, here's the final target showing my final 18 shots ....
All told, I put 43 rounds through this fine old sixgun and I'm very happy with the way it shoots. It does not shoot as high as the NM #3 (which shoots about 14" above POA). Before I packed up, I figured I'd take a picture of the Old Geezer himself, holding the two old sixguns and peering through the icicles. I had a good time, even if it was a bit chilly out.
