A month or so ago I wrote a blog about Lee’s .357 Magnum Deluxe 4-die set. I liked those dies so much I picked up a Lee 4-die set in .44 Magnum. I am similarly pleased with this latest set of dies. There’s too much info to fit into one blog post, so I’m presenting it in three blogs:
This first blog is about the four different dies, what each does, and the parts in each die. Lee’s engineering is superior, and this blog showcases it.
A second blog will focus on installing each die in my loading press, and how to adjust the dies to make world class .44 Magnum ammunition. Watch for this blog within the week.
A third (and concluding) blog reveals how ammunition loaded with the Lee dies performed. The ammo was stellar and I’m a believer. Lee’s Deluxe 4-die set is a magnificent product and it makes magnificent ammunition. But don’t take my word for it. You’ll see it in the groups I shot. The accuracy blog will post in about two weeks.
So, here we go. When I reload, I start with fired ammo brass cartridge cases, like you see below.
Fired .44 Magnum ammo brass cases, loaded into the vibratory cleaner. The vibratory cleaner polishes the brass cartridge cases. This makes the cases look good, but more importantly, it prevents them from slipping rearward against the cylinder walls when the reloaded ammo is fired.
And when I finish, this is what I have…newly reloaded ammunition as good as or better than factory ammo, at a fraction of the cost of factory ammo. That “as good as or better than factory ammo” descriptor is misleading. My ammo is better.
A box of reloaded .44 Magnum ammo, custom tailored to my requirements, and capable of superior accuracy.
As most of you know, a gun chambered in .44 Magnum can also shoot .44 Special ammo (just like a .357 Magnum can shoot .38 Special). .44 Magnum dies can be used for reloading .44 Special ammo.
The label for each Lee die set is a printed instruction and load data sheet. The boxes are indexed and they stack nicely.
Lee dies come in a hard plastic case with a clear cover. The cover is removed by inserting a flat blade screwdriver on either side.
The plastic cover needs a little coaxing with a flat blade screwdriver to open. The cover includes a recess for screwdriver insertion.
The Lee label unfolds to reveal directions on using the dies along with a bunch of other information, including several suggested loads. Over the last five decades, I’ve found a few .44 Magnum loads I like, and in particular, I have a favorite load I shoot in the Ruger Super Blackhawk. I will share more of that with you in the next blog in this series.
The Lee instruction sheet includes load data and other information.
Lee’s Deluxe 4-die set consists of four dies, a shellholder, and a powder cup:
A carbide sizing die.
An expander die.
A bullet seating die.
A factory crimp die.
Here’s what the die set looks like after you remove the cover.
The Lee .44 Magnum/.44 Special Deluxe 4-die set. From left to right, it’s the factory crimp die, the expander die, the yellow powder cup, the shellholder, the bullet seating die, and the sizer die.
1. Sizing Die
The sizing die is a sizing and decapping die. When this die is installed in the reloading press and a fired brass case is inserted into it by raising the press ram, two things occur:
The cartridge case is resized to its original diameter (it expanded when the cartridge was fired, so it needs to be resized to specification dimensions). The Lee die is a carbide die, which means is has a very hard carbide steel tube inside the die body. Because it is a carbide die, there’s no need to lubricate the cartridge cases for the resizing operation (like you have to do with plain steel dies). Carbide dies are much preferred for this reason.
The used primer is pushed out of the cartridge case (this is the decapping operation).
Here’s the sizing die.
The Lee sizing die. The red arrow points to the locking collar.
Here’s the sizing die from the bottom:
The top arrow points to the locking ring. It has an oring that holds the locking ring in place. The locking ring is screwed down on the threaded die body to lock the die body in place. The middle arrow points to the carbide sizing insert. The center ring points to the decapping pin, which pushes the spent primer out of the cartridge case.
Viewed from above, the decapping pin is secured by a threaded collet that screws into the die body. It’s a good approach because if there is an obstruction (if the pin hits the case bottom rather than the primer through hole, or if the primer through hole is blocked), the decapping pin simply pushes up in the threaded collet nut. This prevents bending or breaking.
The upper arrow points to the top of the decapping pin. The lower arrow points to the threaded collet that secures the decapping pin in the die body.
2. Expander Die
Once the cartridge case has been resized in the sizer die, it needs to be opened up slightly and the case mouth needs to be flared to allow a new bullet to be started in the case. This is accomplished with the expander die. Like each die in the Lee Deluxe 4-die set, this die includes a locking ring to lock the die in the reloading press. Some reloaders charge the case (add powder to the case) during the expander die operation. I don’t reload this way, and I don’t know any reloaders who do.
The Lee expander die consists of six components. These are:
The die body.
The locking ring and its oring.
An oring between the die body and the through hole insert.
An expander.
The through hole insert.
These components are shown in the photo below.
Expander die parts. The die body, the locking ring, and the oring are shown as a subassembly on the left. The arrow points to the expander. The part on the right is the powder through hole insert.
The expander slides up in the die body when a cartridge case is inserted by the press ram. When it reaches the end of its travel, a ramp in the expander plug creates a flare on the case mouth. This is what will allow a new bullet to be inserted in the cartridge case. In the photo below, the expander plug is inverted from its installed orientation to allow a better view of this ramp
The arrows point to the ramped surface that creates a flare in the case mouth.
You might wonder why there is a powder through hole component at the top of the expander die, and why the ramped expander plug is allowed to move up and down as a cartridge case is inserted into the expander die. The through hole allows inserting powder into the case with the powder cup (which I don’t use). Other Lee reloading gear uses the expander plug up and down motion to activate automatic powder dispensing devices (this is the approach used on Lee’s progressive reloaders).
The business end of the Lee expander die. The red arrow points to the expander plug as the cartridge case sees it.The cartridge case on the left has not been through the expander; the cartridge case on the right has been through the expander. Notice the very slight flare on the right cartridge case mouth. This will allow starting a bullet into the case.
3. Bullet Seating Die
The bullet seating die is the third die in the Lee Deluxe 4-die set. This one is a bit more complicated than the first two because there are two adjustments, and this die can also be used as a crimping die. With the 4-die set, I am not going to use this die for crimping. I am only going to use it for seating the bullet to its required position in the cartridge case.
The bullet seating die is shown below.
The bullet seating die. The upper arrow points to the bullet seating adjuster, the middle arrow points to the die body, and the lower arrow points to the locking ring.
Here’s Lee’s illustration of the bullet seating die.
From the outside, the bullet seating die and the factory crimp die appear to be almost identical. The easiest way to distinguish them is by the size of the knurled segment on top and by the length of the die body.
The bullet seating die is on the left; the crimping die is on the right. The bullet seating die has a longer knurled section and the die body is longer.
The bullet seating die parts include:
The die body.
The bullet-seating adjuster and its locking oring.
The locking ring and its oring.
The bullet seater.
These parts are shown below.
From left to right, this photo shows the bullet seating die body and locking ring, the bullet seater (denoted by the arrow), and the bullet-seating adjuster and its locking oring.The bullet seater.The bullet seater as seen by the bullet. The arrow points to the bullet seater.
I mentioned above that I use this third die in the Lee Deluxe 4-die seat only to seat the bullet. It can also be used to crimp the cartridge case around the bullet, but I don’t crimp with this die. I use the Lee factory crimp die for crimping.
The bullet seating die also includes a crimping ramp in the die body, as shown by the arrow.
To adjust the die to do this, I run the bullet-seating adjuster well into the die body so that it pushes the bullet to its desired seating depth before the crimping feature reaches the cartridge case. I’ll describe this adjustment in more detail in tomorrow’s blog.
You might wonder: Why not do both (bullet seating and crimping) with this one die? Some folks do, and if you have the Lee 3-die set (not the Deluxe 4-die set), that is your only option for crimping. But this approach has the bullet still being inserted into the case as the crimping operation occurs, which invites potential bullet misalignment. To get around that, I use the fourth die in the Lee Deluxe 4-die set (the factory crimp die).
4. Factory Crimp Die
The factory crimp die does three things:
It roll crimps the bullet in place.
It maintains bullet alignment in the cartridge case.
It removes any imperfections in the cartridge case to assure easy chambering.
Here’s the factory crimp die.
Here’s Lee’s illustration of the factory crimp die:
The factory crimp die has the following parts:
The die body.
The locking ring and its oring.
A carbide crimper sleeve.
The crimping adjuster and its locking oring.
These parts are shown below.
The Lee factory crimp die disassembled. From left to right, this photo shows the die body and its locking ring, the carbide crimper sleeve (indicated by the red arrow), and the crimp adjuster and its locking oring.The carbide crimper. The red arrow points to the crimping ring inside the carbide crimper. Note that this feature must point down when the die is assembled; this piece is orientation sensitive.
The carbide crimper shown above requires the cartridge case to enter the carbide crimper sleeve before the crimp is executed. This is an important feature, as it maintains bullet alignment with the case as the crimp is achieved and prevents case deformation that could interfere with chambering. Also, the bullet is not moving further into the case as the crimp is achieved, which is what would occur if I used the bullet seating die to crimp the case.
The factory crimp die as seen by the cartridge. The upper arrow points to the crimper sleeve; the lower arrow points to the crimping ring within the crimper sleeve.
There’s another carbide ring at the base of the factory crimp die, shown by the photo below.
Lower carbide ring in the Lee factory crimp die.
The factory crimp die lower carbide ring both prevents and removes any deformation in the cartridge case when the case is crimped and the cartridge is inserted and withdrawn from the die. This assures easy chambering and bullet-to-case alignment.
So there you have it. In our next blog, which will post in about a week, I’ll explain how I set up each of the dies in my press.
You might be wondering: Do these Lee dies really work? The short answer is an emphatic yes. I found when loading .357 Magnum ammo with the Lee Deluxe 4-die set that accuracy improved and bullet pull (bullets backing out under recoil) was eliminated. To jump ahead a bit, the .44 Magnum Deluxe 4-die set described in this blog resulted in stellar accuracy. I’ll cover that in a third blog, which will publish in about two weeks. Before I get there, though, here’s a teaser photo:
One of a limited run of Turnbull color case hardened Ruger Super Blackhawks, and targets shot with ammo reloaded using Lee’s Deluxe 4-die set.
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The Pima Air and Space Museum has an A-10 Warthog on display. That’s an impressive aircraft with impressive features. The most impressive, I think, is the Warthog’s GAU-8/A 30mm Gatling gun. “GAU” is the military abbreviation for modern Gatlings. It stands for Gun, Automatic, Utility, and it’s pronounced “Gow.”
Viewed from the front, the A-10’s Gatling gun seems like it is offset from the aircraft center line. The reason is only one barrel fires at a time as the barrel cluster rotates, and it does so when it is on the aircraft centerline. When firing at the gun’s maximum rate (4,000 shots per minute), the recoil equals the A-10’s 18,000-pound max thrust. If the firing barrel was not on the aircraft centerline, the gun would steer the aircraft when firing.
The Fairchild A-10 Warthog.
The photo below shows the A-10’s Gatling muzzle clamp, which is the device that holds the gun’s seven barrels together at the forward end. The barrels are welded shut on this display aircraft to prevent a bad guy from stealing and using the gun.
The A-10 muzzle clamp. The rifling in each barrel is visible here. 30mm is 4.6mm larger than 1 inch.
The muzzle clamp’s center bolt secures the muzzle clamp to the barrel cluster. Maintenance folks never stand in front of the gun when removing the muzzle clamp. Applying torque to the muzzle clamp bolt might rotate the barrel cluster, doing so could bring the firing barrel into position, and if the gun is loaded, it might fire. In the old days of the Civil War era Gatling guns, it was not uncommon for a soldier to inadvertently fire a round when attempting to remove the muzzle clamp.
Here’s the A-10’s GAU-8/A Gatling removed from the aircraft (another Pima Air and Space Museum display item). It’s about the same length as a Volkswagen Beetle.
The A-10 GAU-8/A Gatling gun. These guns were manufactured by General Electric in Burlington, Vermont.
This next photo shows the gun’s bolts (there’s one for each barrel). It also shows the elliptical cam path in the gun’s rear housing. The elliptical cam path that drives the bolts back and forth as the barrel cluster rotates. That was Dr. Gatling’s original idea. All Gatling guns use this concept, from the first Gatling gun in 1862 to the modern Gatlings.
The Gating gun’s rear housing assembly.
If you are interested in the Gatling gun, its history, and its current applications, you might want to pick up a copy of The Gatling Gun.
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That motorcycle you see in the photo above is a 1913 Thor. It’s not been restored; the paint is original, as are the tires (and they still hold air). You don’t see something like that every day, and it’s something I didn’t even know was there. “There” being the Franklin Automobile Museum in Tucson, Arizona, a hidden gem in every sense of the word (more on that in a second).
A Franklin grill. These are majestic automobiles.
Never heard of the Franklin automobile? Don’t feel bad; I hadn’t, either. In checking out what museums were in the Tucson area, we found the Franklin Automobile Museum with an Internet search. The Franklin Automobile Museum has been called Tucson’s best kept secret. I believe it. I’ve been to Tucson many times and, as I said above, I had never heard of it.
Franklins were luxury cars, competitors to Cadillacs and other high end automobiles before the Great Depression. A Ford Model A in those days might cost $600. Most Franklins cost about $3,000; some went as high as $6,500.
A 1934 Franklin 19-B Club Sedan. This automobile has a 274-cubic-inch factory supercharged air-cooled straight six engine.
The first Franklin was designed by John Wilkinson in 1900. An industrialist named Herbert H. Franklin manufactured the cars, and the car was named accordingly. Franklins featured air cooled engines (initially four cylinder engines, but as the company grew, so did the cars and their engines…all the way up to a V-12, and yes, even the V-12 engines were air cooled). The cars were manufactured in Syracuse, New York. Franklin built approximately 153,000 cars from 1902 to 1934, and then the firm closed its doors, a victim of the Great Depression.
An early 1905 Franklin Model A Runabout. The car has a transversely mounted air cooled inline four cylinder engine.
The H.H. Franklin Club, founded in 1951, aimed to preserve the legacy of these automobiles. Approximately 3700 Franklins survive.
The Franklin Automobile Museum came to be as a result of the late Thomas Hubbard, a Tucson businessman. Hubbard was born in New York but raised by his aunt and in Tucson. Hubbard’s parents owned a Franklin. They visited Thomas in Tucson every year, driving the Franklin from New York to Arizona. Hubbard was impressed by his parent’s annual road trips, and he bought his first Franklin in 1953. It was the first of many. Hubbard opened the Franklin Automobile Museum in Tucson in 1962.
The distinctive Franklin hood ornament.A 1931 Franklin 153 DeLuxe Phaeton, with a custom body by the Merrimac Body Company. This Franklin has the 274 cubic inch air cooled straight six engine. This car’s original price was $6,500, a heady sum in 1931!A 1932 Franklin Series 16 Pursuit Phaeton, with the original factory body style and colors. This car has the same 274 cubic inch straight six air cooled engine. It was the first year of the synchronized transmission.
The Franklin Museum is tucked away in northeast Tucson’s Richland Heights area at 1405 East Kleindale Road. It’s not a place you would just stumble on to or notice from the street. If you use a nav system to find your way to the address (a highly recommended to get there), don’t be surprised when you enter the neighborhood: Even though the Museum is in a major American city, the roads in this area are dirt. And even though the address is on East Kleindale, the Museum entrance is on Vine (just around the corner).
The Franklin Automobile Museum is open mid-October to Memorial Day, Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $12, with discounts available for senior citizens and students. I’d give the place two thumbs up, and that’s only because I don’t have three thumbs. It’s well worth a visit.
A special thanks for Tony Warren of the Franklin Automobile Museum for the photos you see here.
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It was a bad one as motorcycles accidents go, and my recovery was a lengthy one. A friend contacted me and asked if (while I was recovering) I’d like to write Internet responses to the keyboard commandos badmouthing a company making a new Mustang motorcycle. Would I ever…and that’s how I hooked up with CSC Motorcycles and the modern Mustang. The story is fascinating. Here’s a bit of it, which appeared as a sidebar to my Motorcycle Classics Mustang article.
Ed Seidner founded one of the largest motorcycle superstores in the country, Bert’s Mega Mall in Covina, California, which today sells new Hondas, Ducatis, Triumphs and more. Son Steve ran that operation until he branched out on his own, starting motorcycle accessory company Pro-One Performance Manufacturing.
Ed never had a Mustang, but his friend Billy Buster had one when they were kids and Ed always wanted one. Steve grew up hearing stories about Billy Buster and his Mustang, so he decided to do something about it. He bought an unrestored 1954 Mustang on eBay and took it home to the Pro-One production facility to restore it, a surprise gift for Ed. Steve quickly discovered three things: Customers walked right past ultra-sleek Pro-One V-twins for a better look at the unrestored Mustang, the Mustang was
a simple design, and the little bike was solid. In fact, after Steve drained the stale gas, cleaned the fuel lines and filled the bike’s peanut tank, the old Mustang started on the first kick.
A 1954 unrestored Mustang with a new CSC-150 California Scooter.
Steve’s response was swift. With the 56-year-old Mustang as a template, he started California Scooter Company (www.californiascooterco.com), making the bikes he believes Mustang would build today. The new CSC motorcycles are EPA and CARB approved with modern amenities like electric start, turn signals, speedometer, hydraulic disc brakes, etc.
The bikes are built in La Verne, California, about 30 miles from the original Mustang factory, while the engines are sourced from Asia. Three years after introducing the 150cc CSC 150, CSC introduced the 250cc P51, taking the P51 designation from the World War II Mustang airplane. With its larger 250cc counterbalanced single overhead cam engine, the P51 absolutely rips. The Mustang formula — short wheelbase, light weight and 12-inch wheels — still works.
CSC-150 Mustang Replicas in Baja. That’s the Sea of Cortez in the background. We were at the Tropic of Cancer when I snapped this photo. We rode our CSC-150s all the way down to Cabo San Lucas and back without a single breakdown.
So how does the new compare to the old? Fully broken in, my 150cc red CSC Classic tops out at about 66mph. With their 320cc engines, the original Mustangs were crazy fast. My geezer buddies tell me a stock Mustang would do 70mph (how they knew that is beyond me, as Mustangs didn’t get speedometers until the late 1950s). I’ve touched 80mph on the new P51.
I’ve ridden vintage Mustangs, but because of their value I was afraid to push them too hard. The old Mustangs feel a little wobbly to me, but of course they have old forks and old tires. The new bikes benefit from more than 50 years of advancements in technology. When I take my CSC on Glendora Ridge Road, the bike is light, tight and an absolute delight through the twisties. Which bike is faster or better is moot. Both are awesome, and each offers a riding experience like no other. There’s one fact, though, that riders of vintage Mustangs and new California Scooters both have to accept:
You can’t go anywhere without drawing a smiling crowd. — Joe Berk
As I mentioned in the prelude to this blog, when I wrote the Mustang story for Motorcycle Classics magazine I was also a consultant to CSC Motorcycles. CSC Motorcycles stopped producing Mustang replicas a few years ago (around the same they started importing the advernture touring RX3), so there are no more new California Scooter Mustang replicas. But the modern Mustangs do come up for sale now and then, and the best way to find one is by contacting CSC directly. If you’d like to know more about CSC, their Mustang replicas, and how the company became the North American importer of Zongshen motorcycles, you should pick up a copy of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM.
Would you like to know about our CSC Mustang ride through Baja, as well other forays into Baja? It’s all right here, in full color, in Moto Baja!
A recent road trip took us to New Mexico, and that meant a stop at Joe Gresh’s Tinfiny Ranch. The word “ranch” has a nice ring to it, but Joe’s ranch is more of a cool toys repository than a place where cattle range freely (the toys more than make up for the missing cattle…the stories they hold are better than any Bonanza episode).
When walking up the hill from Joe’s home to his shop, you can’t miss his powder blue MGB GT. The MG came with the property. At one point Joe was going to get it running again and he started a resurrection blog series on it. He’s now thinking he may sell it. I’d like to see him finish this one for a lot of reasons, mostly centered around my belief that any British motor vehicle is inherently cool and there would be interesting blog content accompanying the effort. Time will tell. And so will we.
As you can see from the above photo, it was raining a bit when we visited. The rain gave the MGB a nice look, a hint of what it would be if it was running again with the original paint buffed out. The MG would be a cool resurrection project. If you agree, leave a comment here on the blog. I’m trying to start a “Keep the MG” movement.
Joe has a bunch of equipment in his Tinfiny Ranch shop, including a sandblast cabinet, a drill press, all manner of hand and power tools, and a lathe. “You can make anything with a lathe…you can even make another lathe,” Joe once said. You can read more about that here.
The photo at the top of this blog is Zed, Joe’s original 900cc Kawasaki, and it is the first resurrection story Joe wrote for ExNotes. In my opinion, this is the coolest bike on the planet. I especially like the original paint. The patina is priceless.
Joe had Zed’s carbs off the bike when we visited. Zed needs Joe, and I think Joe needs Zed. He’s talked about selling it; I hope he doesn’t. If you agree, leave a comment here on the blog. You know the drill.
Joe’s well worn Zed shop manual.
One of Joe’s more famous vintage bikes is Godzilla, a Yamaha 360 he rode on the Trans America Trail. It’s a delightfully original machine with a lot of stories, a few of which have appeared here on ExNotes.
I wish Yamaha still made these bikes. I always wanted one, but I’ve never ridden one. Someday.
Joe is one of two guys I know with a Kawasaki KLR 250 (the other guy is also named Joe, but it’s not me). Joe has a few stories about the KLR 250 here on ExNotes.
When I first met Joe on our CSC Motorcycles 5000-mile ride through the American Southwest (with our friends from China and Colombia), Joe told me he would really love to install the 250cc RX3 engine in his KLR 250. Joe is thinking about selling his KLR. I get it; I sold my KLR a few years ago. But I regretted it. KLRs are great bikes.
I have one of these decals on my motorcycle, too.
Incidentally, if you want to know more about the RX3 and our ride with the Chinese on it through the American Southwest, you might consider picking up a copy of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM.
Here’s Joe’s mini-bike. He’s owned this one a long time.
Joe’s famous Husky…with the engine out. Joe is rebuilding the transmission on this motorcycle. He’s blogged about it; watch ExNotes for future updates. I know Joe will have it on the road again.
Joe’s Kawi 1100 hasn’t been started in a decade or two. He’s thinking about getting it on the road again. That will make for a bunch of great blogs.
Joe’s most recent acquisition is this stellar Yamaha RD 350. Joe’s written about it here on ExNotes.
Joe explaining the RD’s merits to Susie.
Joe started the RD 350 for us. It sounded great.
It was a good visit. There’s a lot going on at Tinfiny Ranch (living off the grid stuff, concrete stories, tractors, implements, the water wars, vintage motorcycles, and more), and you can read about it here on ExNotes. Stay tuned, my friends.
The Colt Python versus the Ruger Blackhawk: Apples and oranges? Maybe, maybe not. This blog compares the two .357 Magnum revolvers from several perspectives, including price, actions and triggers, sights, barrels, fit and finish, durability, feel, panache, accuracy, bore leading, ammo sensitivity, and extraction.
Price
The Python is a premium revolver, selling for $1500 (if you can find one) compared to a Ruger Blackhawk’s typical sell price of just under $700. I believe Ruger stopped making Blackhawks for a while; they resumed production this year and I have one of the recently manufactured specimens. Colt stopped making the original Pythons in 1999; in 2020 they reintroduced an improved version. That’s the one I have now.
Actions and Triggers
The Python is a double action revolver; the Ruger is a single action. That means that on the Ruger, you have to cock it by pulling the hammer all the way to the rear to rotate the cylinder and bring the gun to a ready-to-fire condition. On a double action revolver like the Python, you can fire it single action as described immediately above, or you can pull the trigger a longer distance to rotate the cylinder, cock the gun, and drop the hammer.
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As delivered, the Blackhawk had a crisp but relatively heavy single action trigger pull. I gave mine the quick New York trigger job described in an earlier blog; now it is both lighter and crisp. It’s a good trigger, as good as you’d get with a custom trigger job. Ruger did a good job here.
A Blackhawk New York trigger job. Unhook one leg of the trigger spring, and you get a lighter trigger.
The Colt Python’s double action trigger pull is superb, far superior to the double action trigger of the earlier Pythons. It doesn’t stack; it’s a constant force trigger pull all the way to hammer drop. The Python trigger is serrated, which I don’t care for. I think it would be better as a smooth trigger, like the Ruger has. The serrations interfere with the double action trigger motion, in which I’d like my finger to be able to slide across the trigger laterally as I complete the pull. But it’s still a good double action trigger.
The Ruger and Colt triggers. A smooth trigger on the Python would make for better double action shooting.
The Colt Python’s single action trigger, as delivered by the factory, was not acceptable to me. It probably exceeded 6 pounds, it was gritty, and it actually cocked the hammer a bit more before it released. I called my contact at Colt to ask about it and he explained that it’s necessary to survive our California drop test. That requirement stipulates that a cocked gun has to not discharge when dropped repeatedly from a specified height on a concrete surface. I run with a pretty exclusive crowd (exclusive in the sense that we don’t drop our loaded and cocked guns repeatedly on concrete), so the requirement is beyond silly to me, but hey, it is what it is, and it’s why a new Python has a heavy, gritty single action trigger from the factory. It’s not Colt’s fault; it’s California.
I had TJ (of TJ’s Custom Gunworks) work his magic on the single action trigger and it’s now what it is supposed to be. Think zero creep, a breaking glass release, and 2.5 pounds, and you’ll have a good idea of my Python’s single action trigger.
Sights and Sight Radius
Both revolvers have adjustable sights. The Python has a red ramp front sight (but no white outline rear). The Blackhawk has plain black sights front and rear, which I actually prefer. The Blackhawk rear sight is click adjustable for windage and elevation (like most handguns with adjustable rear sights), the Python rear sight is click adjustable for elevation. The Python windage adjustment is a little different than most. It is infinitely adjustable for windage via a screw (with no clicks), and it can be locked in place with what has to be the world’s smallest Allen screw. Colt provides a tiny Allen wrench with the revolver for this purpose.
The Ruger Blackhawk’s front and rear sights. I prefer a plain black post and rear blade, like this Ruger has. The rear sight blade has an indented provision for adding paint to create a white outline, but I’m leaving it black.The Colt Python’s sights. The rear is click adjustable for elevation, and infinitely adjustable (i.e., there are no clicks) for windage. The front sight has a red ramp.
The Colt front sight is easily replaced with the same size tiny Allen screw that is used to lock the rear sight windage. I’ve not seen any different front sights offered to replace the red ramp front sight, but I guess they are (or will be) available.
I actually prefer the Ruger’s plain black sights to the Colt’s red ramp arrangement, but that’s a personal preference.
The Colt’s sight radius (the distance from the front to rear sight) is 7 3/4 inches. The Ruger’s sight radius is 8 1/2 inches, which should give a Ruger a slight accuracy edge.
Barrels
Both handguns have the longer version of the barrels offered by their respective manufacturers. The Ruger .357 Magnum New Model Blackhawk can be had with either a 4 5/8-inch barrel or a 6 1/2-inch barrel; I opted for the 6 1/2-inch barrel. The Colt Python is available with either a 4 1/4-inch barrel or a 6-inch barrel; I went with the 6-inch version. For me, these are target guns, and I wanted the longer sight radius.
The Colt Python has a 6-inch barrel; the Ruger Blackhawk has a 6 1/2-inch barrel. Both are large, heavy revolvers.
Colt is recently introduced a 3-inch barrel on the Python. The Python (in my opinion) is too big for concealed carry even with the 3-inch barrel; the short barreled version holds no interest for me.
The Python has a 1 turn in 14 inches left twist rate barrel; the Ruger has a slightly slower 1 turn in 16 inches right twist rate. Both barrels have recessed crowns. The Python, of course, has its signature ventilated rib and full underlug barrel. It’s a classic and unique look and I love it.
Interestingly, in the 1970s I shot handgun metallic silhouette competition with a Smith and Wesson Model 27; it had a twist rate of 1 turn in 18 3/4 inches. It was accurate, but not any more than either of the two 357 Magnums being reviewed here.
Weight
The Colt Python weighs 46 ounces. The Ruger Blackhawk weighs 45 ounces. The grip frame on the Blackhawk is a painted alloy, which reduces the weight slightly. These are both big, heavy handguns. They are not meant to be concealed carry guns.
Fit and Finish
Ah, how to be delicate here. Colt hit a home run with the Python. Ruger, not so much, at least on my Blackhawk.
The Python has a high polish, mirror-like finish on its stainless steel surfaces. It’s actually not hand buffed like you might imagine; Colt uses a vibratory polishing media approach. It really works; the finish is superb.
Ruger’s Blackhawk has an industrial grade blued finish, and on my revolver, the factory missed several spots on the cylinder. Ruger offered to reblue the cylinder for me, but truth be told, the cylinder is a fitted part and I didn’t want to chance sending it to Ruger and having them return a different cylinder. I used cold blue on mine to touch it up, and after oiling it, you have to know where the bluing shortfalls were to find them. But you shouldn’t have to do that on a new gun.
Lapses in bluing quality on the Ruger Blackhawk. This gun should have never left the factory.The fit of the grips to the grip frame was atrocious on my Blackhawk.
The grips on my Blackhawk had a very poor fit. I thought they were made of plastic, but they are hard rubber (like on the Colt Single Action Army). Ruger sent a new set of grips to me, but I couldn’t get them over the mounting posts in the grip frame and I didn’t want to screw around enlarging the holes. Instead, I installed a previous set of black laminate grips I had from Ruger (you can see them in the photo at the top of this blog). I like the look and the feel of the laminate grips, so they are staying on the gun. You shouldn’t have these kinds of issues on a new gun.
Both the Colt and Ruger rear sight elevation adjustment pivots on a pin through the revolver frame. After shooting the Colt for a couple of years, the pin is still in place. Colt uses a rolled steel pin; Ruger uses a solid pin. On the Ruger, by the end of the first range session its pin had backed out. Ruger sent me another pin with a recommendation that I bend it slightly before I install it. I’ll fix it in place with green Loctite when I get around to picking some up, but I shouldn’t have to do this.
I paid $659 for my Blackhawk, but factoring in the freight cost, the sales tax, the California DOJ fee, and the transfer fee, it was crowding a thousand dollars by the time I took it home. For that kind of money, I expect something to be perfect. That’s not what I received. On the plus side, I know if I shipped the revolver back to Ruger, they’d make it perfect. As I said in an earlier blog, Ruger’s customer service is the best in the business. But that’s a poor benchmark for a gun manufacturer (or any manufacturer, for that matter). If they got it right the first time, they wouldn’t need to be the best in the best in correcting quality escapes from the factory, and getting it right the first time is what most of us expect when we plunk down our hard-earned cash.
Durability
The older Pythons were delicate firearms, and it’s been said by people who know what they’re talking about they suffered from frame stretch and timing issues within the first 2,000 to 3,000 rounds. The new Python is a much beefier gun, and the guys I spoke with at Colt told me it no longer has these issues. I haven’t owned my Python long enough to say that’s the case, but I believe what Colt told me. I’ve shot mine a lot over the last two or three years; if anything, it’s becoming more accurate.
Ruger Blackhawks have always been built like anvils. I’m the only guy I know who wore one out, and I put many, many max loads through my old stainless steel Blackhawk. Blackhawks are tough. I think the new Pythons are, too. From a durability perspective, I’d call it a draw.
Feel
This is a subjective assessment that includes grip, balance, and ease in handling the revolver. It’s very much a matter of personal preference. I like the feel and balance of a single action better than a double action revolver, so for me, the Blackhawk takes the win here.
Panache
This is another subjective assessment. The dictionary defines panache as “flamboyant confidence of style or manner.” The Python is the easy winner here. Don’t get me wrong: Folks have approached me on the range to ask about what I’m shooting when I’ve been out there with both guns. But it happens more often with the the Python. It’s a prestige item. Pythons have been featured in movies going all the way back to the second Dirty Harry flick, Magnum Force, as well as others. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a Ruger Blackhawk in a movie (if you have, let me know).
Accuracy
This is essentially a draw. Both revolvers are accurate, and both have their preferred loads. You may have read my recent blog on the Blackhawk’s accuracy; I shot the same loads with the Python to make a comparison.
Bullets used for this test: From left to right, the Speer 158-grain jacketed soft point, the Hornady 158-grain jacketed hollow point (also called the XTP), the Hornady 110-grain jacketed hollow point, a cast 158-grain flat point, and the 148-grain Gardner cast and powder coated double ended wadcutter loaded in .38 Special cases. The different powder charges and primers used with these bullets are shown in the table below.
Take a look at the results:
I fired the above 5-shot groups at 50 feet, using a two hand hold resting my hands on the bench. I did not use a machine rest, nor did I chronograph any of my loads.
Both the Python and the Blackhawk shot very well with 8.0 grains of Unique and the Hornady 158-grain jacketed hollow point bullet (Hornady calls it their XTP bullet).The Python did very well with a light .357 Magnum cast load: 4.3 grains of Bullseye and the 158-grain cast flat point bullet. The Ruger didn’t shoot the lighter cast bullet loads nearly as well. I need to move my Python’s rear sight to the right a bit.
The clear winner for a full power load that works well in both guns is the 158-grain Hornady jacketed hollow point with 8.0 grains of Unique. That was the accuracy load for a 158-grain jacketed bullet in the old 45th edition (1970s vintage) Lyman manual (it’s not shown in the newer manuals). Loads using 158-grain jacketed bullets and Winchester’s 296 propellant did well in both guns, too, but they are high energy, high muzzle blast, and high recoil loads.
Another known favorite .357 Magnum load is the 110-grain Hornady jacketed hollow point with a max load of Unique. These performed superbly well in the Python, but they were terrible in the Blackhawk. The accuracy was poor and the brass would not extract (I had to remove the Blackhawk’s cylinder and drive the brass out with a rod). This load had previously worked well in a stainless steel Blackhawk, but this newer one did not digest this recipe well. Every gun is different.
I also tried a few lighter loads. The Python grouped very well with 4.3 grains of Bullseye and the 158-grain cast flat point bullet. That’s an easy load to shoot and I’ll be reloading a bunch of .357 Magnum cases with it later this week. It’s an easily recoiling load, it’s very accurate in the Python, and it doesn’t lead the bore. And a pound of Bullseye will go a long with this load (1627 cartridges, to be precise). I also tried my preferred .38 Special target load in both revolvers (2.7 grains of Bullseye and a 148-grain Gardner powder coated double ended wadcutter bullet loaded in .38 Special brass). The Python did well with these; the Blackhawk did not. In general, the Ruger didn’t do nearly as well with lighter loads.
The Colt Python with 148-grain .38 Special target loads. Recoil was minimal; accuracy was good with this load in the Python but not the Blackhawk.
Overall, it’s hard to say one revolver is more accurate than the other. The table above shows amazing consistency for both guns. I averaged all the averages for each revolver, and from that statistic, one could conclude that the Python holds an accuracy edge. But you know what they say about statistics. From an accuracy perspective, both manufacturers (Colt and Ruger) got it right.
Extraction
The Python was flawless. The Ruger had extraction issues with the 110 grain bullet and a near-maximum load of Unique. Well, issues isn’t exactly the right word. Cases fired with those loads wouldn’t extract. I had to remove the cylinder and tap the cases out with a rod. All the other loads tested in the Ruger extracted normally.
The Python extracted the same load that gave the Ruger fits with no issues, and owing to the nature of a double action revolver’s extraction mechanism, it had to push out all the cases at the same time. The inside of the Python chambers have a mirror finish. The Ruger chambers do not.
With regard to extraction, the Python is the better revolver.
Leading
Neither revolver had an advantage over the other with regard to leading. When cast bullet velocities were high, both guns leaded the bore. If I loaded to get velocities below 1000 feet per second, neither revolver leaded the bore. But (and it’s an important but), the Python is more accurate than the Ruger with lower velocity cast bullet reloads.
The Python’s bore after firing 20 rounds of cast bullets with 7.0 grains of Unique.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, my old standard .357 Magnum load turned out to not be such a good load. It leaded the bore of the Python and the Ruger significantly after 10 rounds. The first five shot group grouped well; each succeeding group grew larger. Interestingly, that group averaged exactly the same (1.555 inches) for both the Python and the Blackhawk.
When I was finished with the Python accuracy testing, I know I’d have to scrub the lead out of the barrel with a bronze bore brush. From time to time, people ask if they can just shoot jacketed bullets when the bore leads up to “push the lead out.” I knew the answer to that question is a solid no, but I fired a few jacketed bullets through the heavily-leaded Python bore to make the point.
Fire jacketed bullets through a leaded bore and you get copper fouling on top of bore leading. It still needs to be bore brushed. The copper bullets do not push the lead out.Both revolvers performed similarly with the 7.0-grains of Unique and the 158 grain cast flat point bullet. The first group was good, then as the bore leaded the groups progressively grew. This target is with the Python; the Ruger target looks the same (both revolvers averaged exactly 1.555 inches overall with this load).
Ammo Sensitivity
I’ve already mentioned issues associated with extraction, and how the Python did better than the Ruger Blackhawk.
There’s another potential issue, and that’s bullet pull under recoil. The Ruger has a longer cylinder than the Python, and if bullet pull occurs, the Ruger is less susceptible to it preventing cylinder rotation.
You can see that the Blackhawk’s cylinder is longer than the Python’s.
The Ruger has a 1.640-inch long cylinder. The Python has a 1.553-inch long cylinder. The Ruger gives you another 0.087 inches of cylinder length to play with, which would probably allow any recoil-induced bullet pull to go unnoticed (unless the cartridges had no crimp at all, the bullets most likely wouldn’t back out far enough in six rounds to affect cylinder rotation). In this regard, the Blackhawk will be more forgiving than the Python. Did Colt make the Python cylinder too short? Nope, they did not. They made it as long as it needs to be with adequately-crimped .357 Magnum ammo meeting the max cartridge overall length spec. The reason for that is accuracy. Keeping the distance the bullet has to jump to the rifling as low as it can be enhances accuracy. Colt got it right, in my opinion. I like the idea that cylinder length is minimized.
Conclusions
The bottom line to me is that you won’t be making a mistake by purchasing either handgun. I’d think twice about ordering the Blackhawk through one of the online sites; the better approach would be to purchase the gun at a store where you can see it first. On the Colt, you may not be satisfied with the single action trigger pull as delivered from the factory (I wasn’t, but it was recoverable with a trigger job).
From an accuracy perspective, it’s a draw; both guns are very accurate.
You might be wondering which of the two I prefer, and I don’t have an answer for you. I enjoy reloading for and shooting both.
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Wowee, do we ever have some good stuff coming up right here on the ExNotes blog. Guns, motorcycles, adventure touring in Transylvania, and the results of a content safari through Arizona all the way to Albuquerque. Here’s an inkling of just a few of the topics coming your way.
What’s the real difference between a $1500 Colt Python and a $650 Ruger Blackhawk? Watch for our side-by-side, target-by-target comparo. It’s coming up.
Into resurrections? Hey, how about CSC’s replica of the original Mustang motorcycle! You read our recent story about the Al Simmons Mustang motorcycle collection and the origins of the Mustang. CSC’s Steve Seidner went a step further, and we’ll tell you all about it.
Ever have your well dry? I mean literally, not figuratively. Uncle Joe Gresh has, and he’ll tell you all about it. Gresh is a guy who makes MacGuyver look like an amateur. You’ll love this story.
We’re going to bring in a new writer or two (or maybe more). We have a blog loaded and ready to publish from good buddy Airborne Mike on a motorcycle ride through (get this!) Transylvania! I kid you not. Transylvania and the Transfagarasan Highway!
On that topic of new writers…Joe Gresh will tell you all about what you need to do to be considered for the ExNotes editorial staff. Watch for a blog on this topic in the near future.
The Pima Air Museum in Tucson is another treasure. Wow, that was a fun visit. There’s so much there we couldn’t take it all in during a single visit, and it’s a place that screams for more than a single blog. I need to return. The photo ops were incredible.
More good Joe Gresh stuff straight from Tinfiny Ranch, including the Gresh moto stable and the world famous Gresh project bank. Motorcycles, the MGB-GT, and more!
How about the Franklin Automobile Museum in Tucson, Arizona? Never heard of it? We hadn’t, either, but (trust me on this) it’s Tucson’s best kept secret!
White Sands Missile Range? Yep, that, too. Everything from a Nazi V-2 to current US weaponry, and we’ll have the story right here.
How about White Sands National Park? Think Sahara Desert, and you’ll have a good idea about what these rolling snow white gypsum hills look like. It was awesome!
The New Mexico Museum of Space History, with a guided tour by none other than Joe Gresh? That was a really fun visit with lots of cool exhibits. It’s coming your way.
How about sacred Native American ruins in New Mexico? We saw several and they were impressive, including the Kuaua Native American site along the Rio Grande River.
Albuquerque is quite a town, and Old Town Albuquerque is quite the place. We had a lot of fun wandering around and taking photos. It’s in the mix for a future blog.
And the Albuquerque 50th Anniversary Balloon Fiesta…wow, was that ever spectacular. The excitement and wonder of that event is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever experienced.
Stay tuned, folks. It’s quite an adventure, and it’s onging!
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Susie and I were recently in Arizona and we found ourselves near the entrance to Saguaro National Park. There are two sections of Saguaro National Park; we were near the one with an 8-mile driving loop through it. It was an easy one-hour ride with frequent stops for photos.
Arizona is a vibrant state. Bright blues, and green hills and valleys from the Tanque Verde’s waters.Another case of Mother Nature moving the vibrance and saturation sliders to the right.A barrel cactus, with two blooming flowers.There were a lot of butterflies flitting about. This one landed for a few seconds. I didn’t really have the right lens for this sort of photo.The 8-mile loop through Saguaro National Park is a one way road, with markings for tortoise crossings, rabbit crossings, javelina crossings, and more. All we saw was a lone rabbit. It was hot out there.The Starship Subaru. It’s perfect for these kinds of road trips.The Outback framed by the Park’s namesake cactus.
On these kinds of trips, I love traveling in my Subaru Outback. If it gets hot, I turn on the air conditioning. If it gets cold, I turn on the heater. If it rains, I turn on the windshield wipers. If I want music or news, I turn on the radio. If I don’t know how to get someplace, I turn on the nav system. I can carry as much stuff as I want, even more if I fold down the rear seats. Don’t get me wrong; I like riding my motorcycle and I’ve done some big motorcycle trips. But there’s something to be said about traveling with your wife in a comfortable car. This is the third Subaru I’ve owned, and my next car will be another Subaru.
We stopped in the small visitor center before we left Saguaro National Park, and to my surprise, a new Subaru Wilderness Outback was in the parking lot. It’s a version with different trim, more ground clearance, restyled bumpers (front and rear) for better approach angles, and lower gearing. I like the idea of everything except the lower gearing and the trim. Somehow, the Wilderness styling makes it look cheap (in my opinion) and the lower gearing lowers fuel economy.
I’ve owned three Subies now, starting with a 2006 WRX, a 2013 CrossTrek, and my current Outback. They have all been great automobiles.
So, about this most recent trip: We meandered through Arizona and New Mexico, and our travels included stops at the Tinfiny Ranch, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, and more. Stay tuned; there are more blogs coming your way from this adventure. We had a blast.
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Finding reloading components of any kind these days (brass, bullets, powders, or primers) is a tough thing to do. Finding brass for more exotic cartridges is near impossible. One of my favorite cartridges is the famed .300 Holland and Holland. It’s a specialty item. I’ve not seen loaded .300 H&H ammo or brass in gun stores for years. I searched for two years for brass and found nothing. Prices for both ammo and brass have climbed through the roof (Nosler brass, just the empty brass, is now about $6 per round), but it’s all moot. It could be free or it could be $100 per round. Nobody has any. I know moot, and this is it.
I was recently in my local reloading shop (Phillips Wholesale, in Covina, California). I stop by there periodically just to see what Rick has in stock, and if it’s anything I might be able to use, I buy it because there’s no telling when it will be available again. While there, I was lamenting with Rick about the sad state of affairs in component availability, and I mentioned not being able to find .300 H&H brass. Rick perked up. “.300 H&H?” he said. “I might have something.”
Rick pulled a plastic box of 50 cartridges from under the counter. It contained .300 H&H handloaded ammo in virgin (previously unfired) brass.
.300 H&H ammo. It;s beautiful, isn’t it?The data label on the ammo Rick showed to me. It was loaded 12 1/2 years ago.
Rick helps folks settle estates when the estate includes reloading goodies. This was a box of ammo with that provenance. I normally wouldn’t fire someone else’s handloads. I’m a careful reloader; I don’t know that the someone else who loaded other ammo was. But I had, in my hot little hands, 50 rounds of fresh .300 H&H brass. I didn’t recognize the propellant (AA 86?), but I didn’t care. I figured I could pull the bullets, dump the powder, and load the new brass with my preferred .300 H&H load, which is 60.0 grains of IMR 4320 and a Winchester 150-grain jacketed softpoint bullet. My rifle (I’ll tell you more about it in a minute) has shot 0.25-inch groups with this load.
So I bought the ammo and proceeded to pull it apart. I removed the bullets (which mashed a few tips and scraped a few ogives), dumped the powder, and reloaded the brass cases with my IMR 4320 load. I reused the pulled bullets. The bullets weren’t perfect after the extraction operation, but I wanted to fireform the brass to my rifle and I didn’t care about their condition. Once the brass has been fireformed (fired so it conforms to that particular rifle), I will neck size only to maximize case life. The .300 H&H cartridge is known for short case life when it is full length resized.
AA 86 propellant and Remington 150-grain jacketed soft poin bullets pulled from the first box of ammo. I’m going to use that powder in .243 ammo now that I know what it is.
I weighed a few of the powder charges as I was pulling the bullets and they were exactly as labeled on the box Rick sold to me: 75.0 grains. Whoever loaded this (a fellow from Riverside who passed away) was obviously a careful reloader. The propellant was a stick powder, so I figured it was a rifle propellant, but I had never heard of AA 86. I recognized AA as most likely belonging to Accurate Arms, but there’s nothing I could initially find on the Accurate website called AA 86.
I called Accurate Arms’ customer service to see if they could shed any light on the AA 86 mystery. The kid I spoke with told me Accurate Arms had gone through an acquisition, and he didn’t know anything about their propellants before the acquisition. He specificially had never heard of AA 86. I poked around a bit more on the Internet and learned that Accurate Arms had occasionally sold surplus powders identified as Data Powder (or DP) powders, followed by a two-digit number. There was a DP 86 powder. I went back to the Accurate Arms site and found a reference to it, which said that DP 86 was essentially the same as their AS 3100 powder. The Accurate Arms customer service guy didn’t know this (he sounded like a young guy).
When I bought the box of .300 H&H ammo from Rick, he told me he might have some more. I gave him my phone number and Rick called a couple of days later. He found three more boxes. I was in the middle of doing something important (writing an ExNotes blog, actually), but Rick’s message took priority. I stopped writing and left for Rick’s shop immediately.
I told Rick about the phone call to Accurate Arms. Rick knew all about DP 86, and he told me that this ammo had indeed been loaded with DP 86. He also had canisters of the powder from the gentleman who passed away. It sold quickly, Rick told me.
After pulling the bullets, I reloaded the first box with my pet load. If I was loading for accuracy, I would measure each charge, but I just wanted to fireform so I charged each case with my RCBS powder dispenser. IMR 4320 is an extruded rod powder, but the individual rods are small and it meters well.
I mentioned above that I would tell you a bit about my .300 H&H rifle. My Dad bought it for me in the early 1970s before my US Army tour in Korea. The rifle began life as a 7mm Weatherby Magnum, but I never could get the rifle to group well with that cartridge. I had it rebarreled in .300 H&H, a cartridge I had read a lot about and learned to love in a pre-’64 Model 70 Winchester (don’t ask, it’s sold, and yeah, selling it was a dumb move on my part). I glass bedded the Weatherby action, and I stripped the rifle’s original epoxy finish and refinished it with TruOil.
A Douglas barrel chambered in .300 H&H. It has a 1 turn in 10 inches twist rate and it is accurate. The rebarreled Weatherby feeds the .300 H&H cartridges flawlessly.Rich, warm, and beautiful. There’s something about oil-finished walnut that is just right.The flip side looks just as good. About 10 years after I refinished this rifle, Weatherby introduced their Euromark line, which was the Mark V with an oil finished walnut stock. I own a couple. Both have highly figured walnut, but to me this custom .300 H&H looks better. It groups better, too. Weatherby has since discontinued making walnut Mark V rifles. They are all composite rifles now, which seems like a crime against nature.
I’ve been shooting and hunting with this custom .300 H&H Weatherby for close to 50 years now, and I’ve owned and shot quite a few other rifles during that time. This one remains my favorite. I am a big Weatherby fan and I love the .300 H&H cartridge. It is the perfect combination of power, accuracy, and manageable recoil. I greatly prefer the .300 H&H Magnum over the .300 Weatherby Magnum. The .300 Weatherby Magnum’s recoil is vicious and unpleasant. The .300 Weatherby’s recoil is aggravated by a need to load at or near maximum for accuracy. The .300 H&H is a more useable and enjoyable chambering.
I bought four boxes (200 rounds!) of this handloaded virgin brass, and I recently took two boxes to the range. One contained my reconstituted ammo with the IMR 4320 powder and 150-grain pulled Remington bullets; the other was loaded with 180-grain Nosler blemished bullets and AA 85 powder. On this blemished bullet business: Sometimes bullet manufacturers sell factory seconds at reduced prices. This was the only time I’ve heard of blems from Nosler. I’m a guy who loads for accuracy (I could care less about muzzle velocity or killing power), so the idea of using a rejected factory bullet seems silly. I’m firing this ammo only to fireform the cases, so I was okay with reusing the pulled bullets. And I felt more comfortable about firing the ammo as provided by Rick once I learned more about AA 86 and AA 85 propellants.
How did it shoot? Both the boxes I tried (my IMR 4320 load and the 180-grain Nosler load) shot very well. The 180-grain load predictably had a bit more recoil, but it wasn’t bad. The 150-grain bullet and IMR 4320 load showed no primer flattening; the 180-grain Nosler load showed just a hint of primer flattening (but not enough to be of concern).
My favorite 300 H&H load showed no pressure signs. The guy who loaded it snuck in a different primer on one cartridge.The ammo loaded with 180-grain Noslers and a near-max DP 86 load flattened the primers just a bit, but not enough to indicate excessive pressure. This load had more recoil, but it was still way below .300 Weatherby levels.
Accuracy was surprisingly good with both loads, especially considering that I dinged up the 150-grain Winchester bullets during the removal operation and the 180-grain Noslers were factory blems.
Here’s the target I shot at 100 yards with my IMR 4320 loads:
This is way below minute-of-wild-boar and more than accurate enough for ammo loaded with pulled bullets and brass that had not yet been fireformed. Next tme will be better. It’s a load that has produced quarter-inch groups in the past. I didn’t expect that kind of accuracy with this ammo due to the bullets’ condition.
And here’s one I shot with the 180-grain Noslers as loaded by the original reloader 12 1/2 years ago. You can ignore the group(s) circled in black. When good buddy Chuck gave me a target board at the range, it had a target stapled on it with usable real estate. I’m cheap so I reused the target (somebody had previously fired at the bullseyes circled in black; I only shot at the orange and blue targets).
Groups shot with the 180-grain blemished Nosler bullets and DP 86 surplus powder. It’s not bad for a dragon slayer at 100 yards. The shots circled in black were already on the target when I used it.
I’m quite pleased with this .300 H&H ammo. I picked up 200 rounds at about one-sixth what factory ammo would have cost at a time when neither ammo nor brass is available. It pays to maintain a relationship with local businesses.
About 10 years ago the late Jim Cavanaugh and I wrote an article on Mustang motorcycles for Motorcycle Classics magazine. The research for that story was a lot of fun. I thought I’d resurrect it and publish it again here on the ExhaustNotes blog.
The Magnificent Mustang
Mustang: The little motorcycle that could — and still does
Story by Joe Berk and Jim Cavanaugh
Mustang. Uniquely American, the word stirs the imagination. Wild horses. World War II fighters. Pony cars. And for those of us with good memories, some of the coolest motorcycles ever made. No one knows with certainty how manufacturing mogul John Gladden, founder of the Mustang Motorcycle Corporation, selected the name. Some say he thought of wild horses. Others say it stems from the P-51 Mustang fighter plane. Both stories make sense, but we like the one about the P-51. Gladden Products made parts for World War II combat aircraft, so it seems logical that the P-51 Mustang could have been part of the calculus that created the Mustang moniker.
Howard Forrest’s first 300cc motorcycle next to a Harley-Davidson.
Gladden Products had a lot of things going for it, but as World War II was ending, John Gladden knew he needed a new product. Synchronicity struck when he noticed a very unusual motorcycle in the company parking lot. It was scooter-sized, but it was a motorcycle — a miniaturized motorcycle. The bike belonged to Howard Forrest, a machinist and engineer, and a serious motorcycle enthusiast who constructed it using a water-cooled, 300cc 4-cylinder engine he designed and built himself, from scratch.
So this was the time and the situation, Gladden casting about for a new product, one of his engineers riding a personally-designed and fabricated small motorcycle to work, and millions of young men returning from the war. Gladden recognized opportunity when he saw it: His new product would be a small motorcycle.
Gladden challenged Forrest and Chuck Gardner (a fellow Gladden Products engineer and motorcycle rider) to develop a lightweight motorcycle. Forrest’s 300cc engine was intriguing, but would be expensive to build. Gladden wanted a lightweight and inexpensive bike; more substantive than a scooter, but not as big as a motorcycle — a scooter-sized motorcycle. What resulted was a family of Mustang motorcycles.
The First Mustangs
Mustang originally planned to use 197cc Villiers 2-stroke engines, but after building a few prototypes with the 197cc engine, Villiers instead offered their 125cc 2-stroke. It wasn’t what Mustang wanted, but it was the only game in town. Thus was born the first production Mustang — the 1946 Colt. The Colts had leading-link front forks, a hardtail rear end, tiny 8-inch wheels, a peanut gas tank and twin exhausts. Small, yes, but stunning.
Forrest and Gardner weren’t ecstatic about the tiny Villiers engine, however, and Villiers was making noises about cutting off their supply. Gladden recognized that making his own engines would be critical to Mustang’s success, so Gladden did what moguls do: He acquired an aircraft engine manufacturer that included Busy Bee, a maker of small industrial engines. One in particular seemed a good fit for a new Mustang motorcycle. It was a 320cc flathead single-cylinder 4-stroke, and it became the basic engine that would power future Mustangs.
Building bikes at the Mustang Motor Products Corporation in Glendale, California.
Forrest and Gardner went back to the drawing board. What rapidly emerged in 1947 was the Mustang Model 2, a completely new Mustang and the first with what we now recognize as the classic Mustang appearance. Bigger than the Colt, it had Mustang’s new engine and 12-inch disc wheels. The intake and exhaust ports faced rearward, with a finned exhaust manifold. The cast aluminum primary cover was adorned with the Mustang logo, and it had a 3-speed Burman transmission, a tractor seat supported by big coil springs, a rear brake, a rigid rear end and telescopic front forks. It weighed just 215 pounds. The Model 2 was not without its problems, however, including rod knocks and noisy timing gears. Mustang handled the issues with special production actions, and to make sure only good bikes left the plant, the production foreman had to personally start, run, listen to, and approve each engine.
More Models
Looking to expand the market, in December of 1948 Mustang introduced the Model 3 DeliverCycle, a three-wheeled, low-cost commercial vehicle. Police departments used DeliverCycles for parking enforcement — the city of Huntington Beach, California, was the first to use trikes for this purpose.
1946 Mustang Colt with the 125cc 2-stroke Villiers engine.1956 Mustang Colt with a 320cc flathead 4-stroke engine.1963 Mustang Thoroughbred with rear swingarm suspension.1964 Mustang Trail Machine “Rear Suspension” model.
Addressing the Model 2’s problems, in 1950 the Mustang team rolled out the Model 4 (known as the Standard). The newest Mustang engine incorporated Micarta timing gears for quieter running, a new magneto and alternator for improved ignition and lighting, forward-facing intake and exhaust ports to simplify the exhaust design, and a stamped steel primary case. The frame was also cleaned up and it got an improved 3-speed Burman transmission. The new Model 4 sold for $346.30. Mustang rolled these changes into a new DeliverCycle, too, the Model 5.
The Model 4 was a home run, and Mustang used it as the basis for several models over the next decade — the Special, the Pony, the Bronco and the Stallion. The Model 4 Special was a factory performance upgrade with higher compression and hotter cams. The standard Model 4 evolved into the Pony (the base model), which was the best-selling Mustang. Output climbed to 9.5 horsepower. Mustang also offered a 5 horsepower version of its iconic bike to meet some states’ requirements for junior riders.
The Model 4 Special morphed into the Bronco (Mustang had a practice of referring to their bikes with model numbers, which sometimes were offered as Specials and sometimes evolved into other designations). The Bronco kept the Pony’s engine and transmission and added a front brake as standard equipment.
Mustang upgraded the line again with the Stallion (the Model 8). It added a 4-speed Burman transmission and horsepower climbed to 10.5. The Stallion had a chrome flywheel and two-tone paint with pinstriping. The first Stallions had Amal carburetors; later models went to a 22mm Dell‘Orto.
1964 Mustang Model 7 DeliverCycle with a 4-speed tranny.
The market started to change for Mustang in 1956. DeliverCycle sales fell and Mustang dropped it. Perceiving a need for a lower cost motorcycle, Mustang introduced a new Colt in 1956, but it was a bust. Value engineered to reduce labor costs, the new Colt had a 9.5 horsepower engine, no transmission and a centrifugal clutch. The front suspension reverted to an undamped leading- link arrangement. The kickstarter was awkward and the centrifugal clutch wore the crankshaft prematurely. It wasn’t liked within the factory and build quality was poor, resulting in rework that offset any hoped-for savings. Mustang killed it just two years later.
Things improved in 1960 with the Mustang Thoroughbred. In a first for Mustang, the Thoroughbred incorporated swingarm rear suspension, a dual seat and an optional storage compartment under the seat. It had the Stallion’s 4-speed Burman transmission and a bump to 12.5 horsepower. This was good stuff, but the 1960s would not be good for Mustang. By the time the Thoroughbred rolled out, Howard Forrest had left the company. The Mustang organization was not without its politics, and for reasons few understood, the company had fired Forrest. Chuck Gardner took his place to lead development.
Offroad Expansion
In 1961, Mustang introduced the Trail Machine, the last in a legendary line of Mustang motorcycles. In a break from Mustang tradition, Trail Machines used Briggs & Stratton 5.75 horsepower engines. Staying with the Burman 3-speed tranny, the Trail Machine looked like the illegitimate child of a motorcycle and a lawn mower, with the standard Mustang diamond tread front tire and a more aggressive tractor tread rear tire.
While the machines were functionally excellent — weight was only 169 pounds dry — the rigid rear Trail Machine was tagged with the uninspiring “Rigid Frame” designation, and when Mustang introduced the swingarm Trail Machine in 1964 it was similarly (and boringly) named the “Rear Suspension” model. These bikes were initially offered only in yellow, but Mustang later added blue. Not many sold, and they are rare today.
Mustang resumed Model 5 DeliverCycle production in 1963, and then quickly upgraded it to the Model 7 in 1964. The Model 7 DeliverCycle incorporated the Stallion’s 12.5 horsepower engine and 4-speed transmission, but time was running out for Mustang. In 1965 production of Mustang motorcycles came to an end.
No one who’s talking knows with certainty why Mustang stopped production. Some say it was because Burman wasn’t supplying transmissions at the required rate. Some say there were management problems. Some believe it was all those nicest people you kept meeting on Hondas, motorcycles that offered electric starting, better performance and lower prices. There were a few revival attempts using residual Mustang parts inventories, but only a handful of bikes emerged. The Mustang saga, one of the most intriguing stories in our magnificent motorcycling world, was over. Or was it? Watch for a near term future blog on the California Scooter Company.
Today, original Mustangs are highly prized, routinely selling for $10,000-plus in concours condition. Even “beater” Mustangs — when you can find them — typically bring more than $5,000. There’s an active fan base (check out www.mmcoa.org), and enthusiasm in Mustang circles runs high.
Al Simmons with a few of his prized Mustangs.
The Mustang Colt and most of the Mustangs in this feature come from the collection of Al Simmons, the founder of Mustang Motorcycle Products, a designer and manufacturer of aftermarket motorcycle seats and accessories (www.mustangseats.com). An avid pilot, Al named his company after the World War II airplane. It wasn’t until Mustang Seats was well on its way to success that someone suggested he should own an original Mustang motorcycle. Al thought that was a splendid idea. Thirty Mustang motorcycles later, he still thinks it’s a splendid idea.
Jim Cavanaugh, back in the day and shortly before his passing.
The late Jim Cavanaugh started in the Mustang Motor Product Corporation’s manufacturing area at age 19 before becoming production superintendent. Jim was an avid rider into his 80s. You might have seen him buzzing around the Oregon countryside on one of his vintage Mustangs or his CSC replica Mustang.
When I wrote the above story for Motorcycle Classics, I was also a consultant to CSC Motorcycles. The initial CSC bike was an updated approximate replica of the original Mustang, and the above story had a sidebar to it that told the CSC story. Watch for it here on the ExNotes blog; we’ll publish that story in another week or so. In the meantime, if you’d like to know more about CSC Motorcycles, their Mustang replicas, and CSC becoming the highly successful North American distributor of Zongshen motorcycles, you should pick up a copy of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM.
