When I first posted about the Model 60 load development plan and the Altamont grips I bought from good buddy Paul, the cover photo showed my recently-acquired Model 60 snubbie and a Smith and Wesson Performance Center Model 625 I’ve owned for years.
The Model 625 and the Model 60.
I like that photo because the two stainless steel Smiths look great on the wild boar skin. That skin is from a pig hunt Paul and I did in Arizona a few years ago.
The earlier blog was about finding an accuracy load for the Model 60, but a few people wrote to ask if I had a favorite load for the Model 625. I do: My usual accuracy load for the 625 is a cast 200-grain cast semiwadcutter bullet (sized to .452 inches) over 4.2 grains of Bullseye.
When I went to the range to run a few rounds through the 625 I picked a box of ammo I had reloaded in 2014. It was different than my usual accuracy load. I used the same bullet (a 200-grain cast semi-wadcutter), but instead of Bullseye I had loaded these over 6.0 grains of Unique. And instead of .45 ACP brass in star clips, I used AutoRim brass. This is the load I fired that 6-shot group you see in the cover photo above for this blog, and it’s a honey. The group, that is…not the photo (it’s hard to get true colors when using an iPhone in the shade). I shot at 50 feet while standing…there’s no rest for the Model 625 or the weary.
.45 ACP cartridges in star clips for the Model 625. These are loaded with 230-grain cast roundnose Missouri bullets.The .45 ACP cartridge (left) and the .45 AutoRim cartridge (right). The AutoRim cartridge is designed for use in the Model 625 without star clips. The ACP cartridge has a 230-grain roundnose Xtreme bullet; the AutoRim cartridge has Missouri’s 200-grain semi-wadcutter.
The AutoRim brass is in the tumbler as I write this and when I reload it I’m going to go with the same load: The 200-grain cast semi-wadcutter over 6.0 grains of Unique. It seems to be working for me.
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A week or so ago I posted a load development plan for my .38 Special Smith and Wesson Model 60, and I recently finished the Model 60 load testing. The Model 60 with its new Altamont grips and the custom work good buddy TJ did for me is surprisingly accurate.
Altamont grips on the Model 60. They improved accuracy significantly.
I tested four bullets and four different propellants at two different levels, and I fired two 3-shot groups with each load combination. The one exception was the Hornady 148-grain swaged hollow base wadcutter bullet, which I tested with one propellant (Bullseye) at one level (2.7 grains). I did that because the wadcutter load is my standard target load (and it’s what my Star progressive reloader is set up to produce). The other bullets were the Hornady 110-grain jacketed hollow point, the Hornady 158-grain jacketed hollow point, and a cast 158-grain flatpoint bullet a local caster produces.
The four bullets used for this test: The 158-grain cast flatpoint, the 158-grain Hornady jacketed hollow point, the 110-grain jacketed hollow point, and the Hornady 148 grain hollow base wadcutter.Four propellants used for this test: Unique, Power Pistol, Bullseye, and Winchester 231.
The propellants were Bullseye, Unique, 231, and Power Pistol. As I mentioned above, all groups were 3-shot groups, and I fired each from a bench at 50 feet. I tested for group size and for deviation from the aim point, and I used the standard NRA 50-ft slow fire bullseye target. Point of aim was at 6:00 for all loads.
A few of the NRA 50-foot slow fire targets. I fired several groups on each target, marking my shots as I progressed. I took about 3 hours to test fire all loads included in this test.
The group size/accuracy results follow.
In addition to recording group sizes, I was also interested in where the groups printed with respect to my point of aim. I held my aim at 6:00 on the bullseye. Here’s what I found.
With regard to the group size testing, some of the loads were consistent, and others had some variability I think was mostly due to me. Many of the groups that went above, say, 2.3 inches or so in group size had two of the three shots right next to each other and then one was a flyer that opened the group up. I attribute that to pilot error. Yeah, I know, if I used a machine rest I could have eliminated that, but I don’t have a machine rest. You get what you get with this test, and that’s me.
The 110 gr Hornady JHP shot significantly low with all loads, and its accuracy was okay but not great. It was close enough, I think, for a defense round, but this bullet shot 4 to 6 inches low pretty consistently. That’s because the lightweight bullet squirts out of the barrel before the muzzle has a chance to rise much in recoil (so it hits lower). You might think that these 110 grain bullets would offer a significant recoil reduction, but if that occurred, I couldn’t feel it (the recoil felt about the same as the 158-grain loads). My conclusion is that, for me, 110-grain bullets are a nonstarter for the Model 60.
My standard target load (2.7 gr Bullseye and wadcutter bullets) grouped relatively well, although for me it shot about an inch to the right in the Model 60. That’s probably close enough for government work. It’s good to know this load works, because that’s the load my Star reloader is set up to make (and I make a lot of them).
The 158-grain bullets are obviously what the Model 60 is set up to shoot, and of the two tested, the best accuracy occurred with the 158-grain cast bullet and Winchester’s 231 propellant. It’s a sweet load at either the high or low propellant level, and it shoots essentially to point of aim at 50 feet.
I can also load the 158-grain cast bullet with Bullseye on the Star reloader, and that load did okay at 2.8 grains of Bullseye. The Star reloader has a small amount of adjustment in it for powder throw, but I would leave it at 2.7 grains (the same as the wadcutter load) if I loaded the 158-grain cast flatpoint bullets on it. That’s close enough.
Overall, I was surprised at how accurate a little snubnose can be. It’s not dramatically different than larger target handguns. Some of this is undoubtedly due to TJ going through the gun and making sure everything is perfect. And some of it is due to the Altamont grips. I sure enjoy shooting this handgun.
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What does a professional, world-class pistolsmith use for his personal weapon of choice?
I asked good buddy TJ (of TJ’s Custom Gunworks) that question, and the answer was surprising. This is a man who knows handguns inside and out, and a guy who is one of the top men in the world for custom-crafted combat handguns. SIGs, 1911s, Colt and Smith revolvers and autos, and more. A guy who could have just about anything he wanted. His guns are carried by law enforcement officers, special agents, and others the world over. So what is TJ’s personal sidearm?
It’s a highly-customized Charter Arms Bulldog, chambered in the mighty .44 Special cartridge. It’s the one you see here and in the photo above:
As you might imagine, TJ did not leave the gun stock. These are the custom features TJ’s personal .44 carries:
Satin brushed hard chrome finish
1.5-inch barrel (cutdown from stock barrel)
Radiused and polished trigger
“Melted” (rounded – sharp edges removed) contours throughout
TJ explained that double action is the only way he uses revolvers. You know, there’s a school of thought that a good man with a double action revolver can fire faster than can one with a semi-auto handgun. You can read more about that in Ed McGivern’s Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting, a good read for anyone interested in improving their handgun shooting with a double action revolver.
TJ’s Charter Arms custom Bulldog is a very impressive weapon. You can see more photos of it, and a few of TJ’s other custom guns, on the TJ’s Custom Gunworks website.
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I visited with good buddy Paul up north last week, and while I was there he showed me a set of Altamont grips he had for his Smith and Wesson snubnose handgun. When I saw the grips it was love at first sight, and I had to have them for my TJ-customized Model 60. Paul was happy to oblige (thanks, Paul!), I came home with a new set of Altamont‘s finest, and they promptly went on the Model 60. The Model 60 now looks like a scaled-down version of the big .45 ACP Smith & Wesson Performance Center Model 625, and I had to grab the shot you see above. The 625 wears custom grips, too, but that’s a story for another blog.
There’s no question I’ve gone overboard in getting grips for the Model 60. It came with the stock checkered walnut grips (the original equipment on this handgun), as well as a set of Pachmayr rubber grips. The Pachmayrs would have been better for shooting, but I wanted a set of smooth rosewood grips and I found them on Ebay. They looked great, but they were painful to shoot.
The Model 60’s OEM checkered walnut grips. Photo by TJ of TJ’s Custom Gunworks.Smith and Wesson J-frame uncheckered rosewood grips. These are the same size as the walnut grips shown above.The problem with both the OEM walnut grips and the replacement rosewood grips is that they are too small. My pinkie wraps around beneath the frame and takes a pounding with each shot.
The problem with the stock walnut grips and the Ebay rosewood grips is that my little finger gets under the grip. The recoil from the little Model 60 is significant (as we engineers like to say, f = ma), and it would pound my pinkie every time I fired it. Think about putting your pinkie sideways on a table and having someone whack it with a hammer, and you’ll have a pretty good idea what shooting this little snubbie was like.
All that’s changed with the Altamont grips Paul provided. Take a look. They’re beautiful.
Custom Altamont grips for the Model 60. Note the stippling (a crocodile pattern!) and the laser-engraved S&W logo.The Altamont grips installed on the Model 60.
The new Altamont grips are extended just a bit below the frame and they have finger grooves. It keeps my pinkie from getting underneath the frame, and with the new grips the Model 60 just feels right in my hand.
The Altamont grips provide a much better ergonomic hold. I like them a lot.
These new Altamont grips have a much better feel to them. The wood-to-metal fit is way better than with the stock grips (the grips exactly contour to the Model 60’s frame, unlike the OEM grips). The next obvious question, and the one that really matters is this: How did the Model 60 shoot with the new grips?
In a word, it was amazing. The new Altamont grips completely changed the character of the Model 60. First, a couple of shots of the Model 60 on the range:
The Model 60 became an entirely different animal with the Altamont grips. It’s much easier to shoot now.Good buddy TJ reworked my Model 60 extensively. It has an action job, selective polishing (ejector rod, cylinder, trigger, hammer, and cylinder release), and a red ramp front sight. TJ’s Custom Gunworks is the place to go if you want a bespoke handgun.
And here are two targets I shot at 15 yards (45 feet). One has 10 shots on it; the other has 12 (each had two cylinders of 5 cartridges, and I had a couple left over to finish the box).
Two targets on the 15-yard line. That little Model 60 has near-target grade accuracy with the Altamont grips. If you have a snubbie, you need these grips!
Several things are amazing about the above targets. The first is that it was windy as hell out on the range this morning, and even though I was shooting with both hands from a bench, I could see the sights swimming around as the wind gusted. The second is that the groups are dramatically tighter than they had ever been before with this handgun. And the third is that the revolver shot almost exactly to point of aim. I was holding at 6:00 on the 50-foot slow-fire NRA targets you see above. My load was the tried and true .38 Special target load: 2.7 grains of Bullseye propellant with the 148-grain Hornady hollow base wadcutter. Before, with the OEM and rosewood grips shown above, this same load shot a good 12 inches to the right of the point of aim, and the groups were huge. Evidently, as the revolver discharged, it was rotating to the right in my hands with those much smaller grips (and beating the hell out of me in the process). The Altamont grips brought the point of impact essentially in line with the point of aim and just a bit high, which is what I want in a handgun.
You may recall from a recent blog that I have a load development test planned for the Model 60, and I’ll be firing the cartridges I loaded for it within the week. I was up north on a secret mission last week and I didn’t get to shoot during that time. I recently read that if you go 72 hours without firing a handgun your skills deteriorate. I believe that, and I wanted to get in a little shooting before I shoot for group size. Hopefully, the Santa Ana winds through the Cajon Pass will die down, conditions will be right, and I’ll get to do some real accuracy testing in the next few days. You’ll get the full report right here. Stay tuned, my friends.
This blog outlines the development plan I’m using for my new-to-me Model 60 Smith and Wesson revolver. You might recall that I bought this revolver not too long ago and I had my good buddy and master pistolsmith TJ (of TJ’s Custom Gunworks) go through the gun, get everything perfect, do the trigger, and add a bit of tasteful polishing.
My custom Smith and Wesson Model 60. Note the polished ejector rod, cylinder, trigger, cylinder release, and hammer, and the smooth rosewood grips.
TJ did a hell of a job, I recently qualified with the Model 60 for my concealed carry permit, and now I want to find the most accurate load for this handgun. To me this means two things: The smallest group size and where the revolver hits with respect to the point of aim. I’m not concerned with velocity. All the velocity in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t hit your target.
When I develop a load, I generally do a bit of research on the Internet to see what others have found to be an accurate load, I see what components I have on hand (bullets and powders), and I consult my reloading manuals. I never take loads off Internet forums as gospel unless I confirm their safety in my load manuals or they come directly from the manufacturer’s websites (there is just so much inaccurate information on the Internet), and I never load at the manual’s max without working up to that level. My approach is to load a few rounds at the minimum level and a few a bit below the max level with each bullet and powder combination to get a quick feel for further load development. Or, I might find a combination in the initial tests that is so good I don’t need to do any further testing.
From left to right: 158-grain cast flatpoint, Hornady 158-grain jacketed hollow point, Hornady 110-grain jacketed hollow point, and Hornady 148-grain swaged wadcutter.
These days, I’m governed by what I have on hand, as the component suppliers are out of nearly everything. For me and this test series, that means four bullets:
A 158-grain cast flatpoint bullet from a local caster
Hornady’s 158-grain jacketed hollowpoint
Hornady’s 110-grain jacketed hollowpoint
Hornady’s 148-grain swaged wadcutter
All are shown in the photo above. My powders include Winchester 231, Unique, Bullseye, and Power Pistol (as seen in the featured photo at the top of this blog).
Here’s what the test plan looks like:
I’m going to test at 50 feet and fire two groups of three shots each for each combination. That will keep the total number of rounds fired to a manageable 150 rounds. It’s a quick look at what works and what doesn’t.
You might notice that I’m only going to test one load with the 148-grain wadcutter bullet. That’s because it’s been the known accuracy load for years, and it’s also because it’s what I have my Star progressive reloading press set up to make. Stated differently, I’m not going to change this load because it’s my standard wadcutter load, and the Model 60 will either do okay with it or it won’t. I already know this load shoots significantly to the right of my point of aim in the Model 60, but I’m including it here because I have the ammo and it’s easy to include in this test series.
That’s the plan. I’m reloading the ammo as you read this, and I’ll have it tested most likely next week. Watch the ExNotes blog for results in the near future.
I’m a lucky guy. One of the Holy Grail pieces in my collection is a Model 52 Smith and Wesson. These guns were discontinued nearly 30 years ago and a lot of folks (myself included) consider them to be the finest handguns ever manufactured. I had always wanted one, and finally, after pestering a good friend relentlessly, he agreed to sell me his.
An impressive target handgun: The Smith and Wesson Model 52-2. It has one of the best triggers I’ve ever experienced.
The Model 52 was built as a no-compromise bullseye target handgun chambered for mid-range .38 Special wadcutter ammunition. What that means is that it’s not a duty weapon or a concealed carry weapon. It’s a full-sized, 5-inch-barreled, adjustable sights, tightly-clearanced handgun with but one objective in mind: Shooting tiny groups with wadcutter ammo.
The .38 Special cartridge has been around forever, and the target variant uses a wadcutter bullet. One of my friends saw these and commented that it was odd-looking ammo, and I guess if you’re not a gun nut it probably is. The bullets fit flush with the case mouth, and because of the sharp shoulder at the front of the bullet, they cut a clean hole in the target (hence the “wadcutter” designation).
.38 Special wadcutter ammo, reloaded on a Star reloading machine. The secret sauce (not so secret, actually) is a 148 grain wadcutter bullet seated flush and 2.7 grains of Bullseye propellant.
I love reloading .38 Special wadcutter ammo, especially now that I am doing so on my resurrected Star reloader. You can read about that here.
You can see the clean holes cut by the wadcutter bullets in the target below, and that’s a typical target for me when I’m on the range with the Model 52. What you see below is a target with 25 shots at 25 yards shot from the standing position.
25 rounds at 25 yards from the Model 52, all in the bullseye. I’m a ham-and-eggs pistolero; guys who are good can shoot much tighter groups.
Yeah, I know, 2 of the 25 shots were a bit low in the orange bullseye. A gnat landed on my front sight twice during the string of 25. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)
That’s a Hornady hollow-base wadcutter on the left, and the Missouri Bullets cast double-ended wadcutter on the right. The HBWC is orientation sensitive; the DEWC is not.Reloaded HBWC and DEWC cartridges, with two of the double-ended wadcutter bullets that show the wadcutter end (which faces forward in the cartridge) and the hollow base end. These HBWC projectiles are Hornady bullets.
Next question: Which is more accurate in the Model 52, the hollow-base wadcutters or the double-ended wadcutters? The two I tried are the Missouri cast double-ended wadcutter, and the Hornady swaged hollow-base wadcutter. Here’s what they look liked (with me behind the gun) on a set of 50-ft targets:
50-ft targets used for comparing DEWC bullets versus HBWC bullets. These targets are about one-fourth the size of the silhouette target shown above.
And here’s the group size data from the 16 five-shot groups I fired a couple of days ago (all dimensions are in inches). It was all focused on answering the question: Which is more accurate? Hollow-base wadcutters, or double-ended wadcutters?
The load was 2.7 grains of Bullseye, a CCI 500 primer, and mixed brass for all of the above groups. They were all shot at 50 feet. So, to answer the accuracy question, to me the difference is trivial (it’s less than a 1% difference when comparing hollow-base to double-ended wadcutter average groups). The standard deviation (a measure of the variability in the group size) was a little bigger for the hollow-base wadcutters, but the difference was probably a statistcal anomaly and it was more due to me, I think, than anything else.
Folks often wonder how the Smith and Wesson wizards managed to get a semi-auto to feed wadcutter ammo. It’s partly in the magazine design and partly in the ramping (but mostly in the magazine). The Model 52 magazine is designed to only hold 5 rounds, and if the bullet protrudes beyond the case mouth, it won’t fit into the magazine. The magazine holds the the top cartridge nearly perfectly in alignment with the chamber, and when the slide pushes the round forward, it glides right in. It will even do so with an empty case, as the video below shows.
The Model 52 was first introduced by Smith and Wesson in 1961. It was based on Smith’s 9mm Model 39, but it had a steel frame (instead of an aluminum frame, although Smith also made a small number of Model 39s with steel frames), a 5-inch barrel (instead of the 39’s 4-inch barrel), and target-grade sights adjustable for windage and elevation (instead of the 39’s windage-adjustable-only sights). The original Model 52 had the Model 39’s double action first shot capability, although I’ve never seen a no-dash Model 52. In 1963 Smith incorporated a better single-action-only trigger and the 52 became the 52-1, and then in 1970 it became the 52-2 when Smith incorporated a better extractor. Mine is the 52-2.
I was lucky…when my friend sold the Model 52 to me, he had the complete package: The original blue Smith and Wesson box, the paperwork that came with the new gun, and all of the tools and accessories (including the barrel bushing wrench).
You might be wondering: Which is more accurate? The Model 52 Smith and Wesson, or the new Colt Python? They are both fine and accurate handguns, but in my hands and after coming back from good buddy TJ and TJ’s Custom Gunworks with a crisp single-action trigger, the Python gets top billing in the accuracy department. You can read about the Python’s accuracy with wadcutter .38 Special ammo here.
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Take a look at this: A Colt Trooper Mk III chambered in .22 Long Rifle, an interesting and extremely accurate revolver. I picked it up maybe 30 years ago in a local gun store. The revolver was in their display case on the lower shelf and I almost didn’t see it. I wasn’t in the market, but when I saw the Trooper it grabbed my attention. It was marked $225, I offered $200, the guy on the other side of the counter said okay, and the Trooper was mine.
Deep bluing, crisp lockwork, and color case hardening on the hammer. It makes for a good-looking revolver. This one wears custom handgrips.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but the little Trooper is a phenomenally accurate handgun, maybe one of the most accurate I’ve ever shot. It groups as well as a Model 41 Smith and Wesson, a target handgun with maybe twice the sight radius.
The Trooper is based on a Colt that was originally a .38 Special, then it was chambered for the .357 Magnum, then it was redesigned as the Trooper Mk III, and then it was offered in .22. That was a thing back in the ’60s and ’70s, you know, offering full-sized revolvers but in .22, and it was a good thing. These are awesome target guns, relatively inexpensive to shoot, and just plain fun. And heavy. The Trooper kept the same external envelope (i.e., the exterior dimensions) as the far-more-powerful .357 Magnum Trooper, and that means there’s a lot more steel in the barrel and the cylinder.
I bought my Trooper used, but it is in as new condition. It came with the original lighter colored (and checkered) walnut grips, but I saw the grips you see the revolver wearing in these photos about 15 years ago and I had to have them. The smooth grips look good and the medallions imply the gun went throught the Colt Custom Shop (it did not), but truth be told, the original grips offer a better hold and they fit the revolver better.
The grips say Colt Custom, but my Trooper was a regular production gun. The build standards were way higher back in the day.
One of these days I’ll get around to hogging out the interior of the custom grips and fitting them to the Trooper with AcraGlas, but that’s a project for the future. Or, I may put the original grips back on the gun (they’re around here somewhere).
The Troopers were available with a 4-inch barrel (like mine), a 6-inch barrel, or an 8-inch barrel, and they could be had with a high polish blue (like mine), a high-polish nickel, or a brushed nickel finish. If I knew then what I know now I would have purchased a matching blue steel Trooper Mk III in .357 Magnum. They were around $200 back in the day, and like my .22, the .357 would have been a sound investment. These guns go for five to eight times that amount today. You could argue that they make for a good investment, but that implies flipping the gun to realize the profit, and that’s not going to happen. I’ll keep this one forever.
You know, it’s hard to find new guns built to these same standards as regular service guns were 30 or more years ago. When I look at the deep bluing on my Trooper, that’s pretty obvious. The new Colt Python is one that rivals the Trooper for build quality, but it’s the exception.
As I mentioned in a recent blog, good buddy TJ (of TJ’s Custom Gunworks) reworked the trigger on my Colt Python. The original single action trigger had a lot of creep, it was heavy, and what surprised me most of all was that it actually cocked the hammer another few degrees before it released. I was getting a little double action when firing single action.
That bothered me enough to call my contact at Colt Manufacturing, and I think he was surprised when heard about it, too. He checked with his engineering department, and the word came back: They had to do that to meet the California and Massachusetts drop test requirements. I checked the California regulation and it requires dropping a loaded, cocked revolver from a height of 1 meter six times on a concrete surface without the gun firing inadvertently. Think about that. Dropping a loaded and cocked revolver, a .357 Magnum, onto a concrete floor. Six times.
Me? I’m going with an alternative approach. I’m not going to drop my loaded, cocked, .357 Magnum revolver on a concrete surface even once. It’s kind of a common sense approach, one that the politicians in California and Massachusetts apparently think we can’t be trusted to take.
A loaded revolver. Cocked. Dropped. Six times. Onto a concrete floor. What were they thinking?
I’m not one to to argue Darwinism versus Divine Creation (we don’t do politics or religion here on ExNotes), but here’s a thought. Maybe someone who drops a cocked, loaded, .357 Magnum revolver on a concrete surface six times, well, maybe Darwin was on to something. Maybe that person needs to be culled from the gene pool. Before you get your shorts in a knot, though, remember my preface: It’s just a thought.
Anyway, back to the main attraction, and that’s the trigger job TJ did on the new Python. TJ took photos of the Python’s internals (the complete parts interface is shown above in the large photo). The photo below shows what was causing the trigger creep and the hammer movement during a single action trigger pull:
That’s the hammer on the left, and the trigger on the right. You’ll notice that the hammer’s sear area (denoted by the red arrows) is kind of rough and it contains a hooked ledge of sorts. That’s what was rotating the hammer back a few more degrees when the trigger was actuated in the single action mode.
TJ modified the sear to eliminate the hooked ledge and create the angles and surface finish the Python trigger-to-hammer interface deserves. That’s what you see below.
Before he improved the sear interface, the Python’s double action trigger pull was 9 1/2 lbs; it is now 9 lbs. The single action trigger pull was a very creepy 5 1/2 lbs; now there is no perceptible trigger or hammer movement before the hammer is released and the trigger breaks at a very clean 2 1/4 lbs. The upgrade completely changes the character of the new Python. I can’t imaging anyone buying a Python and not wanting to have the trigger cleaned up in this manner. TJ is the guy to do it.
The next big question is: Did the new trigger a make a difference in how the Python performed? Hey, you tell me. Here are two 5-shot groups shot at 50 feet with the improved trigger:
Those two groups were shot with my go-to .38 Special target load (a 148-grain wadcutter and 2.7 grains of Bullseye prepared on my Star reloader). The group on the left measures 0.680 inches; the one on the right measures 0.830 inches. Some of the .357 Magnum loads performed just as well. I’ll share all my Python load testing results in a near-term future blog. I didn’t adjust the sights during my load testing because I’d be moving them with each new load; I’ll zero the gun when I’ve selected the load I want for the Python. I am a happy camper; these are phenomenally good results.
You might be wondering about now why you’d need a trigger job on a $1500 handgun. Folks, this isn’t Colt’s fault. They’re doing what they have to in order to meet a requirement imposed by people who don’t understand what they are doing. Don’t get upset with Colt. Do the right thing and vote.
If you have a Python and you’re not happy with the trigger, take a look at TJ’s Custom Gunworks and drop TJ a note. Trust me on this: You’ll be glad you did.
When I recently visited good buddy and custom gunsmith TJ of TJ’s Custom Gunworks to discuss a trigger job on my new Colt Python, I noticed a custom SIG P220 in .45 ACP in his shop. The SIG had a very unusual finish. The trigger work was incredible, with as crisp a single action trigger pull as any I have ever felt. I’m hoping the Python’s will be as good after TJ works his magic on it (jumping ahead, it is, and that will be in a future blog). I asked TJ about the SIG, and in particular, if I could share it with our blog readers. Here’s what TJ told me:
I haven’t taken photos of my urban camo P220 yet; I’ll do that over the weekend. Here are some photos of his little brother, the P239, in .40 S&W.
The camo finish is a 6-layer process. I did a full LEVEL 1 package on it, and since it was already DAO (Joe’s note: That’s double action only) I did a full bob on the hammer, slightly lifted the slide catch, melted the edges and corners, satin polished the barrel and extractor, applied orange DayGlo on the front sight, installed camo Duracoat on the Hogue rubber grips, and I fitted my TJ hex head grip screws. I can email you more details of what I did if you need it over the weekend.
These are the photos TJ sent. The first one is the 239 SIG as TJ acquired it, the next one is one of the steps in the camo application process, and the last two or three are the finished gun.
This TJ-customized SIG 239 sure is impressive. It’s in a powerful chambering, it’s compact, all of TJ’s customs are super reliable, and the gun just has a cool look. Whoever ends up owning it is going to have one hell of a handgun. TJ tells me he’s going to be listing the gun you see here on Gunbroker in the near future (at a price that seemed to me to be way too low).
If you’ve ever thought about having a custom handgun built to your specifications, TJ is the guy you want to talk to. One of the gun magazines described TJ’s work as “duty jewelry you can wear.” That sounds accurate. You don’t have to be here to use his services; most of TJ’s work is for folks in other states. Take a few minutes and check out the photos of prior TJ custom handguns on the TJ’s Custom Gunworks website.
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A quick note: The Python is back from TJ now and the trigger is superb. The double action went from 9 1/2 to 9 lbs and it is much smoother. The single action trigger went from 5 1/2 lbs (with a lot of creep) to a what I would call a breaking glass, creep-free 2 1/4 lbs. It feels better and I am seeing an immediate improvement on target. If you own a Colt Python, trust me on this: You need a TJ trigger job on yours. It completely changes the character of the revolver. Watch for an upcoming blog on the new Python with its improved trigger.
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Last year I wrote about the MacManus Award, a program I helped revive with the Rutgers University Reserve Officer Training Corps. Captain Colin D. MacManus was a US Army Infantry officer and an Airborne Ranger who graduated from Rutgers in 1963. Captain MacManus was killed in action in Vietnam in February 1967 and posthumously awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action.
US Army Captain Colin D. MacManus, Rutgers University ’63.
To commemorate Captain MacManus’ life, each year the MacManus family awarded a .45 Auto to the graduating senior who held his Rutgers Corps of Cadets assignment, and in 1973, that was me. The award was a very big deal to me in 1973, and it’s still a big deal to me today. I still shoot my MacManus .45 regularly.
My first handgun: The Colin D. MacManus 1911 and a couple of 5-shot, 25-yard hand held groups I fired with it. I had it accurized in the 1970s, and it is still a tack driver.
The MacManus award fell away a few years after I graduated, but we were successful in restarting it in 2020. The young man who won the MacManus award last year communicates with me regularly. He’s now a US Army Infantry lieutenant going through the Ranger School at Fort Benning Georgia. Good people, these are.
My good buddy at Rutgers, Colonel Javier Cortez, selected the top cadet at Rutgers for the 2021 graduating class, and I’m happy to report that this year’s honoree will receive his 1911 from the Colt company (last year’s award was a Springfield Armory 1911, another fine handgun). This year’s Colt is the Classic Government Model just like you see in the photo at the top of this blog, and Colt is putting some special touches on it through their Custom Shop. That’s the same Colt model I was awarded in 1973, I’ve put a few tons of lead through it since then (230 grains at a time), and my Colt is still going strong.
Because of the pandemic, there was no award ceremony last year. We’re doing the award ceremony via Zoom this year, and I’m looking forward to it. If you would like to read more about MacManus award and its revival last year, you can get to it via this link:
This is good stuff, folks, and I am delighted to be associated with the effort. These are fine young men we are honoring. I’m proud of them, and I know you are, too.
and have them delivered to your door!
