Accurizing a 6 gun

[CowboyTutt]

This article came out almost 2 months ago and somehow I missed it until just a week ago or so. A new forum friend pointed out to me recently that Bob Munden's Six Gun Magic was still functioning because Bob had the foresight to choose a friend and gunsmith to be his understudy and taught him how he improved SA sixguns of various types. I spoke to Becky Munden last night and she sounded very good. Bob worked on my 2002 Ruger Bisley in 45 Colt 15+ years ago. I believe I had him recut the forcing cone to 11 degrees and he reamed the cylinders to .452 and polished them (that I can see at a glance). He also did his usual "specific to the gun" trigger/action and spring job. Bob did not ever use a kit.
The gun developed a problem with its timing/rotating of the cylinder so Bob said send it back, and he installed a free-pawl system on mine for free, forever fixing the problem. I am delighted to report that Bob's way of tuning a gun is still available from Jeff Ault at Sixgun Magic. Mine has developed a slight hitch in its trigger reset because of all the +P 45 Colt loads that have been through it (I don't think its ever had anything BUT a +P load through it and a stout one at that! 360 grain at 1150 fps as per Hodgdon). Becky said send it back and we will fix it for free. I said "No Mamm, that's not what I'm looking for. I just want to send the gun "home" for its repair, I'm glad Bob chose an understudy and will gladly pay." So "home" it goes soon. Good people. The interesting wrinkle to all of this, is that I knew enough at the time to have Bob uniform the cylinder chambers (Rugers were notorious for undersized chambers in 45 Colt at the time) but I never understood why re-cutting the forcing cone at 11 degrees was so important, only that it was.

This article explained all that and deftly. He's not the first to write about it, but it is still a very good article and you can see the importance of fire lapping or lapping the barrel too which is the next step for mine. Thanks again to Becky for personally taking my call. A fine six gun is worth every penny.

https://gunblast.com/Dreyfous-Leading.htm

https://bobmunden.com/custom-gunsmithing/

-Tutt

[Blaine]

Thirty years ago, I had a Super BlackHawk, and a BlackHawk in .41mag....they made patterns at fifty feet.
At the time I was ignorant to what could have been done to fix them. Duh, on me. But, I replaced them with a S&W 629PP....I've been very pleased with it.
You have a beautiful shooter, there, Tutt....

[piller]

Thank you for posting this. I have printed it for future reference.

[CowboyTutt]

I just spoke again tonight with Becky Munden. I can't say enough about her. -A-

[piller]

Hope she stays in good health.

[AJMD429]

I've turned down some 'freebies' like that repair-work as well, even one time ordering service on an item in my wife's name instead of mine and using our home address instead of my easier-to-deliver-to work address. Glad to see that mindset is shared by others.

Also glad to hear of a family business being continued, and eventually handed on to younger folks.

Both of those things are "the way it should be".

A 45 Colt Ruger (Redhawk or Blackhawk) is an awesome gun, and getting one tuned up for accuracy is something I've never done but should someday. Not sure my amateurish revolver shooting skills could tell the difference, though (although perhaps it's just the case that I've never shot a really accurate revolver, now that I think about it... )

[Oldncrusty]

Thanks for the tip! Now I have another item on my must do list.

[Pat C]

I dabbled a little with Colt SAA revolvers,mostly tuning to get a smooth functioning piece. These were third gen revolvers had three. I bought the forcing cone reamer set from Brownells and the action stones.
Basicaly stoned the frame insides especially hand slot,debuted and polished all internal parts.
Polished bolt ,reduced springs.
Oversize base pin was an option too.that about it.Sites makes them smooth!

I had a Super Blackhawk ,it was Dad's he traded for in the mid 70's Accuracy was horrible ,traded it for a Winchester 92. All ways wondered if it was a cylinder /barrel mismatch on sizes .Didn't know anything about that back then .

[CowboyTutt]

An oversize base pin with a locking set screw is a must for sure. I went with Belt Mountain Sheriff's base-pin. The #5 pin is prettier but this one allows a longer ejector rod stroke than factory or the #5 Elmer Keith version. They are still made today so many years later. Hand-fitting the parts to the slots as you mentioned also makes for a tight lock-up and can improve accuracy. -Tutt

[JReed]

Bob was a down right decent person. Had the distinct pleasure of talking with him on several occasions when I was in my teens shooting Cowboy Action. Wish I had been older at the time, I would have been able to better comprehend all the knowledge he had to pass. Glad to hear that Becky is still running the business.

[CowboyTutt]

Jeremy, that was my experience too. I think I only spoke to him 2 times, maybe 3. We often got off task about my sixgun and would talk about Harley's or something. He never seemed to mind taking the time with me. Every conversation we had was a gem. I would agree he was a very good man and such a huge loss to the firearms community for his talent, but also his friendship to those of us in the firearms community. He was a "hoot" for sure. -Tutt

[AmBraCol]

Someone needs to tell Jameson Dreyfous about the 480 Achilles. That one Colt SAA cylinder he mentions would be a perfect candidate for such a project.

[Griff]

I attended my first "End of Trail" in 1986... I'd been shooting cowboy action for about 8 or 9 months, and was told by my mentor to have "Bob" look at my 3rd Gen Colt... After the 1st day's shooting was over, he took over to "Bob", introduced me, and told "Bob" that my Colt needed his hands laid upon it! Bob took it, checked it over and said, "see me in the morning". Next morning, there he was, with about 20 or so sixguns he'd "looked at" overnite. The springs, tuning and polishing work he did lasted for nearly 10 years of very constant use, for between practice sessions, matches, I was shooting it about 2,000 rounds a month. Not nearly enough to be "real good", but enough to be competitive!

Yep, while many folks found Bob to be off-putting, both he and Becky were/are class folks!