Colt SAA

[capstan]

After church this morning, I stopped by my local gun club shooting range to try out the improved triigger on my SAA. I smoothed the sear ledge and got rid of some creep in the trigger.
The only pistol range there is 32 yards. I tried some cowboy factory loads. The trigger was much better I got about a 4 inch group at 32 yards both times that I shot 5 rounds. I must admit the sight are hard to keep sharp with my eyes at that range but I all things consideered I thought I held pretty good. It is not as accurate as the anaconda or python or officers model match but then they have alot easier to see sights

So, Im happy enough with the peacemaker and the truth is I wont be shooting much at 32 yards. 25 yards is more like it, an I know I can group alot better with it at 25 yards.

[Gatofeo]

4 inch groups at 32 yards is darned good, especially with that older Colt.
The gun is capable of it, to be sure, but the sights and older eyes don't always work well together. I know. I'm 55, wear bificals and struggle to keep the front sight aligned and focused.
I regularly shoot my Uberti-made copy of the Remington .44 cap and ball at the local gravel pit. Once in a while, a 20-something shows up with the latest 9mm or pocket .45 ACP. Invariably, they sneer at the ol' gummer and his lead-ball slinger.
Until they see the groups I shoot with it.
At 25 yards, from a benchrest, I've obtained groups of six shots that could be covered with a silver dollar, and some of those groups cluster three or four holes that could be covered by a half dollar.
My Old Model Ruger .45 Blackhawk will do the same with some loads.
Most of the time, the youngsters are lucky to hit a 9 inch paper plate at 25 yards. I'm sure it's the fault of the shooter, not the gun. Marksmanship has taken a back seat to firepower, anymore. <sigh>
I hope you get a chance to stand next to a group of youngsters and their "wunder-pistolen" sometime. Shooting 4 inch groups at 32 yards is darned good, and perhaps they'll learn a valuable lesson: only hits count.

[capstan]

4 inch groups at 32 yards is darned good, especially with that older Colt.
The gun is capable of it, to be sure, but the sights and older eyes don't always work well together. I know. I'm 55, wear bificals and struggle to keep the front sight aligned and focused.
I regularly shoot my Uberti-made copy of the Remington .44 cap and ball at the local gravel pit. Once in a while, a 20-something shows up with the latest 9mm or pocket .45 ACP. Invariably, they sneer at the ol' gummer and his lead-ball slinger.
Until they see the groups I shoot with it.
At 25 yards, from a benchrest, I've obtained groups of six shots that could be covered with a silver dollar, and some of those groups cluster three or four holes that could be covered by a half dollar.
My Old Model Ruger .45 Blackhawk will do the same with some loads.
Most of the time, the youngsters are lucky to hit a 9 inch paper plate at 25 yards. I'm sure it's the fault of the shooter, not the gun. Marksmanship has taken a back seat to firepower, anymore. <sigh>
I hope you get a chance to stand next to a group of youngsters and their "wunder-pistolen" sometime. Shooting 4 inch groups at 32 yards is darned good, and perhaps they'll learn a valuable lesson: only hits count.

Thanks Gat, Those groups you shot are awesome. I must say I really like the Colt peacemaker. And, I love the sound of those distinct clicks when I cock it back slowly. There is something special about a Single Action revolver.

[Ken S]

just a trick from a 64 year young cowboy.... When I shoot my SAA, which is often, I take off the bifocles, and use an older pair of regular glasses without the bifocle lenses. Keeps me from bobbing for apples trying to sight in . 'course, I have to take them off to find the bullets on the bench. Old age is a b#$%^. But at least I'm still shootin' Ken

[Frank V]

Capstan, an old bullseye pistol shooters trick is to focus on the front sight. The rear sight & target will blur a bit. You can still shoot good groups with the target blurry, it will still be sharp enough to tell where your sights are. It takes some concentration to focus on the front sight when all your instincts tell you to focus on the target. Try it, I think you will be surprised. I shot NRA pistol bullseye for 20 years & most of us used this method.
Frank

[tomob1]

I was thinking about smoothing the trigger on one of my SAA's. did you just polish the sear, or did you actually change the angle?
about the eyesight; I need glasses for close up (the sights) but that blurs the target. I ended up using a contact lens in my non dominant eye. takes a little getting used to, but seems to work.
tom

[capstan]

I was thinking about smoothing the trigger on one of my SAA's. did you just polish the sear, or did you actually change the angle?
about the eyesight; I need glasses for close up (the sights) but that blurs the target. I ended up using a contact lens in my non dominant eye. takes a little getting used to, but seems to work.
tom

tomob1, I only lightly polished the "ledge" for the sear. I referred to the Kunhausen manual. I was very careful NOT to change the angle because according to Kunhausen that could possibly ruin it. The idea was just to remove any burrs or roughness on the ledge.
Of course we are talking thousandths of an inch polishing Very minute changes to the surface with really fine sandpaper or very fine stone.

[capstan]

Capstan, an old bullseye pistol shooters trick is to focus on the front sight. The rear sight & target will blur a bit. You can still shoot good groups with the target blurry, it will still be sharp enough to tell where your sights are. It takes some concentration to focus on the front sight when all your instincts tell you to focus on the target. Try it, I think you will be surprised. I shot NRA pistol bullseye for 20 years & most of us used this method.
Frank

Frank Im going to try the focus on front sight only next time I shoot. I usually just try to keep both front and rear sight clear and let the target get a little blurry but never actually foused primarily on front sight alone. I will give this technique a try.

[PonyLover]

Cap,
Not sure what load you're using, but I found heavier loads group more consistently in my SAA .44. When I'm shooting for tight groups or need something for defense, I use 7 grains of Unique behind a 240 grain cast bullet sized .429. At 25 yards, I get cloverleafs less than 1 1/2 inches.

[Ken S]

I'm finding the heavier charges are more accurate too. In my .45 SAA, I use 250/.454's and 6.4 Unique in the Schofield case. which is listed a max. on the charts. I've tried 6.0 to 6.3, but the 6.4 250FNRP works best.