[LaVistaBill]

Yesterday I went to the range and took along my 1923 vintage Colt Army Special. I had a box of Federal American Eagle .38 Special loads with a 158 gr. RNL bullet, standard velocity. I also had a few rounds of old Western Super-X .38 Special High Speed with 150 gr. RN Lubaloy coated bullets. I put up some Shoot-N-C bulls-eye targets at 10 yards and fired single-action, off a bench, using my shooting bag as a rest. Point of aim was the orange dot in the target center. The first 5-shot group with American Eagle cartridges measured 0.95" per my Lyman dial calipers. I then shot a 5-shot group using the Super-X loads and 4 shots went a cluster measuring 0.62" the #4 shot opened up the group to 1.73." Next I shot 15 rounds double-action, standing, with a two-handed hold, using the Federal stuff and kept all my shots inside the 10-ring. I had installed an old Mershon grip adapter on the Colt and it felt good in my hand. The sights were shooting a little left of center, but overall, I was very pleased with its performance. I look forward to many range sessions in the future!

 

[chaosrob]

Did you hear that Bill?

 

[Oyeboten]

Nice going!

 

[bmcgilvray]

Really good shooting and really nice Army Special!

 

[ussmanlovede36]

nice army special and good shooting. my colts also shoot a little left for me.

 

[haggis]

Assuming that you're right-handed, you may be able to avoid the POI-left-of-POA problem by centering the first pad of your trigger finger on the trigger and concentrating on pulling the trigger straight back. If you have been putting the first joint on the trigger, there is a tendency to push the trigger to the left.

Or, the sights could be off.

Buck

 

[dabney]

Mr. LaVistaBill:
Your Army Special looks like it is ready for a law enforcement career. I believe there are some of us on this forum who would prefer your Army Special over any of the current blasters out there. My situation here is unique as it would be hard, if not impossible, to pack a great sixgun, like your Colt, on duty. Even someone as advanced and learned on firearms as you, Bill, are victimized by Agency socialism. The one-size fits all philosophy instead of "what" you shoot best. Looking at your posted images sir, you have some mighty nice groups on all the targets. I love that pre-war checkering on your Army Special and those black hard rubber grips. Do you know if the grips are original to the gun? There were "some" Army Specials with the serial number scratched on the inside of the grip panel. The blue finish looks original too which makes your Colt all the more attractive. Good Colt, great shooting, legendary gun with legendary owner! You did good sir!
David

 

[LaVistaBill]

David:
I took the grips off to clean up the gun and add the Mershon Grip Adapter and the serial number is scratched inside of both grip panels. The blue finish is original, this was a well-kept revolver - glad it's mine! I wouldn't hesitate to carry it and I keep it loaded with the the Western Super-X High Speed loads. You could sure tell the difference between shooting them and the standard velocity 158 gr. RNL loads.
Bill

 

[smkummer]

Bill if all of your fixed sighted revolvers shoot to the middle of the target but this gun doesn't, you can carefully file a little metal from the right rear sight to compensate. I have done this to get a Bisely to shoot to the middle. Also this would open up the rear sight a little more and that is a help for us senior citizens.

 

[LaVistaBill]

Bill if all of your fixed sighted revolvers shoot to the middle of the target but this gun doesn't, you can carefully file a little metal from the right rear sight to compensate. I have done this to get a Bisely to shoot to the middle. Also this would open up the rear sight a little more and that is a help for us senior citizens.

That shooting to the left a bit is my MO with fixed sight guns and bulls-eye targets, so I'll just leave the sights alone. The problem usually goes away when I'm shooting rapid-fire at a silhouette target during a combat qualification course...