Reeder Custom Guns - 480 Achilles are all over the place!

At the Shootists Holiday probably 25% of all 480 Achilles are here!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

[image]

of it but you can make outstanding "Snake/Shot" load from full cylinder length .460 S&W brass using gas checks for base and crimped in top wads! I made some, from of all things, 30-06 brass. Of course mine needed to be necked as I have the chamber bump. It was also used to "headspace" the rounds. I used a dacron base wad and .44 gas check for top wad in my .45 Colt FL.

The bigger the pellets the tighter the pattern for longer distance. I guess they get less deformed. The .480 bore might not even touch the pellets and work really well. You could impress the kids with aerial targets smoked with shot loads!

I let my youngest Benjamin shoot them into the pond so we could see the shot pattern. I think All I had was #5 shot. Still it was minute of bunny.

This was a full cylinder length .45 Colt shot load.
[image]

[image]

I also used .30-30 cases to do the same in .41 Magnum using .40 cal. gas checks (I think) as a top wad.

[image]

When I was younger I did some for the .45 Colt but quickly decided I would rather learn to put the bullet where I needed it rather than have a cylinder full of shot when I needed a bullet!

I spent time practicing drawing and hitting and it saved me more than once.

If course I did not live in brushy grassy country either where you cannot see a snake before you step on it.

the two main snakes we encounter that are SO hard to see are the Copperhead and Timber Rattler. They are basically invisible and neither are aggressive to move much when they think they are hid. Until you actually touch or step on them.

Cottonmouth's put on a show and make you hurt yourself! They hold their mouths open and hiss! Sometimes you can smell them before you see them. The term "snakey" is used often to describe brushy or grassy areas. "Very or REAL Snakey" means I ain't walking in there...

[image]

Note the elliptical pupils of the Viper rather than the round eye of a nonvenomous snake.
[image]

- No text -

[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]

[image]

And this baby one ...
[image]

We know about #1 from your writings. Would love to know about the 'shorty' you are holding. Thank you very much Sir...

- No text -

That is John Killebrew.

Gary Reeder did the rechamber and barrel of the gun. It started life as an Uberti .. 45 Colt I believe.

Tedd Adamovich of Blu Magnum Grips did the burl walnut grips.

John rust blued the barrel himself. I shot it today and it's a nice handling gun. John has the shortest barreled 480 and I have the longest. We were not competing. :)

revolvers. Your thread was hijacked by that guy talking about shot shells.

https://www.leverguns.com/480/Default.htm

- No text -

FIRST OFF -- THE GUY THAT "HIJACKED" (YOUR WORDS) THE THREAD IS ACTUALLY SEARCY MAN -- A RECENTLY DISCOVERED RELIC FROM THE PAST - DISCOVERED IN THE WILDS OF ARKANSAS ABOUT 100 MILES WEST OF MEMPHIS

SECONDLY -- WHILE INDEED KINDA WORDY & BLABBERISHIOUS YOU'D BE PRETTY AMAZED AT WHAT THE FELLOW KNOWS & HAS EXPERIMENTED WITH
I GREW UP AROUND FOLKS LIKE HIM SO HE DOESN'T BOTHER ME TOO MUCH
TAKE TIME TO READ HIS RAMBLINGS & YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY COME AWAY SCRATCHING YOUR NOGGIN THINKING -- YA KNOW THATS KIND INTERESTING OR THAT IS KINDA KOOL - NOT SAYING YOU SHOULD TRY IT MIND YOU
NOT ALWAYS RELEVANT OR INTERESTING-- BUT A LOT MORE OFTEN
THAN NOT
THREAD UNHIJACKED

Jim was telling us about the 480 which I was hoping to learn more about. Then this other fellow jumps in and starts talking about his shotshells. Now common courtesy would say that the second fellow would start his own thread and let Jim continue telling us about his 480. But instead this new guy jumps in telling us something we didn't ask about and could care less about. Now if this is an example of a Searcy Man then I am glad they are extinct. I am not starting a fire under anyone. I just wanted to hear more from Jim. As Mr. Reeder says "Nuff Said", end of story, adios.

- No text -

(There are two James' too - the other is "James from Jersey")

I had no intention of misdirecting. Jim is a good friend and mentor, we've shot some together.

He knew where I was coming from. Lee Jurras and Nonte wrote a book once about handgun hunting. It included a chapter on boring out the chambers of a Colt New Service (I think) smooth to make full length shotshells to shoot small game. Later that was seen as a "short barrel shotgun", for some reason, and deemed illegal. THAT same chamber is the basis for the .480 Achilles! It's what Jim had done to the .45 Colt chamber to allow a heeled bullet of .475 diameter. You just straight bore the cylinders with no "step" and install a .475 barrel. Jim also told me the .45 Colt bullets actually shoot acceptably well at close range. (Look up Jurras' and Nonte's book it's really cheap and a value)

I'd wager the softer lead bullets driven by faster powders or even black powder or substitutes would give very good use in the Achilles. I learned this from my own playing with the heeled .41 Long Colt. I'd love for Jim to experiment more. If you have followed his articles he has come a very long way. His heeled bullet centerfire revolver shooting and experimenting is the first and most successful so far of the last two centuries, as far as I know. LOL

I just saw the potential of using shotshells in that platform. Jim also used to play with some aerial shooting with the sixgun. While I'm not above cheating using shotshells to "trick" the common folk, Jim would never do such a thing. BUT he might stop after a particularly lucky and awesome shot! LOL

I certainly do not want to get under anyone's skin. I think the world of Gary and try to help and promote his products. He sure has catered to my whims and helped me over the years. I don't have anyone I can talk to about all this wild stuff except to Misfits. It's just my hope that some will find it interesting or inspiring and begin titillating conversation, that's all. It's not self promotion, just fun.

Too bad you and I don't live closer it would be fun to go shooting. At HHC we always had a blast.

powered by my little forum