.45 S&W 2nd model HE project
A couple years back I picked up an old .455 Eley 2nd Model Hand Ejector that had been rechambered to .45 Colt, reblued, and had a neat little rear sight dovetailed into the top strap from Arch. I believe it was formerly Kid Cossack’s and maybe had been around our group some more. It’s been a fun shooter but has been a little long for my tastes. I didn’t really want to mess with it, so when another similar one was available locally I jumped on it. It seemed to be perfect as it had been polished and reblued as well as having the chamber modified as well. Plus as a bonus for less remorse, there was a little putting near the muzzle! I traded into it last weekend and yesterday I started into it. I pulled the barrel and chopped it down, then cleaned up the muzzle on my lathe. I originally started to make a new front sight to solder in place. I decided to keep with the retro look and reused the original front sight. I filed the rear face to a flat angle. I’d like to serrate it eventually. I got it soldered in place and touched up the blueing. I also swapped out the repro Coke grips that came on this revolver to the diamond magnas and the lanyard loop deon the other Smith. I really like the look and feel of it now. I’m working on making a Tom Threepersons style holster for it. It’s been awhile since I’ve done any leather work so we’ll see how that turns out! I’d also like to slick up the action some but it’ll do for now.
My plan is to exclusively shoot .45 Schoffield ammo through it to keep the chances of a hot Ruger level load making its way into this old gal. I’m planning on using a 454424 bullet and using close to .44 special loads since bullet weight MOA close and the .45’s case capacity is slightly larger.