|
The rains stopped, it was overcast ,and the wind was out
of the north, a good day to take the new Dan Wesson Patriot
to the range for its initial, first shots.
|
| The Pistol: The gun is a stock Dan Wesson Patriot Stainless
Steel Expert model in .45 ACP. For details on this 1911, see
the link above. The main difference in this and most other such
pistols is its external, pivoting extractor. |
| Factory Ammunition: The following factory
rounds were fired:
PMC 230 gr FMJ
Winchester "USA" 230 gr FMJ
Sellier & Bellot 230 gr FMJ
Federal 230 gr HydraShok (Old, truncated cone shaped bullet)
Remington 230 gr Golden Saber
Corbon 165 gr PowRball +P
|
| Handloaded Ammunition: The following handloads
were fired as well: |
Rucker 200 gr CSWC
5.0 gr Bullseye
Winchester LP Primer
Sellier & Bellot Cases
LOA: 1.25"
|
Hornady 200 gr XTP
7.2 gr Unique
Federal LP Primer
TZZ Cases
LOA: 1.215"
|
| |
|
Speer 200 gr JHP (Moly-coated)
Pre-Gold Dot Hollow Point
7.2 gr Unique
Federal LP Primer
Winchester Cases
LOA: 1.18"
|
|
| So, a total of 9 different loads were tried. |
|
| Shooting: Shooting was intended to be done
at 15, 25, and 50 yards, much as in the other "Range Reports"
I've done. Today, I fired only 15 rounds due to a "glitch"
(more on that , later) and did so using a rest to try and see
just how tight I could get groups with this pistol as its "Proof
Target" is so good.
I fired a few rounds to get the feel of this pistol and to
set the sights. No windage changes were needed, but I did
raise the elevation a bit as the pistol was hitting a little
low.
|
 |
| The 5-shot groups above were fired at 15 yards with my
wrists resting on a coat on top of my range box. I was seated
while firing. |
 |
| ...and the handloads AND Corbon PowRball... |
 |
| All of the loads shoot better than I can in
this pistol as the picture of a 15 yard target, fired by me
shows when compared to the Proof Target for this pistol, fired
at the factory. |
| The test came to a halt when the magazine release
broke. I had fired one shot at a 25 yard target when the magazine
fell out of the pistol! I've included some pictures of the broken
remains in the pistol's frame and the piece that fell out.
If this had to happen, I'm glad it happened at the range
and not while using the gun to shoot varmints or hunting small
game.
|
| Observations: Though an "abbreviated"
initial range report, I did note that ejection was positive
with no rounds hitting the shooter. There were zero failures
to extract and fired cases landed about 5' to the right with
the lighter CSWC handload to about 10' with the warmer loads.
Cases were not dented and firing pin strikes were plenty good
with the smaller, 9mm-sized firing pin.
The following malfunctions did occur:
1. Second round fired with the PMC ball: The gun's slide/barrel
did not go fully into battery. Nudged it a quarter-inch or
so forward. This did not reoccur.
2. Off of a full eight rounds in the magazine, the pistol
did not fully chamber the handload using the CSWC bullet.
I tried this again immediately and it did not reoccur.
3. The set screw in the McCormick trigger managed to turn
in recoil and did halt the test as the gun could not fire,
but this was corrected and no problems. I have had this happen
before with this brand trigger as well as others. For that
reason, I always loctite the set screw when properly set.
I will wag out another magazine release from my parts bin
and will continue the range report with a more complete one
in the next few days. Due to scheduling, this might be toward
the middle of next week. I will continue to use the gun in
stock configuration and will clean the outside of the pistol,
but leave the inside dirty just to see how the gun continues
to perform when not in pristine condition.
|
