Friday, July 11, 2014

Something old, something new...

First range trip today with both the Chiappa Spencer carbine in .45 Colt and the Magnetospeed barrel-mounted chronograph.

The Chiappa manual warned that the Spencer action was sensitive to cartridge overall length and bullet shape. While this rendered it a no-go with Federal 225gr SWC-HPs (and I checked with both those and Blazer GDHPs), it was 100% smooth sailing with Magtech 250gr LFN cowboy ammo. This was just function-firing; accuracy work will have to wait 'til next week. Ejection is controlled by how vigorously you work the lever and is slightly to the left-rear. Low-cut tops are definitely not advised.

This doohickey is the actual sensor unit for the Magnetospeed chronograph. It comes with an assortment of shims so you can adjust it so it is about .25" below the lower edge of the bore diameter. Sensitivity is adjustable so you can calibrate for bullets that have a weaker signal due to being slower and having no copper jacket...

...such as Magtech .45 Colt cowboy loads. (Sensitivity level 5.) This thing is the berries for not needing any lights overhead to work. They need to come up with a way to run it on a pistol, and soon. Maybe a Picatinny mount? That would at least work with most newer service pistol designs...


Anyhow, look for more stuff on both the carbine and the chrono soon.
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8 comments:

Sigivald said...

You're not fooling me, that's a magic electric bayonet.

Gewehr98 said...

Drop-dead sexy rifle!

Old NFO said...

LOL, at least it's harder to shoot it... Unless you get the angle WAY wrong!!!

Drang said...

I was wondering what the case with the weird shaped cutouts was, when you posted the first pic to Facebook.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to hear your report on the Spencer. I have a case of the "wants."

- Drifter

Matt G said...

1. Quit playing with my negative preconceptions about Chiappa guns, damn it! (I already noticed at NRA-CON that they have stepped up their quality, BIG-TIME, in two short years. Like, from Lorcin's best to Uberti and Rossi's mid-range. That's more than a leapfrog in improvement; it's a different plantet.)

2. That is a really, really cool chrono. I want one, even though half of what I chrono is pistols.

3. As I have very little experience with pistol scopes, I didn't weigh in (what could I possibly contribute?). But I still say that your itch to pop a deer, coinciding with your hands on this nifty repro in .45 Colt, is a Sign.

4. Those velocities looked low for .45 Colt velocities, until I realized that they were Cowboy loads, and that I tend to chrono stupid-heavy handloads, which throws off my perspective on the round.

mikee said...

Where else but here can one find posts about preparations for chrono testing of repro mid-19th carbines?

I look forward to your eventual post on the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator firing retro black powder loads, tested via JPL uplink to the James Webb space telescope.

Beaumont said...

You have a Spencer. I am officially jealous.

Am also eagerly awaiting a range test of the CorreiaTech Combat Wombat.