David Sinko

I had my Redhawk built about 10 years ago. I bought the gun brand new and sent it off to Bowen without ever firing so much as one round through it. The gun was turned into a six shot re-bore, with very tight chambers. I told Bowen I was going to use it as a carry gun and asked him to cut off the hammer spur. He told me that nobody had ever asked him to do that before. Some would argue that cutting off the hammer spur will result in light hits, but when I got the gun back it would fire Winchester primers double action with complete reliability. As fas as I know he used the original mainspring. Some time last year the gun started to misfire DA with Winchester primers. I switched to Federal primers and it seemed to help. Then one day at the range I let a female shooter try it. Her trigger finger was very weak and she needed two fingers to pull the trigger DA and then only VERY slowly. I was astounded that the gun misfired every time. I took the gun back and fired six shots very fast DA and they all fired. Either my stronger trigger finger was generating more hammer speed or the momentum was causing the cylinder to lock up more positively. Anyway, I now knew there was a problem that had to be corrected. I know Redhawks have firing pin issues so I (foolishly) believed this to be the problem. I ordered an extended firing pin from Bowen and Mark Hartshorne of Pinnacle Custom Guns installed it. Changing the firing pin generally requires the use of a drill press or milling machine to make a dimple in the cross pin that is flush with the frame. Then this pin must be carefully bumped out without damaging the frame. Mark told me it was a very time consuming job. Unfortunately the firing pin did not cure my problem and I still had shallow, off center hits. The gun is either out of time or has excess endshake. Bowen has not yet diagnosed the problem for me. I have also managed to break two hammer links in this gun. They break at the hook and the gun is useless until the part is replaced. Bowen told me he never heard of such a thing and yet I have managed to do it twice. I think it's because I dry fire so much. I like the Redhawk. It is very comfortable to shoot. I have shot quite a bit of IDPA with it and I can manage quarter second splits with good hits at 240 Power Factor at close range. It is a great field gun and I have killed a lot of critters with it. It is also a great concealed carry gun. The only real world advantage the S&W 625 has over it is the faster reloads with moonclips. Unfortunately this is a very significant disadvantage in the gun games so a Redhawk is not viable in any of the action shooting events. For some time now I have been trying to convince Bowen to build auxiliary cylinders in .45 Winchester Magnum. They would use the same moonclips that the 625 uses. Unfortunately, Bowen is not at all interested in such a thing and I can not afford to have him build the very first one, but that is a topic for another discussion. I strongly recommend his book The Custom Revolver, available from bowenclassicarms.com. Dave Sinko

I put a lot of rounds through an expensive custom Redhawk. It is not uncommon to have a Redhawk mainspring go sour after extended use. But there can be other problems too. The firing pins are often on the short side and some of the earlier ones can get peened and shortened even more after long or hard use. Also after very heavy use the transfer bar will develop a divot where it whacks the firing pin and this divot will eventually begin to compromise the blow delivered by the hammer. You can buy a new transfer bar from Brownells and replace that yourself. Same with the mainspring. I use only full power mainsprings. But the firing pin can be a nightmare. Ruger will not sell them to anybody and it is usually a repair that must be done at the factory. Hamilton Bowen (of Bowen Classic Arms) sells an extended firing pin that he makes but installing it is a difficult task best left to the most experienced gunsmiths who have a lot of patience. My Redhawk began misfiring and exhibiting shallow, off center firing pin hits even with Federal primers and I exhausted all the easy fixes, still without success. I had to return the gun to Bowen and I'm still waiting for a diagnosis. I fear I may be one of the few people to ever wear out a Redhawk. Dave Sinko

My Glock 35 lives on a steady diet of range scrap brass. I use both the Lee U-die and factory crimp die so my rounds always chamber. I have developed a keen eye for separating over-utilized brass, but I realize I may still be living on borrowed time. I load this stuff only to Minor PF and discard them just before they start to look like belted magnums. Dave Sinko

Speaking of the Dillon 550, I had an interesting experience when my brother was loading some .45 Colt for my very expensive Bowen Redhawk Alpine Conversion. When he gave me the ammo, he kept a few separate and told me that "something just didn't feel right" at the beginning and I "just might not want to shoot those." My brother is a very cautious reloader so I dismissed his apprehension as mere paranoia. The load was a 255 gr. cast bullet over 8.8 grs. of 231, which nicely duplicates the ballistics of the original black powder loading. So I'm shooting this stuff at an indoor range when suddenly the recoil is significantly sharper and the muzzle blast is off scale. I nervously opened the cylinder and examined the gun. Everything still functioned properly and the gun appeared to be normal. The gun shot perfectly for some years afterward and was only recently returned to Bowen because it appears to be going out of time. It is a six shot re-bore of a .44 Magnum and not the five shooter with special cylinder. There is no way to prove it happened, but just the thought of shooting 17.6 grs. of 231 behind a 255 gr. cast bullet has kept me awake more than a few nights. I still use the 550 extensively because it is so easy to change primer sizes and calibers. It is also very easy to load relatively small batches of ammo for test purposes using this press. I refuse to abandon the 550 but I realize it needs special precautions. I also have a 650 which is dedicated to .45 ACP. I somehow managed to load one without powder using this press too. I was shooting a steel match when neither the RO nor I heard the primer pop. I thought I felt the striker of the Glock 21 go forward and figured I had a misfire, so I racked the slide and chambered another round. That one didn't fully chamber, so I hit the rear of the slide with my palm and tried to shoot again. By this time everybody was screaming for me to stop, so I stopped. There was a 200 gr. SWC stuck in the chamber and luckily it prevented the next round from chambering. I never heard that pop and tried my damndest to fire the next round. To this day I don't know how I loaded one without powder on a 650. It was probably those first few rounds where I was trying to get the load just the way I wanted it. I've been very lucky. Over the years I've had two shotgun wads stuck in the barrel of my 1100 (not my fault, just a bad batch of powder) but I had the sense look down the bore when the gun didn't cycle properly. And I once loaded a .300 Savage without powder, but that's an easy one to detect. The only gun I ever damaged was a Ruger 10/22 which somehow fired when the round was half chambered. That was cheapo Remington .22 Thunderbolt, and obviously not a reload. Also, my brother blew up a 9mm Keltec Carbine when the round somehow went off halfway in the chamber. The case was cut cleanly in half with the forward part remaining in the chamber. Be careful! Just when you think it can't happen to YOU is when Mr. Murphy will come a knockin' at your door. Dave Sinko

The round I pulled was loaded very long and there was no way it could possibly fit into the chamber of my Glock 35, so I presume it was loaded for some kind of 1911. But why such a heavy powder charge? I never attempted to load .40 Major in my 35 using Clays, but I believe 3.5 grs. would put me close with the shorter OAL. Or maybe it was Universal Clays? I've never seen that stuff and I don't know what it looks like. Dave Sinko

Once in a match I expected a bang and got the dreadful click. I thought the round misfired, but apparently everybody else heard the primer pop. In an instant before anybody could say or do anything or stop me I was on the trigger again and finished the stage. When they told me what happened I didn't believe it. Further examination revealed that the Berry 185 gr. HBRN had been loaded without powder. The primer drove the bullet hard enough to clear the cylinder gap and allow the cylinder to rotate for the next shot. The next shot drove both bullets out the barrel resulting in a perfect head shot, which was where I was aiming. The gun was not damaged at all. I was using a very light charge of Viht N320 for about 130 PF. Looking back, I believe the problem was caused when loading that batch of ammo on a Dillon 550. As I lowered the handle of the press, one of the springs that is wrapped around the powder measure broke and the spring flew off and hit me in the face. This distraction caused me to not realize that the case hadn't been charged with powder. That could've been a very expensive lesson but fortunately it was not. Dave Sinko

The other day I pick up a loaded .40 S&W at an IPSC match. I'm not stupid enough to shoot other shooters' ammo in my guns, so last night I pulled it to try to see what's inside. There was 4.1 grs. of something that looked exactly like Clays behind a 180 gr. jacketed bullet. Why in the world anybody would want to shoot that load is beyond me. Dave Sinko

The temperature today was just above freezing. My Glock 35 functioned flawlessly despite having not been cleaned during the last 2700 rounds. Plenty of guns were sluggish and choked. Heavy clothing caused a few problems too. One shooter suffered terribly when the sleeve of his jacket got caught between the slide and the beavertail during recoil. Though I did not have any ammo or temperature related issues I did suffer a very costly stoppage when my slide hung up on my jacket during recoil on a retention stage. Damned auto... that's why I always carry my 625 when there's any chance that the targets will shoot back. Dave Sinko

Get rid of the lock and the MIM parts. Give me the old wide, grooved trigger. That doesn't make many people happy, but it can be modified to make ANYBODY happy. Pictures are nice, but is it put together properly? Does anybody remember that ridiculous .45 ACP Heritage gun? The cylinders were bored straight through! It was worthless without moonclips. And they still expected people to pay over $1000 for it. S&W needs to give up all the hi-tech nonsense and make revolvers like they did decades ago. Until then I'll buy only used revolvers. Dave Sinko

My DAO Sig 229 .40 S&W duty gun has a loose ejector. Is this normal? I have not noticed this before in the eight years I've used the gun. I asked our "armorers" and they had no idea whatsoever. I looked at a half dozen other guns and they are all loose too. We are evaluating a new gun with the DAK trigger and the ejector on that one is loose as well. As far as I know these ejectors are not breaking but I imagine they wear excessively by being loose in the frame. Can anybody explain the reasoning behind this? Dave Sinko

All my life I have shot with both eyes open. I am left eye dominant, right handed and left leg dominant. A really odd affliction, I guess. I shoot handguns with my right hand and use my non-dominant right eye. I do use the dominant left eye when I shoot left handed but I do squint my right eye when I shoot left handed. I have had terrible vision (near sighted) all my life but had laser surgery eight years ago so now I see 20/20. My shooting method never changed after the surgery. I have learned that the benefit of keeping both eyes open is being able to see more of what's going on around me. This has come in real handy out on the street and I can not say that I have ever suffered from tunnel vision. Dave Sinko

I have a 66 that for years fired Winchester primers 100%. Then it sat unused for about three years after I discovered the 625. When I took it out after that three year hiatus I immediately had all sorts of misfires with that exact same batch of ammo. All the screws were tight and I don't see how this problem could be anything but mainspring tension. I haven't had time yet to swap out the spring and see what happens. I am not experiencing any other problems with the gun and it does run 100% with Federal primers. Dave Sinko

In this day and age is it really so hard to make a proper chamber reamer and NOT have mis-matched chamber and bore dimensions? It's not like I bought a Colt SAA that was made over a hundred years ago! Dave Sinko

I own nothing but revolvers and two Glocks. They don't give me ANY problems in the cold weather. My iron sights don't require any batteries and they don't need to be warmed up to work properly. Dave Sinko

I bought my 21 used and it came with a Bar-Sto barrel. That Bar-Sto has fed 10,000 rounds of every size and shape cast bullet from 180 gr. to 230 gr. and never ever once failed to chamber a round. And it isn't particular about OAL either. The only problem is that with the tight chamber sometimes the slide will stop short just out of battery. Interestingly enough neither the Bar-Sto nor factory barrel cares for bullets that wear copper and have sharp angles, like jacketed or plated SWC or truncated cone style. The cast version will feed flawlessly but put some copper on it and it won't feed worth a damn, all other things being equal. So my solution is to practice with whatever cast bullets I have on hand in the Bar-Sto, compete with plated or jacketed RN in the stock barrel and carry Speer Gold Dot hollow point with the stock barrel. Dave Sinko

Shooting in the cold is tough but I think everybody should be able to do it. I realize that one day I might very well have to shoot for keeps when my fingers are numb so I had better be able to deal with it. I find that revolvers are very tough to shoot well under these conditions and the autos with the lighter trigger pulls are easier. Slapping the trigger really makes a difference in the cold. Dave Sinko

I would love to shoot more revolver in USPSA but there is so little competition at the local matches. I recently made an agonizing decision and went out and bought a Glock 35 for Limited and Production. I really don't like the autos at all, but I like the competition. The lack of revolver competition at the local level is really discouraging, and at this point the bigger matches just aren't a reality for me. Revolver participation is suffering in IDPA as well, probably due to the constant rule changes which are apparently meant to punish the revolver shooters. I believe ICORE is more popular because of Open division and 125 Power Factor. I prefer USPSA because of the six shot capacity, iron sights and the scoring advantage of 165 Power Factor. The greatest irony is that many perceive the 625 to be the consumate game gun, while mine gets carried concealed everywhere I go and sees very little use in any matches these days. Dave Sinko

I do not believe that my .38 Super revolver should need moonclips "to work." If my 625 can fire the totally rimless .45 ACP without moonclips (I said fire, not extract) then I believe the 627 could've been made to do the same with the semi-rimmed .38 Super. All they needed to do was bore the cylinder properly and leave a lip to hold the case mouth. I don't like having to depend on expensive moonclips to get the gun to fire in an emergency. My gun is very accurate with bullets that wear copper. But is anybody out there having any success with cast bullets? Having a revolver that will not shoot cast bullets is a bitter pill to swallow. I admit that my gun is very good within its intended element, which for me is competition shooting with plated bullets and a clean powder. It will easily go 1000 rounds or more without having to scrub the chambers between stages and with the one load I use it is absolutely reliable. But I really wish I could use cast bullets for practice. Dave Sinko

What's really annoying about the Rugers is that merely gaining access to the firing pin is beyond the ability of most shooters and even many gunsmiths. I recently incurred some serious misfire problems with my Redhawk Alpine Conversion from Hamilton Bowen. At first I thought the firing pin was getting peened and I bought one of Bowen's extra length firing pins. A highly competent local gunsmith (Pinnacle Custom) replaced the firing pin and he told me it was not an easy job. When I got the gun back it STILL misfired and gave shallow, off center hits. So I ended up having to send the gun back to TN anyway. Bowen says in his book that Redhawks very rarely go out of time so I think he will find my gun most interesting. It has seen so much live and dry fire that I have worn out one mainspring and two hammer links. To make matters worse Ruger refuses to sell major revolver components to anybody. Dave Sinko

I have a S&W 627-4 8X.38 Super which I bought new a while back. As I see it, S&W could've made this gun to fire without moonclips but for some reason did not. My 625 will hold and fire individual rounds just fine, so why couldn't the 627 be made the same way? My guess is that they could've but just didn't want to bother. I don't like having to depend on moonclips for the gun to fire. Also, this gun will not shoot cast bullets at all. I have tired all shapes and sizes from .355" to .357" and they literally hit sideways at six feet. But it shoots plated bullets beautifully. The cylinder locks up properly so my guess is the chambers were not bored properly. Does anybody else have the same experiences? This is a good gun but I believe S&W did not care to invest the time and effort (expense) to make it a great gun. Dave Sinko

I put about 10,000 rounds through my Glock 21 which I bought used with a Bar-Sto barrel. I liked that Bar-Sto because it could shoot lead but I have learned to never use it in a match. It never ever failed to feed any cast bullet but sometimes it would fail to fully chamber the cast bullet and occasionally the jacketed ones too, even after they dropped into the chamber checker. I do not think that the factory barrel for my 21 is hard on brass. My 35 is a different story though. Fired brass gets ugly real quick and I load them only about a half a dozen times before I no longer bother to pick them up. My 35 is a game gun only and I run only one load through it. It never lets me down. That chamber will feed some pretty ugly rounds and that polygonal rifling is very forgiving with plated bullets no matter how badly they've been abused during the loading process. Dave Sinko

I don't have any problems but then I usually avoid maximum loads. I do a lot of shooting with cast bullets and the lube will sometimes run out of the cast bullets, but only if they are left in the car during a match or range session in the summer. Dave Sinko

Years ago I bought a new Lee Pro 1000 for .38 Special/.357 Magnum. It had its stellar moments but it had a lot of bad times too. Things started to go downhill when we began loading 9mm on it. It is now a distant memory, but I remember that most of the problems were with the priming. I don't think I ever had any problems with casefeeding. I quit that press in great frustration. My brother bought a Dillon RL 550B, which is now in my basement because he doesn't have the time or room for it anymore. I eventually bought my own XL650. The 650 is great when dedicated to one cartridge. The cartridge conversions are quite frankly prohibitively expensive, at least for me. The 550 is great for loading those "other" cartridges we all have but don't use as often. Lee makes some great stuff but I have no use for their progressive loaders. Dave Sinko

A friend of mine has a single shot .50 BMG rifle and is considering reloading for it. Does anybody have any experience with the Lee press and dies? This setup is much cheaper than anything else out there and I have never had a problem with a Lee single stage press or die. Anybody have any opinions on this? Dave Sinko