festus1

I have two 625's w/ Ti cylinders and two 7 shot L frame's w/ Ti cylinders that I had all coated with Birdsong Black T. That totally did away with any sticking and cleaning is a breeze. In fact Birdsong said to stay away from even brass brushes and just use an oily patch. I'll throw that out there, maybe it will be of help. For 38 short colt I've been using: 2.9 grains of Titegroup 160 grain Bayou bullets OAL of 1.169 Out of a six inch 586 w/ Ti cyl. I get 126 PF ave.

Hey Sheriff, I have 2 Ti cyl 45's and had the cylinders coated with Birdsong Black T. I've never had an issue with sticking cases and cleanup is a wipe away with an oily cloth. Good luck in your search. W E Birdsong & Associates Inc 1435 Monterey Rd Florence, MS 39073 Phone:(601) 939-7448

Thanks! That's a great idea - something I might be able to make from a collapsible inspection mirror or collapsible pointer.

Here is the info for the Blue Press article: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=79661&hl=255 grain&st=0 My experience in a 625 w/ 4" barrel: 45 ACP 255 LSWC (45 Colt) 3.2 Clays 1.205 OAL 166.7 PF It is very consistant - I can't find my notes, just the above info. To me, it feels very soft compared to some 230 grain loads at that PF. I bought a SA army and none of our boys were very interested in it so I sold it. That was why I experimented - to use up the .45 Colt bullets I had.

On some mod 25's the cyl throats were oversize and accuracy was not good in those particular guns. I bought one in 45 Colt w/ an 8 3/8" barrel that was one of "those" guns that shot patterns rather than groups. I had the barrel turned in and a .45 Ti cyl fitted to it. That solved the accuracy issue in a big way - it will shoot almost one hole groups at 20 yds. off hand. No exaggeration, just the way it turned out. As for bullets, I have used lead, berry's plated, Buyou, Billy, and jacketed. None stand out as being inaccurate. I think changing the cyl took care of that. If you do get a 25 in ACP that lags in accuracy, you could try a new SS cylinder. That might take care of the issues. To do it over again, I think I'd like a 6 or 6 1/2" barrel better than the 8". But not enough to cut mine down. I use a blad-tech competition holster that I modified a bit. As for the square grip, I have Jerry's grips for it and a couple of Hogues. Hogue makes most of their grips in both Rd and Sq. Good luck w/ your quest.

Since this is up again, I'll share what i did. I bought a 6" mod 14-7 K frame and had it cut for moons and use starline short colt brass for uspsa. I have a lot of arthritis and it is a nice change from a 625 even at minor. I have a 4 inch 66-4 I had cut for moons as a backup. It is fine for ssr in idpa also (I called hq and was told if using 38's in speed loaders a cyl cut for moons is fine). I have arthritis in almost every other joint also so bending down to chase brass is not in the cards. Picking up a few moons is fine though. Even though I can use 38's w/ spd loaders or 45 auto rim in speed loaders for idpa at a rediculous power factor, I still would rather grin and bear the recoil with a 625 and moons in esr and not have to chase brass. Plus even at major matches you get all the brass back. Going to the range to practice with several hundred loaded moons is a lot more enjoyable (to me anyway) than messing with speed loaders and single rounds. Moons arn't cheap, but with a little care they can last a good while. If you do get your gun setup for moons, don't wory - using ammo w/o the moon clips still works just fine.

On sdm's I have drilled the front end thru (measure your f/o rod for bit size). I use super glue on only the front of the replacement rod and push back thru to the rear so that the end of rod is fluch with the rear face of the sight. That way there is no big 'blob' of rod to contend with when looking at the sights. After the glue sets up use a razer knife to cut off the front of the rod. To replace next time, break in the middle and pull the rear out and use the drill bit to clean out the front hole to replace.

In the Hodgdon Load Center (http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp) the max Clays load with both 230 lead and 230 jacketed is listed as 4.0.

Blade-tech makes a competition holster similar to 002 now. Tension is adjustable and it is open front. I like it better. http://www.blade-tech.com/Speed-Rig-D-OS-Holster-pr-1314.html

Well, I do indeed want to be formal, but I'm also here to party. I think that describes a mod 25 w/ a Ti cylinder to a T. However, a Ti cyl with Birdsong Black T is even a tad more "black tie". Palmetto Sharpshooter, if you get your Ti cyl coated with the black Birdsong finish that should take care of the sticking. Before I had mine coated I noticed some sticking but that totally went away after getting the coating. I have never used a brush in the cylinder - just wiped it out with an oily patch once in while followed with dry patches.

Bob Houzenga email: staysafe@q.com midwesttraininggroup.net Awesome work, very fast turn around, and he knows all about carry guns (chief of police for years). If it were me, I'd lose the lock on that 329. Way back when the 340s came out I got one and it locked up on the 2nd trip to the range. After taking out the lock and plugging the hole it has worked great for hundreds of rounds over the years I've had it. There are endless debates on the internet about it - NOT STARTING ONE HERE. Just a heads up to you on it if you are not aware. Do a google search and you can read all the pros and cons ELSEWHERE of getting rid of it. The new centennials are available lock free (only the centennials however). Chris

I have several revos that Apex has done up. Certainly one of (if not the) premier smith for revos. I have held and played with one of their 617's and you will be very happy with what they would do for you. Bob Houzenga just did up a 629 and when I got it back I thought he had set it up for competition instead of hunting. It is very nice and does go bang with any factory stuff I put in it. He has a very fast turn around if that is important to you and does amazing work. He runs Midwest Training Group (midwesttraininggroup.net) and his email is: staysafe@q.com STAYSAFE@Q.COM Chris

Amerigun has done quite a few tritium front sights for me. They do great work. Here is their web address: http://www.amerigunusa.com/ You can send them your front sight and have them put the insert in or buy a front sight from them. I have had them put a white ring around the tritium - it stands out better in daylight. I believe they do the smithing for Trijicon. Chris

My 4" 625 makes major+ with 3.8 grains of Clays and 230 Billy Bullets. The moly coating does make a big difference.

I had Apex put a Ti acp cylinder in a 25-5 I found and mill the barrel to screw in a bit further in the frame to match up with the shorter acp cylinder. The gun was not very accurate with the 45 colt cylinder because of oversize throats but it is a one hole tack driver now.