Black Raven Dragoons

[Zancarius]

After some deliberation (and my father's insistence that I get something of the sort for Christmas), I finally picked up this little guy. My dad clandestinely ordered it when he heard I was thinking of getting one for myself at some point and then surprised me when he said that one came in:

You won't see many of them around since Ruger is backlogged about 6 months out, but the local gun dealer pulled some strings to get one from a friend of his who runs a shop in a nearby state. And yes, that's real rose wood (or so I'm told).

I realize there's a few 1911 copies and redesigns out there, but I'd rather have something a close as possible to the original Browning design because I like the aesthetics--that, and a firearm that's been battle tested for over 100 years should be rugged enough for target practice. I also have a certain fondness for the .45 auto. Beautiful design.

Can't wait to take it to the range!

[Elade]

Jelly! Though I'm more of a rifle girl, myself. Bring on the lever action!

[Grimblast]

Love the classics. Especially those proven to be that reliable since it's been in service that long. That is a sweet looking gun!

Jelly! Though I'm more of a rifle girl, myself. Bring on the lever action!

Brown chicken, bolt action?

[Snobal]

Absolute beauty.

[Zancarius]

Dad handed me a box of his special .45 ACP ammo. I hate to shoot it. It looks too beautiful:

Everything (except the inside of the bullet) is brass*. For those who don't know, my father's an avid reloader who takes exception care in his craftsmanship of each round, measuring and weighing each by hand. His work is undoubtedly far more accurate than I'd ever be able to shoot.

* Actually, that's a lie. The bullets are jacketed with a different alloy of brass than that used for the casings, but it's softer than the brass used to form the cartridges.

Also, the rubber duck was sent to us years ago for some kind of bandwidth promotion Enron was doing for ISPs. Since about 2002-2003, it's worth more than the company that sent it.

[Highgrade]

gorgeous!

[Elade]

Love the classics. Especially those proven to be that reliable since it's been in service that long. That is a sweet looking gun!

Jelly! Though I'm more of a rifle girl, myself. Bring on the lever action!

Brown chicken, bolt action?

You're just *rifle* with humor today, aintcha?

[Grimblast]

Just a little "cocky"!

[Zancarius]

Just had to barrel down this thread and slide it in to hammer home the point. You could say he's primed with humor.

[Zancarius]

Finally gave it a try!

This was definitely a blast. I went with my folks to the range, and my father setup a target around 100 yards to see what my trigger habit would be. We only managed to squeeze off somewhere in the neighborhood of about 100 rounds or so after having waited about 30 minutes 'cause of some interference from a roving band of cattle. Once they were gone, I got a chance to give it a shot (see what I did there?). Some of the ammo I fired was almost as old as I am (dad's been a reloader for a long time). Yipes! That said, I can't believe some people complain about the .45 ACP's recoil. It's not that bad in the 1911 form factor but hey, different strokes for different folks.

To the left you'll see some of the shed copper jacketing on the .45 rounds. That one got stuck in the box we had the target mounted to.

Also, I can see why my dad calls Unique "explosive dirt." That powder is messy. You should be able to see some of the fouling in that picture along the muzzle if you look closely enough. Gonna do some cleaning tomorrow once I get some nitrile gloves.