One I really like

H

hollowdweller

Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
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I just got this Khukuri back from Heber a while back. I remembered really loving it but wasn't sure exactly why.

It is a 17" Ganga Ram Villager that chops way beyond it's weight and length.
When I got it the handle was unfinished and huge but I sanded the handle way down to where it is actually super thin toward the back, and then linseed oiled the handle. It's a Bura, with a habaki bolster and a lot of Cho creep, and a really long handle which is actually good for chopping cause the butt doesn't dig into your palm:thumbup:

Anyway I had put a really nice edge on this one so I'm trying to determine what it is that makes this one so special and well balanced.

Then I looked down the spine. It's forged narrow at the bolster, then progressively gets wider to where it is at it's widest point at the point of most bend at the spine, and then tapers slightly to the point. It is forged so the weight all hits on the sweet spot.

I looked at my other Gangas and all are nice, but none really has this level of balance forged into the blade. Cool:D :thumbup: :cool:
 
Nice...

Unfortunately my 18" GRS is still in hiding. I gotta wait till I get my Christmas money (hopefully I get some) so the MRS won't freak out. I pet it a lot though as the hiding place is in my truck.
 
Good observations, Hollow.

I notice you slenderized the handle towards the back, which I'm assuming is near the end cap, the heel of the hand.

If you look at certain handgun grips, you will see this style is often used by knowledgable shooters. It is my preference, as a matter of fact, to have a grip swell in circumference as it progresses towards the thumb and fingers. This is good for all kinds of reasons, but experience in making grips and using revolvers taught me that it controls and distributes recoil in a satisfactory fashion. I don't know all the science, of course, but it helps the natural point of a handgun for me as well. With a khukuri, the security of the grip is improved for the shock of chopping, much like a handgun with recoil.



munk
 
I think my 17" BGRS villager. It really feels like an extension of my hand right out of the box. I could used it all day and the only fatigue would me from smiling so long :) .

I am thinking of doing a similar thing to thw 18" WWII, It is not a villager and it is so dang beautiful, I'm reluctant to touch it!
 
Munk,

I that same vein, let me ask you for some advice.

I got this Ruger Blackhawk .30 Carbine. I have always wanted one but so far I can't shoot it worth a $&&%^%$$. Every now and then I can shoot a nice group, but at 25y offhand I am lucky to get a couple out of a cylinder on the paper:thumbdn: On the other hand I can keep them all on the paper and pretty well centered at the same distance with a Makarov, or really most of my other pistols.

Usually with a pistol I'm shooting low, or to the left, or there's some discernable pattern to my poor marksmanship. Not so with this. Maybe low not sure.

Anyway one guy posted that he had trouble with the same type gun and accuracy, but most of what I have read is that they shoot great. I have never shot it off a rest, but my occasional tight group seems to give me the indication it shoots better than I can shoot it:rolleyes:

Just off the bat the trigger is a little stiff and also it seems like for the barrel which is almost 8" the grip is short. I'm wondering if I am slightly losing my grip when I am squeezing the trigger cause the handle is kind of short and has that old west flare?

I have 5 auto pistols and 3 revolvers and almost to a gun I can shoot the autos better than the revolvers.

So you got any tips that might improve my accuracy with that type gun? Of the revolvers the Ruger is worst. On the other hand it is the biggest and heaviest too. Maybe that's it? I find the revolver I can shoot the best 4"bbl NAA Mini Master, is also the smallest.

So whaddaya think:confused:
 
Hollow;

My specialty was making grips for the Ruger Blk Hwk. I finally got to the point where I hacksawed the corner flare off the grip and made it a custom gun. I've owned many blk hawks. I love them. I also love the Redhawks and yes, even the Super Shi-Hawk, though not quite as well.

I don't like the grip to flip up in my hand. I never allow the gun to flip up within my hand. Some folks do and say this is the charm of the plowhandle grip, it pivots back in the hand so you can recock the hammer fast. Not me.

I like the gun to stay put and shove back in the hand during recoil.
A Bisley Ruger does this nicely. So can a Blackhawk. In the calibre you're talking about, it should not be so violent as to slip away from you.
So, hold it and don't let it turn.

If you want to try different grips, unscrew the grips and look them over. You'll see they are very simple. Cut out the form you want with a jigsaw. I used to put a lot of meat on top, near the forefinger and thumb, and deliberately tapered the grip on the bottom side, even downplaying the corner swell.

But such as they are, you can still shoot them well. The fact you get groups occasionally means to me the gun is accurate. You are not duplicating the same firing protocal each time; something must be changing. Try dry firing to see if you are flinching. About dry firing; the more you dry fire that weapon, the smoother the trigger. (or fire) You can dry fire it without harm, though if it makes you nervous buy a snap cap or put empties in there to help absorb the fireing pin impact.

Handle the gun a great deal. Keep it in your hand as you watch TV. I swear this will make you a friend of it for life.

I think with the Ruger, depending upon your palm and finger dimensions, there may be a tendancy to partially twist the weapon at the last second of pulling the trigger. When you dry fire you will be able to see if this is true or not.

I've got to make lunch for Keith right now and I'll be back. Hollow, I love the Ruger single actions, maybe even above all other guns. I only own two of them right now and that isn't right; maybe I'll have to pick another up. When I come back to this thread I'll see if you have any other questions or if I've recalled some other things that might help.

Too bad you don't live next door to me. We could go shooting.

munk
 
Get some molly grease in the works of that Blackhawk, then (after you've carefully unloaded and doubled checked) dryfire like munk said.
 
Spectre, shouldn't he dry fire before the moly grease- to polish more metal faster? Once he puts the moly on, he's slowed natural buffing down.


munk
 
Here's a dry-firing tip from the old GI .45 manual. Take an ordinary lead pencil with a rubber eraser, and put two rings of masking tape around it so it slides easily in the barrel. Put a sheet of paper on the wall and put a small aiming dot on it. Line up the sights and squeeze off a shot with the pencil. It will make a dot on the paper below your aiming point as the firing pin hits the eraser. Do it again--another dot. You're firing a group and you can evaluate your trigger control, flinch, etc... :D
 
Well, munk, I would take the opposite tack. I'd be more hoping to smooth out the works than remove much metal.

You could absolutely be right, and I could be deep in my apricot brandy, though. It happens. ;)
 
Dry firing isn't going to remove any metal- or any discernable metal. IT is often reccomended as one of the most natural ways to improve your trigger. It is especially helpful in the case of Ruger.

I'd only apply the moly much later. Moly will maintain and keep the areas nice that dry firing polished in the first place.

I never drank apricot brandy...well..that I can remember, but I hope you're having a great afternoon, Spectre.



munk
 
I have 5 auto pistols and 3 revolvers and almost to a gun I can shoot the autos better than the revolvers.

So you got any tips that might improve my accuracy with that type gun? Of the revolvers the Ruger is worst. On the other hand it is the biggest and heaviest too. Maybe that's it? I find the revolver I can shoot the best 4"bbl NAA Mini Master, is also the smallest.


Maybe these will help. One for right hand, the other for left hand. That is if I get it posted correctly.

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2327 RIGHT HAND

http://makarov.com/graphics/targets/anatargetleft.jpg
LEFT HAND
 
Double stage the trigger on the Ruger. Pull the trigger until the hammer comes back and you feel the cylinder lock up. Line up the sights and then finish off by squeezing the trigger a little more. This gets you a single action trigger action from a heavy double action. You cock the hammer with the trigger and maintain the same grip position. Try this a few times with an empty gun before you try it at the range.
If you practice this way, you can speed up the process until you get a pretty smooth and rapid double action trigger functioning. Just speed up slowly as your accuracy improves. Eventually, you will have an accurate quick double action trigger pull.
The grip matters and it has to fit your hand well. I tried the compact Ruger grip on my GP100 and I couldn't shoot it well.
The best way to improve your accuracy with a revolver is to shoot a double action 22 that is similar in size and weight to your heavy gun. There is no Ruger equivalent. I used an old K-22 4" model (medium frame S & W) that I put more than 10,000 rounds through. This is the best way to learn to use a revolver....you shoot alot, with little recoil and little blast. It is also lots of fun.
 
I will go on record as saying that "bumping" the round in is not a good idea if there's already a problem with accuracy. Most people will not shoot much better but they will pick up some bad habits in the process.

Lcs37, can you shoot it well in single action?
 
Some of you know I was SAMTU and CATM and an AF smith for years...

munk is correct...in fact, we used to use lapping compound (like buffing compound but pure soft and greasy) inside action to polish the innards (technical term). After a few hundred cycles, every mating surface is glass smooth.

We also used the target taped to a wall for pencil exercises in every class. It works. Holding a group doing those translates perfectly to the live fire.

Hollow...the skill you need to practice is followthrough. You are relaxing as soon as the trigger breaks...it takes longer for the hammer to fall with exposed hammers...different models and action types have different time cycles. You probably shoo true hammerless the best, followed by internal hammers, with the typical DA revolver the worst. We used a few techniques for that...perhaps one of he best was alternate loading...the student didn't see how the firarm was loaded with a combination of live and dummy rounds (also used for pushing problems and a flinch). Mix load the piece...then see how often you lose your sight picture (lose focus on the front sight) as you hit the surprise dummy rounds.

The best shooters never look any different for either live or dummy...consistency is the key to real marksmanship.


ps: For the new troops...SAMTU was the USAF Small Arms Marksmanship Traing Unit, later changed to CATM - Combat Arms Traing and Maintenance Unit. If it ever matters, I also shot PPC, IPSC (the original), Nationals, NBRA. IDPA and much more...either teaching markmanship, gunsmithing or competition was my daily routine for about 25 years. I have a few opinions about it...all formed after my free tour of SEA courtesy of Uncle Sam convinced me that skills were a good thing.
 
Nasty,

I have actually dry fired it for a cylinder or more before shooting live rounds in it.

I notice a wavering when I pull the trigger. Almost like when I reach my finger out to pull the trigger I am taking some pressure off the bottom of the grip. It kind of seems like a combination of the weight, short grip and kind of stiff trigger. I think if the trigger was smoother I cold hold it on better. Cause even dry firing and really concentrating I do it. The gun has a nice muzzle blast but recoil is fine.

I have other autos with a heavier trigger pull, but this one is kind of chalky? not gritty but almost metal against metal. I may be concentrating on trying to pull the trigger smoothly to the point I'm somehow losing my hold on the back of the gun at the crucial moment.
 
HD, have you ever tried Tetra?

Give a squirt of the liquid stuff (the grease would probably work as well) in the trigger assembly. Trigger job in a bottle.
 
Dave Rishar said:
I will go on record as saying that "bumping" the round in is not a good idea if there's already a problem with accuracy. Most people will not shoot much better but they will pick up some bad habits in the process.

Lcs37, can you shoot it well in single action?
Click to expand...

YOU LOST ME Dave. I was quoting Hollow, and providing links to a target that would identify grouping problems. .

I do have semi autos , double actions, and single actions. Last time at the range about 2 weeks ago, had good groupings at 7 yards.
 
Hollow...try balancing a dime on top of the front site and make it stay there through *and after* the firing cycle. Do that a million times and you're good to go.

On S&W, you can sometimes help this by installing an overtravel pin in the rebound slide spring just long enough plus a thousandth for the cycle to complete. It'll stop the trigger travel just right and reduce clumsy trigger freefall. You might have some alternate solution with other makes.

The chalky feeling I found is common with sintered metal parts and there's little to do for it. You can try the lapping compound...but that metalish stuff is just that way usually. Best best after the compound treatment (short of replacement or chroming) would be Militec-1 with the full heating and application method as opposed to simply applying it.
 
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