WHAT'S NEW AT ARMCO?

March 4, 2008   Going to try to get to the range (through all this snow) later this week and have a real shoot-out between these two - my trusty old Colt Cobra and this lovely Model 36 done up into an "ankle Gun" by Cylinder & Slide.  Should be fun!

Feb.21, 2008    We are working on custom ARMCO versions of STI's gorgeous Trojan.  Ambi, checkered frontstrap, alternate barrels/calibers....   Of course I get the first one as is proper and right  :)  It's a 9mm with alternate .38S, .40 and 10mm barrels.  More mods such as fiber optic sights etc. later :)

Feb.10, 2008   Here's a neat gun I just acquired from a friend:     Ever hear of a "Cuger"?  About twenty years ago, if you wanted the most accurate, smoothest, best balanced .357 Magnum revolver around (and had lots of money), you commissioned one of the top revolver wizards to build you a slicked-up Ruger, but with a 6" Colt Python barrel fitted.  This is one of them, in marvelous condition, obviously not heavily used, and then with light PPC loads.  Beautifully crafted, lock-up is tight and positive, single and double action trigger pull silky smooth and light, and the balance is indeed superb.  Does it shoot, though?  Better than my prized 627, my 686, my flat top Ruger Blackhawk - ALMOST as accurate as my Contender.  Mind you, the Contender wears a Leupold scope and a 14" barrel...  What will I do with it?  Right now, keep it and shoot it some more.  Pity I can't use it for IPSC Standard Revolver. 

December 12, 2007 - This week I treated myself to a couple of guns I fully intend to keep :)  A .44 (1961 Flattop) Ruger 6 1/2"  to go with my prized 1955 (first year of manufacture) .357 4 5/8" Flattop Ruger.  And in lovely shape...

October 9, 2007 - It's been a while, but good news!  I finally feel as if I'm quite recovered from the serious illness of this past summer :)  Now I can get back into a few projects I've had shelved for a long time - a pair of .45 "Covert Model" 1911's based on Caspian Officer's frames - one stainless and one Titanium - with just-legal top ends.  A Caspian Hi-Cap .38S/9x23 Standard/Carry gun.  A Caspian single-stack gun with lots of neat innovations on it.   Other projects as well, including a Chopped .45ACP revolver, some new IPSC guns for next season, as well as some long-neglected customers' projects.  I'm not going to get stuff done very fast any more, as the thrust of ARMCO has drifted into sales which was more feasible when I was ill.  Sales currently comprises three quarters of the business, and I find that part of it fascinating, too, although getting the chance to spend a few hours at the bench is like a vacation for me!     Finally, your support throughout this trying summer has really been appreciated :)

February, 2007 - the month of top-end gorgeous revolvers and other fine guns.  This picture is only a small sample of the lovely guns through here  :)

12/13/06 -  The perfect present for Christmas 2006!!  A Dillon/Armco shooting bag :)  We took the justly famous Dillon Precision Shooting bag and added the Armco name embroidered in matching Dillon Blue on the top flap and it's going for $125 shipped, tax in!  Limited quantity...     And...the Armco/Dillon Border Shift ammo bag - $50 shipped to you!

11/24/06        45-08 update!  Actually, nothing really new, except it is working out really well with more and more wilderness guys & gals having occasion to use it.  Reports are very encouraging :)  We still haven't found a better powder than Hodgdon Longshot, but testing is ongoing.  I'm playing with a bottleneck version (200 grain 10mm bullets), as well as looking for a good hardcast flat point 220 to 240 grain bullet.  250's are an option, too, at about 1150- to 1200...

A common question: now that shorty 454's are getting to be more available, what would I carry??   Answer?  The 45-08 :)  That is, unless I were going into Alaska, or Polar Bear country, and that isn't very likely...  That doesn't mean I don't intend to keep one of the next batch of 110mm 454's.....  with a sane lead bullet load, these are a hoot to shoot!

9/29/06   After a marathon day of machining (doors locked, phone ignored), here's a shorter one yet! 110mm of what looks like sewer pipe :)  Can't wait to shoot it!!  If you look closely, you can still see traces of loctite, not even set up yet.  I think we'll wait 24 hrs before touching off any 300 grain factory loads :)

and - All Three!

9/28/06   A big Boomer I've been trying for a while to get finished - the latest incarnation of the shortened Super Redhawk.  In 454 Casull, this one does bark a bit!    I wasn't totally pleased with the "normal" way of chopping the barrel and then perching the original front sight assembly on the end.  Just didn't look right :)  This one I like a LOT better.  We built a few ramps machined to accept the stock snap-in sight inserts - including the excellent fiber-optic ones - and inlet these into the top of the barrel and frame.  Strong, a little heavier, and blends in to the rest of the gun, so I feel it actually looks better than the original.  This one has a two-tone finish, too, with the barrel and frame matt glass-bead finished, and the cylinder, trigger guard, etc. left in the original Pewter-type colour.  What do you think?  This one is 5.5", a 110mm one should be ready tomorrow.

1/28/06   Here's something I've been meaning to do up for a while - a Norinco 1911A1 ready for an IPSC match!  Smoothed up as usual, but with Armco Hi-visibility IPSC sights, and a modest magwell.  The mags have base pads, this one has an ambi safety (the new owner's a lefty like me :) but nothing really outrageous or expensive, just a solid, accurate, dependable .45 that makes it easy to score good hits FAST!  Shopping list:  Grips - add $30,  Sights - add $125, Mag Well - add $50....  Not as bad as you thought, right?  You can add LOTS of more stuff, such as tungsten guide rods, extended mag buttons, Fibre Optics... But this will get you there.  I would have no problem entering a match with this gun - for a quarter the cost of the high-end Standard guns I build.     Oh, yes  - this gun can also be used outside of IPSC matches to humiliate your buddies with their $1400 1911's........

1/18/06   Finally got one of the .454 Casulls chopped!    Whoa!  Flame!  Noise!  Admiring "shooting groupies"!  Wait'll the bears see this one - they'll hibernate all summer :)   Seriously, I talked the owner into doing his own sighting in with the 400 grainers.  Ouch!  But if you need this level of power in a carryable package, this gun is worth its weight in gold!

11/02/05   Getting slightly caught up and just finished a gun that's been here for a loooong time.  I've been meaning to do some Parkerizing for a while and this was the perfect gun:  a Norinco 1911A1 the owner wanted made into a "Black Ops" gun with all traces of manufacture and origin erased, leaving only the serial number. I prepped as I usually do, with chemical blue removal, glass beading, hot caustic cleaning, acid dip, (rinses in between all), and THEN into the hot Parkerizing solution.  Turned out a nice sooty charcoal finish that should be extremely durable.  Looks a lot better than the kitchen table jobs I've seen, too.  I also have a new camera, so some pics have a slightly "different" look :)

10/07/05   It's been a while, and still not anywhere near caught up, but managed another couple of chopped revolvers in my "spare time".  The first is another 686 that started life as an 8 3/8" Silhouette model and is now a 4 1/4" Rip-Snorter with almost a GP100 barrel silhouette.  Looks and feels great and it's only Restricted...!

The other is more unique - it was a 10 1/2" barreled Stainless Ruger Super Blackhawk and because these come with a longer than normal ejector housing, the finished barrel length ended up at 5 3/4".   I feel this length is perfect!  Better than the usual 4 5/8" we see on single actions, which is just a little stubby on a frame this size.  What do you think?

4/26/05   Another "Chopped" revolver, this one's a 686 modified to be barely legal at 110mm.  Shoots beautifully and balances like a dream.  If I ever get caught up, I will be putting out a few more of these, as well as the same in 629 and 625 models, AND a few Ruger Redhawks and 454 Casulls.  Yahoo!

12/04/04   Well, not so new, but old, ugly, smoooothed up, and feels so good in the hand.  My built-for-a-lefty Colt Cobra.  When someone shoots it with my +P stuff righthanded, it hurts.  Then they try it lefthanded, and it actually feels good.  The bad corners and edges are rounded, the grip fits me, and besides shooting 6"groups (a 6 shot "burst" at 10 feet!), it actually hits only 1" right for me at 25M.  A keeper.

2/14/04    Just finished the first 2004 series ARMCO Open gun in .38Super.  Have a look.  This gun is really neat.

11/2/03   Tricked out a really neat LITTLE .45!  This is an Officer's ACP with a 110mm barrel and integral 2 port comp.  The compensator is a venturi port type so we have rifling right to the end, and it can make the gun restricted only.  Another way to accomplish this is to use a Commander slide, but this way you get reduced recoil, too.   Going out tomorrow to test fire with some sort of  warm loads. Also another multi-caliber 1911 - how about 9x23, (and .38S in the same barrel), 9x19, .40 S&W, and .357SIG?

9/30/03   Fitted up a set of fixed sights to my CZ75 for production Division IPSC.  I used one of my Armco 1911 rear sights with a spacer under it for the rear, and a Gold Cup-style front sight riveted into the slide like the original.  Wow!  Like night and day.  Now I can actually see the darn things, which I keep telling my students is crucial to shooting well.  I think (when I have time) I'll make up some more of these sights to actually fit the CZ dovetail in case someone else gets the same idea. 

I see, looking at these pics, that I'd better toss the old girl into the bluing tank first chance I get.  It sure is looking used.    News Flash!  OK, I did spiffy up the old gun a bit.  I had a couple of guns to do so stripped the CZ and gave it a 2 tone finish (electroless nickel frame etc. and blued top end) while the tanks were up and running.  Doesn't look half bad, does it?  Yes, it IS the same gun.

5/26/03   Cut down a very nice S&W 629   .44 Magnum to 110mm.  People want a gun like my 4" 629, but some (most) aren't grandfathered for Prohibited, so I've been wanting to try this.  Worked great, and I also smoothed up the trigger pull to a nice 9 pounds double action, popped in an overlength hand for positive lockup, and beveled and polished the underside of the cylinder latch for easier use with speedloaders.  Beveled the chamber openings as well.   I fitted a nice all-black Ron Power ramped front sight to the barrel.  The lettering on the barrel is all intact (hate it when it gets cut to "Smith & Wess"), and after having the barrel off, cut, crowned, and refitting it, it only took three clicks over and two down to zero it in!  I know I say I don't work on revolvers, but that's just 'cause I'm booked for 3-4 months all the time on 1911's.  Sometimes a change is as good as a rest (something I don't get a lot of).

3/04/03    Another "slightly" modified Norinco.  This one a 9mm with mods to make it suitable for a lady shooter with small hands.  The beavertail is cut farther forward than normal (needed extra material welded on to correctly fit the STI beavertail, too), and the frame has been cut back further where the shortened trigger sits.  Narrow grips, a Para stainless hammer, Colt stainless safety, full length Armco guide rod, and our new front strap treatment, easier to grip with shorter fingers.  Haven't named it yet - "dimpled" sounds too cute, doesn't it??

2/28/03   Over 1000 ft/lbs of energy from a 5" 1911!!!  It's been a couple of weeks, but I finally have time to tell you about it.  In chronographing 10 shots with 200 grain hard-cast semiwadcutters, I had 2 go over 1500 fps.  Average was 1485, and you really DO want to have a contoured beavertail on your 1911 for these loads.  Recoil spring was a 20 pound Wolff variable, with a .200" Red Buff behind it.  Shot it all left-handed, too.  Surprisingly, pretty easy to shoot fast and accurately.  Feels kinda like a REALLY hot-rodded .38Super.  Not as much muzzle flip as I thought. 

Don't try this at home, folks!  I recommend loads generating more like high 1300's/low 1400's for day-to-day carry gun use (for bears, of course.)  Plenty of power, and less wear and tear on your gun. 

I shipped some brass, powder and springs to my friend John in Prince Rupert, BC, who videotaped his testing session with his Springfield (pretty stock) 1911A1.  Really neat.   Gotta figure out how to show that on here.  The next weekend John had some friends out to try his tiger.  They loved it!  Now I have to figure out a way to ship some of these loads to my friend Wild Bill Caldwell in Louisiana who is another 1911 "hotrodder". 

1/10/03   Here's my personal 1911 with a lot of miles (and lots of reloads in 15 years) on the S&A magwell.  Shows how it's properly done.  I still do them this way, and it gives you about twice the area of the drop-in version.

12/05/02.  A collaboration between Armco and a well known producer of Molybdenum products has brought out a new multi-purpose gun lube.  It is real similar to the "Trigger Slick" formerly supplied by McCormick, and is great for use on the hammer/sear interface and other high friction areas.  It's a LOT more concentrated than other Moly "greases".  

Of particular value is using it on the slide rails of stainless (or other) guns to reduce friction, prevent galling and premature wear.  Testing has shown that on compensated guns with light recoil springs, and with a load that won't even cock the hammer with regular gun lubes (Fire Power, Break-Free, etc. etc.) a wipe of this stuff on the rails, and by the second shot ejection is consistently six feet!  Not real scientific, but it is a real good measure of the actual slipperiness of lubes under the torque load imposed by guns with efficient comps.  That means that if used on a Standard gun, that nice snug fit should last forever.  I use a little lighter oil to thin it slightly on the rails and use it full strength on the sear and hammer.  Sells for $16 for a 1 oz container which will last a season.  You don't put on a lot!  Also working on a gun oil that so far seems a lot better than what's out there now.

11/02/02.   More news on the .45 ACP "bear Gun" aka the .45-08 Armco.  Have been popping out 200 grain hard-cast semiwadcutters at 1450 from a 5" barrelled Para Ordnance.  The trick was to use Hodgdon Long Shot powder.  I'll tone it down to about 1350 which is lots, but the hot ones were no problem to shoot, even with a stock 18# recoil spring.  You NEED a shock buff in the gun!  More testing this winter.  Too bad the bears are hibernating...  I've been reading a bit of Elmer Keith stuff, and have concluded that a good hardcast lead bullet with a flat nose and sharp shoulders is probably the best to use.  Gee, that's the one we use for IPSC.

02/05/02.     How about the new  .45/08 ARMCO pistol wildcat cartridge!  This is essentially a .308 case cut down to .45 ACP length and neck reamed to make room for a Nosler 230 grain FMJ flat point bullet (and as much powder as we can cram in behind it.  Alternately a 200 grain hard cast SWC bullet beautifully cast and sized by Smart Bullets is used, at higher speeds, of course.  Results?  So far, almost 1200 FPS from the 230 grain bullet with a 4 1/4" barreled Springfield Armory Defender with a 2 port compensator and a 22 pound recoil spring.  That will translate into well over 1200 with a 5" barrel (testing soon) and starts to get REAL close to what you get from a 4" Model 29 in .44 Magnum.  50%  (at least) more rounds and twice the controllability.  Recoil is absolutely nothing compared to the big magnums, although it IS noticeable!  Testing is ongoing and will include a .40Super barrel with 200 grainers at around 1300 FPS. Should be fun. I still like the .45/08 version, and even at the speeds we've achieved, see no excessive pressure signs with Federal 150 (large pistol) primers, which are notoriously soft.  The cases, of course, are made to withstand pressures we'll never encounter without actually blowing these pistol primers to smithereens!  I really think that a standard 5" 1911 or Para Ordnance, set up with the heaviest recoil springs that Wolff makes, will push 230 grain bullets past 1250, without being anywhere near as punishing to shoot as a hot heavy bullet .44 Magnum load in a Redhawk, a much bigger and heavier gun.

The idea came from the need for a "Bear Gun" for the north where a lot of people who move about in the woods for a living are now getting licenses to carry a handgun.  Traditionally it's been a .44 Magnum or bigger, but some of these are a pain to carry comfortably all day, along with a lot of other necessary gear.

I ran into a prospector who insisted on carrying a Colt Officer's Model loaded with 230 grain hardball!  Another carries a Ruger Super Redhawk in .454 Casull and has a permanently disabled shooting hand and the biggest flinch you ever saw.  Somewhere in between there has to be a gun that has the penetration and sheer bullet weight to take down a bear, even a grizzly, and still be shootable by the average person.

There are, of course, others like this, such as the .45 Super, touted by Ace Custom .45's out of Texas, the .451 Detonics Magnum of some years ago, and the new Triton .450SMC, as well as the .460 Rowland pushed by Clark, and sold only as a compensated gun.  It gets to 1300 FPS, but probably needs the comp!   All these, by the way, are the same overall length, although case lengths differ.  The problem, as we've discovered, is to find a powder that will give us the velocity we want without compressing enough to start pushing the bullet back out.  That lets out the old magnum standby, Hodgdon H110, and actually all its contemporaries, such as N110 Vihtavuori, 296, 2400, 4227 IMR, etc.  N105 seems to compress at about 1200,  so may be OK - and as is usual with this excellent powder, shows no more pressure than an ordinary IPSC load.    Others hit the "wall" at 1050 and 1150, and we're currently playing with Tite Group, which is compact enough, and has shown nice results in some reasonable .44 magnum loads. 

The plan is to have loads available to test guns built specifically for Bear Defense - hey, let's call them the Armco "BD" models - built around stainless steel .45 Para Ordnance P14-45 "Limited" guns modified with heavy recoil and firing pin springs and the THICK shock buffs made by Red Buff.  The customers would be able to purchase ammo such as the .450SMC from Triton, or .45Super, as well as practice with regular .45 ammo by just swapping recoil springs.  The guns could, of course, be modified to the customers' specs, with fiber optic sights, checkering, tungsten guide rods, but would basically be stock Paras, able to withstand being carried in all sorts of weather, and  available instantly.  The repeat shot capability would greatly exceed anything else available, even the trusty 12 gauge shotgun, and if 11 shots aren't enough, fire 10 and save one!