Why a Ranch Hand?
- akuser47
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Re: Why a Ranch Hand?
Guess I got mine because I liked the Steve McQueen factor, remembered Wanted Dead Or Alive when I was a kid.
I enjoy shooting mine, but it's been a long time getting it tuned to shoot accurately. I replaced the front sight and rear sight, things started clicking with a rear peep sight that replaced the safety from Steve's Guns.
I ran low on Unique, so a friend bought me a bottle of Titegroup. THAT really tightened things up. 'Course now I can't find any powder except Lil'Gun. So I'm throwing 300 grain jacketed slugs down range when I can get out to a friend's field. Those 18 grn Lil'Gun loads will wake you up!
Slugged the bore, so now I want to try some 0.453 and 0.454 cast bullets, but the Lyman M die turns the hole at the end of the casing into something a freight train can pass thru. Sigh. Something else to figure out what I'm doing wrong with. ;-)
Enjoying the Ranch Hand a lot more now.
I enjoy shooting mine, but it's been a long time getting it tuned to shoot accurately. I replaced the front sight and rear sight, things started clicking with a rear peep sight that replaced the safety from Steve's Guns.
I ran low on Unique, so a friend bought me a bottle of Titegroup. THAT really tightened things up. 'Course now I can't find any powder except Lil'Gun. So I'm throwing 300 grain jacketed slugs down range when I can get out to a friend's field. Those 18 grn Lil'Gun loads will wake you up!
Slugged the bore, so now I want to try some 0.453 and 0.454 cast bullets, but the Lyman M die turns the hole at the end of the casing into something a freight train can pass thru. Sigh. Something else to figure out what I'm doing wrong with. ;-)
Enjoying the Ranch Hand a lot more now.
- Ranch Dog
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Re: Why a Ranch Hand?
I've had great results with the Lyman M dies in multiple calibers....Slugged the bore, so now I want to try some 0.453 and 0.454 cast bullets, but the Lyman M die turns the hole at the end of the casing into something a freight train can pass thru. Sigh. Something else to figure out what I'm doing wrong with. ;-)
I usually adjust them for the least possible expansion that won't shave lead or allows a jacketed bullet to barely slip past the case mouth.
IF the expander is too large I might see if Lyman can supply one a few thou smaller. Otherwise if you can disassemble you might polish it smaller. IF you can't disassemble it you might get the Lyman multi-expander die since it both can be disassembled for sure and it also has multiple expanders. If you didn't want to do the polish yourself any machine shop should be able to do it.
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Re: Why a Ranch Hand?
DocBurN wrote:cool factor is something.. but i got mine since Canadian can't carry handgun in the woods.. and here its concidered a "rifle" here.. a "pistol" in the US.
It have to be overall lenght of 26 inches + to be non-restricted , the Ranch Hand is like 24 inches but Canadian Gun Law still autorized it as a non-restricted.
SO... ? why you ask ?
My Ranch Hand 44 magnum is THE smallest thing i can legally carry in Canada in the woods.
![Plus One +1](./images/smilies/icon_plus_one.gif)
That's why I'm thinking to buy a ranch hand... and well because looks cool too
![Shoot'em Up! +guns](./images/smilies/icon_guntootsmiley.gif)
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Re: Why a Ranch Hand?
Why the Ranch Hand? It's the official firearm of the baddest zombieland twinkie hunter!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9zttnCI8F4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9zttnCI8F4
- akuser47
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Re: Why a Ranch Hand?
It's just Hollywood not truly practical. I love woody in this movie and almost all of his work. I just think they are sexy guns. I want one in .357
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Re: Why a Ranch Hand?
Yup--I had a Woody night last night...ummm so to speak--and watched Natural Born Killers followed by Zombieland.
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Re: Why a Ranch Hand?
I think they make a good platform for a CQB tool myself. When I used to work security in the West Bank during the 2nd Intifada, I carried an Uzi. We never used them on full auto, and carrying them for hours at a time, typically, we'd keep the stock folded. What we had was effectively a semi-auto carbine length super short in a pistol caliber that we could jump in and out of trucks, in and out of buildings, and climb on roofs with. We'd use sling tension to aim them and could work very accurately all things considered.
The Ranch Hand is a super short, extremely dependable, abuse-tolerant platform that can be fired rapidly with practice if you want to. It's very short and handy, can be used with sling tension like an SMG, and comes in more powerful close range calibers than those Uzis did. Mine is a .44 magnum, and I am very happy with the idea that inside any normal CQB range (which is also home defense, crime range, and general SHTF range) it will drop a man very effectively. Speed of reaction is paramount at close range (like your house) and I remember how even the length difference between the standard M-16 and the short M-4 carbines we used to use in the IDF made a huge difference in built up areas. Put a reflex sight on the ranch hand, probably an angled forward grip (which IS legal on a handgun; just not a "broomstick" vertical grip), and a laser or light, and you have a wonderful close range weapon that you can throw in a truck, put in a backpack, or keep in a handy corner of your house.
The extra barrel length makes it more powerful than most handguns of the same caliber, and as I said; after a little practice, firing an SMG using sling tension is extremely easy and natural.
Think of it like a tactical shotgun. The difference is you have rifle rounds and can be accurate out to a longer range (with a holographic or red dot sight, or whatever you want). If the ranch hand is nothing more than a "toy" then so is a pistol grip shotgun, because, they have the same limitations.
The Ranch Hand is a super short, extremely dependable, abuse-tolerant platform that can be fired rapidly with practice if you want to. It's very short and handy, can be used with sling tension like an SMG, and comes in more powerful close range calibers than those Uzis did. Mine is a .44 magnum, and I am very happy with the idea that inside any normal CQB range (which is also home defense, crime range, and general SHTF range) it will drop a man very effectively. Speed of reaction is paramount at close range (like your house) and I remember how even the length difference between the standard M-16 and the short M-4 carbines we used to use in the IDF made a huge difference in built up areas. Put a reflex sight on the ranch hand, probably an angled forward grip (which IS legal on a handgun; just not a "broomstick" vertical grip), and a laser or light, and you have a wonderful close range weapon that you can throw in a truck, put in a backpack, or keep in a handy corner of your house.
The extra barrel length makes it more powerful than most handguns of the same caliber, and as I said; after a little practice, firing an SMG using sling tension is extremely easy and natural.
Think of it like a tactical shotgun. The difference is you have rifle rounds and can be accurate out to a longer range (with a holographic or red dot sight, or whatever you want). If the ranch hand is nothing more than a "toy" then so is a pistol grip shotgun, because, they have the same limitations.
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