Low shot lead
Throughout this article I had to battle the weather (the Iron Frame Henry article had been done two weeks earlier during a blizzard, and this article in atypical 26-degree early spring weather), and you have to be pragmatic with this kind of thing. Since “The Sheriff” has a .45 Colt and “The Patrol” a .38 Special (357 Magnum), I decided to keep things as close as possible by using 150-grain Winchester .38 Special round-tip lead ammunition and .45 Colt 165-grain Ten-X hollow-base, flat-tip cartridges.
I could also have used 200- or 250-grain rounds, but my intention was to have the two revolvers fire as similarly as possible, and a 15-grain difference in bullet weight was my best option. The .38 caliber Special fires at an average velocity of 750 fps (feet per second) from a 3-1/2 inch barrel, the .45 caliber Long Colt at 523 fps. I positioned my target at 10 paces (or 30 feet more or less) and fired five consecutive shots at each target with each weapon.
As with most revolvers with little distance between the front and rear sights, particularly Single Action, the front and rear sights on 3-1/2-inch Single Action revolvers will allow the target to be hit, but there is always some correction to be made with the aiming once the weapon’s sweet spot is found. The .45 caliber shoots low, which is not surprising, and the correction affects 3-1/2 inches.
The wind was almost central. The same is true for the .38 caliber, which was right at the point of aim for the wind and hit 2 inches lower. He was also the more accurate of the two. “The Sheriff” is actually the lighter of the two at 32.5 ounces versus 38 ounces for “The Patrol” with a heavier barrel and extractor. The recoil was also a little more controllable. My best group of five shots with “The Sheriff” measured 2.0 inches with four out of five shots that covered 1.375 inches and one shot that was fired lower. “The Patrol” put its best five shots all within the red X ring with two overlapping shots on the bullseye at 2 o’clock for a total spread of 1.43 inches.
Both weapons performed flawlessly with Colt .45 caliber shells falling freely out of the drum of “The Sheriff,” which is a good thing, even without an extractor, and .38 Special caliber shells needs a little push. In the Old West, when decisions had to be made and guns were drawn at close range, a fast man with a Sheriff model probably had an advantage. “The Sheriff” and “The Patrol” rekindled that sort of Wild West swagger, and they do it in a rather charming way.
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Specifications “The Sheriff” and “The Patrol” E.M.F. Pietta Caliber: Colt 45/Special 38 (Magnum 357)
Barrel: 3-1/2 inches
Overall length: 9-1/4 inches
Weight: 32.5 ounces/38.0 ounces
Handles: walnut
Sights: fixed
Action: SA
Finish: burnished, opalescent
Capacity: 6
List price: coming soon
Performance “The Sheriff” and “The Patrol” E.M.F. Pietta Charge Speed Accuracy
Winchester .38 Special 150 gr. round tip in lead 750 1.43
Ten-X .45 LC 165 gr. hollow base and flat tip 523 2.0
Bullet weight is measured in landslides, velocity in fps from a chronograph, and accuracy in inches for the best 10-yard shot groups.
