Mastodon yet? Reloading data looks pretty impressive.
Steve

if I were going to go with a custom big bore Redhawk I'd go with Jack Huntington first. Jack has been doing them for a long time and I like his work.

wapitirod, can you post a link to Huntington's site so I can take a look, please?
Steve

here is his link but he told me a little while back his email is non functional. Whitworth has some nice Redhawks done by Jack and I think jwp also has some of his guns but not sure if he has the double actions. I thought about getting into them but I'm so far behind on just doing my single action and T/C work I may never see the light of day again

here is the link to his photo page http://jrhgunmaker.com/page2.html

Jack Huntington is in the process of rebuilding his website -- a new site is coming together as we speak. Rod is right, he has been building Redhawks (and Super Redhawks) for a very long time. Is work is great and his prices are very reasonable. I would suggest calling him at (530) 268-6877. He built this for me:

.500 Linebaugh SRH

I do know that there has been many a person unsatisfied with the lack of performance that they are getting from a GNR wildcat(bottleneck) in a revolver platform. I can also tell you when people bring it up to Mr. Reeder on his sight they get, "oh don't worry about vel, shoot what is accurate." (Then why did they just spend 1500 on a conversion?)

I have also noticed from first hand experience that his customer service is less than desirable. (I sent a barrel in for "repair" and he wanted to charge me over 100 for the work after he stated, "don't worry about it Dan, send it in and I will take care of it.")

I am not slandering Reeder, I am just sharing some of my experiences. Every builder is going to have problems, we are human. It is how they handle the situation at hand that defines their character IMHO.

I would defiantly look at Huntington!!

While my experience with Reeder is not quite as first hand as TC's, I have shot a couple of his guns at Shootist Holidays years ago. And have handled them more times. While I am in the camp that thinks his laser engraving is kinda cheesey, his workmanship seems pretty solid to me.

I visited his shop for the first time in December of last year, and got to handle the Mastadon he had in the gun case. It was his personal gun, and had seen quite a bit of real world use, according to him. The finish showed signs of honest use, but it was made well, and locked up nicely. What really jumped out at me was how comfortable the grip felt in my hand. Now this was obviously not shooting it, but I have enough experience with big boomers to know that when you pick one up and the grip feels wrong, it usually goes down hill fast when shooting.

He spent a fair amount of time with me, and was very personable and pleasant, even though he knew I was not buying a gun at the time. My plan is to perhaps one day stumble on a decent Redhawk, then send it off for something, to him. Probably not a GNR of any flavor, but I was sufficiently impressed with the workmanship of what I handled in his gun case to give him a shot.

Craig

I don't care for that engraving either and I really don't want his name on my gun in the manner in which it's done. Heck I don't even want my name on my gun why would I want someone else's.

I have handled and shot the Mastodon that was on the magazine cover a couple of years ago. It shot very well and the grip feels excellent.

I have a 510 GNR revolver and I am pleased with the performance.

i've seen him mention that it is required(by law?}for him to put his name etc, or so much information on the gun.

reckon that is true??

X2
I think the guns look nice, the giant name banner I don't care for.

MN

I dislike lazer etching......

Yep.

ATF requires the name of the manufacturer on the serialized frame in letters 1/8th tall and .003" deep. The city and state is also required. I use much lighter engraving on my guns so the writing doesn't take away from the gun itself.

I had the 356 GRN conversion done to a S&W model 27. Forget about
it...... When I shot the gun over the screens the velocity equaled a standard 357. When I added more powder the case set back in the cylinder. I`ve always been a sucker for bottleneck rounds in a revolver so I can only blame myself for paying for the conversion. This does not end here....Then I sent the model 27 to S&W to have them fit a new cylinder which also cost and I lost collector value on the 27 because the original cylinder had case head cut-outs and the replacement did not. Talked with a gentlemen who owns a hunt outfit in Africa who had a .500 made by Reeder. I believe he sent the gun to Clements and it cost another $700 to make it right. I think of him as an assembly line custom gun maker...
PS- anyone interested in a set of 356GRN dies, a m-27 cylinder bored for the cartridge, and about 50 356GRN cartridges????

I have a 300 GNR without all lettering and it shoots great. I also had him convert a Blackhawk 30 carbine to a 327 mag and refinish in his black cromex, shoots great and looks GREAT.

the black chromex is just a matte blue job.

Randominator, please don't be so elusive? What game have you taken with this gun? Please elaborate?
Steve

I do not own nor have I taken game with the Mastodon. I shot the prototype Gary built before it was released. This is the same gun used in the article, by I believe, John Taffin. The gun shot very well and the grips felt great.



I have a 5-shot revolver chambered in 510 GNR that I really like. I am shooting a 385 grain LBT dropped from a Mountain Mold at 1205 fps. from a 6" revolver. I can push this bullet to over 1300 fps. if desired. I have taken two whitetails with this load and performance is very good. A big hole going in, and a big hole coming out. Through the shoulder, DRT.

the 510GNR is actually the 50 Bowen with additional load data for crimping in the lube grooves.

If you buy ammo from Andy Rowe, it is loaded to nearly the same OAL as the .500 Linebaugh, so of course, the same levels of performance are possible. See photo below.

Yep. Bowen did this years ago but didn't mess with trying to get Linebaugh performance out of it. I'd guess he figured if wanted the performance of the Linebaugh then buy one otherwise go with the Bowen/Special which is still enough to take anything in North America. I just don't like people taking credit for others developments. Both Jack Huntington and Hamilton Bowen are the easiest guys in the world to get along with when it comes to chambering guns in their propietary cartridges unlike at least three others I can think of. Mike Bellm is another one that is easy to get along with that way, especially since he has the rights to all of the Ackley Improved cartridges.

Why I don't care for Reeders:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=295636638

Sometimes the color on his website doesn't match what you get - my Black Widow lost the red dot on the spider and that feature is what sold me on that particular revolver.

the gold will also come off if you wipe it down with a good cleaner but it can be put back with either one of the commercial gold fill kits or a gold crayon.

just so it doesn't sound like I'm just trying to slam a competitor I own 3 Reeder guns, actually two because I parted one out and built my 454 because I wasn't happy with it. That is how I got started doing this type of work.

Seriously??

yep, mine were done with silver and both break free powder blaster and non chlorinated brake cleaner took it off. You can buy stuff specifically for doing the filling which is either in the form of gian crayons or a liquid/solid mix but all of it will come off.

Which is a good thing, IMO

lol, yeah I just reblued one the 475's and I decided not to fill it back in.

I have seen and handled at least 6 of Readers revolvers. They were indeed consistent in that a 6 were slow in timing. I was not and am not impressed with them. I would much rather have a Linebaugh, Bowen,Horton, Huntington, Clements, etc.

The only reason that I did not include Wapitirod is because I have not personally seen one of his, but from all indications I would want one ahead of a Reader. hen I purchase a custom I want it to be head and shoulders above a bone stock factory mass produced revolver

I bought a 500 grain Mountain Mold for my S&W JRC 500 ot has a 93%meplat. All my hunting in Illinois is close(heavy timber) in.
Steve

I bought a 500 grain Mountain Mold for my S&W JRC 500 ot has a 93%meplat. All my hunting in Illinois is close(heavy timber) in.
Steve