The Guns of Phillips & Rodgers
By Jim Taylor
One of the great things I enjoy about the Internet is the way it allows you to meet other people... especially those who have similar interests. In the years since I began working on the Internet I have met hundreds of people from all over the world who have a love for firearms, and in particular, sixguns. This last year I met a man who introduced me to the firm of Phillips & Rodgers. Jesse Walton (known as "Spike") is the webmaster of Single Action .45’s He is also a Sales Representative for Phillips & Rodgers, Inc.
I had been hearing of the company for some time. The way the word was getting out, this firm would make a custom 5-shot cylinder for your Ruger single action revolver. With that and a little work a person could have a custom 5-shot revolver capable of handling handloads nearing 454 levels. That seemed a feasible way for a person to get a custom gun if they were seeking higher power levels for big-game hunting but could not afford the whole custom-built gun from one of the gunsmiths who specialize in them. Later on several readers of our website wrote reports on their P&R 5-shot conversions (see the BACK ISSUES section of http://www.sixgunner.com/ - "5 Shot .45 on a Budget Parts 1 and 2 " and "Another 5-Shot on a Budget"). Other readers wrote to say their experiences with Phillips & Rodgers had been good and that the company took time to work with you. All the reports were encouraging.
Enter Jesse Walton. He contacted me about some website stuff and in the course of the conversation mentioned that he was a Sales Rep for P&R. Great! Now I could find out a little more about this company. Jesse directed me to their website and gave me some information about them. Then he told me he was having a 454 built by them on their new frame and would I like to test it? Would I? Of course I would!
In due time the gun arrived and we unpacked it. Made of stainless steel, it was larger than I expected. I had not realized it was built on the same frame size as the old Ruger Maximum. The cylinder is over 2 3/16" long..... long enough to accommodate the Maximum cartridges as well as the "Super Mag" line of cartridges brought out some years ago in IHMSA.. the .375 Super Mag, the .445 Super Mag etc. The frame I believe, is the one that was developed by D-Max some years ago.
Looking the gun over I could see quality in the fitting. All the metal-to-metal finish was tight and clean. The grip shape is basically the same as the Ruger Bisley as is the hammer and trigger. The ejector rod housing is more round than any I had seen and is a nice departure from the norm. Overall the fit and finish of the gun was very clean. Empty the gun weighed in at 3 lb. 12 oz., a full ½ pound heavier than my fixed-sight Freedom Arms 454. While not a light gun, this gun is intended for serious hunting use with heavy loads.
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Cylinder Comparisons |
The sights are adjustable and the front blade can be changed via a lockup using an Allen screw. The cylinder pin is held with a setscrew through the pin and into the barrel in addition to the normal transverse latch found on single action revolvers. I had no trouble with it all during the test firing I did with gun.
The barrel is quite heavy and fairly thick. This is not a bad thing on a gun that can be loaded to power level of the 454. The interior of the barrel was very smooth on this gun. I am not sure how it was rifled, but it evidenced care of manufacture. I fired over 100 rounds of cast bullet loads including the hot Buffalo Bore and Cor-Bon cast bullet loads with no leading whatsoever. The barrel stayed clean throughout the whole test. All told I fired close to 300 rounds through the gun in the couple of days that I had here.
Since this was Jesse’s gun it was set up for him. He had ordered it with "Express Sights"... the shallow "v" rear notch and the bead front sight. My old eyes have a hard time with this type of sight... and honestly, I have never liked them on a sixgun. So I confess that I approached shooting it with some prejudice against the sights. After using it I will say that the gun is more accurate than I was holding it, and I am still prejudiced against those sights. I just could not see them well enough for fine shooting on paper targets.
I fired a number of factory 454 loads. I used Buffalo Bore’s 345 gr. cast bullet loads. I also used Cor-Bon ammo in 285 gr. Bonded Core, their 300 gr. jacketed flat point, the 335 gr. cast, and their 360 gr. Penetrator. These are STOUT loads. They hurt my hand. The Bisley hammer would bite me hard enough to break the skin on the web of my hand with the heaviest loads if I did not wear a glove. This is no reflection on the gun. Everyone holds a gun a bit differently and somehow this one just got me. Of course, the heaviest loads I shot were heavy. And they are not the kinds of loads you really want to spend much time shooting from the bench. Fired from a two-handed hold while standing on my hind legs was much more comfortable than sitting at the bench shooting from a rest.
I found with the sights that I could not keep the shots as tight as I would like. I just could not see when I was moving the gun a bit, and on paper targets every little bit shows up. Even at that I fired a number of 3 and 4-shot groups that were around an inch. For some reason I would pull one or two out though. Some of it was me, pulling the gun. The stout recoil and the hammer biting me did not make for a good letoff even though the trigger pull was target quality. It had no creep and was easy to use.
I disproved the accuracy problem I was experiencing was the gun by firing some groups, one shot at a time, using the same chamber to fire each shot. I did the same thing even then, putting 3 or 4 into a pretty good group, then pulling a shot out of the group. Oh well... it happens. I was disappointed though, that I could not see the sights well enough to really see what it would do. It would be interesting to ‘scope the gun and see what it is capable of from sandbags.
I fired quite a few mid-range handloads using Cast Performance’s 265 gr. gascheck bullet as well as some I cast using the SSK 270 gr. flatpoint bullet. These were loaded to 1200 fps and were not only comfortable to shoot but proved accurate as well. At no point did I experience any leading. This speaks well for the quality of the barrel.
Targets Fired with the P&R 454
click on an image for a larger view
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Phillips & Rodgers, Inc. has been in existence since 1990. They began by producing a multi-caliber gun called the Medusa, and then got into building other types and calibers of guns. Located in Huntsville, Texas, they describe themselves as a "...small company looking to fill a niche in the firearms market." They can build any caliber, any barrel length, any finish, convertible cylinders, engraved guns to name a few, and are not "..stuck with two or three sizes that fit all..." They presently build cylinders from the .17 Ackley up through the .500 Linebaugh. They also offer gunsmithing of all types on all Ruger single actions and are now beginning to do conversions on the Redhawks and Super Redhawks. They do blue, nickel, Teflon and Metal Life finishes. The shop can also do lineboring if that is desired. They can do barrel porting, scope mounts, muzzle brakes, and custom engraving... all the services that are needed to produce a fine custom firearm. Note that they do not do rifle work of any type.
Phillips & Rodgers presently offers their own handguns in 3 frame sizes: the Standard Frame, the Mid Frame, and the Stretched Frame.
The Standard Frame is available in 17 Ackley Hornet, .17 Ackley Bee, .22 Hornet, .218 Bee, .32-20, .45 Long Colt, .454 Casull, .475 Wildey, .475 Linebaugh, .59 Action Express and .500 Linebaugh.
The Mid Frame is available in .357 Maximum, .445 Super Mag, .45 Long Colt, .454 Casull, .475 Wildey, .475 Linebaugh, .500 Linebaugh, .500 Linebaugh Maximum, and 7.62x39.
The Stretch Frame is available in .375 Winchester and .450 Marlin.
All these are stainless steel construction. The frames are 416 stainless and the cylinders are 17-4 double-aged stainless. All come with match grade barrels and a smooth action. Phillips & Rodgers can provide other calibers upon request. You can contact them at:
Phillipps & Rodgers,
Inc.
52 FM 980
Huntsville, Texas 77320
Phone (936)
435-0011
Fax (936) 435-0022
e-mail hunziker@txucom.net
website http://www.phillipsandrodgers.com/
The 454 is becoming quite a popular caliber these days. A far cry from when Freedom Arms first introduced it. In addition to Freedom Arms now we have Ruger, Taurus, and Uberti offering it, along with the new one by Phillips & Rodgers. Theirs makes a great addition to the field. Priced at $1449.00 it fits neatly into the list.
