M41 Bully Barrel For Steel W/ Aguila SSS 60gr

[johnnywitt]

I kinda found out by accident that the my Ray Brandes Bully Barrel will cycle and STABALIZE the Aguila SSS 60gr ammo. The Bully Barrel has a faster twist rate than athe standard 1:16 .22 LR. I believe it has a 1:8.

I have been shooting Aguila SSS 60gr at Steel and it hits with extreme authority for a .22. It will whack a steel target with an off center shot almost as hard, or harder, than a regular 40gr with an direct hit.

I shoot my Bully Barrel all the time suppressed while my little kids are sleeping and it completely stabilizes the 60gr bullets. Any of my other barrels WILL NOT stabilize this round. I shoot this round now exclusively with my Bully Barrel. It gives target grade accuracy for me and is fun as heck to shoot. I mostly shoot steel with my Bully. I had it shortened by Mr. Brandes to about as short as a 41 barrel can be because I shoot with suppressor and with optics (Aimpoint Micro- copied KAZ) with the Bully Barrel and I wanted as short an OAL unit as possible. I use a Buffer on the frame and my best guess as far as the SSS round is that they take a .22 Short case and fill it with a .22 short HV powder charge with a 60gr bullet. I've shot old refridgerators and various other aplliances and this round gives way more penetration than a regular .22 HV round out of any comparable bbl length. For Steel Shooters, this Bully Barrel Mod. 41 combo is the ticket.

[Bullseye]

This is good to know. It makes sense that the faster twist rate would stabilize the heavy bullets. The real revelation is that these standard rounds will cycle the action properly.

R,
Bullseye

[lucam]

My MKIII cycles them perfectly too. Don't know about accuracy.

[johnnywitt]

I shot them through my MK guns and they won't stabalize the bullet. I get about a 3rd of them that will keyhole. My 41 w/Bully never misses a beat with these rounds. I bought a full case of them and that's what I shoot exclusively through the Bully. The regular barrel will only reliably cycle the CCI STD V & the Blazers. I stopped shooting the HV through my gun after the Guys over at RFC scared me and ruined my fun, I still don't see how shooting HV with the buffer installed AND shooting with a factory weight recoil spring could hurt the gun though. The the buffer is going to protect the frame on the other end when the slide goes to the rear.
I can understand if you use a stronger aftermarket HV recoil spring because then the slide/breech face is going to return to battery with a lot more force and peen the face of the barrel.
Still, they put the fear in me after I was having all that fun plinking with the el cheapo blazer through my 7 1/2" barrel and with decent accuracy to boot.

[Bullseye]

I shoot HV in my 41s all the time with buffers installed. I've got quite a few rounds through them and no signs of excessive wear. The springs and the buffer do the job and prevent battering.

R,
Bullseye

[johnnywitt]

Yeah, there are some Guys on RFC that like to show pictures of guns that have peened breech faces from slide impact and sundry other damage from the dreaded HV round. I know that with a buffer its going to protect the frame and if your gun runs with a factory recoil spring its not going to power the slide/bolt back into battery any harder than it would shooting SV ammo. I can see their point insofar as the bolt slamming into battery harder with the stronger Wolff HV recoil spring (I think that its 8# and the factory spring is 7.5#).
I can't see were the Aguila SSS 60gr will hurt your gun at all. Its a HV 22 short powder charge.
I think some folks are more gun collector and some folks, like myself, are shooters. I'm like those Guys on that show Pawn Stars. They get an antique gun, they make sure its safe, and they go right out and shoot it. I think I'm gonna go right back to shooting Blazers in my 7.5" factory Smith barrel.

[Pete D.]

I'm not a fan of HV ammo in a fine target pistol. But YMMV....just be careful. We may take too much comfort from idea that "there are no signs of excessive wear". Maybe so. Yet. Remember that there are no "signs of excessive wear" - there is just excessive wear and normal wear, no middle ground. There is no warning, just "too late".
Pete

[johnnywitt]

Well, I guess the HV arguement isn't ever going to die.

There's no way that the Aguila SSS 60gr is going to hurt a M41 though. It's a subsonic round.

[Bullseye]

Well, since one of my M-41's is 35 years old, from when I bought it new, and it's doesn't show any excessive wear from all the HV rounds I've put though it - I'll take my chances.

R,
Bullseye

[Pete D.]

Well, since one of my M-41's is 35 years old, from when I bought it new, and it's doesn't show any excessive wear from all the HV rounds I've put though it - I'll take my chances.

R,
Bullseye

Can't argue with success.
Pete

[johnnywitt]

Blazers are pretty cheap and readily available for plinking.
Anyhow, I just wanted to let you 41 Folks that might already have a Bully Barrel, or might be thinking about getting one, that at least MINE will shoot the Aguila SSS 60gr like a Singer sewing machine and with darn near the accuracy of the CCI STD Vel.