The author executes an Arvo Ojala-style
triple shot (using blanks) firing the first
round on the draw and then, using thumb
and small finger to re-cock, twice more in one
continuous motion raking the off hand along
the top of the frame and over the hammer.
The “Runnin’Iron” is the only out-of-thebox
six-shooter we have found that allows you
to practice this discipline without an action
job and smoothing off the rough edges of
the hammer.
RUNNIN’ IRON RANGE TEST
Although both guns were well
balanced we found the 5.5-inch model
a bit easier to handle, especially for
cocking. The slightly heavier barrel gives
the gun a touch more balance. Drawing
from a holster, the rake of the hammer
makes cocking very easy. For competitive
shooting utilizing the off hand thumb to
cock the hammer, the wide horizontal
hammer makes this one of the fastest single
actions we’ve ever fired.
We even tried the famous Arvo
Ojala triple shot (using blanks of course)
firing the first round on the draw and then,
using thumb and small finger to re-cock,
twice more in one continuous motion as
you rake the off hand along the top of the
frame and over the hammer.
To do this you need a smooth
action, and above all a hammer that won’t
chew up your hand.
It takes a lot of practice with an
empty gun to perfect Arvo’s triple shot, and
the Runnin’ Iron is the only out-of-the-box
six-shooter we have found that allows you
to practice this discipline without an action
job and smoothing off the rough edges of
the hammer. Without these modifications,
the usual result is a pinched finger and
appropriate blood blisters.
We ran our range test on the dark
side selecting two black powder rounds,
Goex Pinnacle 235-grain round nose flat
point (RNFP) .45 LC, andTen-X .45 Colt
165-grain hollow based flat point (HBFP)
black powder cartridges. The heavyweight
and hot burning Black Hills loads cleared
the 5.5-inch barrel at 730 fps (feet per
second) in a cloud of smoke sufficient to
prevent an adversary from getting a fix
on the shooter.Makes those stories about
gunfights in 19th century saloons, where
after the first few shots nobody could see
anything seem very plausible.
After a moment for the smoke
to clear we took second through fifth
timed shots at a 50 foot slow fire target
from a distance of 33 feet (10meters)
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