What type of revolver is best for Fast Draw? Do I have to change barrels? What is the best length of barrel?
The gun of choice is an old model (3 screw) Ruger Blackhawk in .357. It is then bored out to .45 calibre and mounted with an aluminium barrel (no shorter than 4 & 5/8 inches). The hammer is modified to turn up half an inch above the back-strap (which is ground down to a smooth top without sights) to make it easier to fan. Of course, if you'll be thumbing, this last modification won't be performed. I would highly recommend joining the World Fast Draw Association and getting a WFDA rule book before cutting up your gun. This way you can follow the rules for allowable gun modifications and not risk finding that you've inadvertently made your gun illegal for use in the sport (there are also rules on holster measurements). There are a number of shooters who use stock (or close to it) Colts, Ruger Blackhawks or Vaqueros. These can be great for new shooters to get into the sport without getting too deep too fast.
Would a Walker Colt (or other large pistol) be okay for Fast Draw?
As far as using a Walker Colt for Fast Draw....... technically you can use it by the rules of the sport. I've never actually seen anyone use one. The frame size and weight make it pretty unwieldy for doing a fast draw. Normally a smaller single action revolver is used (Ruger Blackhawk or Colt Peacemaker). You can start out with this gun, but would probably want to switch to something lighter if you decided to stick with the sport.
What are wax bullets?
Wax bullets are pretty much what they sound like. We make a bullet out of wax, push it into the shell, then put a shotshell primer (shotgun primer) or .22 blank into the other end. To explain that better, the shells we use for wax have been specially counter-sunk where the normal primer hole is to accept a shotshell primer. If a .22 blank is used, then a special shell must be built that doesn't have a normal flash-hole, but has a special counter-sunk hole off to the edge of the shell to fit a .22 blank. This special hole allows the center-fire action of the revolver to strike the rim of the .22 blank. Most people use the shotshell primers.
Wax is very easy to load and many people use nothing else for practise. You can load the six wax shells in a few seconds and shoot, then reload and shoot again. There are 4 or 5 companies making wax bullets. For safety reasons these are the only bullets that are allowed in competition. Many people make their own bullets for practise.
Demonstration of loading Wax Bullets
Obtaining Wax Bullets & Shells: Two on-line wax bullet manufacturers are C&R Wax Bullets and Super Speed Wax Bullets. You can also check the C&R site for instructions on making your own shells for shotshell primers, or check the Custom Gun Works of the Single-Action Revolver by Bob Graham web site to purchase shotshell or .22 blank wax shells.
What type of blanks are used in Fast Draw?
For practise I generally use a very easy to load blank. This consists of filling the .45 Long Colt shell all the way to the top with 1F black powder (very grainy). I then push a half inch circular stationary sticker just far enough into the shell so that the edges curl up and stick to the shell (you can find these at almost any stationary store). Many shooters use thin cardboard or styrofoam as the wad and keep it in place with a thin layer of nail polish. You don't want to fill the shell so that it's overflowing because you will then crush the powder when you push in the wad. That would turn your 1F powder into finer grains that wouldn't be as effective at breaking the balloon. Conversely, you want to fill up the shell as much as possible to get as much powder as you can. That way you'll have more powder flying out to break the balloon.
For competition I want a load that has slightly more kick to it, and possibly better pattern. I put about a quarter or a third of an inch of a mixture of 4F black powder and Bullseye powder in the bottom of the shell as a kicker. I tend to use slightly more Bullseye than 4F. I then fill the rest of the shell with a 50/50 mixture of 1F and 4831. The 4831 is a very grainy, slow burning powder that will not burn up before getting to the balloon. I then place the wad sticker on top. Every shooter has their own competition load recipe. This just happens to be the one I use.
By the way, most shooters in the sport use standard primers in blank loads, but most people drill out the flash hole in the shell case primer pocket. This tends to reduce the occurrences of primer back-out (which often happens with a blank), and helps speed up the ignition of the powder. You want to make sure that you don't drill out the flash hole enough that the anvil in the primer (the three pointed metal star inside the primer) can go through the hole. I've found that a 1/8 drill bit does a good job.
In the last issue of Gungames magazine (Randy Travis and Ernie Hill on front cover) it shows two of Cal Elrich's guns in a small photo under years champions. It says one is a .22/.38 ruger(top) and the (bottom) .45 ruger blackhawk. Is the top .22/.38 ruger a single six .22LR converted into .38 special? What is needed to make a single-six into a .38?
Editor's note: I went directly to Cal Elrich for the answer to this question. Here it is:
.22/.38's are used strictly to shoot wax bullets. A ruger Single Six makes the best wax gun. If a shooter is only going to own one gun then go with a .45 since you can shoot both wax and blanks.
On a .22/.38 the front of the cylinder is bored out to .356 so that the wax bullets can be installed directly into the front of the cylinder. Then a .38 barrel is installed so that the wax can travel through it. Of course, deep notching the cylinder and lengthening the approaches is still recommended.
I prefer the .22/.38 for firing .22 black powder blanks because it is made specifically to fire .22 rim fire ammo. I almost never have a misfire which seems to occur somewhat regularly with offset casings for the .45. It also renders a greater velocity and allows for a savings of several thousandths of a second per shot. I prefer steel barrels in a .22/.38, since they are very small framed guns and the heavier barrel gives a little more stability while drawing the pistol.
I'm interested in getting started in the sport of Fast Draw. Do you know of any books or places where I can purchase books on Fast Draw?
There aren't any books available that tell about Fast Draw, but there are a couple of ways that you can learn a lot more about the sport. Cal Elrich, the many time world champion, has a two hour video that shows almost everything that someone needs to know about Fast Draw. You can visit Cal's site for more information.
Another good source of information is to join the World Fast Draw Association and receive the bi-monthly magazine, Top Gun. This gives you inside information on what's going on in the sport. You can find more information and a membership form on the WFDA site. You would also receive a rule book that will let you start on the right foot in this sport. I've seen people show up at contests with guns, holsters or draws that were illegal by the rules. Studying the rule book would help prevent this situation.
Do any of the fast draw record holders use the thumbing technique or should I concentrate on fanning only?
Gary Tryon (left) & Bob James - Two of the top Thumbers in Fast Draw
While there are a number of fast thumbers, there are only one or two world records that were set using the thumbing method. The vast majority were set using a fanning method, which is slightly faster.
There are a number of different ways you can fan a gun (up-fanning, slap-cocking, etc.), so you have a few choices of how to fan. The people who thumb generally do it because that's the style that they prefer for a number of reasons. Some like the challenge, while others like to do a more "authentic" draw. You might want to start with that style if you don't want to modify the gun. You can then see if you like it. Remember, it will take longer to become good at thumbing than it would fanning. By the way, you can check out the page with the break down of a Thumbing draw for an example of Thumbing, and read Jan Owen's detailed instructions of the Thumbing draw for further information.
What procedures do you have to follow to travel to international competitions?
Craig Robinson, a relatively new shooter in the sport of Fast Draw, has written an article about travelling to a Fast Draw contest in Canada.
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