[45Shooter]

Hello! Like everyone else, I'm new to the forum and since nothing has been posted in historical perspectives yet I thought I'd start it off. I just recently acquired a Ballester-Rigaud and shot it at a local indoor range. Truthfully, it didn't do very well. At seven yards it shot 230 FMJ at least ten inches to the left of aim and a a couple of inches low. With 185 JHP it was even worse - they keyholed and went all over the place. When I got the pistol and looked at the rifling thru the muzzle end, it looked worn but passable. When I got home and looked thru the chamber, the rifling magically disappeared :smile:. I got an old GI barrel from a local gun shop and scrounged up an old stainless bushing from a Springfield 1911 and they dropped right in. By the way, is it common on a GI barrel for the rifling to be parkerized? We'll see if it helps. The other thing to watch for is hammer bite if you have fleshy hands. It'll really dig a hole in the web of your hand - the first thing I did on getting home was to break out the Dremel and bob the hammer (there goes the collector value :grin. One good thing is that it fed everything without a bobble. Even with the the problems, I have to admit that there's something about this pistol that I just really like.
So, does anyone else have and shoot one? Have any of the pros on board ever worked on one? Anyone know of a source for detail stripping instructions or parts and literature? Any suggestions for replacing the sights?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 45Shooter on 2001-03-29 19:14 ]</font>

 

[die]

Hi 45shooter. I am from Argentina, so the Ballester Molina for me is a little familiar. They went out of production a long time ago. I don't know if i have a little literature about it. But i think is very difficult to have parts for it. Anyway, i will try to find this article, so i can tell you more about it. Correct me if i am wrong, but sure yours is a surplus model. Only thing i am sure, is that they were made with the Colt license. Also, there is a rimfire kit, that according to wath i heard is very good.

 

[scoop]

my shooting buddy got one for a pretty good price(so he thought)until he shot it.same problem as yours ,no acurate.basically shoot out.it was going to cost more than 500 to bring it up to spec.lots of ware on all the internals.so he just picked him up a brand new 1991 to shoot.

 

[Masshole]

die:
Do you have any literature on the Sistema Colt? I have just purchased one and would like to know more about it's history.

 

[sakosniper]

i dont want to sound like a total idiot, but can someone tell me which of the C&R pistols interchange with the 1911?...im out here in california, and we can no longer get frames to build our own colt 1911 style rigs. ive got enough stuff to put together a minimum of 9 auto's, but no frames. someone said that the Ballester Rigaud was interchangable, but i dont know for sure. if they are, ive got a line on a supplier that i can purchase these from for around 100.00 apiece . anyone with info please let me know.