Found a Giles .45

Help. 

I found what I thought was a strange looking 1911 at my local gun shop bought it after a few minutes or research. I don’t shoot bullseye, I’m more of a defensive pistol shooter, but it was too cool to pass up. It might belong better in someone else’s hands eventually but I’m looking forward to loading for it and shooting it for at least a bit. Any info folks ar willing to share would be great. I just started going down the Giles rabbit hole. Anyway I bought it took it apart and cleaned it. Has the barrel positioning welded and the stippling it seems he may have been known for. Also a nice tight bushing at least compared the kimber and dan Wesson I own also slide fit seems excellent snug and no shake. Anyway here are some pictures. Didn’t take any pics of internals but the sear also looked modified compared to my other guns as well. Function and safety checks all good. Stellar trigger pull.

imgur.com/gallery/IvOfm46

No better bullseye pistolsmith than Giles, back in the day. Back then, pistols weren't built on cnc made base guns, so there was much more intensive handwork and innovations by the top builders. With the right ammo, it is quite possible that this pistol will shoot 2" or less 10 shot groups at 50 yards from a machine rest. I once owned a Giles with 2 uppers (one for a wadgun and the other upper for hardball. Even though mine was well used, it still shot a 2" group from a Ransom Rest at 50. The only drawback to these older built pistols is that they aren't easy to scope and nearly everyone wants to shoot optics in bullseye, these days.

Interesting that he was shooting a pretty light lead load for a proof target! Love that heavy crimp!

Dave

Dcforman wrote:Interesting that he was shooting a pretty light lead load for a proof target! Love that heavy crimp!

Dave

Without seeing chrono data, I would take that charge weight with a grain of salt. The date on that sheet is 63 years ago, hard to say if the powder is to the same specification of today.

Ah, very true.

Eons ago, (or at least when Giles was active) people shot softer bullets and softer loads than we do now. Alton Dinan used an 18 to one (lead-tin) alloy which is pretty soft compared to now.  That may explain a bit while 3.6 Bullseye was used.  And Bullseye HAS changed over the years, not enough to affect loads in macro scale, but I remember it used to be faster than Red Dot powder but it is now slower than Red Dot or 700X.

I was doing some load development in my hard fit 13 twist KKM barrel and found that I could get a H&G 130 200gr bullet with 3.0grs of new Bullseye to cycle the pistol reliably with a slide mounted 30mm Ultra Dot and an 11lb recoil spring off a rest or off hand. The crimp was .463". Lead alloy was commercial hard cast recycled bullets and some were from wheel weights with tin added which was basically the old NRA formula just hard enough so you can scratch it with your fingernail.
Light loads require a tight crimp to get a full burn of the powder charge.

There is currently a Giles 45 on Gunbroker, but I'm quite wary of the listing. Seller only has 5 ratings, their only sale is to someone with zero ratings, and they only accept checks and money orders. The serial number matches one sold at auction in March. Text description seems like cut-and-paste. So, maybe the guy actually bought it and is trying to turn a profit, but personally I'd advise caution.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1068722615

Ive been collecting Giles pistols for a few years now. Fine shooters. The man was a true master and innovator. With a 50 yard indoor test range, his accuracy is unsurpassed. Enjoy your new pistol

If the pics come through, note the slight dimple on tge outside of the slide caused by the positioning weld. Also, the finesse of transition from rib to extended front sight.

Ive been collecting Giles pistols for a few years now. Fine shooters.  The man was a true master and innovator.  With a 50 yard indoor test range, his accuracy is unsurpassed. Enjoy your new pistol

If the pics come through, note the slight dimple on tge outside of the slide caused by the positioning weld. Also, the finesse of transition from rib to extended front sight.

Wobbley wrote:Eons ago, (or at least when Giles was active) people shot softer bullets and softer loads than we do now. Alton Dinan used an 18 to one (lead-tin) alloy which is pretty soft compared to now.  That may explain a bit while 3.6 Bullseye was used.  And Bullseye HAS changed over the years, not enough to affect loads in macro scale, but I remember it used to be faster than Red Dot powder but it is now slower than Red Dot or 700X.

!970s LTC Miller had me shooting 3.4 BE with cast 185GR

This is one I wish I could have brought home.

Jack H wrote:

Wobbley wrote:Eons ago, (or at least when Giles was active) people shot softer bullets and softer loads than we do now. Alton Dinan used an 18 to one (lead-tin) alloy which is pretty soft compared to now.  That may explain a bit while 3.6 Bullseye was used.  And Bullseye HAS changed over the years, not enough to affect loads in macro scale, but I remember it used to be faster than Red Dot powder but it is now slower than Red Dot or 700X.

!970s LTC Miller had me shooting 3.4 BE with cast 185GR

When I first started my dad gave me some old Tarus BNWC 200gn and over the old 3.5 BE he gave me the Kimber I had cycled just fine. Today with a factory spring and rack gun I would say you need 3.7 BE.

I remember the Taurus bullets.  Didn’t last long for some reason.

Listing it for sale