Whats going on??

[buck1]

I have A Ruger 44 Mag Bisley hunter. Throats are .431 BBL is .430 and boolits are .432.
My Load is 20 gr of WC820 CCI primer under a well crimped 245 gr Saeco PB SWC & the Lee 434250.
The boolit is lubed with Felix lube and is BHN 13-14.
This load shoots in all my Rugers except this one. 3" at 30 YD is the best it will do, And I am getting some leading the length of the BBL( not bad but its there).
Clean gun, Cylinder is as tight as any Ruger I have,Good lube ,Alloy ,sizes seem ok, The BBL is not rough at all, and I can detect no restriction at the reciver when I push a slug through it..
ANY Ideas guys?????? THANKS....Buck

[August]

Probably forcing cone. Cylinder, while "as tight as any other Ruger I own," may not be lining up precisely with barrel. You can deal with this in two (or both) ways. One, you can get an oversized cylinder bolt from Brownells and precisely fit it to assure ON-AXIS line up of cylinder to barrel. Two, you can open the angle of the forcing cone to make a "wider reciever" for the barrel/cylinder junction. Proposition two will require a gunsmith or the proper forcing cone reamer, again from brownells.

Brownells makes a guage (just a steel rod, really) that you can put down the barrel to assertain whether, or not, the cylinder really is lining up with the barrel. You can tell I suspect it is not.

Larry Crow's video on Ruger Single Actions covers these operations nicely. You can try sending back to Ruger if you can afford to be without it for a while.

[August]

P.S. I am assuming you are using magnum cases and not specials.

[Bass Ackward]

Buck,

Welcome back buddy.

Yep. You got an alignment issue. So size .430 or even dare I say, .429 and watch it disappear. Maybe after a few thousand rounds you can crank back up on the size.

[44man]

Make sure the gun is empty, of course, and clean. Look down the barrel with a strong flashlight shining at the cylinder gap. Move your eye back and forth and up and down slightly and you should be able to see the edge of the chambers. Do all six. You can see if they are out of line as you will see less on one side or the other. You will be surprised at how small a difference your eye can detect.
I had the same hunter model and it didn't shoot real good either. I have a suspicion that the big rib on the barrel is effecting barrel vibrations and I think a scope on it makes it worse. I'm not going to swear to it but I could find nothing else wrong with my gun at all. I measured the forcing cone and it was already at it's largest measurement so I could not re-cut it without getting it too large.
The first thing I would do is try an LBT boolit of at least 300 gr's. Second is to shoot .430 boolits. And try a harder boolit.
Some semi wadcutters just don't shoot good in all guns either.
It seems to me that the Hunter model takes more work to get it to shoot then the regular SBH. Mine was extremely well made and I think I could have increased the accuracy with load work but a friend drooled over it and he is now the owner.
Don't give up! It just might not like the same loads as your other gun.

[buck1]

Buck,

Welcome back buddy.

Yep. You got an alignment issue. So size .430 or even dare I say, .429 and watch it disappear. Maybe after a few thousand rounds you can crank back up on the size.


Thanks to all you guys!!!!! WORK HAS BEEN KEEPING ME BUSY!!!

Thats the one thing I did not check. And this a fairly new gun(less than 300 RDS of cast) I will pay my dad a visit in the morning. Hes a old school big time 44 nut! I know hes got some 429421s on top of 20 gr 2400, and sized .429 out of BHN 18 . I will give them a try and let you Know. ...................Buck

[RugerFan]

Another option (& possibly the most expensive) is to send the gun to Alpha Precision. They offer an array of pistol services:

http://www.alphaprecisioninc.com/

I have the same pistol in .41 mag that shoots like a dream right out of the box.

[Bass Ackward]

Thanks to all you guys!!!!! WORK HAS BEEN KEEPING ME BUSY!!!

Thats the one thing I did not check. And this a fairly new gun(less than 300 RDS of cast) I will pay my dad a visit in the morning. Hes a old school big time 44 nut! I know hes got some 429421s on top of 20 gr 2400, and sized .429 out of BHN 18 . I will give them a try and let you Know. ...................Buck


Buck!!!!!!!!

You said 12-14 BHN!!!!!!!!!! With softer mixes, you can get away with undersized bullets. I believe that 18 is going to be too hard now and you will see leading again. Then you will be confused because the leading will come from a different sourse (cause) this time.

Sounds to me like you need some jacketed down through that gun. And check your cylinder stop slots. Feel for burrs with your finger nail around this slot to see if you have a problem with alignment and on which chamber. Then use a sharp knife to "lightly" remove these burrs and expedite break-in. Go gently so you don't scratch a finished surface.

[44man]

That was one thing I never got a chance to do with mine, to break it in, sold it before I had the chance. My friend is shooting XTP's out of it and it shoots great. I would shoot about 500 jacketed out of it, clean out all the copper and go back to cast. For the first 20 or 30 shots I would remove all copper after every shot. Takes all day or longer but is worth it. Then clean good after every session.
I love the Hunter and am hoping Ruger gets off it's butt and chambers them in some of the larger calibers.
My SBH has over 57,000 rounds out of it and I can shoot any alloy without leading except plain WW metal. For some reason that stuff leaves a little lead behind. Does the same in all of my revolvers. Adding a little tin did not help but tin and antimony stopped all leading. So did adding a little pure lead instead, for that matter. (Maybe I should remove the steel clips!)

[buck1]

Well I got to the range this morning ( just in front of the wind).
The 429421 @Bhn 18 &.429 /Just as Bass said No improvement at all.

I also tryed some Saeco 245 gr GC-SWC @BHN13 and sized to .431 on top of 20gr WC820. That DID help, Giving just under 2" at 50yd (5 shots).
You guys called it! DARN! Now I have to go buy and shoot some condoms. I think Remington sells them in bulk.
Thanks again and I will check for those Burrs! ....Buck