My Ruger "Single Eight" in ".25ACP+" vs "Handloader" .250 Magnum Auto.

[Chev. William]

From Post #5 on this thread:
"My Barrel started life as a "Lothar Walther .25ACP/6.35 browning Cr-Mo Alloy Steel Pistol Barrel blank" of about 1:9.4 to 1:9.8 twist, 6 groove, .243" bore/.250"groove diameters and roughly 1.1 inch diameter by 23.4" length.
It was Turned, fitted, and finish set up by Willie Clark of "American Gun Works"(AGW), Glendale California.
The Bluing was done by an outside shop contracted by AGW. they sent my barrel out as part of a Lot of items so the Price for the bluing was very reasonable.
Willie tapered the Blank to take Ruger unloading rod and housing and the Ruger front sight from the Original barrel tha tcame on the Used Ruger New Model Convertible Single Six Revolver I bought as a 'donor' from AGW (a consignment sale from a Glendale LEO I was told)."

Lothar Walther Precision tools, Inc. Web site:
http://www.lothar-walther.com/310.php

Their Address and contact info from the web site:
Lothar Walther Precision Tools, Inc.
3425 Hutchinson Rd. - Cumming, GA 30040 Phone: 770-889-9998
Fax: 770-889-4919
E-Mail: lotharwalther@mindspring.com
Internet: www.lothar-walther.com

Look in "Pistol Barrel Products, Barrel Blanks, then either

• Chrome-Moly Steel
• Chrome-Moly Steel (Polygon Profile)
• Stainless Steel
• Stainless Steel (Polygon Profile)

As is your Preference.

I chose "Chrome-Moly Steel" as I wanted a blued barrel to match the Frame. It also seems to be of Lower Price than the Stainless Steel Barrel Blanks.

The first entry in the 'Cr-Mo' Blanks list is the 6.35mm/.25ACP one I bought.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

A Pair of Photos of my Ruger .25ACP Single Eight:


Cylinder on Left is .25ACP chambered. Cylinder on Right is .250ALRM chambered.


Side View of cylinders with Cartridges partially inserted.
The .25ACP has a .905" OAL. The other Cartridge is a .25ALS of .1.125" case length and 1.350" OAL. The cylinders have a Length at the Chambers of 1.415".
A .250ALRM of !.250" case length needs to be loaded to a Maximum OAL of 1.405" to Function in the revolver.

The .25ALRM and .25ALS are made from Hornet Brass Swaged down to .276" Body Diameter and the rims Trimmed to .050" thick by about .308" Diameter to fit the chambers.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[victorfox]

Chev. I never cease to be amazed by your project and execution... You seem to be having a heck of a good time. I think you're great!

[Chev. William]

Patience and Perseverance seem to Serve with a Restricted Budget to get The Projects done eventually.
I am Presently 73 years plus months old and my retirement is basically a Fixed Annuity with rising Taxes, Utility costs, and other Items growing in costs.
My Hope is to get the Projects done into a shoot-able condition while I still have Some 'Discretionary Spending Funds' left in my Budget.
Thank you for your Kind comments.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

PS: I have fired this revolver with a 3.0 grain charge of BE-86 under a 63 grain FP lead Bullet and a 3.1 Grain charge of BE-86 under a 50 grain FMJ-RN in PPU .25ACP cases; case length .612"; 63 Gr. Bullet seating depth of .242"; OAL of .905". The 50 gr. had a Bullet seating depth of .168" for the same .905" OAL. Both Charges seem to be lightly compressed. Also a .3cc Lee Dipper seems to hold 3.0 grains of BE-86 level full.

WARNING: This pair of recipes are NOT SUITABLE for Semi-Auto Pistols or other short Barrel firearms of dubious Strength! DO NOT USE in Such Firearms!

In my Ruger they both had more "kick' and 'Report' than Factory .25ACP loads but seemed to shoot to the same Point of Aim/Impact.
I do not have velocity data for them yet.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

This July has been 'Famine' followed by a short 'Feast' with the Month ending in 6 week days of Work at 9 to 11 hours A day, in Spite of The Hot weather. The Bad part - No time to work with, or on, My 'home Projects'. The Good part - Two Paychecks will be a help with my Finances. And I have a possible third Paycheck due as I am to be working the Same Job the 1st of August.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Earlwb]

You (and your gunsmith too) did a great job on that conversion. It turned out really nice too. I like it. Congratulations.

[Chev. William]

I am currently waiting for "Discretionary Spending Funds" so I can get some more range time with the Ruger Single Eight. I did have my gunsmith open the cylinder throats out so they don't shave Lead. as originally Made the throats were sized for .250" FMJ bullets and my Lead bullets are sized .25!" and kept building "lead rings" at the front of the Chambers, necessitating running a Brush and a couple of patches through the Chambers after a Few Shots.

I now have The 'revised Cylinders back in hand ($20 for the Work). Also Drooled over another Used Ruger Convertible Single Six they have for sale. it has its original case and paper work with it and Both .22LR and .22WMR cylinders are Present.

I am thinking of using my Tax Refunds to buy it if it is not sold sooner.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Tuesday, September 6th, I returned to my LGS with money but the .22 Cal. 'Convertible Single Six was gone. Sigh.
So I looked Again and saw a Ruger .32 H&R Magnum Single Six! I ended up buying that one and am now waiting for the California Mandated "Waiting Period to run out before Taking Possession. It is a Used firearm, on a consignment sale with a Holster included in the Package.

Discussions with the Gunsmith and his trying a '.22LR' cylinder in the frame leads us to believe it will be reasonably easy to make a .22WMR 6 shot Cylinder into a .32 Long Colt Cylinder to fit the frame.
This will be Intended to fire Long colt diameter Cases of .930" Length with 'Accurate Mold' 311090A Heeled inside Lube groove Bullets of 90 grain weight. I have a Mold with "Matt's Bullets" to cast the Bullets for me.

So, eventually I will have a revolver that can handle .32 S&W Shorts, .32 S&W Longs, .32 S&W Specials, .32 H&R Magnums, .32 Long Colt, and .32 Short Colt cartridges. All with a 5-5/8 inch barrel.

More Range fun to come.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

9-11-2001 15th Anniversary has been 'Quiet around here' with dogs and I mostly Staying inside out of the 'Warm' weather.

I received a second "6,35 x 28.6mm SR Stewart" Fixed Pilot Chamber Reamer from PT&G so I now have a spare. It was on "Clearance Sale" so was about half the cost of the first one. Now I need to 'conserve my Money' for the rest for the Month.

Have A SAFE Remembrance of the Day and its History.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[lar45]

Hi Chev, what a great project!
What kind of performance are you getting from the longer cases? 250 ALRM?

Keep up the good work.

[Piedmont]

I was under the impression that the Single Six .32 Magnums had a slightly larger cylinder than the .22 versions. If that is the case, it nixes the rechambering a .22 Magnum cylinder idea.

This is an interesting project.

[Chev. William]

Hi Chev, what a great project!
What kind of performance are you getting from the longer cases? 250 ALRM?

Keep up the good work.

So far No Chronograph results on the Longer cases from my experiments; but another Poster, "Gar" has done some Tested firings of "6.35x28mmSR" in his CF converted Stevens Favorite rifles.
As He and I both desire tho keep these little Favorites shooting for a Long Time we try to limit the charges so they stay around 1100fps or below.
I believe Gar posted his results, or I copied and posted them, in Threads on this Forum earlier this year.
In general, if I remember correctly, he found a charge of around 2 grains of Bullseye behind a 65 grain Lyman .257420 sized to .251" gave him the desired Velocity.

My future trips to the Commercial Range may yield more and higher velocity information out of my Ruger Single Eight now that I have replacements for the "Shot Away" Sky screens for my chronograph that resulted from the Last Session at the range.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

PS: You might check the following Thread on this Forum for some chronograph Data reports:
".250/.257 Cartridges to .25ACP/.25 Stevens Diameters from 5.7x28mm once fired brass."
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

I was under the impression that the Single Six .32 Magnums had a slightly larger cylinder than the .22 versions. If that is the case, it nixes the rechambering a .22 Magnum cylinder idea.

This is an interesting project.

According to Measurements taken, and fit trials done, at the Local Gun Shop when I purchased The .32 H&R Mag. Ruger Single Six the Cylinders are close to the overall same size, just machined slightly differently.
The .22 Mag. cylinder has the rims surrounded by Steel via 'rebated' Chambers and the rear cylinder face sits Closer to the Recoil face as a result.
The .32 H&R Mag. has Exposed Rims so the Rear of the cylinder is machined further from the recoil plate and the Front is closer to the Front of the Frame cutout.
It appears the Cylinder overall Lengths and Diameters are the Same according to Dial Caliper Measurements.
Where the Chamber Portion is in that overall length is slightly different, which means that Both cylinders would need modifications to be interchangeable in the same frame. Also the Barrel and forcing cone may need Modifications to enhance interchange.
There is Enough "meat" in both cylinders to allow the machining that appears to be needed, and I won't be planning to modify this revolver to take .327 Fed. Mag. Cartridges anyway.
My DESIRED mods is to get it suitable to fire the old ".32 Long Colt" Size and Type cartridges.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Too cool!

When .22 lr ammo got impossible to find, started thinking it was too bad we don't have a rimmed .25 revolver round that could be reloaded with cast boolits for less than .22s.

I should have Mentioned at the time tht the .25ACP is a "Semi-Rimmed" design and is head spaced upon the RIM. My 'Metric named' cartridge designs also have "Semi-Rimmed" Designs as the rim diameter is the same as the parent 5.7x28mm of about .314" diameter or smaller.
Chev. William

[Piedmont]

Chev. William, Looking this over again there is something I don't understand. You posted you converted an eight shot .22 Mag cylinder. I thought all these .22 Single Sixes were six shot or ten in the new Single Ten Ruger introduced not long ago. Obviously I have a knowledge gap on these. When did Ruger make 8 shot .22 Single Sixes?

I love the way the Single Sixes balance. They make Blackhawks feel like oversized bricks. You have me thinking. A .32 Long Single Six might be a perfect toy/small game revolver, though your .25 is likely just as good.

[Chev. William]

Chev. William, Looking this over again there is something I don't understand. You posted you converted an eight shot .22 Mag cylinder. I thought all these .22 Single Sixes were six shot or ten in the new Single Ten Ruger introduced not long ago. Obviously I have a knowledge gap on these. When did Ruger make 8 shot .22 Single Sixes?

I love the way the Single Sixes balance. They make Blackhawks feel like oversized bricks. You have me thinking. A .32 Long Single Six might be a perfect toy/small game revolver, though your .25 is likely just as good.

As to When Ruger Started making .22LR and .22 Mag 8 Shot cylinders; I honestly do not know.
I bought my 'replacement 8 Shot cylinders' from Numerich Arms (gunpartscorp.com) and have found some for sale on Ebay also. I believe Ruger has Developed 'Single Six' versions in 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 shot with the latter limited in space to enlarge the chambers.

The 8 Shot versions have "good meat" left for the increase to .25 Caliber and can be opened, I believe, to accept rim diameters up to .350" without breaking out the wall between rim counterbores.

due to the Larger cartridge in the .32 Version, my gunsmith and I will be modifying 6 shot cylinders originally in .22RF/.22MAG. size. The other consideration is the wall thickness between the chamber and the Cylinder Lock Feature. Perhaps a cylinder with 7 chambers would be better suited for rework to .327 Federal magnum Cartridges as the Locking Feature is NOT in line with the chamber wall, making a thin spot there as in even numbered chamber cylinders.

Re: your thinking of a ".32 Long" Single Six. It IS doable WITHOUT changing the Firing Pin Position in a .22 RF convertible Single Six by using .22 Cal. Blanks, inserted in concentric .32 Long (.78 to .93" case length), or .32 extra Long (1.15" case length), Adapter Cases, as Primers to ignite Propellant charges. Obviously cartridge Overall Length is limited to about 1.400" by the Single Six (.22 Cal) Cylinder length. Barrel Still needs changing though (a Take off Ruger .32 H&R Magnum barrel Perhaps).
Information on the converter adapters is included in the Thread on reloading .32 rimfires on this Forum.

The Ruger .32 H&R Magnum Single Six with a six shot cylinder, might be an easier conversion but would require rework to handle the smaller diameter Colt Case Bodies.
Alternatively .32 S&W Longs fit the Existing .32 H&R MAG. Cylinder as they are shorter in case length.

Best Regards,
chev. William
Best Regards,

[Jtarm]

I should have Mentioned at the time tht the .25ACP is a "Semi-Rimmed" design and is head spaced upon the RIM. My 'Metric named' cartridge designs also have "Semi-Rimmed" Designs as the rim diameter is the same as the parent 5.7x28mm of about .314" diameter or smaller.
Chev. William

Hmm, didn't know that.

So how's the accuracy?

[Chev. William]

Mine or The Revolver? Ha Ha.
I am Still getting used to this Long barrel and my 'grip' is not good. So my Personal accuracy is still "Poor".
The revolver, on the other hand, in the hands of a person with Good Grip and Shooting Skills, seems to have 75 to 100 yard potential, even with Factory .25ACP Ammo.
A friend was consistently hitting a 12" round steel plate at the 100 yard line of the shooting range using factory .25ACP ammo.

Is it a Long Range Shooter? I don't know. And I will not know anytime soon as I am more interested in strengthening my Wrists to hold it better and getting the other Cylinders done so I can develop my Cartridge designs. as such firing through a Chronograph at 7 yard line targets is in the Near future for this revolver.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Today, just before the first Presidential Candidate Debate, My PTG ".25 Magnum Auto" Finish Chamber Reamer arrived. YEA!!!
Now I need to Verify its dimensions before I use it.
Does Look "PURRTY" Though.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

The New PTG ".25 Magnum Auto. FIN Reamer does cut a usable Chamber, i made a "dummy chamber in a Blank die body i had on hand.
The Reamer, along with a Rim counterbore Tool to fit the .22 Hornet Parent Rim diameter, my Dummy chamber, and a Replacement 8-Shot Ruger .22-MAG Cylinder for Rework went ot My gunsmith and are in his line to get done.


Now I Wait. Patiently I Hope.

Best Results,
Chev. William