Ruger Blackhawk 45 colt cylinder throat issues (variances)

[cbourbeau32]

Hopefully I worded the title and this post correctly. From reading for many years on these types forums one comes to the conclusion that all Ruger Blackhawk 45 colt cylinders need to be reamed. Is this a safe assumption?

Any replies are appreciated.

Thanks, Charlie

[762sultan]

I had my Ruger 45 cylinder reamed by forum member DougGuy. I think he does a great job...reasonable price...and quick turn around time. All it takes is 1 or 2 chambers in the cylinder to be off a thousand or two to make it less accurate. Ask for his advise and go from there.

[Dale53]

Charlie;
I would not assume anything. You should actually measure the throats. Pin gauges are the easiest to use, but you can get good results by removing the cylinder, and slug each throat measuring the soft lead slugs with a precision micrometer (calipers are NOT accurate enough).

My SS Ruger Bisley convertible had undersize throats and leaded SERIOUSLY until I reamed all cylinder throats with a Manson Reamer kit complete with pilots to .4525". I had to ream both cylinders (.45 ACP and .45 Colt). Now, it shoots like a custom NRA Bullseye gun.

If you don't want to do it yourself, Doug Guy on this forum is quite reasonable and you only have to send the cylinder(s) to him, not the whole gun.

If you want more professional advice, just send him a Private Message.

Dale53

[cbourbeau32]

Thanks for the replies. I will expand the question a little bit by asking: of the following calibers am I most likely to get a good cylinder from the factory on a Ruger Blackhawk. 41 mag, 44 mag, 45 colt? Thanks

[Wheelguns 1961]

you can do a quick check by trying to pass a .452 bullet in the throat. They should go through with light finger pressure. This will tell you if they are close. On one of my guns, the throats were visibly oblong.

[Outpost75]

Thanks for the replies. I will expand the question a little bit by asking: of the following calibers am I most likely to get a good cylinder from the factory on a Ruger Blackhawk. 41 mag, 44 mag, 45 colt? Thanks

Caliber makes no difference, as Ruger using the same type of machinery to make all of the BH cylinders and if the multiple tools are of different states of wear, you will not get uniform diameters from chamber to chamber, except by luck if you happen to get a cylinder which was made on a new set-up of fresh tools, correctly selected and adjusted, instead of picking a handful of reamers from the tool chest and installing them in the Bostomatic without checking their diameters and trying to select like diameter tools on the same side of allowable tolerance. Ain't gonna happen. I should know, I used to work there...

[Guesser]

My Ruger NMBH in 357, 41 and 44 all had good to go throats. Minor variations but none were tooooo tight like every one of the NMBH and Old Vaqueros in 45 have been. I bought the Manson tooling from Brownells 20+ years ago for 45 and have used it on every Ruger NMBH 45 I've ever owned.

[MyFlatline]

My 45 BH had to be reemed

[Nueces]

Undersized throats are much to be preferred over big ones, as they are easy for a craftsman like DougGuy to correct to a high standard. Big mouth Smiths are a pain in the nethers in comparison.

[6thtexas]

I have two '70s vintage .45 Colt BHs. They both average about .456" for all the throats. Back then Ruger ran them big. One of the BHs came with a .45 ACP cylinder retrofitted in the '90s. It had to go to Dougguy as the throats on it averages approximately .450"

[Guesser]

Big mouth Smiths were mentioned above. I came into a 25-3, 125th Smith anniversary model, 1977; a year ago. My first Smith in 45 Colt. I was aware that Smith had a tendency to over bore the throats but I didn't think to check before I got the gun home. I checked and found all six to be "ok". .4525 to .4535. It is a good shooter, much to my appreciation.

[Dale53]

Guesser;
I appears that you got a gem!

I have had a lot of good luck with Smiths over the years in many calibers. I surely treasure them and shoot them regularly from .32, .38/.357, .44 Special/.44 magnum, and .45 ACP's. All had throats with very desirable dimensions and they all shoot VERY well.

On the other hand, my Ruger SS Bisley .45 ACP/.45 Colt Convertible had to have the throats reamed on both cylinders. I also reamed the cylinders on my friends convertibles that were bought at the same time. What seemed a "downer" became a REALLY big plus as all three of those revolvers now really shoot well. We shoot our own cast bullets and are happy campers, for sure!

FWIW
Dale53