Ruger Blackhawk Convertibles

[cp1969]

My .45 convertible is a first year production, 71 or 72, I think. I had the cyl. for the .45 Colt honed to .4525. Shoots fine. I am a sucker for conversion units, etc. So I love it. I load the RCBS 270 gr.
Boolits with a stiff charge of 2400, for hunting (pigs, deer, etc). The new ones I have handled, seem well made, and finished. FWIW.
John

I, too, have an early one but not a convertible. Does yours have the counterbored cylinder? Mine did but had much larger throats that the barrel and wouldn't seal jacketed bullets. .452 lead bullets would seal it but leaded badly. Twenty years ago, I sent it back and had the 7 1/2" barrel replaced with a 5 1/2" and the cylinder replaced with one having .452" throats but I never found a load it liked, so it's been relegated to snake shot capsule duty. They sent the 7 1/2" barrel back but kept the counterbored cylinder. They didn't do it for free, either.

[Green Frog]

I’ve told this tale before, but it bears repeating in the current conversation. Well over 25 years ago my brother bought a used Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt... not a convertible. I was at a gun show in Richmond, VA and saw a cylinder with the familiar red felt bag sitting on a table and priced at some negligible amount. I bought it and gifted it to my brother who discovered that not only was it a drop in fit to his BH, but in casual testing it was more accurate (with lead bullet loads) than his original 45 Colt cylinder. Luck of the draw? Who knows, but those BH 45s should be expected to shoot.

Froggie

[Jtarm]

"This is what I feared. Every Ruger I've ever had has been a pile of BS like this. Every S&W I've owned only needed clean/lubricate, maybe a spring kit, and grips that I like. No shimming every part, no messing with sights, no reaming throats, not re-cutting forcing cones."

"Thank God Ruger didn't take out too much metal. They COULD have made them one size fits all then where would we be?

Ok, first rule of gun making (for commercial manufacturers) dictates that they have to make guns that shoot factory SAAMI spec ammunition. We handloaders use bigger boolits in nearly EVERY caliber. It's not on the gun industry to cater to our needs so quit blaming them. S&W does really good on cylinders for factory j words. They are priced accordingly. For shooting cast, S&W cylinders can benefit from fine tuning the throat diameters to the boolits WE want to use, and once done, they respond in like kind. Rather gratifying if you ask me.

If you want to pay another $400 to $600 more for a Ruger revolver that leaves the factory with everything spec'd out be my guest. It's not like they wouldn't take us up on it if we so demanded. I rather like the choice myself, and I am SURE many of my clients do as well. Size a 32 cylinder to .3115" .3125" .3135" size a 44 cylinder to .4305" .4315" .4325" take a little creep out of that trigger? Look at the choices we have! WE have it MADE pardner, whether you think so or not! "

An EXCELLENT posting/explanation of the mechanics of things that are mass produced by parts assemblers, vs built by a real gunsmith.

We here on this Forum prefer cast boolits. But, a LOT of casual shooters are not reloaders, not casters, nor demand as much as we may. They buy jacketed bullets, from a factory, and as such,, the guns built by Ruger, S&W & all the bigger names are built to specs for that market. And don't forget the need for mass production to satisfy demands.

I own quite a few Ruger SA handguns. In fact,, I probably own more .45 cal handguns than many folks here have in all the guns they own. Some are convertible, and others just in Colt. I have all 6 variations of the Old Model 45's Ruger built between 1971 & 1973. I did a display of them at the 2018 OGCA/ROCS show in Ohio. Some of my .45's have required tweaking,, while others,,,, not necessary. READ what DougGuy posted about the 4 little things you can do to fine tune a SA handgun to make it better. EXCELLENT information, and if done,, doesn't cost much, all while improving your handgun.

If you want darn near perfection, buy a Freedom Arms. In fact,, I'd say they are the most perfect built handgun from a factory,, and in fact,, often even better than what a few "custom gunsmiths" have turned out. But you HAVE to PAY for that kind of quality. Mass production can't compete with hand built in quality,,, while hand built can't compete with demands.

Spot on.

I got sick of the bellyaching on the S&W forum and did some math. The fact is, if S&W “made em like they used to” (which wasn’t as great as people like to remember), the whiners either couldn’t afford them, or would be whining about how expensive they are.

The S&W .357 magnum premiered in 1935 for $60. Produced today with the same amount of skilled labor, it would run about $3,000. Or roughly the price of a Freedom Arms.

A good bit of factory “hand fitting” people get so sentimental about was, in fact, required just to get the gun functioning because parts were so inconsistent.