Ruger Flat Top .44 Spl

[Clay M]

I have had a problem using heavy bullets because the front sight is too short. Today I found what seems to work best with the gun.The Lyman 429215.I load it without gas checks, and us 7.7 grains of Unique.I am getting the best groups yet,and it shoot to the sights.Next I will try a gas check just to see if I can tell any difference in accuracy. I am also using a .427 expander,and sizing the bullets to .430 the bore slugs .429

[monge]

I made a taller front sight for mine works great easy to do!

[PS Paul]

monge, did you just fab one up and pin it in place? I have the flattop in a .45 Colt/.45 ACP on the same small frame as the .44 spl., but my front sight has worked well with boolits up to 300 gr. It's tall.......

That is a FINE revolver you got there, Clay. Sometimes, when using heavy boolits, changing powders can change the POI....... Unique is a good choice, but perhaps a slightly faster-burning powder MIGHT change the POI closer to POA for your sights? Just a thought.

Otherwise, I would look to Mr. Monge for some pointed instruction on his new, taller sight fab.

[Clay M]

I am still experimenting with HP38.Wish I had some HS 6 but there is none to be had.I may try Red Dot,I have had good luck with it in the .44 mag

[monge]

Grab your caliber and find a piece of metal the same thickness carefully shape it to size knock out the roll pin put the new sight in. Spot drill the new hole remove new sight drill hole then install new sight and roll pin!
7292572926

[Clay M]

Wish mine had a roll pin. Unfortunately the sight on the Flat top is silver solder on.

[Clay M]

I don't object to shooting the lighter bullet as long as I can get target grade accuracy. All I will be doing with the gun is targets and armadillos. I got .44 magnums.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Clay: I had a Weigand removable front sight installed on my SBH Bisley for this exact reason. I also had the barrel cut off to 5" and the whole gun reblued since the sight is a silver solder on type of thing. You could get by with just having the sight installed and just the barrel reblued, which really shouldn't break $100.

The sight itself is available from Brownells. I also installed a Bowen Rear sight.

In the pic the one on the bottom is the one in question, someday the BH Bisley(top) will get the same front sight.

Randy

[Clay M]

That is a nice looking sight. Too bad Ruger doesn't recognize this problem and make the sights taller. You can always file a sight down, but it is hard to add to it.
Strangely enough the Lyman 429215 shoots the best groups so far.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I always have to file down the top of the rear sight on my Rugers. Then file the notch down too so that the notch is appropriately sized. The rear sight is aluminum and files easy. Touch up the file job with a little bluing and the job is done. I angle the file slightly so that the top edge has a nice sharp edge when I take a sight picture for shooting.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Yes It would be cool if Ruger would just make a removable blade front sight. But don't hold your breath.

They tend not to mess with existing successful products. They also make a concerted effort to keep the price down on their products. Both those guns were less than $500 new. I don't thnk there is anything else worth having in that price range.

Also there are a variety of sight blades you can buy for that base including one that is a blank. They are pretty simple to make as well so you can cover all the bases with any given gun/load easily. It is a simple push back and lift out to change the blade.

Randy

[Clay M]

I always have to file down the top of the rear sight on my Rugers. Then file the notch down too so that the notch is appropriately sized. The rear sight is aluminum and files easy. Touch up the file job with a little bluing and the job is done. I angle the file slightly so that the top edge has a nice sharp edge when I take a sight picture for shooting.

Cutting the rear sight blade down would be a good solution,especially on the Flat Top Micro sight. It has big bold shoulders, unlike the standard Ruger rear sight.

[Clay M]

Went back through my powder and found a pound of HS 6 that I forgot I had, so I am in business. Anyone have a special load for that particular powder and the .44Spl?

[35 Whelen]

I have had a problem using heavy bullets because the front sight is too short. Today I found what seems to work best with the gun.The Lyman 429215.I load it without gas checks, and us 7.7 grains of Unique.I am getting the best groups yet,and it shoot to the sights.Next I will try a gas check just to see if I can tell any difference in accuracy. I am also using a .427 expander,and sizing the bullets to .430 the bore slugs .429

Had the same problem with the same pistol and came up with a simple, quick fix. I removed the rear sight and then removed a little metal off the bottom of the sight using my stationary belt sander. I laid the vertical belt down flat, then would hold the sight on the belt and turn the sander on letting the sight lightly ride on the belt. Two or three applications of this did it. I measured the thickness of the sight before & after, but forget exactly how much metal I removed. Be that as it may, it added another 3 or so "down" clicks and did the trick.

35W

[Rodfac]

Clay...I've had great success with that Lyman 429215 gc boolit in evey .44 Spl and Magnum I've tried it in. That's 3 Ruger Flat Top .44 Spls, a Ruger and a Smith .44 Magnum, and two Marlin .44 Magnums. With the exception of the Marlins (both have oversize bores (.432")), I use a .430 or .431" sizer for all the hand guns. Straight WW with just enough tin added for fillout works well up to 1100 fps, with or without the gc. Winchester 231 or HP38 are my powders of choice...either will do wonders with 6.5 gr's in the .44 Spl...7.2 gr's does as well in Magnum brass. See pic below for a typical tgt.

That boolit is superb, well designed, easy to cast and as accurate as any I've ever tried. The above list of hand guns will all shoot into 1-1/2" or less from a rest at 25 yds...and with the original iron sights at that!

I have two Lyman molds for it, both are equally accurate, but both are slightly undersize at the heel (where the gc seats). Lyman and Hornady GC's have trouble being thumb seated before I run them through my Lyman 450 sizer. To prevent lead shaving and the consequent misalignment of the GC, I flare the check before seating it. If this sounds a royal PITA, it's not as bad as you'd think. I polished the end of a 2# ball peen hammer, then place it on the up turned check. A light tap with my palm, flares the check perfectly and allows easy seating prior to running through the sizer for final seating and the crimp.

In the Marlins, I shoot the boolit as cast, using Lee's LLA (a double coat), and seat the checks in the 450 sizer/check seater. Either gun, (an early 336 from 1964 and a 2003 1894) will easily produce 1" gps at 50 yds with velocities up to 1600 fps. The check prevents leading even in the Micro-groove rifling. It's a favored combination for me...and has killed one KY white trail with through and through penetration at 110 yds. It was a 20 yd trail up on that one.

One other thing I like about that 429215 is that it's a bit lighter...mine come out at 220 gr with lube and GC. That saves on lead for me, and as WW's are becoming increasingly hard to come by, my supply lasts longer.

HTH's Rod

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii64/Rodfac/Targets/Ruger44Spl65231.jpg (http://s261.photobucket.com/user/Rodfac/media/Targets/Ruger44Spl65231.jpg.html)

[Clay M]

Had the same problem with the same pistol and came up with a simple, quick fix. I removed the rear sight and then removed a little metal off the bottom of the sight using my stationary belt sander. I laid the vertical belt down flat, then would hold the sight on the belt and turn the sander on letting the sight lightly ride on the belt. Two or three applications of this did it. I measured the thickness of the sight before & after, but forget exactly how much metal I removed. Be that as it may, it added another 3 or so "down" clicks and did the trick.

35W

Ruger is nice enough to send me a new rear sight, so I will give this a try now that I have nothing to lose. If it doesn't give me enough adjustment, I will take the blade out and cut it down.
Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions!

[Mallard57]

The .45 LC front sight is taller than the 44 Special sight. I haven't installed mine yet, I got mine from Ruger.

[GabbyM]

Another Lyman #429215 fan. I shoot mine in 44 mag or 44 Special cases fired in a 44 mag revolver. Far less recoil for same velocity load than the 240 or 255 grain bullets. I'll have to try some without gas checks.

[Larry in MT]

The .340" high front sight that came on my TALO 4 5/8" FlatTop 44 Special was too low for a 'Dead On" hold with any of the loads I'd tried @ 25 yards. They all shot high. I received a .445" front sight from Ruger which was waaaay too tall, causing the rear sight to be raised so high as to be unstable.

I started filing down the taller front sight to make Point of Aim and Point of Impact coincide. The first shots were below the bottom of the target but when I got to about .393" things started to click.

I kept the rear sight 4 clicks (about 3") off of the bottomed out position during the filing.

The measurements are with a digital caliper --- so they should be pretty close. The 240 grain bullet was traveling @ 1080 fps.

I post this so that any of you with the 44 Special TALO model who might want to try this would have an idea of where to start. As always, your results may vary.
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab176/larrykay47/f88c6df3.jpg (http://s861.photobucket.com/user/larrykay47/media/f88c6df3.jpg.html)

[L Ross]

Larry, how did you change the front sight, I believe my Ruger front sight is soldered onto the barrel. I wish the front sight was easily replaceable.

Duke

[376Steyr]

The stainless models have the front sight blades pinned in place. Blued models have the ramp/blade assembly firmly silver soldered on.

[Larry in MT]

Larry, how did you change the front sight, I believe my Ruger front sight is soldered onto the barrel. I wish the front sight was easily replaceable.

Duke

Duke --

Yep -

The TALO Stainless (here's mine) has a pinned front sight.

I should mention that I had a similiar problem with a Ruger BearCat and built up the front sight with JB Weld. Not sure if you would be happy with the look but the BearCat frustrated me to the point of not caring -- and it doesn't look too bad. This was several years ago and it's holding up well.

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab176/larrykay47/a668c219.jpg (http://s861.photobucket.com/user/larrykay47/media/a668c219.jpg.html)

[got_lead?]

Yup, JB weld is truly God's gift to the shade tree gunsmith. I've used it for everything from making trigger over-travel stops, to fitting up the top lugs on a 1911 (which works very well by the way). I even used a bit of it to fill in the rails on the 1911 (which also is working well). When in doubt, JB it!

Oh, here's another JB tip which has worked very well for me, if you ever have a loose dovetail, and want to tighten it up, don't peen, just wipe a smear of JB under the sight, let it cure, sand to desired depth, and re-install.

[Clay M]

I don't think I am ready for the chewing gum treatment just yet...:Fire:...:(