Thumbcocker
08-16-2015, 10:06 AM
After dropping off a .44 Special new black hawk at the gunsmith to have the barrel removed and reinstalled to get rid of the thread choke that was causing leading (he can do this much cheaper than sending the gun back to Ruger) I did some slugging. I slugged 3 .44 specials, 1 .357, and 4 .44 magnums. The upshot was that only a recent production Match Champion and a 1980's Red Hawk had no thread choke. Guess what... they both shoot very well. A Hunter model .44 magnum had little thread choke and also shoots very well.
Just for giggles I also slugged an Old Army ... no thread constriction of any kind; and an Uberti 1858 repro that sold for $289 on sale. Also no thread choke and a perfect forcing cone. The Uberti is very well put together.
Sooo how come Ruger can't put a revolver together as well as the Italians? I know that I can fire lap the choke out but I prefer to have the barrels pulled and reinstalled to get rid of it. It was interesting to notice the quality of the barrels. Recent production hammer forged Rugers have VERY smooth barrels the old Red Hawk had a wavy barrel but it is installed right. Why go to the expense of making beautiful hammer forged barrels and then ruin the whole effect by over torqueing them?
It is obvious that I am a Ruger fan but I am somewhat flustered that so few are put together the way they should be. Ruger obviously CAN put a revolver together correctly as evidenced by the Old Army and the Match Champion. It is not rocket science to put a revolver together correctly as evidenced by the Uberti cap and ball. So why don't they? Is there no market force pushing them to do it?
While I am not a business person and don't have manufacturing experience I don't see that it would significantly impact profits to put quality parts together correctly. Maybe I am just particular about revolvers.
Just for giggles I also slugged an Old Army ... no thread constriction of any kind; and an Uberti 1858 repro that sold for $289 on sale. Also no thread choke and a perfect forcing cone. The Uberti is very well put together.
Sooo how come Ruger can't put a revolver together as well as the Italians? I know that I can fire lap the choke out but I prefer to have the barrels pulled and reinstalled to get rid of it. It was interesting to notice the quality of the barrels. Recent production hammer forged Rugers have VERY smooth barrels the old Red Hawk had a wavy barrel but it is installed right. Why go to the expense of making beautiful hammer forged barrels and then ruin the whole effect by over torqueing them?
It is obvious that I am a Ruger fan but I am somewhat flustered that so few are put together the way they should be. Ruger obviously CAN put a revolver together correctly as evidenced by the Old Army and the Match Champion. It is not rocket science to put a revolver together correctly as evidenced by the Uberti cap and ball. So why don't they? Is there no market force pushing them to do it?
While I am not a business person and don't have manufacturing experience I don't see that it would significantly impact profits to put quality parts together correctly. Maybe I am just particular about revolvers.