New to me Custom 357 to 38-40 w/ Herter's 401 barrel

[waarp8nt]

148837 148838

I have always been a gun guy since way back when I was a little tike. My uncle told me about having a Ruger Blackhawk 357 converted to a 38-40 some many years ago. At that age...to me...it was a gun so I was interested, but really had no clue what he was talking about. My uncle passed a little over a year ago and I just acquired it from his estate, it being a "custom" Blackhawk by agreement with my aunt. After a private sale in IL (required 3 day wait) it is now in my safe.

The barrel was made in West Germany...my guess is the conversion was done let 70's or early 80's. Any earlier than that and I doubt I would remember, but its possible he told the story not in real time, but past tense. Also, from a quick internet search it appears Herter's went out of business in 1981.

If you have any questions, comments or even smart remarks they would be appreciated as I don't know a whole lot about these conversions.

[Piedmont]

That's cool! First order of business should be slugging the barrel and cylinder throats so you know what you are working with. If you will be casting for it you will want to size your cast bullets to cylinder throat size and hopefully your barrel will not exceed that dimension. That caliber has always intrigued me though I have never owned a firearm so chambered. I think much of the appeal is that bottleneck round is nice to look at, plus .40s and .41s fill a gap that should be filled.

Elmer Keith thought the .38-40 was a better (more powerful) round than the .357 magnum.

If you run in to any problems dimensionally with that revolver, everything is fixable. It might take a new barrel or cylinder, but anything wrong can be corrected and it will always have sentimental value for you.

[hanover67]

Is the cylinder chambered for the .38-40 cartridge?

[waarp8nt]

Is the cylinder chambered for the .38-40 cartridge?

Yes, they Cylinders are chambered for .38-40 and the barrel is a Herter's .401

I plan to cast for it. I got the boolit mold, some boolits, RCBS dies and a few of his reloads (loaded with universal).

[Wayne Smith]

The 38-40 is a 40 caliber cartridge. Slug your barrel and load cast boolits sized accordingly. It should shoot well.

[RED333]

This is so cool on all levels,
1st Custom pistol
2nd Pistol from you Uncle
3rd You know the history, some what.
Congrats

[Harry O]

Every once in a while I see custom guns on gunshow tables and I wonder "what the heck was the owner thinking when he came up with that idea". It is very obvious what he was thinking with this one. And the person who came up with the idea knew what he was doing. You are lucky to have the gun and lucky to know the person behind it. I shot 38-40 in CAS with Uberti SAA clones. It is a nice cartridge all around.

[EDK]

One guy's dream gun is another's idea of bubba-izing. I got a 44 magnum Original Size RUGER VAQUERO that had been cut to 3.5 inches, magna-ported, target muzzle crown, and a super re-blue job for either $250 or 350. I was going to ship it to RUGER or get a custom longer barrel, but shot it a few times and kept it as is. I added a SBH hammer and a dragoon grip frame. I finally have a holster for it on order at Mernickles.

[Reg]

That Herters barrel should slug out around .403.

[lar45]

Very cool.
Let us know how she shoots :)