Ruger 50th Anniversary

[ShrnShndl]

Came home with a new Ruger .44 mag 50th Anniversary model. Ran a cleaning patch through it and started shooting a light red dot target load with a 250 gr Keith boolit. 20 yds. one big ragged hole. Fit and finish is great. Started checking measurements and found the forcing cone and cylinder throats all measure .431. Has anyone had this situation before? The boolits I was shooting are 1-20 with a diameter of .429. Hope everything works out with heavier loads. Trigger is lousy. Tomorrow will check on getting that fixed up, but I am really surprised at the quality.
Haven't looked at one since 1972.

[targetshootr]

I was surprised at mine too. It shoots really well and the trigger isn't bad at all. The hammer spring could be heavier though. Not sure how to fix that.

[ShrnShndl]

Could the hammer spring have anything to do with creep?

[NSP64]

Must be a SBH. slug the barrel, size accordingly

[2 dogs]

If you shoot .431 bullets in it you may have them all land in an even smaller hole.....

My anniversary 357 was extremely accurate out of the box.

[nicholst55]

Ruger seems to have gone to a wimpy mainspring to make the CAS guys happy. Aren't they all shooting Vaqueros anyway? You CAN add a heavier mainspring and delete the integral safety, but Ruger's lawyers will have coronaries!

[Larry Gibson]

My 50th aniversary .44 also has cylinder throats that match the forcing cone. I've no problem with the mainspring in mine and a little bit of stoning took the creep out of the trigger. It wasn't really that bad from the factory though. Mine is also quite accurate with mild .44 special loads on up through full magnum loads. I really like mine. I also am getting fond of the safety system of the Rugers and that I can carry 6 rounds and not have the worry of a live round under the firing pin.

Larry Gibson

[targetshootr]

I think the lock doesn't leave room for a long hammer spring. I used to like an easy hammer but I did a 180 since then. As long at the trigger is crisp, a heavy spring is better, imo. It shortens the hammer drop time and prevents auto cocking with super hot loads.

[44man]

I don't know what the new lock area looks like! Can it be removed so the original style spring can be installed? I use Wolfe over power springs in all of my guns. Weak hammer springs can ruin accuracy. Not even considering hammer time, the primers must be struck with enough force for top accuracy.
I put Ruger hammers on my grinder and remove half of the sear surface before stoning. I break the sharp edge with a ceramic stone too. I hate creep.
I just did my friend's trigger on a Freedom and after warning him, he shot the ground out front, said "Holy Crap" but from then on he was hitting great to 100 yd's. :mrgreen: He is now in love with the trigger.

[targetshootr]

To use an old hammer strut and spring it would need welding or some kind of adapter because the area in the grip frame is shaped differently. But at least it's steel so you could turn it into an FA shape or maybe even a two-piece gf if you wanted to use one-piece grips.

Come to think of it, someone on SASS makes an adapter for about $20 or so. Here's one I bought just to turn into a birdshead:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/targetshootr/IM004949.jpg

And then I rounded the trigger guard. It's going on an old model 30 cal to 45 colt 4" done SAA style.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/targetshootr/IM005041.jpg

[Frank V]

I'd go with 2 Dogs suggestion. .431 is what I'd use. Frank

[redneckdan]

I have the same gun. They are flat top black hawk frames, not SBH frames. My throats measure .431, the barrel is .429 I size to .432

[Lloyd Smale]

my aniversary gun will be back from dustin L. anyday. hes wacking the barrel to 4 5/8s and is also doing a round butted 3.5 inch redhawk 44 for me. My first try in the ruger 44s is allways 430. Ive had the best luck with that size but some guns do prefer 431. Ive yet to find a ruger that did better with 429s or anything bigger then 431