Three Screw Ruger Single Six

[Morgan Astorbilt]

After seeing those photos of Dennis Eugene's really nice Blackhawk, I thought I'd like to show off a pistol I'm kinda proud of.
I bought this "old style" 3 screw Single Six convertible, used, about seven years ago. I liked everything about it except the aluminum grip frame. I checked for a steel replacement, and was told there wasn't one available. Doing some research on the Ruger grip frame casting codes, I found that their "Old Army" cap and ball steel grip frame would fit. I purchase one "as cast" from Brownell's, and after a few hours of filing and polishing, heated it, rubbed it down with a few coats of Oxpho Blue, finishing with a coat of Sheath, with the results shown below. I was so pleased, that I added those Sambar stag grips, which cost me almost as much as the gun. Have them on my Delta Elite, and wanted them for this gun also. It had a steel ejector housing, so that didn't have to be replaced. I wrote to Ruger for an owner's manual, and for a while after, kept being asked to send the gun in for an action upgrade, promising to return the original parts. Haven't done that, and probably never will. I've got all the "safety's" in need right between my ears.:mrgreen:

Around here, in hot weather, snakes like to crawl under the stone downspout splash blocks to keep cool, and this guns taken more copperheads over the years than I can remember.
Morgan
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/pgfaini/SS1.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/pgfaini/SS2.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/pgfaini/SS3.jpg

[HABCAN]

IMO, when Ruger went 'two-screw' they ruined what had been a very fine SA. I miss my paired 3-screw SBH's!

Morgan, that is a beautiful example!

[Bullshop]

So what grips does the OA frame use, the XR series of the 3 screw or the NM type?
BIC/BS

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Bullshop, It's the XR. It's marked XR3. This may be because the trigger opening is a bit wider than the original aluminum Single Six grip, but not enough to notice if you didn't compare them. It should fit all the Rugers that have the XR grip. Being retired from gunsmithing, I haven't kept up with whether Ruger is now making available, steel grip frames for the old models. Back then, there were one or two steel aftermarket frames, but they were pretty pricey. Ruger never made it public that the Old Army grip frames fit the cartridge models.

Since I had contributed a few articles to Brownell's for their Gunsmith's Newsletter, and then Gunsmith Kinks, I gave them a call and they let me know the Old Army frames were XR's.
They have them in blue and stainless. They're pretty well finished but are a bit over sized, giving you enough material to fit to the frame. I found this strange, unless the Single Six is a bit smaller than the Old Army, or they aren't using CNC machines. I found it helpful, to clamp a bit of SS heat treating foil between the frames to protect the main frame as I filed the grip frame down to size, finishing the job "cut and try". If Ruger is using now using CNC machinery, they may be a closer fit. Checked my Brownells catalog, they haven't gone up in price, they're still $80 retail and discounted to the trade.
Morgan

[Dennis Eugene]

Dang, nice sambar's on that piece. Nice job on the fit and finish looks like they were made for it. Dennis

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Thanks Dennis, If you mean the grips, I won them on e-bay. Someone did a real nice job of installing the Ruger emblems. I think the only thing I had to do, was drill holes for the locating pins. The perimeters fit perfectly.

The grip frame, I fit by hand filing, keeping the sides square and parallel, by cross filing and draw filling with a fine mill file, finishing by draw filing using chalk, and then wet or dry paper on a surface plate (to 600 grit). This left a joint you can't feel, even by drawing your fingernail across it.
Morgan

[joatmon]

NICE (my old SS hid in the corner when the pic loaded!) love those grips!
Aaron

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Thanks Aaron, sorry I don't have an aluminum XR3 grip frame. Maybe Numrich has one? Even if they're not listed in their catalog, sometimes a phone call is productive.
Morgan

[danski26]

Morgan,

That is a 10! VERY nice work!