How difficult to rechamber a Ruger cylinder?

[rockrat]

I have one of the Buckeye specials in 10mm/38-40 and thinking about a cylinder in 40s&w. Have a couple of spare cylinders in 9mm I have bought thru the years and wondering about converting on of them to 40 s&w. Any thoughts about this project or know of someone who can do this?

thanks

[Outpost75]

I have had John Taylor rechamber Ruger cylinders for me.

[georgerkahn]

I just read about doing this -- a small note in Rifle, Handloader, or American Rifleman -- only three mag's I read -- can't recall in which mag it appeared... Someone had written in re firing their 40S&W's in the 10mm cylinder? Answer was that as headspace is determined by case length -- e.g., the rim holds case in place -- the suggestion was given to find a competent gunsmith, with a suggestion that what uou suggested might be a quite reasonably priced project. Bion, I had "mentally toyed" with the idea of making some sleeves -- e.g., the 10mm case length is 0.992", with 40 S&W at 0.850", which makes the 40S&W 0.142" shorter. Hence, I thought (probably dangerous or wrong?) that if one cut and made little sleeves 0.142" in length, and slipped one in each cylinder cell -- why wouldn't 40S&W's work? (In my youth -- many years back -- we did similar to shoot .22 long ammo in a rifle chambered for .22wmr with no problems -- other than later removal of the sleeve.
Mind you, I have NOT tried this. Interestingly, perhaps, I also have a Buckeye Special, and I have only shot the .38WCF's in it...have yet to use the 10mm cylinder -- but, I purchased the revolver to complement a .38wcf lever I had at the time. My 10mm wheelgun is a 610 Smith.
What might be your thoughts re my "sleeve" idea?
geo

[paul h]

Jack Huntington is one of the best Ruger revolver smiths in the country, reasonably priced and decent turnarounds.

http://www.jrhadvancedgunsmithing.com/

[country gent]

Set up would be the big issue here. done in a mill it wouldnt be hard to do the actual reaming after the cylinder was set up square, on location and timed in. A 9mm cylinder would have plenty of material. It might pay to ream to desired throat dia first then have a rotating piloted reamer ground up with the pilot at this dia. It could be done swinging each chamber in with an indicator also. I have thought about a Smith J frame bored and rebarreled to 40 S&W and set up for moon clips.

[NoAngel]

Hamilton Bowen does it every day. I would opine that he IS the best on earth for Ruger revolvers.

[pietro]

.

Whomever you choose to do the re-chambering, be mindful that the re-chambered cylinder would also need to be timed to the revolver's frame/action & the cylinder end shake looked at, since the frame wasn't born with it. (absent a lucky "drop-in", i.e.)


.

[paul h]

Properly done, the cylinder will be line bored to the frame and then chambered. Hence it will be perfectly timed.

There was a series on lineboring revolvers in the Home Shop Machinist magazine about 10 years ago.

[Piedmont]

One additional point: Ruger made at least a couple different cylinder lengths even on the big frame. Nines and 357s (with the exception of the 7.5 inch Bisley) took a shorter cylinder. There were also medium frame convertibles. I don't know the cylinder length on your Buckeye Blackhawk but believe it to be the large frame. Make sure your proposed project cylinder is compatible with your gun.

BTW I think a .40 S&W in a single action revolver is a great idea.

[Greg S]

I've used Bowen for this myself. Nice work.

[kywoodwrkr]

First buy Jerry Kuhnhausen's Ruger Single Action book.
It details all most all steps necessary to reformulate a cylinder.
I have been working toward that end my self as I had 39 Carbine become separated from it's cylinder. Bought a pile of 4140 round stock cutoff material.
There were some entries on the Ruger Forum where the process was done step by step.
I just finished, last fall, making a fixture to hold a frame for some of the work.
There are differing options on indexing the cylinder while marking, drilling, reaming basic chambers.
My first endeavor will be to make a 32-20 cylinder for the 30 Carbine frame.
My reamer is a solid pilot barrel reamer, meaning its pilot is ground for the bore rather than the throat diameter.
Throat work can be completed after cylinder fitting.
You need to read, and then reread, the afore mentioned book.
Rockrat, as a side note, a welding instructor and I are working on making a small working version(22) of your avatar. Moving right along on that project! Have one part drawn up in Mastercam, ie. 1% along our way.

[John Taylor]

I have made a few cylinders for different revolvers. I make a dummy barrel for doing the line boring. The cylinder is first bored out on a rotary table in the vertical mill to take most of the metal out then a reamer that is about .001 over groove diameter is used when line boring. Then the cylinder is placed back on the rotary table to be chambered.

[Ed K]

Properly done, the cylinder will be line bored to the frame and then chambered.

I believe that even among many the better smiths this is offered as an option but not always performed.

[John 242]

NoAngel
Hamilton Bowen does it every day. I would opine that he IS the best on earth for Ruger revolvers.


He is also a very nice guy who will bend over backwards to help you out if you have questions.