Blackhawk Convertable 45 acp/colt

[am44mag]

How well does the Ruger Blackhawk work with lead bullets when you use the 45 acp conversion cylinder? 45 colt is supposed to be .454" and 45 acp is supposed to be .451". Do you just have to load 45 acp with fatter bullets? Will they even work in another gun (like a 1911) like that, or will those be Blackhawk only rounds?

I've been having the urge to get another revolver lately, and that one is pretty high up on the list.

[Nueces]

The great majority of factory 45 Colts have been designed for use with 0.451" or 0.452" bullets since WWII, so no worries. Both rounds now use similar diameters. You may find your late model Ruger to sport tight cylinder throats. I have had DougGuy (on this board) open up 4 of mine to accept 0.452" bullets. He does a really fine job at low cost.

To address your first question, lead works well in both short and full length cases if the bullets are matched to the throats.

[newton]

How well does the Ruger Blackhawk work with lead bullets when you use the 45 acp conversion cylinder? 45 colt is supposed to be .454" and 45 acp is supposed to be .451". Do you just have to load 45 acp with fatter bullets? Will they even work in another gun (like a 1911) like that, or will those be Blackhawk only rounds?

I've been having the urge to get another revolver lately, and that one is pretty high up on the list.

I actually own one. The 4 5/8" version. I loaded them one and the same as far as boolit diameter. I guess I never slugged the throats of the 45acp cylinder, but I do know they will take fatter cartridges than a 1911 will. I had a bad run when first starting to load for my 1911, having the boolits bulge the case and not chamber, so I saved all those rounds for shooting in the blackhawk. They shoot just fine. No leading that I am aware of. I do powder coat my boolits though.

I would say that rounds that work in a 1911 will work for sure in the Blackhawk, but if you tried to size your boolits for the Blackhawk - then shoot them in a 1911 - you might have issues.

[Ickisrulz]

I have the mid size flattop Blackhawk Convertible. The 45 ACP cylinder works so well many guys use it elusively (me included). I size bullets to 0.452 and develop loads for use in the Blackhawk alone. I have a nice full wadcutter mold from Accurate.

[Panman213]

I have one with a 5 inch barrel. I cast and shoot the same boolits in my 1911's and Convertable sized to .452 They shoot great, no leading.

[Hickory]

After WWII the 45 colt groove diameter was standardize to 0.451" .

[ReloaderFred]

My two Blackhawk .45 Colt/.45 acp revolvers both shoot tighter groups with the .45 acp cylinders than they do with the .45 Colt Cylinders.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[DougGuy]

Try and push a .452" boolit into the cylinder throats from the front of the cylinder. If they won't go then the throats are acting like a multi port sizing die and there will ALWAYS be an improvement after sizing thoats to .4525" so that the .452" boolit is indeed .452" when it gets to the forcing cone. It's an inexpensive one-time fix to have the cylinder throats reamed and honed and it will shoot it's best groups after this is done. Factory Ruger throat diameters are notoriously small, and usually fairly inconsistent.

Fred, check your 45 Colt throats, properly sized throats will shoot quite well for both calibers the gun is chambered for.

[am44mag]

Whelp, that makes my decision a whole lot easier. I probably wouldn't ever bother with the conversion cylinder if it involved a lot of trouble, but I'm glad to see that's not the case. Now I just have to decide what barrel length I want. :D

Thanks fellas.

[skeettx]

I have a BN-44X which is the 4 5/8 Convertible
Both shoot extremely well and the 45 ACP is what I
have in the gun right now, great shooter.
Mike

p.s. I find the short barrel much easier when I ride on a horse
or hike. I carry it reversed on the left side so as not to KLUNK
against the rifle with a sling.

[Guesser]

I have a 45/45 convertible. My bore slugs to .451+ but less than .452. I reamed my chamber mouths to .4525 and size all my bullets .452. The ACP cylinder seems marginally more accurate at 25 yards off a rest than the LC cylinder.

[Dale53]

I have a Ruger SS Bisley .45 ACP/.45 Colt Covertible 5 1/2”. Both cylinders had undersize throats. I reamed the throats to .4525”. The revolver will now shoot under 1” at 25yards off a rest with either cylinder. These, after a bit of work, are superb revolvers.

FWIW
Dale53

[Tom W.]

I had one. I sized to .452 and all was well, the best loads being the RCBS -270 SAA

It shot the .45 acp just fine.

[dubber123]

I responded in your other post to be aware that some older Ruger convertibles have very large cylinder throats. I have seen one that was .456". I can recommend avoiding these.

[Potsy]

It is my very humble opinion, that a 4-5/8" Blackhawk in .45 Colt is one of the very best general purpose large bore pistols ever made. Spend the money, get it tuned (if you want), get the throats "right"(mandatory), buy good leather, and try to wear it out.
Be aware that the blued models (at least once upon a time) had an aluminum grip frame and aluminum ejector rod housing. It does make the pistol a shade lighter, but the finish on those parts is basically painted and will wear during hard use. The one I used to have was blued FWIW.
I had the convertible. I don't know that I ever fired a single round through the ACP cylinder. I didn't cast at the time, the throats were undersized and the commercial bullets were hard and had bevel bases. It still shot decent (at least as well as I could with a pistol back then) and I'd clean the lead out of it on occasion. It carried well enough in a cheap Uncle Mikes holster. Wonder now how it would have done given decent leather.
I've got a 5-1/2" Bisley now, and carry my Kimber more than anything else, but I suspect that someday I'll own another SA .45 Colt with a 4-5/8" barrel. Might go with the smaller frame next time. Or not.:)

[jmort]

^^^
Completely agree

[Brassduck]

3 screw 4 5/8 shoots very well with 45 apc or 45 colt

[Dale53]

I have the Ruger SS Bisley 5.5” .45 ACP/.45 Colt Convertible. I got mine in 2009. The throats were undersize in both cylinders. However, a good friend loaned me his Manson reamer kit complete with pilots. I reamed the cylinder throats (both cylinders) to .4525”. Before reaming, the .45 Colt leaded horribly in thirty shots seriously degrading accuracy. I couldn’t even chamber my cast bullet reloads (.452” bullets) using the .45 ACP cylinder.

After reaming, this revolver became one of the most versatile revolvers, ever! It will shoot under an inch at 25 yards with a variety of loads in BOTH cylinders from mild to wild. I shoot many more ACP loads, so the convertible feature is important to me.

I will NOT be getting rid of my large frame Convertible, but if I were buying now, I would seriously consider the Flattop .45 ACP/.45 Colt Convertible. The word is they have proper throats and chambers out of the box. Further, the Tier II strength level of the midframe flattop would be just fine for me and my uses. It’s more than enough on the high end for deer, hogs, and black bear. The mid-frame handles better IMO (I have a 4 5/8” and a 5.5” .44 Special Flattop).

Just a thought or two...

Dale53

[Outpost75]

I responded in your other post to be aware that some older Ruger convertibles have very large cylinder throats. I have seen one that was .456". I can recommend avoiding these.

Those would have to be VERY old pre-1976 Rugers to have large cylinder throats. Ruger .45 cylinder throats have been consistently tight .450-.451" for the last FIFTY years!!!!

[dubber123]

Those would have to be VERY old pre-1976 Rugers to have large cylinder throats. Ruger .45 cylinder throats have been consistently tight .450-.451" for the last FIFTY years!!!!

Yep, 1972 I believe. Just letting them know Ruger made sloppy pigs along with overly tight examples. Buyer beware :)

[Nueces]

I have a pair of 3 screw Ruger 45s, both needed throat reaming by DougGuy. In the parts department, there are a couple of 45 ACP cylinders that had been paired with other 3 screw 45s. One of those cylinders fits and functions in one of my revolvers, but both the ACP cylinders have large throats, 0.456" or so. Oh, well, that's one reason I have participated in several group buys for large diameter hollow base bullets.

[Chill Wills]

I responded in your other post to be aware that some older Ruger convertibles have very large cylinder throats. I have seen one that was .456". I can recommend avoiding these.

My oversized Blackhawk convertible is from the Late Seventies. 38 or 40 years ago. Wow! Has it been that long ago? The chambers are large. Accuracy is poor. I was really ready to love this revolver when I got it. Saved and scraped for it. The pictured ACP will take .454" pin gauges and the 45 Colt will take 0.456" and on hole just excepts a 0.457" pin.
After more than a dozen years of putting up with it, About 1990, I had LBT make me a mold that fits the Colt chambers and the revolver shoots much better! Going to larger bullets with the ACP loadings is a step in the wrong direction. The whole reason for having the ACP Cylinder is to shoot regular ammo, ammo that runs through my 1911's.

Too bad we can't send it out to have metal added :razz:. Only small chambers can be reamed and fixed.

[dubber123]

My oversized Blackhawk convertible is from the Late Seventies. 38 or 40 years ago. Wow! Has it been that long ago? The chambers are large. Accuracy is poor. I was really ready to love this revolver when I got it. Saved and scraped for it. The pictured ACP will take .454" pin gauges and the 45 Colt will take 0.456" and on hole just excepts a 0.457" pin.
After more than a dozen years of putting up with it, About 1990, I had LBT make me a mold that fits the Colt chambers and the revolver shoots much better! Going to larger bullets with the ACP loadings is a step in the wrong direction. The whole reason for having the ACP Cylinder is to shoot regular ammo, ammo that runs through my 1911's.

Too bad we can't send it out to have metal added :razz:. Only small chambers can be reamed and fixed.

Sounds like the one I got tasked with making shoot. That one also had tremendous thread choke. Once that was lapped out and I found a mold that mostly filled the throats, accuracy improved greatly. Yes, adding some metal would sure be nice :)

[osteodoc08]

Yep, 1972 I believe. Just letting them know Ruger made sloppy pigs along with overly tight examples. Buyer beware :)


So hasn’t Smith. The 25 models come to mind.

OP, you’ll do just fine. I have a stainless convertible model and it’s oh so much fun. You can really load some pipsqueek loads with the ACP cylinder.

[dubber123]

So hasn’t Smith. The 25 models come to mind.

OP, you’ll do just fine. I have a stainless convertible model and it’s oh so much fun. You can really load some pipsqueek loads with the ACP cylinder.

Yep, a friend has one that's looser than this Ruger is. Just saying if in doubt, measure before buying.