Do my cylinder throats need reaming?

[Dave44]

Hello All. I have a Ruger BH with tight 45c & acp cylinders. A .452 bullet will not push through the throats. I slugged the bore and the slug will drop through the cylinder so I know the bore is smaller than the throats. The guns shoots pretty good. The only issue is, I loaded some WFN bullets and they won't chamber all the way. Will I benefit from reaming the throats?
I would appreciate any advice. Tnanks

[nicholst55]

Probably. Contact Dougguy here on the forum.

[egg250]

I may not be understanding correctly. Factory loads fit the chamber, your reloads do not? Are your reloads exceeding the maximum overall length?

[Dave44]

egg250
No, they are a little under max OAL. They have a very wide flat nose. They will chamber in my Redhawk fine but lack a very little bit completely chambering in the Blackhawk. The cylinder throats on the Redhawk or over .452. The Blackhawk is about .450, best I can tell with dial calipers. All factory and handloads chamber fine except the wide nose.

[egg250]

egg250
No, they are a little under max OAL. They have a very wide flat nose. They will chamber in my Redhawk fine but lack a very little bit completely chambering in the Blackhawk. The cylinder throats on the Redhawk or over .452. The Blackhawk is about .450, best I can tell with dial calipers. All factory and handloads chamber fine except the wide nose.

Best to check diameter with a micrometer and bore gauge. Could be something to do with the lack of ogive/taper of the bullet in the chamber. I wouldn't ream the chambers. The reamer can be expensive, will leave burrs that need polishing out and would make it easy to ruin the cylinder. Instead, polish with a bit of lapping compound and a rotary tool. Polish the front of each chamber (mouth) just until the cartridge seats under its own weight and the unfired cartridge falls out when the cylinder is turned up. Pay attention to keep all the cylinder mouths the same diameter. Yes, .002" is a lot to polish out but, it would be very difficult to remove too much. You might find that you don't have to remove as much as you think.

If you're not comfortable doing this, consider seating the WFN bullets a bit closer to minimum OAL. This would cause you to work up your loads again, to ensure you're not over pressured.

Just curious, what is the bore diameter of the barrel in the Blackhawk? It should be the same or slightly (.0005" - .001") smaller than the chamber mouth

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Probably. Contact Dougguy here on the forum.
This ^^^^^^^^

This

[Dieselhorses]

My Smith 500 slugs at .501 but cylinder throats are
at .4985 thereabouts. I’ve never had holes reamed but then again never loaded max bullet weight of 700 gr’s either, but when I do I’d rather compensate with my rounds. I know all wheel guns differ. JMO.


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[Snow ninja]

Can we see some pics of a loaded round?

[wv109323]

How is the accuracy of the Redhawk vs. Blackhawk? Does the Blackhawk lead the barrel after several rounds? I would slug the bore of the Blackhawk before I made a decision to ream. If accuracy is the same and no leading then its your call.
The cylinder needs to pass the bullet to the barrel at .001 over actual bore size for best accuracy. Pressure can obulate the bullet and the pistol shoot ok. Boolit obulation depends on lead hardness. I do have a S&W 14 and it shoots less than 3" @50yards with small cylinders

[nicholst55]

The situation that the OP describes is not at all uncommon with WFN-type cast bullets. If it is as I suspect, opening the throats would resolve the problem. Not all bullets fit in all guns as they come from the factory, hence my recommendation to contact Doug.

[FLINTNFIRE]

And if bore is under throat all is good except for the larger diameter bullet ogive in the cylinder , so is this the bullet that has to be shot from this gun?
Myself have never had any of my rugers or smiths or dan wessons or any other reamed , So I have been lucky and I reload accordingly and find what works , and if I needed something reamed chambered or throated differently , well yes I would do so . So the poster of the thread has his options load a bullet that fits or ream cylinder for wider fit so his bullet of choice fits and then is swaged down in barrel . And has already been suggested seat deeper or find a mold that casts bullet style with different taper , a lot of choices to be made , your gun your expertise your time and ability and your choice , you have the input from the forum and the world wide web .

[Dave44]

FLINTNFIRE summed it up pretty good. For now I will just shoot a different bullet. Yes, I can also seat deeper.
Thank you all for your input.

[FLINTNFIRE]

If you want the wider flat nose have it reamed . I think every one should shoot what they want and that is part of why I reload , customize and tweak . It is all what you want to do , some bemoan the bubba rifles of sporters , I do not , part of our hobby and what was cheap at one time and gave rise to customs and or what one perceived they wanted . One of the reasons we all cast cost, fit , personal satisfaction and pride . So please do what you need , want , or feel like . now shoot cast load and do it again for freedoms sake..

[mudygmc]

I was always under the assumption you Definetly wanted throats bigger than the bore. I qould think this qould increase accuracy with a wider range of bullets. I think you could probably luck into a good load with tight throats but vast majority accuracy would suffer. A tight throat is going to size the bullet down less rifling contact and possibly loose bullet in the bore. I know all guns are different but in my experiences with my BFRs. The throats are biggef than the bore. Dont remember sizes off hand. But both of the pustols shoot better with bigger diameter bullets. 1 or 2 thousands makes a difference in both pistols. I cant see why they would be alot different than any other pistol. If its a gun i liked and planned to keep. I like accuracy. Id send it to Dougguy and have him do the throats.
I'm loosing faith in ruger a bit lately. My dad has a blackhawk in 45lc/cap. There is right at 3 thousands difference in throats. My older on is at 1 thousands. Mine is more accurate for both of us. My chambers in my acp cylinder are terrible. Extremely wavy, throats are decent though. I just picked up a blackhawk in 357/9mm. It was off gun broker. The cylinders are not very tight for a 200rd pistol. The trigger is terrible. I spend quite a few hours with a stone and polishing the trigger sear and action parts. It still isnt as nice as my 45 wich i maybe put an hour in. Rugers quality seems to vary alot. I like the blackhawks but will only hand pick them now.

Adam

[tja6435]

I sent a cylinder from my Freedom Arms Model 83 to have Dougguy make the throats all even wth each other at a nice .3585". I had one throat that was way tighter than the rest and would open up the groups when I was shooting at paper.

[RED BEAR]

I have seen it the other way things that chamber easy in my black hawk you can't get to go into my brothers red kawk not because of length but diameter. But if gun shoots good why mess with it.