I’m in love...just got a Flattop .357.

[7x57Hunter]

Well I haven’t even fired it yet, but it feels so good in my hand and points so naturally I had to have it.

244688

[MrWolf]

Sounds rationale to me. Good luck with her.

[sandog]

The FT's are the best feeling Ruger I've had. Weight, balance and handling are just right.
I have two of them now, both .45Colt/.45 ACP convertibles.
A few things I did to mine to make it more "user friendly" to me:

Throats all evened up to .452.5"
11 degree forcing cones
White outline rear sight blades and yellow painted front ramps (until I can put yellow inserts in).
Tossed the white plastic grips and got some figured Missouri Black Walnut from Chig's Grips.
Replace the plain hammer and trigger roll pins with slotted ones.
Chamfered the chambers and the other end of the cylinder where the cylinder pin goes in.
Action job and 30 oz. trigger springs.
Replace the tall, skinny hammers with lower, wider Super Black hawk hammers.
Since you can't get blued hammers anymore, I will sandblast mine and put dark grey Cerakote on them.

I must say these are pretty accurate too. I'm sure the flyer was my fault.
https://i.imgur.com/fFlopVIh.jpg

[Love Life]

Very nice!!

[contender1]

Those OM Flattop .357's are sweet. I do have a few. I'm gonna send you a PM with a polite question.
Now go celebrate Freedom with gunfire!

sandog,,, you have a nice gun,, but there are a few differences.

His gun is an Old Model, 3-screw, non transfer safety bar design built between 1955 & 1963.

Your's has to be a NM as the only OM Flattops were in either 357 or 44 mag.
This information is to prevent confusion by some folks who don't know the differences!

[trapper9260]

I have one that is SS not blue.I like it and dose all I want. I got it use back in the 80's from a guy that was in the hospital with my dad. The plate for the rear sight was missing. Had that take care of and did not look back.

[contender1]

trapper9260,,, your gun would be a regular Blackhawk,, not a Flattop,, and especially not an Old Model in stainless.

There is a WORLD of difference in the feel, & shooting of an Old Model, original Flattop .357 vs the NM Blackhawk. in 1963,, Ruger changed a few things,, including the grip frame. It went from an "XR3" to a "XR3-RED" design.

[7x57Hunter]

I haven’t had much time to play, but I loaded up some 358477 with a magnum charge of 4227 and shot a 4.5” 10 shot group at 50 yards...not bad for the first time out

[sandog]

Those Flattops sure can shoot.
Ruger has always got the .357 and .44's right, but they still can't seem to make the throats the right size for the .45's.
There's a big demand for reaming the .45's out to 452.5", that is if you want the best accuracy and no leading.
There was a guy over on Rugerforum.com that went by CylinderSmith, but he's not doing any more.

At least tight throats can be reamed out. The Italian sixguns come with too large of throats, hard to add metal to those.
One of the things I do, besides chamfering the cylinder for easier chambering and easier insertion of the cylinder pin, is to cut the forcing cone to 11 degrees. Some Rugers don't have much of a forcing cone, or it leaves the factory with a rough one.
I just got done doing the 11 degree forcing cone to my newer Flattop.
I dislike a forcing cone that goes on for a half inch, so I stop before I get to the end of the cutters, just make sure it's smooth.
https://i.imgur.com/DwM60joh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KBXFCVBh.jpg

[Texas by God]

I almost bought a NM FT in .44 Special instead of a NM Blackhawk .41 magnum. Almost.

[onelight]

Those Flattops sure can shoot.
Ruger has always got the .357 and .44's right, but they still can't seem to make the throats the right size for the .45's.
There's a big demand for reaming the .45's out to 452.5", that is if you want the best accuracy and no leading.
There was a guy over on Rugerforum.com that went by CylinderSmith, but he's not doing any more.

At least tight throats can be reamed out. The Italian sixguns come with too large of throats, hard to add metal to those.
One of the things I do, besides chamfering the cylinder for easier chambering and easier insertion of the cylinder pin, is to cut the forcing cone to 11 degrees. Some Rugers don't have much of a forcing cone, or it leaves the factory with a rough one.
I just got done doing the 11 degree forcing cone to my newer Flattop.
I dislike a forcing cone that goes on for a half inch, so I stop before I get to the end of the cutters, just make sure it's smooth.
https://i.imgur.com/DwM60joh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KBXFCVBh.jpg
It would sure be nice to have you for a neighbor :bigsmyl2:

[sandog]

The tools I've bought for working on sixguns have sure come in handy. Saves money, and there's the satisfaction of doing the work yourself.
I didn't like how the blued guns come with stainless hammers and triggers, too bright for my taste.
Gloss Black Cerakote, or a mixture of Gloss Black and Midnight Blue would be nice, but I didn't want to order a couple bottles of Cerakote just to do a few hammers and triggers.

I did have some Sniper Grey Cerakote on hand, so I mixed it up with extra hardener to make it more gloss and less matte. This is a hammer I did this morning, next to an uncoated stainless part.
https://i.imgur.com/g5hKmAPh.jpg