New Model Blackhawk questions...

[lead-1]

OK folks, I got a good one for you. My cousin bought a Ruger New Model Blackhawk with three cylinders, one is .38/.357 and one is 9mm and they are numbered to the gun, and the third one is etched or electro penciled 9mm and the serial number of the gun. Why would someone have two cylinders of the same caliber, do you think maybe it is a 9mm Winchester Magnum? I am going to try to get castings of the cylinder if possible but that could be a while.
There is a couple of other oddities to this gun like a ported barrel as in two slits by the front sight and the gun is blued but the grip frame is a stainless looking finish but not shiny nickle or chrome, I can't find anything like this as a factory package. Any ideas or input would be appreciated.

By the way it serial numbers out as being made in 1975.

[Coffeecup]

It isn't hard to change the grip frame on a Ruger, usually just a little file work. As for the spare cylinder, who knows? It could still be 9mm Para, or a 9 Mag, some wildcat based on the .223 case, or even .38 Special.

[Bass Ackward]

I gave my father a 45 ACP cylinder in the 70s cause I only wanted the Colt. Now he has two although only one fits that gun. Same with a 22 Mag cylinder.

I had a 44 Mag cylinder made so I had the origional for a long time until it became a 45 Colt.

It could still be just a 9.

[spqrzilla]

There is a couple of other oddities to this gun like a ported barrel as in two slits by the front sight ...
Magnaport job probably.

Porting to reduce recoil.

[Piedmont]

It sure would be easy to look in the back of those cylinders with the fronts held up to good light and get an idea if the two nines had chambers the same length.

[lead-1]

I am going to try and actually get them in my hands so I can compare and measure to see if I see a noticable difference. I thought that since there seems to be obvious changes to the gun that someone here might have known of a wildcat type change to the 9mm that was popular back in the 70's or 80's. I hope to actually see this cylinder soon.

[ReloaderFred]

It could be rechambered to any number of calibers. The .38 Super comes to mind, since S&W makes a .38 Super revolver and it would be easy to do with a 9mm cylinder in the Ruger. I have a combo Blackhawk and I'm going to rechamber the 9mm cylinder to 9x23 Winchester, since it's a much more efficient round than the 9x19, and the Blackhawk will handle the pressure.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[lead-1]

The 9mm Winchester Magnum looks interesting also, just a tad bit shorter than a .357 Mag.

[9.3X62AL]

Brass in 9mm Win Mag might be a tall order these days. That caliber was commercially available into the 1990s, and I bought 500 pieces of the brass (W-W) for reforming into 30 Mauser and 7.62 x 25 Tokarev in c. 1991.

9mm Win Mag would be a viable option in the Ruger, once brass was found. Since the revolver dates from the time of the caliber's heyday, the #3 cylinder could indeed be so chambered.

My own thoughts on the swap-cylinder Rugers are that they are a novel and practical idea, and workable in the SAA format. The 357 Magnum chambering is the most useful of the three to me. I've debated the acquisition of a Bisley Blackhawk in 44 Magnum (to team up with the 357 and 45 now on staff), and having a 44-40 WCF cylinder fitted for it. After I hit the lottery, I suppose.

[lead-1]

[QUOTE=9.3X62AL;942111]Brass in 9mm Win Mag might be a tall order these days. That caliber was commercially available into the 1990s QUOTE]

I had never heard of that caliber until searching for what this gun may be, it is very interesting that it was a commercial loading and not a wildcat that I had figured it to be. Thanks for the knowledge.

[ReloaderFred]

9mm Winchester Magnum brass is available from Starline for $147.35 per thousand, delivered. As far as I know, they are the only source for the brass and they currently have it in stock. http://www.starlinebrass.com/index.php?cPath=1

Hope this helps.

Fred

[9.3X62AL]

Cool deal, Fred! It stands to reason that Starline would have it, since they offer both 30 Mauser and 7.62 x 25 Tokarev as well. All of those calibers and the 9 x 19 are cousins.

[ReloaderFred]

You're welcome, Al. It's one of the few calibers they have in stock. I won a $50.00 gift certificate from Starline at End of Trail and can't decide what caliber I need the most. It will probably be either some .38 Super +P or .45-70, both of which are backordered.

Fred