Finally got the Ruger 45 Convertible Blackhawks.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I ordered these in Oct 2003. They arrived mid last year and I only just got around to picking them up. Went a bit cold on the deal, but have since come around. They are blued, 45Colt/ACP convertible Blackhawks and are sequentially numbered. The higher number ends in 0048 and as I was born in 1948, I suppose thats a bit of a bonus. I really have been spending too much on guns and probably should have sold them, but I figured I have never owned a gun which fired 45 Colt before, I like the old 45ACP and we are not allowed to own autos in this calibre anymore so I figured, what the heck, they will last me till I die or the Govt comes and takes them away, so I paid the balance and took them home. The have nice wood grips (as Rugers go) and shoot really well. The ACP shot a lot lower than the colt rounds, but there is a weight difference, so thats understandable. I could probably shoot the same boolit in both.

This will be a lot of fun. I always bought used guns, but the last four have been new and three are definetly keepers (1911 38Super & the new convertibles described above) the 92FS Beretta is still to prove itself, but I love the ergonomics of it and will persist a while with this one.

[swheeler]

4fMick; just think of it as getting 4 guns for the price of 2! I've got the 357/9 BH and love it, double your pleasure, double your fun!
Scooter

[Bret4207]

Got the 45 convertable too. Wish I'd bought the 38-40/10mm I saw languishing in a shop 10-12 yerars ago. Good ol' 20/20 hindsght. FWIW-I haven't even used the 45 Colt cylinder yet. The 45 ACP is whole 'nuther animal in the Blackhawk. You can easily surpass most of the standard 45 Colt loads and get up into 460 Rowland territory quite safely. Thats not where I'm headed, but there's a lot of info on such loadings out there.My partner just picked up a simailar 45 convertable at Gander Mt. His is a 5.5" and mines the 4 5/8". I'm seriously considering finding a 5.5" or 6.5" barrel and laying it away for a rainy day. Adding the Bisley grip and hammer is on the list too. Chances are I'll run across a Bisley 45 before I ever get around to it.

[StarMetal]

I also have the 45 convertible and it's a real eye opener to fired the exact same load out the 45acp cylinder and then a 1911.

Joe

[Four Fingers of Death]

I must try that. These suckers are gonna get some work in the next few weeks.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have arranged to have the triggers done on these two as they are a bit heavy. Not too bad, but just a bit. I have ywo other BHs which are fine. I don't like featherlight triggers as I have to carry at work (rarely nowadays, but could have to at anytime) and I don't want to get used to poofy triggers and get confused when the doo doo hits the fan).

I will get all four done the same for uniformity.

The thing is whether or not to get them re-blued. My old gunsmaith mate specialises in BHs and does a brilliant charcoal black 'blueing' job. They truely are beautiful. He polished them so well you feel that you could rach into the blueing. He is in his late 70s so I supose I better get them done sooner or later. I don't like messing with them, but his work is truely beautiful.

[Char-Gar]

The hard triggers on these sixguns are easy to fix. Just remove t he grips and flip off one of the spring legs that go on the stud in the frame. Replace the grips and that is that. It doesn't matter if you disengage the right or left leg of the spring..allee same..allee same.

[j4570]

A lot of people have the convertibles.

I had gotten one about 12 years ago and they weren't making them then.

I love mine, and I have shot both ACP and Colt, but prefer the Colt.

Enjoy.

[Denver]

Mick,

The Rugers are fine guns. I have 4 of the Vaquero models in 45 Colt. All of them have small cylinder throats that won't pass a .451 jacketed bullet. I'm planning to have the throats opened to 452+ to see if it will improve accuracy. I also have an old 3 screw model in 45C. The throats on it are 453+ and shoots .454 cast much better than any of the newer gunswill shoot. It would be good to have yours checked out if accuracy isn't quite where it should be.

Take care

[Crash_Corrigan]

I had a friend whose health was failing and he needed to sell all his guns. I sold them off for him on Auction Arms and kept the best one for me. All his guns were unfired in NIB condition. I paid him $500 for a 357/9 BH 4 5/8 BBL with an unused Hunter Buscadero belt and Holster along with two boxes of 357 ammo. One box still had the price tag of $7.45. By the the way this was the old model circa 1972 just after the flattop ended. It has the ears around the rear sights but still has the four clicks when you cock it and no transfer bar. I load only 5 rds for carry and it has a sweet and light trigger. It breaks like glass. This sucker is accurate with any lead 38 or 357 round. My handloaded fmj 9 mm's stink in this gun but the lead 105 grn Truncated cones babies are really working fine. If I know how to post a photo I would but alas I am computer challenged. I passed up a 45 ACP/45 Colt in Stainless a few months ago for $310 but I did not have the cash. Good luck on your 45.

[Four Fingers of Death]

The hard triggers on these sixguns are easy to fix. Just remove t he grips and flip off one of the spring legs that go on the stud in the frame. Replace the grips and that is that. It doesn't matter if you disengage the right or left leg of the spring..allee same..allee same.

Which legs are you talking about. The spring at the bottom has a flat piece of pressed metal about a quarter inch which the spring and leg sit on and then it folds over either side of the part of the grip fram it abuts against and goes down about an eight of an inch either side to hold it in place. We don't have the key lock thingo on our guns yet. They came with a cable lock instead.

PS Crash, that soulnds like a sweet gun, well done.

They are going backto the range tomorrow morning.

[LAH]

Mick at the top of the grip frame, the section that joins the main frame, you will see a stud on each side. The trigger return spring lays over these studs. Simply lift the spring off one side. Jim Taylor calls this a poorboy trigger job. It won't remove creep but it will lighten the pull..........Creeker

[D.Mack]

Mick I also have one, and love it, it is the one I keep handi when cutting wood during deer season. One thing you might consider, is when carrying it in 45 acp, carry a couple of acp mags for reloading, after ejecting your brass just pull a mag out of the pouch, and thumb them into the cylinder. DM

[Four Fingers of Death]

Mick at the top of the grip frame, the section that joins the main frame, you will see a stud on each side. The trigger return spring lays over these studs. Simply lift the spring off one side. Jim Taylor calls this a poorboy trigger job. It won't remove creep but it will lighten the pull..........Creeker

I'll give it a try. Leatherwork is a hobby that I am keen on but too busy to do. I must get the finger out and stich up a gunbelt, etc.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Mick at the top of the grip frame, the section that joins the main frame, you will see a stud on each side. The trigger return spring lays over these studs. Simply lift the spring off one side. Jim Taylor calls this a poorboy trigger job. It won't remove creep but it will lighten the pull..........Creeker

Worked a treat, thanks. I had about a hundred Magtec cowboy loads and a box of 50 Winchester factory lead pointy boolits with a little flat spot on the point. Let them all rip downrange along with a 100 44mag loads which were cowboy loads, recommended lower level 231 load by Winchester with 245 Gn SWCs, can't remember the load, around 7gns I think.

They all went well. I was practicing fast cycling of the guns for cowboy action. I have such big hands, I slip on the hammer every now and then as I hit my shooting hand and the hammer drops before the cycle has been finished. I either need to modify the hammers so they stick up a bit or get used to it, by practicing lots. My hands are all a quiver now, but it was fun. Fired about 50 full house loads through my friends Desert Eagle to round off the day. Boy I'm a shot duck now, exhausted.

[Four Fingers of Death]

all I have to do is work some loads out for the shoot in a fortnight. Might run ACPs as I have more cases and it is a four day shoot. Dang! a man's work is never done.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have a dandy 6 banger Lee .452 which throws a 208 Gr RN Lead boolit with the Tumble Grooves to hold the alox. They are coming out of the mold and getting dumped into cold water and run around .452 to 454 in diameter. These are wheelweights with about 5% of smelted radiator solder (60/40) which I get from my friend who has a radiator shop. I then run them through the Lee sizer which scrunches them down to .451 and then I re lube lightly with more alox. After I assemble the rounds on a Dillon 550B I clean off the casing and boolit with mineral spirits on a rag. With 4.3 Gr of Clays out of my Ruger P 90 I have clocked forty rounds averaging 840 FPS with a deviation of 40 FPS. That is either 20 up or down. I really need to sort out my brass to make it more uniform. However, I am getting excellent accuracy and reliability with not one malfunction in over 1,500 rounds fired in the last month since I got the mold. My next effort is to up the powder to 5.0 gr of Clays to see if I can get the FPS to 992 to duplicate my carry round, a Hornady 45 ACP + P 200 GR XTP HP. I would like to have the same recoil and such to practrice with. I love the idea of using a magazine to reload a revolver. Neato idea. I am sorry I never thought of that. I can use my wife's Hi Point 9 MM mags to reload my Ruger BH in a hurry.

[Four Fingers of Death]

We need something like the black powder shooters in line cappers, probably not as silly as it sounds. I might try some of my Aussie 7.62 FN FAL clips with the ACPs, same rim size, 5 rounds, perfect for cowboy. I will probably try AS30 (Clays in the australian packaging). I am not casting at the moment being on a temporary posting a long way from home, but have been trying a lot of commercial cast lately. The part time gun dealer in town has a lot of 230Gn LRN and 500 185Gn SWCs. I might buy the lot off him and really get into the practice.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have just spent all of Easter Weekend at Mule Camp Down Under! Boy the convertibles got a big work out. An urgent job came up at work and I didn't have time to work out loads, etc and build the guncart like I had planned. With the extra money I made, I went out a bought a few hundred Magtec factory Cowboy loads and a slick guncart.

Big shoot, the guns worked a treat, the 45/250Gns boolits sent the plates on the Texas Star target flying. the guns now have about 500 rounds each through them and they are settling well.

Trigger job worked well, I wasn't 100% confident and had a screwdriver in my pocket, just in case, but they didn't miss a beat. I'm realy enjoying these guns, love dropping those big shells into the chambers!

[LAH]

I'm realy enjoying these guns, love dropping those big shells into the chambers!

I understand completely.