Blackhawk cylinder throats

I can't push bullets through the cylinder throats on my BH 45 convertible. I'm thinking about renting a reaming tool with pilot bushings to size the throats on the 45 colt cylinder to .452. Should I also ream the 45acp cylinder?

Can you push bullets through the acp?
Are you using lead or jacketed in the acp?
Are you disappointed with your groups through the acp?

Since I posted my inquiry I did some checking. My acp bullets are plated and measure .451. They will push through both the acp cylinder and the colt cylinder. My lead bullets that I use for 45 colt measure .452 and will not push through either cylinder. For the lead bullets it seems the cylinders are just a thousandth too tight. I'm wondering if it's even worth reaming the 45 colt cylinder. I haven't noticed any leading problems and I rarely shoot at paper to check my accuracy. I shoot mostly at reactive targets and steel plates at anywhere from 10 to 80 yards. As far as accuracy goes some days are good and some days are not so good and a lot of that probably has to do with 67 year old eyes behind trifocals. I rarely use the acp cylinder but occasionally I would rather shoot 45acp out of a revolver instead of one of my autos.

I never would have thought about reaming the cylinders except I ran across some posts about it on various forums.

If it was me, I would go to the rugerforum.net and post my question there. There is a former moderator there called iowegan who is a retired gunsmith, and he is an EXPERT on this subject. The motherlode of info lies there.

I visit rugerforum.net frequently and have read Iowegan's posts. He is brilliant and certainly knows his stuff. However, rugerforum.net went through some changes a few years back and no longer accepts my password and all my attempts to register a new password have failed. I think what I have to do is re-register under a completely new name as if the previous me never existed. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I agree. Iowegan is the man to ask.

PM our own member DougGuy here. He's a true expert on this exact subject! AND,, he does excellent work,, for a very fair price.

haymaker said:

I visit rugerforum.net frequently and have read Iowegan's posts. He is brilliant and certainly knows his stuff. However, rugerforum.net went through some changes a few years back and no longer accepts my password and all my attempts to register a new password have failed. I think what I have to do is re-register under a completely new name as if the previous me never existed. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I agree. Iowegan is the man to ask.

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Yeah, I lived through those "changes" when the ownership of the site changed. Still, it's worth reconnecting.

contender said:

PM our own member DougGuy here. He's a true expert on this exact subject! AND,, he does excellent work,, for a very fair price.

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Doug just did my gp100. I posted about it in the double action section. Don't waste your time with the rental just send it to Doug if you are just doing one gun.

I would encourage you to slug your barrel before you go any further. You may have just what you need now and only have to size your bullets to fit the specs of what you have. If not, then proceed to get the throats corrected. It is not much trouble to slug a barrel and will provide you with much needed information. Good luck.

I checked all my other Ruger's from .357, .41,.44 and .45. All under .45 C had throats that were sized to the bullet size. Single and Double actions. The .45C BH's .450-.451". Some leaded were than others. I noticed better accuracy, no leading after buying and using.4525" reamer. And always use good cutting oil. I use Tap Magic tapping fluid.

+1 on Dougguy.... (sp?).... He'll give you the right scoop and if needed, will do the job "first time final".

J.

Bullets for reloading (especially lead) do have a small variation in diameter right from the box if you are trusting the stated diameter versus a micrometer. That manufacturing variation might be a shade tree way to assess chambers if a range of bullets are available from the same box.

I use pin gages to measure all my cylinders. Only accurate way to see if reaming is needed.

daveg.inkc said:

I use pin gages to measure all my cylinders. Only accurate way to see if reaming is needed.

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This may also reveal if a chamber is not perfectly round.

+++1 on Doug Guy