.45 RedHawk throats

I've read about Blackhawk throats being all over the map diameter wise.
What about the convertible RedHawks?

Had two here, the second had tighter throats.
Denis

I have an older redhawk 45 and I had to send my cylinder off to get it reamed.

I had my .45 Colt RH 7 1/2" reamed and it became a very good shooter.

My .45 Convertible Redhawk picked up last month will allow a gauge pin that mics at .4509 through all the throats and one that mics at .4520 through none of them. Measuring with a small hole gauge, they seem to be on the high side of .451, in the .4516 to .4518 range. I have not had the chance to experiment yet and so cannot tell you what that means in terms of cast bullet performance.

ETA: Seems like there's about .001 constriction at the threads as well. My recently acquired .41M Redhawk has throats right under .410 and no thread constriction, and does not lead excessively in my current testing.

Bottom line - you won't know unless you measure them.

Enigma said:

Bottom line - you won't know unless you measure them.

Click to expand...

Gee thanks

I don't know about older ones, but from a little searching, the consensus seems to be that most new .45 Redhawk throats measure between .451 and .452 like mine. This would be consistent with improved quality control from Ruger when they moved the Redhawk line a couple years ago and also consistent with the idea that Ruger revolvers are designed around firing jacketed ammunition.

I've done some thinking on mine and decided to give firelapping a shot on the constriction and see what happens to the throats. If they remain tight, I'll probably flex hone them to get them to the point that the .4520 gauge will drop through and no more. A flex hone costs less than 20 dollars and should easily take off .0005 with a few passes. Much more cost effective than reaming, though you might never get .002 off with a hone.

My 4" RH is 5 years old and had cylinder throats between .450 and .451 and shot cast bullets poorly. I've since had it opened to .4525 and I fire lapped it. It shoots cast extremely well now.

Acorn said:

Enigma said:

Bottom line - you won't know unless you measure them.

Click to expand...

Gee thanks

Click to expand...

Well, Enigma speaks the truth. Every gun is an adventure unto itself. I think it safe to say the if you want perfection you will have to have the throats uniformed.

NikA said:

I've done some thinking on mine and decided to give firelapping a shot on the constriction and see what happens to the throats. If they remain tight, I'll probably flex hone them to get them to the point that the .4520 gauge will drop through and no more. A flex hone costs less than 20 dollars and should easily take off .0005 with a few passes. Much more cost effective than reaming, though you might never get .002 off with a hone.

Click to expand...

Flexhone, unfortunately, does nothing to fix throats that are out-of-round, as some are.

I have a convertible and had to ream my throats. All good now.

edlmann said:

NikA said:

I've done some thinking on mine and decided to give firelapping a shot on the constriction and see what happens to the throats. If they remain tight, I'll probably flex hone them to get them to the point that the .4520 gauge will drop through and no more. A flex hone costs less than 20 dollars and should easily take off .0005 with a few passes. Much more cost effective than reaming, though you might never get .002 off with a hone.

Click to expand...

Flexhone, unfortunately, does nothing to fix throats that are out-of-round, as some are.

Click to expand...

A flex hone works great in a brake cylinder. It is sure to make your cylinder throats into a real mess. Ruger will sell you a new cylinder and fit it at a reasonable cost when you get done.

Flex hones are regularly used to achieve proper surface finish in reman engine blocks. I am curious as to why you think a properly dimensioned flex hone, available from the manufacturer for this purpose, will result in an unsatisfactory result.