New SS Blackhawk in 45 Colt

Hello All,
I picked up one of the stainless steel Blackhawks from Mike in Arizona and wanted to run a few numbers by you. First, this is my first single action revolver, and I really like the feel of it. I have been shooting GP100's and a SRH for years, and this Blackhawk feels good in the hand.
The unfired trigger is pretty smooth and breaks at about 4lbs. Is this normal? It feels good to me and am just wondering if it is average.
The bore slugs in at 0.4495" to 0.450" as best as I can measure passing the slug all the way through. It did not loosen up on its way back to the frame, but did tighten up a bit at the threads. I was unable to pull it back out of the muzzle with my normal screw so I cannot quantify the thread constriction. The only cylinder hole I checked came in at 0.4515", which seems like a good place to be. Should I check the other five?
All this because I have not had time to shoot it, but that is next on the list. I have loaded up some 250gr Speer deep curls to try and picked up some Winchester 255gr factory rounds that look swaged.
I appreciate any feedback and will post after some rounds down range.
Thanks,
Rich in MD

Try dropping what bullet you are loading in all 6 throats. I just reamed my .45's out to .4525. Big difference in way it shot. I bought one from Mike. 4 5/8". BH. I put faux Ivory grips from Ruger. My cyl throats were .451. Checked with gage pins

If it's a Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk, the chamber throats have about a 95% chance of being both too small, and different diameters. That, and your thread choke both need to be addressed, IMHO.

Thanks for the inputs and suggestions Dave and Enigma. I will give it a go. I have a feeling I will get some feedback shooting the swaged 255gr lead from Winchester as well.
Thanks,
Rich

I tend to shoot the heck out of my 45 colt Blackhawks before I worry about reaming the cylinders- that will tell you the parameters. Reaming or not, load buildup is the main guide for me.

I had some concern with my new SS Blackhawk I bought from Mike, on two of the six chambers my reloads would not plunk. These reloads would work great in two other Blackhawks and a Uberti Cattleman.

I reset my die to seat the bullets at 1.62, Lyman 49 says 1.60 and my reloads started plunking. I am a happy camper now.

A four pound trigger pull is about average. I consider that a bit too heavy for really accurate shooting. I recommend a complete disassembly and cleaning along with careful polishing of the hammer and trigger sear surfaces and reshaping the trigger spring.

Here are two helpful links to really smooth up the action and drop the trigger pull to a safe about 3 pounds.

http://www.realguns.com/archives/012.htm
http://www.cylindersmith.com/triggerspring.html

Thanks for all the good information everyone. I'm still reading. What with the job and family I still have not shot this one yet, and I am really ready. If I had known it would be so long to get it out to the range I would have left it with my FFL so it was not poking me. Well, maybe not that, but I am ready.
Rich

Sending my stainless 4 5/8 barrel Blackhawk .45 Colt back to Ruger today to correct the undersized chamber throats problem by having them reamed to the proper .4525.
They also agreed to replace the front sight blade at no expense to me even though it was my own fault it got bent.(Dropped on concrete)
I'll post how it went when I get it back.
I was told turnaround would be 10 days... we'll see.

I didn't know they would ream cylinder throats, That's kewl...........

Congrats on your 1st Ruger SA.

It'll be 10 days or less.

Looking forward to your next report!

Levergunlover said:

Sending my stainless 4 5/8 barrel Blackhawk .45 Colt back to Ruger today to correct the undersized chamber throats problem by having them reamed to the proper .4525.

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Is Ruger doing this under warranty, or charging you for it?
How much, if they're charging for it?

dixie884 said:

I didn't know they would ream cylinder throats...........

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Nor did I.

I can't confirm that Ruger does, but here's a little anecdote. I sent a Redhawk .45 LC/ACP back for other reasons, but I mentioned on the return sheet that when I cleaned the cylinder, relatively large chunks of metal were coming out, and I only shot jacketed bullets, so it wasn't just soft lead. I wondered if the throats were properly sized, and asked they be checked and, if needed, corrected.

When it came back, they didn't send any paperwork describing the work done (what's up with that?), but I sure didn't notice any metal fragments coming out when I ran a bore brush through the charge holes. I think Ruger cleaned the throats up.

Sorry, didn't and don't have a way of reliably measuring throats.

As someone who has opened a few thousand cylinder throats.... shoot it first. A lot.

Whether you plan on addressing the barrel/frame choke or not or messing with the throats, or not shoot it a while.

I can't tell you how many times people sent cylinders to me for work only to later find out the gun had other issues and had to be sent back to Ruger. Often if they were timing/lock up related issues, the gun would come back with a new cylinder and they were back to square one.

Littlebluetruck said:

Hello All,
I picked up one of the stainless steel Blackhawks from Mike in Arizona and wanted to run a few numbers by you. First, this is my first single action revolver, and I really like the feel of it. and this Blackhawk feels good in the hand.

Click to expand...

Rich,
I also picked this up from Mike, and find myself walking around every room in the house with it once a week or so. Tried to buy a blued Model 0445, but Mike talked me into this one instead for less $$$.
I have other Blackhawks, but this baby does feel so "right". Hope you enjoy yours for a long time!

As someone who has opened a few thousand cylinder throats.... shoot it first. A lot.

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As I have my own reamer, I disagree. If your 'know' the throats aren't quite right (pin gauges, bullet test tell you so), then fix it. As far as I've heard and personally experienced, reaming has never hurt accuracy. Neither has properly cutting the forcing cone if not the proper angle. Accuracy will get better, or no noticeable change. I do agree that one should take the gun to a range and make sure it 'functions' properly before one starts to make changes though.

I bought .452" reamer and pilots for my .45 BH's. This made a big difference. 1st one, .450" throats on my Vaquero. Before ream, shot low. I had to hold front sight high. Now it is right on! 2 Stainless models, both ordered from Mike, 4 5/8 & 7.5 measured .451". These all shoot better with less felt recoil. After seeing the changes first hand, no reason not to. You will never have full performance without reaming.

Rclark said:

As someone who has opened a few thousand cylinder throats.... shoot it first. A lot.

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As I have my own reamer, I disagree.

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As the owner of a reamer, you wouldn't be wasting your money should you have to send it back. Apparently you missed the point of my post. (See if you even like shooting the gun before you start changing it. Make sure it works right before you start changing it.)


I think it's highly likely that the gun will come back just as it left, "within specs". Heck they've been shipping 98% of them that way for 40 years or more. lol Did you tell them you dropped it on concrete? THAT might be the reason they're willing to get it back. Ruger doesn't like to take chances when it comes to liability.


As an aside... he'll have no idea if it shoots better now because he didn't shoot it before. :lol:

Listen to CAS & others. I normally put a thousand through them first unless something major comes up.