Would it be possible?

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badge851

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Would it be possible for Ruger® to design a 5 shot GP100 in 41 and 44 Magnum? If so you can put me down for the 41 Magnum version. What problems or limitations do you see? After all, Smith & Wesson® (Mdl 69) and Taurus® (TRACKER™) have done it.
 

hittman

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Don't see why not ….. they already make one in 44 Special.

I'd be on board for a 41 also.
 

GunnyGene

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Possible, yes. Profitable, maybe not. Like any business, Ruger isn't going to produce anything that doesn't have a good probability of being profitable.
 

contender

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"Possible, yes. Profitable, maybe not. Like any business, Ruger isn't going to produce anything that doesn't have a good probability of being profitable."

^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^

Remember,, Ruger is in the business to make MONEY,, and guns are the avenue to that end. You HAVE to be able to make a serious profit to make it look good to stockholders.
 

NikA

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I doubt they could do a .44 Magnum on the GP frame. The forcing cone on the. 44 Special model is fairly thin and would likely not stand up to the pressure/force of full power magnum loads.

.41 seems to be a possibility, I think Clements already does a .41 Special custom that is rated for 1200fps loads.
 

GunnyGene

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contender said:
"Possible, yes. Profitable, maybe not. Like any business, Ruger isn't going to produce anything that doesn't have a good probability of being profitable."

^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^

Remember,, Ruger is in the business to make MONEY,, and guns are the avenue to that end. You HAVE to be able to make a serious profit to make it look good to stockholders.

I used to work for Boeing Commercial Airplanes after I left the USMC. As an example, everyone thinks that Boeing is purely an aerospace company, which is mostly true these days (they are also a big player in very special software for very special purposes). But after WWII when the market for bombers and other things that fly dried up, Boeing survived by growing potatoes in Idaho. And they also built boats for a while. Ya' gotta do whatcha gotta do. :)
 

Thel

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It would be possible. The 10mm GP uses a barrel with a thicker shank so that problem can be alleviated and, in fact, Gemini Custom goes this route in a custom .44 GP they offer. Dave Clements when he was doing his .44 sp conversions of GP's said his conversion would allow a 250 gr bullet to be fired at 1250 fps which is pretty hot. He did this by lengthening the cylinder and shortening the forcing cone protruding in the cylinder window. The 69 has a frontal frame width about 0.05" wider but the Taurus is narrower than the GP. Cylinder diameter is close on the GP to the L frame as the GP is 1.557" vs. 1.56". Would Ruger do this? Aside from the profitability angle I am sure given their reputation for durability would wonder how they would stand up to a 340 grn full steam Buffalo Bore load over time. S&W recommends using very few 300 gr and above loads in their 69.

Another person that is or was doing .44 sp conversions of the GP and also to .41 mag is Gary Reeder
( https://reedercustomguns.com/ ) with his Skorpion and Black Mamba
( https://reedercustomguns.com/revolvers/BlackMamba.htm ).
 

Hondo44

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No possibility Ruger would make it.

Profitability would be marginal if at all.
Too many design/production changes even if Ruger engineers deemed the GP 100 platform safe.
Liability outweighs any potential positives to produce it.
The competition already has that very small market-niche covered.
They can't keep up with demand for all the models they produce now.
Etc.

In other words, no way.
 

Biggfoot44

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Back when the GP100 was new , read in gun magazines ( print periodical ) about a custom 'smith doing a .41 mag conversion , but wasn't cheap by the standards of the day .
 

Mus408

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Well I didn't wait around for Ruger to decide....bought a nice S&W M69 4.2 barrel few years ago. Nice shooter.
OgBEnXI.jpg
 

Chuckbuster II

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always wanted a .41 GP, thought it would be perfect companion to the various blackhawks (and the Henry Big Boy) laying around. Didn't really want to go the custom route. Sort of gave up when I recently came across a 5" Blue 10mm auto. Not quite a .41 but REALLY liking it. It's a keeper.
Kevin
 

Hondo44

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Well pretty similar to 41 Mag.
10 mm 37,500 pressure
.41 Magnum 36,000 pressure
Rifling twist very close as well: 1 in 16" vs. 1 in 18.5 (41 mag).

Reloading 41 Mag cases in 10mm dies with 10mm bullets in shortened cases. Or shoulders in the 10mm chambers reamed deeper would get you a 41 Mag (or 41 Special) handgun. Of course if you go that far, you might just as well ream the chambers to 41 mag case size. Just don't touch the chamber throats unless you want to change barrels.

Don't know about the head spacing with the 41 case rim; the rear of the cyl may have to be faced off a bit.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10mm_Auto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.41_Remington_Magnum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.41_Special

41 Mag reloaded as above would likely shoot well enough in 41 mag guns also. Might be fun to find out.
 

NikA

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Thel said:
The 10mm GP uses a barrel with a thicker shank

I was curious about this so I went and took some measurements.

The 10mm GP uses a 2-piece barrel; the forcing cone end of the liner is hex-shaped and appears to tighten into a counterbore. I posit this change was made for manufacturing reasons that have nothing to do with the strength of the forcing cone area.

Examples I have access to:
.357 GP has a FC OD of ~.5126"
10mm GP has a FC OD of ~.6308" to the "points" of the hex (unfortunately, forgot to measure the flats)
.44 GP has a FC OD of ~.5144"

For comparison:
.41 Redhawk has a FC OD of ~.6720"
.44 Redhawk has a FC OD of ~.6805"

Measurements from a S&W N frame or a Blackhawk would probably be more comparable given the barrel shank size is close to that of a GP. Makes me wonder about the S&W 69, since the L frame shank size is smaller than a GP (at least for the pre 2-piece barrels).

TL;DR: I doubt there's enough meat in the GP forcing cone/frame area for Ruger to attempt a .44M model. .41M certainly seems doable but given the lack of commercial ammunition, probably not profitable for anything other than a distributor run.
 
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