Another Stupid Question?

[The Blackhawk Kid]

Howdy! I have a blackhawk, 41 mag, haven't shot it yet. Would it help accuracy to ream the cylinder? What exactly does it mean when you have your cylinder reamed? I plan on just shooting jacketed bullets. I have limited loading space & money. Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks! :)

 

[GasGuzzler]

I'd shoot it first and see how accurate AND consistent it is.

 

[brushunter]

Believe your refering to increasing the throat diameter of the cylinder to "match " the barrel diameter. Not sure about the .41 , but many of the older .45 Colts had throat diameters much smaller ( and larger ) than bore size , hence a bullet was squeezed or actually resized going through the throat ...then enters the barrel and wobbles down the length of the barrel. This causes accuracy problems. Also may be a major factor in leading, as the hot gas blows by the bullet and melts it against the barrel. My .45 Bisley has throats at .451.5 , as it came from the factory. I believe the newer Rugers have better tolerances , probably due to better machining processes. I'm sure someone here can help you with your .41 , as far as what it should or shouldn't be. I know just enuf to get me in trouble :D Thats the basic idea of throat reaming ... you may or maynot need it.

regards , brushunter

 

[contender]

I seriously doubt that you'll need to ream a 41 mag cylinder.
Especially shooting only jacketed bullets.
As noted,, try it out BEFORE you do any modifications.

 

[The Blackhawk Kid]

Thanks guys! Darn it, I'll have to shoot it again! I appreciate your help. I'll let you know how it shoots.

 

[gramps]

If you live near Del Rio, Tx I'll be more than happy to shoot it for you.
gramps

 

[WESHOOT2]

IME it seems 41 Mqagnum-chambered guns all shoot superbly, maybe due to the low(er) production numbers making the tooling wear less....?

 

[rangerbob]

Most .41 magnums shoot extremely well, either Rugers or S&W's. The main reason, other than both are quality guns, is the fact that all of the components were designed from the get go for these two guns. All the jacketed bullets are and have been .410" diameter from the beginning as have most of the cast bullets designed for the guns. If your research all of the loading manuals since the guns came out in 1964, most started with and are still using a 6" M57 S&W for their test vehicle. I think Lyman uses a universal receiver. I'm pretty sure most M57's and Blackhawks will shoot better than most owners can hold them. The above situation does not hold true for the .45 Colt since it's been around for 140 years, hence the need to ream the cylinders on some guns. Bob!!! :) 8)

 

[mindustrial]

Can you push a jacketed bullet (sized .410) through the cylinder without using a hammer? Do they all feel the same? Ideally, they should be snug; but .001" is the difference between slip & press.

If you can manually push a bullet through all the chambers, then no; you don't need them reamed. A reamer is a fancy drill bit that will cut the throat to a given diameter. Reamers can be ordered in .001" or sometimes .0005" increments of diameter.