fluted SBH cylinder

[sheep.dog]

I currently own the Talo 3.75" SBH in 44 mag, its got the the unfluted cylinder. I know that some of the SBH 44s come with the fluted cylinder. Now, Ruger may have had good reason to use the unfluted cylinder on the short barreled Talo, perhaps to add some mass and help with felt recoil, but I really like the looks of a fluted cylinder on a short barreled revolver. Clearly the fluted cylinder is not a safety concern on the magnum or Ruger would not have used it.

So, am I better off hunting down a fluted 44 cylinder and having it fitted or would having my current cylinder fluted by a smith be more efficient? * note: I have some other plans for this piece too, such as an action job and general checking/adjusting gap, throats etc. So it will be going to the smith either way.
Also is the factory fluted cylinder black powder chamfered?

 

[Robb Barnes]

Since that cylinder is fit to that gun and you are going to have some other work done to it, it would be bewt to have the smith flute the existing cylinder in my opinion. At least that is the route I have gone in the past.

 

[Justice B. Swift]

If your gun is blued you'll have the expense of re-bluing after the cost to flute your cylinder. Might be better to pick up a used one, have it timed, then re-sell the non-fluted one likely for more than you paid for the fluted one. Maybe you'll even choose to keep both so the gun can be returned to original at a later date if desired. If your gun is stainless then having yours fluted may be the most simple route. No timing issues, no bluing concerns - just nice pretty new flutes. The fluted cylinders do not have the "black powder" bevel so you could have this done when you have it fluted. I have to agree that I too like flutes, especially on the shorty barrels. Good luck on your project.
-Just B.S.-

 

[Hondo44]

Hi Kendall,

No, the fluted cylinders do not have the BP chamfer, no Ruger cyls do to my knowledge.
I never liked the unfluted cyl either.
I agree with Robb, have yours fluted and chamfered since you're having some smithing done anyway. Then you don't have to deal with selling your smooth cyl also.
I presume your Talo 3 3/4" is stainless (haven't seen any in blue) and I have not seen any stainless fluted cyls for sale.

I bought a couple of 44 Mag blue fluted cylinders on Gunbroker. My SBH is a NM but pre warning stamp. Both cyls were newer and seem to run longer because both were longer than mine so I was able to fit them to my frame. Kept one in 44 Mag and opened up the other to 44-40 for my SBH. (The neck of the Mag chamber is slightly larger than the 44-40 but I have to use .430" bullets anyway to match my bore which makes the 44-40 case necks 'fatter' so it works out well. I honed out my 44-40 resizing and seating die to reload them.)

Do you have someone in mind to do the work yet?

 

[sheep.dog]

Hey Jim,
Yep, its stainless.
Aesthetically, as well as having the cylinder fluted and chamfered, I'd like to have the gun bead blasted to a matte finish and I'm sort of toying with a round butting the grip frame(any thoughts?) Mechanically, I just want the whole thing tuned up and all the tolerances checked out and tightened up if need be.

I have no idea who should do the work, do you have any suggestion? Don't suppose your set up for such things?

 

[Hondo44]

By taking the corner off of the back, bottom corner you lose a little leverage to support the gun's weight and keep the barrel level in my opinion, but on the 3 3/4" barrel, probably not an issue.

No, sorry, cutting the flutes is not something I'd tackle, but here are "the usual suspects":

Alan Harton
713-772-8314 or 713-907-6031
[email protected]
Houston, Texas

Andy Horvath - DIAGONAL ROAD GUN SHOP
14131 Diagonal Rd.
La Grange, OH 44050
(440) 458-4369, (440) 355-5618

Ben Forkin - Forkin Custom Classics
PO Box 444, 205 10th Ave SW
White Sulphur Springs, MT 59645
406-547-2344
mailto:[email protected]

David Clements - Clements Custom Guns
276-238-8761
2766 Mt. Zion Rd.
Woodlawn, VA 24381
[email protected]
www.clementscustomguns.com/

Turnbull Manufacturing Co.
6680 State Route 5 and 20
Bloomfield, NY 14469
Phone: 585-657-6338
Fax: 585-657-7743
Visit our shop
Mon - Fri 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
[email protected]
http://turnbullmfg.com/

Dustin Linebaugh - Dustin Linebaugh Custom Conversions
PO Box 263 Cody WY 82414
mailto:[email protected]
www.dustinlinebaugh.com/index.htm

John Linebaugh - Linebaugh Custom Sixguns
Phone: 307-645-3332
P.O. Box 455 Cody, WY 82414
Delivery (UPS):
177 Louis L'Amour Lane
Powell, WY 82435
www.customsixguns.com/index.htm

Garry Reeder - Garry Reeder Custom Guns
The Pistol Parlor
2601 E. 7th Ave.
Flagstaff, AZ
928-527-4100 / 928-526-3313
mailto:[email protected]
www.reedercustomguns.com/index.html

Hamilton Bowen - Bowen Classic Arms
(865) 984-3583
SHIPPING/PHYSICAL ADDRESS:
BCA Corporation 3512 Old Lowes Ferry Road
Louisville, TN 37777
MAILING ADDRESS:
Bowen Classic Arms Corp.
P. O. Box 67
Louisville, TN 37777
mailto:[email protected]
www.bowenclassicarms.com/default.htm

Jack Huntington - Jack Huntington Gunsmith
(530)268-6877
21854 Meyer Ravine
Grass Valley, California, USA 95949
mailto:[email protected]
www.jrhgunmaker.com/

Jim Stroh - Alph Pricision inc.
(706)783-2131
3238 Della Slaton Rd.
Comer, GA 30629
[email protected]
http://www.fordsguns.com/

John Gallagher - Gallagher Firearms Inc.
(205)384-5229
3923 Bird Farm Road
Jasper, Alabama 35503
[email protected]
www.gallagherfirearms.com

 

[NitroAcres]

SheepDog,
I have a perfectly good Fluted Shiny Stainless .44 Mag. out of a Vaquero that I swapped for a NonFluted one (I like the Non's), you are welcome to try it out for correct fit and timing, I would swap it even for your non fluted.
It is a playing as a pencil holder on my desk right now, I can shoot you some measurements if you like.

 

[Hondo44]

WOW! SheepDog, it's your day to buy a lottery ticket. If it's a 44 Mag cyl you're in luck.

It'll be much cheaper to have NitroAcres's cylinder brush finished to match your gun, chamfered, and even lengthened if the overall length is too short than to have yours fluted. You can either have the cyl bored for a Colt cyl base pin bushing to be installed or have the front hub drilled with a longer hub insert made and pressed in. Either option is less machining than fluting a cyl.

 

[sheep.dog]

Wow Nitro, thanks for the offer. If I was at home with the gun it'd be much easier to make it happen. I'll have to contact my dad and see if he's up for doing the shipping/receiving for me.

Hondo, I've talked with some of the smiths on your list , with the other work getting done fluting my cylinder is gonna end up costing around $150. Will it really be cheaper to do what your saying?
I guess I'll ask the smiths too.

Thanks guys!

 

[Hondo44]

You'd have to ask one of the smiths to be sure, but I drilled and pressed in an insert to lengthen the .22 cyl I reamed for the .32 I got from you. It's a very simple process compared to milling six flutes evenly around a cyl so I would expect it to be something in the $50 maximum cost. And it might not even need it.

 

[NitroAcres]

If you want to have yer Pop's measure it here are the #'s : OAL / 1.975, CL 1.702

The Vaquero I took it off of, was fired maybe a couple hundred rounds..I am in no hurry always collecting parts for another build in the future.

 

[sheep.dog]

Jim, as should always be expected, you were right on. It'll be easier to fit Nitro's vaquero cylinder.

Nitro, PM is inbound shortly.

As for the gun, I've settled on having Clements build me what I think wil be a hellofa all around woods bumming gun.
Starting with the Talo, he'll chamfer and fit the vaqero cylinder, swap in a tapered match grade barrel of the same length, freewheel the cylinder, round but the grip frame and bead blast the entire revolver to a matte finish. That's as well as doing all of the action tuning and setting everything to min tolerances. Might add a few other bells and whistles, ideas? Also gonna have to find some new grip panels to be fitted to the round butted grip frame, maybe walnut.

 

[Hondo44]

He'll do a great job!

Since you'll need a front sight on that new barrel I would be sure to go with one with quick change blades. So if you want to change to a new standard load or have two standard loads and one shoots lower than the other I don't like to have the back sight cranked way up. You can try different color blades as well.

On my 44 SBH Hunter and Redhawk I can just push a button in the front of the sight base and swap front blades. Dave most likely has his own version. The other benefit is quick changing to a fiber optic or a bead front sight. It's very simple to change the rear blade to a V groove that Ruger supplied on their Hunter SA models and Redhawk models. There's the peep sight rear blade also, sold on this forum by a member. Us old guys w/old peepers are always looking for an edge.