Great buy on SBH Hunter 44 mag....! BUT.....disappointing.

[Heliman]

This past weekend at the show I purchased for what I thought was great price a Super Blackhawk 44 Mag Hunter. It also included a bunch of extras.....



150 rounds of handloads.....


150 or so 180 and 240 gr Hornady JHP bullets......


Hornady die set........


A few hundred rounds of dirty brass......


2 nylon holsters.....


ALL this for $550! ........BUT.....

The gun was a little dirty and looked to be in good condition. When I was able to take it down and clean it I found some disturbing, to me, issues with the cylinder and forcing cone of the gun. Looked to be some erosion around the front face of the cylinder bores and the forcing cone. The guy did say he had fired "hundreds of rounds" through the gun. It also had an after market base pin installed. I installed the original base pin and it shows axial movement of the base pin of about 3/16" or so.....




I am not looking to sell this gun, but to use it in the field. My question is it capable of being accurate and reliable based on the wear? It locks up tight and their are no other issues that I can see. I have yet to range test it. Any thoughts of the knowledgeable members here??

Thanks! Dave

 

[Kanook]

Pull the ammo, and have at it. The only way to know for sure is to shoot it yourself.

If it were me, I'd fix/recut the cone and keep on shooting.

Nice revolver by the way, my wife loves hers.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

The cylinder could be refaced and the barrel set back a turn and the forcing cone recut if you want to go that far. I would definatly see how it shoots first.

 

[whichwatch]

Nice find, I just would not shoot his handloads.

 

[Heliman]

Nice find, I just would not shoot his handloads.

Ya, I won't..... I will shoot standard factory loads initially.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Yeah, a little bit of erosion going on there. The gun has been shot with some hot loads of ball powder and maybe light bullets. If with normal loads there is not excess flame spitting out the sides it will still last for a long time like that. Some folks I know on the forum (Bucks Owen) think erosion like that is not a problem at all. Don't shoot any more of the 180gr bullets with a max. load of ball powder.

from the reloading section.
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227292

 

[Chief 101]

That revolver is just getting broke in, I've shot Supers till they were much more worn than that...you still have many thousands of rounds to shoot before it even begins to look worn....that wear would not bother me in the least. It likely shoots better now than when it was new.

 

[Jim Puke]

That revolver is just getting broke in, I've shot Supers till they were much more worn than that...you still have many thousands of rounds to shoot before it even begins to look worn....that wear would not bother me in the least. It likely shoots better now than when it was new.

X 2

That gun is not hurt. Choot It!

 

[Heliman]

I agree about the 180 grain loads. The rifling and bore are pristine...now. It was pretty coppered up. Some copper solvent and a lot of brushing made it purty.

Dave

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

It would appear you got a LOT for $550. You will know more when you shoot it. Worst case scenario send it back to Ruger and let them make a determination. But I would think if it shoots well that will tell you a lot. My feeling is these things are good for multiple thousands of rounds and are just flat tough guns. Just figure out when your first hunt till be and what you are going to scope it with. I'd stick with a 2X as it's easier to find the target. Have fun.

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

Great deal man. Nothing wrong with that gun. Enjoy it!

 

[rugerguy]

looks more like too many "reloads" is it "erosion" ? or simply leading, buildup ( fouling)?? clean it real good ,I would just run a forcing cone reamer lightly or if you have a Lewis Lead remover, try that first.....and a little brass or bronze wool, with bore cleaner on the front of the chambers of the cylinder , even one of those "Lead Away " cloths..............good deal, NICE gun

 

[98Redline]

The front of the cylinder, top of the frame, and the forcing cone do appear to have some erosion on them. Not much but some. My guess it is from him hot rodding those 180gr loads with something like Lil-Gun.

Regardless, I don't think it is enough to worry about. Stick with the 240gr + loads and that gun will last longer than you will.

 

[Heliman]

The front of the cylinder, top of the frame, and the forcing cone do appear to have some erosion on them. Not much but some. My guess it is from him hot rodding those 180gr loads with something like Lil-Gun.

Regardless, I don't think it is enough to worry about. Stick with the 240gr + loads and that gun will last longer than you will.

You are correct. 180gr JHP's and Lil-Gun. I will be shooting factory loads 240gr JHP or 300gr hardcast. Dave

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Congratulations on a nice gun.

 

[REB]

The front of the cylinder looks more like lead buildup to me. I cant see the forcing cone well enough to say.

 

[Prescut]

It looks like bare metal. I can't really tell, but it looks more like rubbing between the cylinder and forcing cone than erosion. If that's the case, it should only be on one or two cylinders. It's not usually out of round on all of them. It's easy to test cylinder gap with a feeler gauge.
Prescut

 

[98Redline]

LilGun is well known to cause erosion when pushing light for caliber bullets very fast. I am nearly 100% certain that is erosion, but not nearly enough to to worry about.

It does go to prove that LilGun and hot rod magnum loads are not a good combo. If it can erode the hard as heck stainless of a Ruger, it has got to be pretty brutal overall.

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

Does anyone make a 300 gr. JHP?

 

[REB]

Both Hornady and Nosler do, probably other do as well