Ruger 3 screw Blackhawks.

[Oldhand]

My oldest son will get it. Thanks again.

 

[contender]

Excellent. Family heirlooms are often appreciated by those who receive them. Make sure you tell your son as many details as you can about the gun, and what it means to you.

And as I've mentioned,, a reversal of the parts to the original lockwork is not hard at all. Since you have a good set of screwdrivers,, you can get the manual (ask Ruger,, they send reprints out for free.) Then, study the procedure for disassembly. Again, it's not hard.
One thing I always do,, is as I remove screws, I lay them in the same pattern on my bench as they will go back in the gun.

I always start any disassembly by removing the cylinder & base pin.

Another tip. The grips. All too often,, people over tighten the grip screw. It results in breaking the INSIDE of a grip panel. I add a "grip screw spacer" in between the panels on the inside. I buy nylon 1/2" long spacers at a local hardware store. Just big enough in diameter to have a hole for the screw. I then carefully file away about .003-.005 of the spacer. This is because the grip frame will often be just a hair smaller than 1/2" wide due to the factory polishing when it was made. The spacers keep me or anyone else from ever over tightening the grip screw.

But once you remove the grips,, you cock the hammer, insert a small nail or similar piece of steel in the hole of the mainspring strut. Then while holding the hammer, pull the trigger, and lower the hammer to where the mainspring assy is captured compressed.
After that,, the 5 screws in the grip frame can be easily removed. NOTE: at the edge of the hammer, on the left side is a small spring with a small pin in a hole in the mainframe. Make sure you pull this out and lay it beside the screw where it came from. It's the pawl spring & plunger.

Following that,, the 3 screws in the side of the main frame that holds the lockwork can easily be removed,, and the conversion parts removed. Reverse the dis-assembly process, and you'll have your gun back to "as built" from the factory.

The sequence;
Base pin & cylinder
Grips
Capture the mainspring assy
Grip frame screws
Pull grip frame & mainspring assy
Small spring & pin removal, (pawl spring & plunger)
Remove Hammer pivot screw & hammer
Remove trigger pivot screw & trigger
The 3rd screw,,, before removing it,, you will see a small "cylinder latch spring" with a leg of it in a hole in the frame. Gently pull the leg out of the hole, (a small screwdriver or needle nose pliers work just fine.) then you can remove the 3rd screw, and the cylinder latch & spring.
Another note; In the grip frame,, you will see a small plunger that is spring loaded sticking up near the trigger guard. Normally they don't fall out,, but they can. When you remove the grip frame,, make sure that plunger & spring stay there. Or if it comes out,, make sure you re-install it prior to reassembly.

Honestly,, I can do it in just about the same time as it took me to type this. It's truly not hard at all. And again,, a manual has these steps in it too!

If I seem like I'm "pushing" you towards returning the gun to it's original as shipped condition, my apologies. I'm not wanting to seem pushy. It's just that all too often,, I see guns missing their original parts, and the expense of replacing them in a Blackhawk can be $150 average. And so far,, all the converted guns I've handled,, did not have the same smooth action feel as an original action. Besides,, when you got that gun,,it was "original" and wouldn't it be nice to return it to that condition?

 

[BearBiologist]

LOVE the "tic-tac-toe" sound when cocking one! My favorites after Colt SAA (or, maybe slightly above them?)