Ruger Convertibles

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wgf

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I went shooting today checking on some reloads for my 38/9mm Convertible and I thought these pictures would be interesting to the members thinking about acquiring a convertible. To put the group sizes into context you should know: These groups were fired by a wobbly 74 year old, fighting cataracts in a dim indoor range with a two handed grip at 10 yards. The point is the group size remained pretty much the same despite the different cylinders and gun. The upper right group is about the best I can achieve with my 38 cylinder, it was Hornady hollow based wad cutters. The upper left is 115 grain Berry’s copper plated round nose in the 9mm cylinder. The lower left is the Berry 115s in my Glock 19x. The lower right is about the worst group my convertible has ever fired. They were 140 grain cast at 358 diameter, loaded into 9mm cases and sized down by a Lee Carbide factory crimp die. Some of them hit the target sideways. Definitely not the Vaquero’s fault.
My goal was to find bullets that would shoot well and the same in my 19x and in the Vaquero convertible. I actually like shooting the ACP cylinder the best. Loading and unloading is easier. Reloading ACP cases is less fiddling than large cases and they are cheaper. The convertible is definitely more flexible, the only negative I see is the $150 for the extra cylinder.
The picture loaded rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise. The guns are the bottom referenced in the text.
602E2186-2D2E-42D6-83A2-DEE10B9D8608.jpeg
 
Here, I fixed it for you:

25951374-E3DD-43C7-9037-67014975E750.jpeg

Thank you for posting this. I have been thinking about a Blackhawk Convertible.357 / 9mm.

I have a New Vaquero in .45 Colt and I had Ruger make me a .45 ACP cylinder for it. I am currently testing different loads that are consistently accurate from both cylinders using the same bullets. I actually just finished loading some .45 ACP with 205 grain Bear Creek Supply bullets to test out tomorrow at the range.
 
I have a 45 Blackhawk convertible, and also bought a 9mm cylinder for my 357 Blackhawk.

Both revolvers shoot the revolver and auto rounds just fine.

I'm apparently not a good enough shooter for the end results to be any different.

If there's no picture, it didn't happen...

Ruger Blackhawk 45 Convertible

Ruger Blackhawk 45 Convertible

 
Pat, thanks for rotating the photo. I like the 9mm/38 so much. I will be looking for a 45. I really like the feel of the Bisley. The birds head feels almost good, but I am thinking I should go with the normal grip just to have all three types. No telling what I will end up. Depends on what shows up.
Pat, Tallball or anyone else who has tips or suggestions on these convertibles I will be happy to hear them.
 
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wgf said:
Pat, Tallball or anyone else who has tips or suggestions on these convertibles I will be happy to hear them.
Click to expand...

The one thing I found is I over crimped my .45 ACP loads the first time I made some up. After a few cylinders the carbon buildup caused random rounds to back out a bit and jam my gun when cocking the hammer.
I also found the action to be gritty with my new cylinder. There were a couple of burs left in the teeth of the cylinder where the pawl interacts with it when cocking. I dressed those areas up a bit with a jeweler’s file.
 
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Pat Riot said:
The one thing I found is I over crimped my .45 ACP loads the first time I made some up. After a few cylinders the carbon buildup caused random rounds to back out a bit and jam my gun when cocking the hammer.
I also found the action to be gritty with my new cylinder. There were a couple of burs left in the teeth of the cylinder where the pawl interacts with it when cocking. I dressed those areas up a bit with a jeweler’s file.
Click to expand...
I noticed my new cylinder also needed a little smoothing in places. The chambers also seem tighter than my Glocks.I will do my plunk test in the Ruger cylinder if the cartridges will be destined for either gun.
 
I found that the edges of the tooth area (I have no idea what to call them) had rough turned up metal from the cutting process. A light jewelers file dressed them right up. I was very careful not to change the pawl interface with the teeth.
 
The only thing I've regretted about any of my Blackhawks is that I bought one of them NiB. It's a rugged handgun. My used ones had all been fired plenty, and all of them are perfectly serviceable.

If I saw a tempting 357 or 45 colt at a good price, I'd be willing to look for a convertible cylinder on Ebay or wherever. Maybe I got lucky that the one I bought on Ebay worked, but I could have always sold it for about what I paid, bought another and tried that one, etc.

Now is a pretty bad time to try to purchase firearms, though. The prices are still kind of outrageous.
 
Have a flattop .45 convertible, single six convertible and had a 357 convertible but let it go. Have a 50th flattop 357 I'd like to get a 9mm cylinder for, but the medium frame ones seem tougher to come by.
 
I got a pair of the Vaquero .45 Colt/.45 ACP Convertibles and a Wing 94 in .45 Colt back in 2000 when I thought that I would try CAS. I still have the Rugers with some nice TruIvory Antique Ivory grips. They're both great shooters and fun. I don't shoot them often but they're pretty accurate and since the old Super Blackhawk frame that they're built on is pretty beefy, I used the Hornady "Ruger and Thompson Center Only" loads section to create my woods carry ammo. Just thinking about them makes me want to take them to the range next week.

I did talk to a friend who has the Ruger Redhawk .45 Colt/.45 ACP revolver...he told me that the .45 ACP accuracy was fair to poor while the .45 Colt performance was pretty good.

Cheers,

Harry
 
Pat Riot said:
I found that the edges of the tooth area (I have no idea what to call them) had rough turned up metal from the cutting process. A light jewelers file dressed them right up. I was very careful not to change the pawl interface with the teeth.
Click to expand...
Generally referred to as "ratchets."

Timing is set by the hand and ratchet interaction with the locking lug. If the ratchets are messed up, but the hand and cylinder locking lug are working together right, it all still works. :)

Thank you, Mister Colt!
 
Years ago I had a .45 Colt made up by Ruger to fit a new Super Blackhawk gripframe and grips, and fit a .45 ACP cylinder. This when ACP cylinders were offered as extras and no convertibles were offered.

Some time back I noticed I had a batch of .45 Colt cases with split necks. I cut these to ACP length and used .45 ACP loading data came up with what I called at the time .45 Xtra Short. Now brass is available as the .45 Coybow Special , but I just can't seem to call my acartridges that, so refer to them as the .45 Special. These will work in either the .45 Colt or .45 ACP cylinder. And brass that would have been discarded is now in use.

.45XS_2.jpg

.45XS_1(1).jpg


Bob Wright


And, as a matter of interest, I loaded 230 gr. RN jacketed and dubbed it ".45 M1906" to sort of replicate the M1906 cartridges
 
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20210308_191123.jpg Ok, I think my "convertible" is the most versatile one listed so far!
It can shoot 45C, 45acp, AND . . . loose powder and ball (or paper cartridges for those that do)!! Mine is the only one listed that can accommodate cap and ball!


Mike
 
I had a 357/9mm convertible I probably should not have sold. I shot a lot of 9mm FMJ out of it at the turtles in my buds pond. It shot 9mm very well. I guess I didn't think the gun was sized for the round it shot. It just seemed like the gun was too large. I would like to have one of the newer smaller framed flat tops in a convertible set up. The NMV would also be a nice combo gun.
 
ThomasT said:
I had a 357/9mm convertible I probably should not have sold. I shot a lot of 9mm FMJ out of it at the turtles in my buds pond. It shot 9mm very well. I guess I didn't think the gun was sized for the round it shot. It just seemed like the gun was too large. I would like to have one of the newer smaller framed flat tops in a convertible set up. The NMV would also be a nice combo gun.
Click to expand...
I am dreaming about Flattop stainless, 357/9mm, 5.5" barrel, Bisley. As a matter of fact, when recently ordered #5, Keith style base pin https://gunblast.com/images/Ruger_Bisley45/MVC-009F.jpg (except no set screw), and their base pin latch from https://beltmountain.com for my stainless SBH, I also ordered the same style pin for Flattop. Call me optimist (LOL).
 
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