Howdy
This is my 45 Colt/45ACP convertible Blackhawk that I bought brand-spanky new in 1975.
One thing this photo shows is the loading gate is slightly 'plum' colored. This is quite normal with older Ruger revolvers, it is not a defect. Ruger was working on finalizing the mix of elements in their steel alloy for a while, and it took a while to get it just right. A small amount of silicon had been added as a mold release agent, and when the the amount of silicon was reduced, the 'plum' coloring went away.
This is a close up of the line around the cylinder. Again, absolutely normal on any New Model Ruger (those with a transfer bar), not a sign of abuse. Although this would be a sign of neglect with a single action revolver with a Colt style lockwork, it is impossible to avoid a ring like this on a New Model Ruger. WIth a Colt style action, if it is timed properly, the bolt will pop up into the teardrop shaped lead to the cylinder locking notches. So a ring around the cylinder shows somebody was careless and lowered the hammer from half cock, allowing the bolt to contact the circumference of the cylinder. Any subsequent rotation of the cylinder would cause a ring. With a Ruger, the timing is different. The bolt is designed to pop up when the cylinder has rotated about halfway to the battery position. You can see the mark on the ring where the bolt first contacted the circumference of the cylinder and continued to bear against the cylinder as it continued to rotate. Again, absolutely normal with any New Model Ruger. I know guys who have complained about this, and had the revolver retimed, but it is normal with any Ruger that has not been customized.
I was surprised to see there is no flame cutting on my old Blackhawk. A little bit of flame cutting is normal on many revolvers, not automatically a sign of abuse. This Blackhawk has never seen 'Ruger Only' loads, only standard SAAMI spec 45 Colt ammo. No, not cowboy ammo, standard off the shelf 45 Colt ammo. I'm just surprised to see there is no flame cutting seeing as it is 45 years old. Of course, it has not been fired much in the last 20 years or so. The marks we see here are tooling marks left behind when the frame was threaded to accept the barrel. The tap was probably tapered, and as the threads were cut full size, it cut a teeny bit into the top strap. Completely normal.
OK, let's talk about Barrel/Cylinder gap for a moment. The proper way to measure B/C gap is to insert a feeler gauge into the gap with the cylinder shoved
all the way forward.
Then another measurement is taken with the cylinder shoved back as far as it will go. The measurement in the forward position is the B/C gap measurement, the difference between the two measurements is the amount of endshake (the amount the cylinder can freely slide back and forth). In his book The Ruger Single Action Revovlers A Shop Manual, Jerry Kuhnhausen states that for a Ruger the defacto standard B/C gap for revolvers set up for lead bullets is .004-.006, and for lead bullets it is about .008. That is the range of acceptable B/C gaps, not including endshake. These are not hard standards, they are a suggestion. Endshake should be 0. Kuhnhausen states that .0015 is a good standard for endshake. Much past that and recoil can cause the cylinder to 'slap' the frame and cause possible problems with the ratchet section of the cylinder pounding the frame. I am surprised how tight my old Blackhawk is, a .002 feeler gauge slips into the gap with the cylinder all the way forward, and a .004 feeler gauge slips in with the cylinder all the way back, so its endshake is about .002.
This is the rear of the frame on my old Blackhawk. Completely normal for an old revolver that has never seen any 'Ruger Only' loads.One arrow points to the area around the firing pin. This surface is slightly raised, so fired cartridges have been slamming back into it for a long time, eating away the blue. Moving clockwise, the next arrow shows wear to the blue caused by cartridges rotating past that area. The third arrow is pointing to the area of the frame around the cylinder pin hole. A little bit of scoring there, but as I said before, this revolver has never seen any 'Ruger Only' loads. If I saw the distinct impression of the ratchet teeth of the cylinder in this area, I would be concerned. That would mean a lot of heavy rounds had been fired. The fourth arrow is pointing to a partial 'halo' left behind from unfired rounds slamming back against the recoil shield as the gun recoils. Again completely normal. With revolvers that have been fired a great deal, these halos will be more pronounced, sometimes leaving behind a clear image of a primer.
This is the frame of an old S&W K-38 from the late 1940s. The 'halos' on the frame simply indicate it has been fired a great deal over the years. You can clearly see the imprints left behind of the rim diameter as well as the primer pocket. This is just an example, it does not indicate abuse. When a revolver fires, everything jumps backwards. When the motion stops, the cartridges in the chambers continue moving back and strike the frame. The ones that are unfired still have bullets in them so they are heavier than the fired rounds. So the heavier rounds strike the frame harder. Again, this is not indicative of abuse, this old revolver has just been fired a great deal over the years. If I could read the markings stamped onto the case heads in these halos, I would be concerned.
Just for the fun of it, this is the recoil shield of a 22 rimfire S&W K-22 that left the factory in 1932. It has been fired a great deal in all those years, leaving lots of 'halos' on the recoil shield. Not a sign of abuse, just lots of shooting over the last 88 years.
