Gary Reeder's Custom ROA's - .45, .475 & .51

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robhof said:
Some artists like to sign their work!
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I consider Reeders "signature" equivalent to a house painter, or graffiti artist signing their work in 4 foot tall letters. They didn't build the house, or the wall, but somehow their mostly cosmetic changes or additions make them an "artist" deserving of credit for the entire underlying edifice.

If he gets that much space, how much does Ruger deserve?... Oh yea, I forgot, its a Reeder, not a Ruger!:scrutiny:

And don't even get me started on his acid etched "engraving" :barf:
 
No, I get it. The few guns I have handled seemed pretty good to me, assuming one can overlook the graffiti. I've never shot one and am unlikely to, so have no real opinion beyond that.

I just had a knee-jerk response to the idea that the product of a custom gunsmith should not be referred to as "his" gun. Is Reeder in the same class as, say, Bowen? I don't really know - but I will continue referring to a Bowen gun as a "Bowen gun"!
 
I dunno about the “purely cosmetic changes” making a 5 shooter cylinder, replacing barrels and timing everything seems to require more than cosmetic talent. I’m talking myself into one of his .51’s... almost there.
 
My brother was married to Gary's daughter for a few years. As a wedding gift, he sent my brother a Thompson Center Contender and one of his Black Widow Super Blackhawks. I've fired them both and they are very nice shooting guns.
 
Onty said:
As far as I know, you can ask Reeder to skip all that calligraphy.
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That’s what I’m doing. People are going to know who did the work... there aren’t many people converting ROAs to .51 caliber.
 
I’m definitely interested in one of these but, how much “more powerful” can it be? The cylinder isn’t any longer.

“The new black powder revolver comes in a more powerful 45 caliber plus a new 475 caliber and the real big boy, a 51 caliber”
 
PowderMark said:
I’m definitely interested in one of these but, how much “more powerful” can it be? The cylinder isn’t any longer.

“The new black powder revolver comes in a more powerful 45 caliber plus a new 475 caliber and the real big boy, a 51 caliber”
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I’m guessing that, as Clements did, he bores the chambers .456 and then deepens them as well. Good for 5 grains or so. Usually folks can get 35 grains under a Kaido or similar sized conical. The five grains isn’t to be sneezed at. If you wanna go though, might as well go big... .51 is going to settle most issues definitively.
 
So much for that idea


Due to parts not being available we no longer build the American Classic. Sorry.
Gary Reeder
 
One wonders what parts he needed to convert an existing Old Army... I’d talked myself and the fetching Mrs Woodnbow into doing this and I don’t really want to backtrack into something else at this point.
 
woodnbow said:
One wonders what parts he needed to convert an existing Old Army... I’d talked myself and the fetching Mrs Woodnbow into doing this and I don’t really want to backtrack into something else at this point.
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Clements built his conversions with only a single donor gun from the buyer, although at the beginning he may have offered the option to supply the gun up until Ruger stopped production.
Some of the small replacement parts may not be available that he may need some extras of, but some of the major parts are available on the after - market.
But maybe he doesn't want to disappoint folks with an expensive gun that simply doesn't have enough parts available for future repairs.

Clements also stopped production after he ramped down to only doing 2 conversions per year.
I think that this type of custom conversion may require too much time and effort when these makers have plenty of other business.
And if small parts are needed that he can't get, then that's just another contributing factor to not be bothered with the project.

Quite often when one door closes, another will open.
If people really want custom ROA conversions then someone else may eventually make them again.
It may be the high price that would change most people's minds away from buying one.
 
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arcticap said:
Clements built his conversions with only a single donor gun from the buyer, although at the beginning he may have offered the option to supply the gun up until Ruger stopped production.
Some of the small replacement parts may not be available that he may need some extras of, but some of the major parts are available on the after - market.
But maybe he doesn't want to disappoint folks with an expensive gun that simply doesn't have enough parts available for future repairs.

Clements also stopped production after he ramped down to only doing 2 conversions per year.
I think that this type of custom conversion may require too much time and effort when these makers have plenty of other business.
And if small parts are needed that he can't get, then that's just another contributing reason to not be bothered with the project.

Quite often when one door closes, another will open.
If people really want custom ROA conversions then someone else may eventually make them again.
It may be the high price that would change most people's minds away from buying one.
Click to expand...
True enough about the price. Sending a 700.00 gun out for 2000.00 worth of work doesn’t make any kind of sense. Unless you really want what that buys you. A hunting revolver Par excellence...
 
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