My Ruger arrived Today!!!

[Smokin_Gun]

Mario, it's made by Uberti. It takes .451 or .452 balls if you make them in a Lee Mold, .454 will work fine also. Shoots tight groups, as far as I can remember it shot 1-2" high at 25yd and pretty much on at 100yd. It made tin cans dance and water bottles bleed pretty much put it where you aimed it. Has a .001" differance between chambers and bore grooves...makes for accuracy. Trigger is Uberti smooth and works well for me. I got it new and the box wasn't in good shape, about a year ago. The BP date stamp means it was made in 2001. I have taken it out about 3 or 4 times along with a few other Rev. Everything on it as functional as it's 1873 SAA Uberti counter part, i.e. ejector, gate, removeable firing pin. R&D is supposed to have a .45Schofield conversion. Saw it in the Midway catalog. (this cylinder bushing is .080") not .120"
I like it alot and would really rather not sell it, but to get something else I want I would need to at this time. This one was new and hasn't been shot like most of my other ones so this one I figure I should sell. It's a fair price along with the loader. Let me know if interested.

 

[sundance44s]

sundance44s

I know alot of people that shoot the 3f in their 50 cal front stuffers and it does fine .....but if you have the 1 in 48 twist i`d suggest trying some 2f first it will be better with the faster twist .. the 3f burns so fast it can cause the ball to skip the rifleing .. the guys in my club useing the 3f in theit 50`s have a 1 in 66 or 1 in 70 twist ... i use the 2f in my 1 in 70 twist green mountain 50 barrel and its a tack driver out too 100 yards... some barrels are picky as to what they like so i`d try some of both .

 

[The Sicilian]

Sundance,

Thanks for the advice. I've got a Thompson Center Hawkens 50 cal, I picked it up for $199.00 and I hear the Thompson Center Hawkens Rifles go for around $400 or $500 dollars new, Does that sound about right to you? I'd like to get a new fiber optic front sight because the one that it came with has been sheared or scraped by the last owner. Don't get me wrong, you can't tell when looking down the barrel (aiming) but when you look at it from the side it is plainly visible. All of the brass is in excellent condition and the wood overall is good. There are some gashes and scratches in the wood on the left side of the stock that I would like to take out but I don't know how to properly go about doing it. I know how to sand and finish wood but don't have any experience with rifle furniture (Is that the right term to use or is the brass considered "Furniture"?)


I was also wondering, How do I go about cleaning this thing? Do I remove the barrel from the stock to clean it or do I just leave it on the stock? Could you recommend any good ammo and load sizes for me?

Thanks,

-mario.

 

[sundance44s]

sundance44s

Yep all the brass on your gun is called funiture ... i`ve got 3 of the Thompson Hawkens great guns excellent locks and triggers .. and if you get one thats not a tack driver you can always buy a green mountain drop in barrel for it .. comes out of the box ready to drop in and shoot and they are match grade barrels ... for around 175.00 .. i do take the barrels off mine for cleaning because its so easy on the Hawken rifles .. if you can use a coffee can full of hot water and put the nipple end in the can and draw your patches with a cleaning jag ..uasually takes about 5 patches to get her clean .. i clean at the range with windex because it dries so quick . man i do get lucky some times bought all 3 of mine at a pawn shop for 50 bucks a piece they said no one wanted the side hammer guns now because the inlines are so much better ..... yea right i took all he had that were Thompson glad he felt that way ! your right new they are around 525.00 each .. are ya gonna use round ball and patch in yours .. thats all i shoot out of mine .. i cast my own balls but have used some made by speer and hornady ... both are good .. patch thickness and lube are imporntant if your gonna shoot round balls .. i buy pillow ticking material at walley world for 2 bucks a yrd. and cut and lube my own patches ... the sporting goods stores get 6 bucks for 100 of these patches .. i cut aand lube a thousand for that . I`ve refinished the wood on 2 of mine just because i didn`t like the color the factory puts on them ..i like `em dark walnut with a tung oil finish .. its just like refinishing anything else take all the brass off and just take care with your sanding where the wood meets the brass funiture .. i used a fine grade sand paper there and kept checking the fit . ... is the barrel on yours the 1 inch thick or the 15/16 ..i`ve got one thats the 1 inch .. man that one is heavy for me .. but a great shooter from the bench .

 

[The Sicilian]

Sundance,

Looks like my barrel is 1" and it's a heavy bastard! Man did you get a great deal on your Thompsons! Count your lucky stars that that pawn shop didn't know what they had! I don't know about oil finishing wood, I've only done some basic wood working, like making my own shelving and sanding and staining them, putting nicely engraved trim on, etc. A master finisher I'm not but I do pretty good all around. I really need to learn from someone with more experience than me. There are always little tricks of the trade that the lay person doesn't know about. Could you explain to me how to apply an oil finish, step by step, from sanding to polishing, from beginning to end? I'd really appreciate it.

I don't know what I'm gonna shoot out of my hawkens yet, round balls are definitely cheaper, that's for sure. What do you think is more accurate? I figure bullets and maxi/mini balls should be more accurate then round balls, but you never can tell until you shoot them and see what the gun likes. I want to get into casting all of my own ammo, especially for my revolvers, I just haven't decided what equipment to buy yet. I think I may order some today or tomorrow. Got any good advice you may want to pass on to me Sundance? It's always nice to have access to more experienced people before going out and buying the wrong thing.

-mario.

 

[sundance44s]

sundance44s

Wow ... you did get the heavy tank barrel ... i gotta say if you can stand the weight ..it`s the straightest shooter i have .. back when i was still hunting i used the buffalo bullets in my 50 cal front stuffer ..they need no patch and shoot straight out too deer takeing yardages .. they are expencive ..too much for plunking with ..and they will kill on one end and cripple on the other with a hunting load of powder ( 90 gr or so ) because of the weight of`em ........i always shoot round balls these days .. and with the Thompson barrel the 2f powder or pyrodex RS same as 2f works best because of the twist in the Thompson barrel .. 1 in 48 inch .. finding the right thickness in patches is important too .. try some .15 thousands and some .18 thousands mine shoot the best with the .18 `s and 60 gr of powder . i can group into a 1 inch circle at 100 yards with this load and round ball .... all my Thompsons seem to like this load but the 1 inch barrel shoots even tighter . ( i`m benching too not free hand ) The rifles are better than me free handed .

There`s 2 ways to go about the refinishing work on a gun stock .. you can eaither use sand paper or a comerical stripper to remove the old finish ... i`ve always used the sand paper because i wanted to take some deep scratches and dings out of the wood ... but never use a sanding machine .. always hand sand ... i always start with med grit paper in the runs and finner paper around where the funiture fits .. being more careful not too take off any more than needed there so as not to cause an improper fit when replaceing the funiture .you`ll need to sand everything real good with some fine grit paper too finish .make her as slick as possible . You would be supprised at how quick it will go sanding by hand . after you get all the old finish off and the fine paper sanding done give a good going over with some 00 steel wool ..then time to apply the color stain you want .. let it sit over night after you have it stained and then go over it with some steel wool again to take out any uneven spots in your stain job ... if you like the color but want it a bit darker restain it now and let it set over night again .. and steel wool again next day . Now for the finish ... if you want it finished out real shinny like glass use true oil ... if you like the old timmer finish look ..like me .. i use toung oil . this is the time consumeing part its gonna take at least 15 coats of the finish allowing it to dry each coat .. you`ll need to use the 00 steel wool after each time it dries ... after about 5 coats of the finish you`ll start to see progress in your work ...rub each coat of finish oil in real good trying to get the finishing oils warm from the rubbing .. it`ll take into the wood much better from being rubbed in really good .. and everyone will say wow ..that stock looks amazeing better than store bought ..hahaha ... patience is the key here its something that just can`t be rushed .. but its nothing that can`t be fixed as long as you are careful not too take too much wood from the places where the funiture fit .. hope this helps .. sounds like a lot of work ..but you`d be supprised at fast it will go .

 

[The Sicilian]

I like to this kind of work, relaxing (Most of the time) and it's quite satisfying after the work has been done, you get to marvel at your own handywork and brag a little to all your friends I don't mind sanding things by hand, thats how I usually do things anyway, no big deal there. I just bought some Hornady Great Plains 50 cal ammo, 385 grain bullets, I'd hate to get shot by one of these monsters!!! I'm glad to hear that the rifle I bought is so accurate, it makes me feel like I made a good purchase. Maybe I should measure it just to make sure it's the Tank barrel, but I'm pretty sure it is.

I'm not so sure if this was a good idea, but I couldn't resist. I just bought some 45 cal 325 grain hollow points, prelubricated, to use in my ruger Old Army, just to see how they shoot. I figure I'd put some Triple 7 behind them and see how they fly. Does anyone think they could damage my Ruger or get stuck in the bore or something? The diameter is .451 so I don't see how that could happen, but they are rather tall compared to a round ball, about double the length I'd say. My Ruger has fairly large chambers so I think they will shoot alright. Only twenty to a box though, I bet they'd make a great self defense load !