New Blackhawk
- Thread starter Hamonrye
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Jim March
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No personal experience, but I've been tracking reports.
Apparantly, the slight caliber difference between .357 and .355/.356 (9mm specs) is more of an issue, esp. when shooting jacketed 9mm. But NOT in all guns - some seem to shoot the 9s as well as the 38s/357s.
Some guys who reload load up cast rounds in the 9mm cases, and these often cope with the "oversize" barrel spec (these Blackhawks have 357-spec barrels) better than jacketed.
The neat part is being able to use semi-auto magazines as "speedloaders", thumbing rounds into the loading gate
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I recommend running "the checkout" with both cylinders, making sure cylinder fit and barrel gap is proper with both with no excess play. If these are OK and the gun is otherwise good, 9mm accuracy will be at least acceptable and may be very good indeed.
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If you reload, there's a VERY good reason to get a double-caliber 357/9mm gun. You send the 9mm cylinder to Gary Reeder. $200 later it comes back reamed out to 356GNR, and if I recall right that price includes dies for this wildcat caliber. You then start with 41Magnum cases and neck them down to 357 for a "357PsychoMag" sorta thing...158grain loads at 1,700 - 1,800fps anyone? 125s out past 2,000fps?
Or, you can load 356GNR to standard 357Mag performance (or even 38+P horsepower) and the peak pressures involved will be so low that with the gun shot dry you can open the loading gate, point the nose up and the spin the cylinder to just drop everything free, no ejector stroking.
Ohhhh ya. And you still have your original 357 cylinder for less gonzo pursuits. This "new" cylinder will be properly fitted to the GUN already, so it's a lot easier to go to the 356GNR this way versus converting a cylinder originally for another gun and maybe having to fit it.
Apparantly, the slight caliber difference between .357 and .355/.356 (9mm specs) is more of an issue, esp. when shooting jacketed 9mm. But NOT in all guns - some seem to shoot the 9s as well as the 38s/357s.
Some guys who reload load up cast rounds in the 9mm cases, and these often cope with the "oversize" barrel spec (these Blackhawks have 357-spec barrels) better than jacketed.
The neat part is being able to use semi-auto magazines as "speedloaders", thumbing rounds into the loading gate
.-------------------
I recommend running "the checkout" with both cylinders, making sure cylinder fit and barrel gap is proper with both with no excess play. If these are OK and the gun is otherwise good, 9mm accuracy will be at least acceptable and may be very good indeed.
-------------------
If you reload, there's a VERY good reason to get a double-caliber 357/9mm gun. You send the 9mm cylinder to Gary Reeder. $200 later it comes back reamed out to 356GNR, and if I recall right that price includes dies for this wildcat caliber. You then start with 41Magnum cases and neck them down to 357 for a "357PsychoMag" sorta thing...158grain loads at 1,700 - 1,800fps anyone? 125s out past 2,000fps
?Or, you can load 356GNR to standard 357Mag performance (or even 38+P horsepower) and the peak pressures involved will be so low that with the gun shot dry you can open the loading gate, point the nose up and the spin the cylinder to just drop everything free, no ejector stroking.
Ohhhh ya. And you still have your original 357 cylinder for less gonzo pursuits. This "new" cylinder will be properly fitted to the GUN already, so it's a lot easier to go to the 356GNR this way versus converting a cylinder originally for another gun and maybe having to fit it.
The one I had really didn't show an issue at all. Now I didn't do any hard core testing on the 9mm accuracy, it seemed pretty much "minute of soda can" to me. I could consistently hit a man sized steel target at 100 yards to the point of boredom, so I felt it was just fine. I bought it to be a .357 first, and just found the 9mm cylinder to be a free bonus. If you already have a 9mm semiauto, then the Blackhawk is a good companion piece, and if you reload it's a good place to get rid of "mistakes" that don't run a semiauto well enough. Fun gun.
*Edited for dislexia
*Edited for dislexia
Ditto 461's remarks. I have two, a 4 5/8 inch and a 6 1/2 inch. Yes they are primarily .357s, but I shoot a lot of 9mm ball out of mine and find them accurate enough. (I think I am the weak link with most guns.) 9s are like .22 in the Blackhawk. Cheap to shoot, fun to plink with and, if need be, plus P plus 9mm loads from that 6 1/2 inch barrel aren't exactly wusses. I would not part with mine...they are fun guns indeed. I love the combo.
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