BlackHawk question

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richhodg66

Well-Known Member
At a small gun show today, an old guy who usually has a lot of interesting little Doo Dads had a five inch or so .41 barral from a Ruger Blackhawk.

Can a .357 magnum cylinder be bored to take .41 cartridges and be converted to .41? I happen to have a .357 Blackhowk I'm not real happy with and it got me to wondering. It seems every .41 magnum one runs across is priced at the sky high level, this would be one case where the cost of the work might actually be worth doing.
 
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JustJim

Well-Known Member
Usually, yes--with the proviso that some of the 357 cylinders are too short to take heavier bullets. Years ago I acquired a 3 screw .357 with the intent to have it built as a 44 special; now it may eventually become a 41 mag just for fun.

The cost of the work (done by a custom pistolsmith) can be rather expensive, but if you just want the cylinder re-chambered, it usually isn't too bad. You'll almost certainly have to buy the reamer, it isn't something most 'smiths will have on hand.

Fitting a barrel usually isn't too bad if you have Nonte's Pistolsmithing or Kuhnhausen's guide--if you have neither, get Kuhnhausen's book as fitting the ejector housing can get confusing.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I'm sure I've seen articles where people have done just that. I'd measure the barrel internals and make sure the cylinder was correct and not undersized when finished. Actually, the 41 has a real good rep as far as that stuff goes, but you still want to be sure.
 
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richhodg66

Well-Known Member
I didn't buy the barrel, but that guy shows up at all the local shows and I doubt it goes anywhere.

I may get that revolver out and try again, but it never has shot well. It is an old three screw someone did considerable work on, the trigger is excellent. The barrel is ported and that may be the culprit. I have been considering sending it to someone to hone the cylinders uniformly to see if that helps, but I have a few .357s and a .41 sounds cool.
 
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DougGuy

Member
If the gun left the factory as a 41m then a smith can ream your 357 cylinder to 41m if it's long enough, and it fits in the gun and operated properly. This would be a repair.

However, to change an existing non 41m gun over to 41m would be a conversion, you would have to find a shop that has paid the $2200.00 annual "fee" since Osammy's EO of 2016 makes that from simple gunsmithing to manufacturing. BATFE can also come after a smith retroactively if they want to.

If your 357 has tight cylinder throats and maybe a pair of chambers that got cut by a worn reamer, they would be undersize and combine that with undersize throats, yeah I wouldn't be very happy with it either. Certainly won't be the first one I had to ream chambers along with honing throats..
 
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Ian

Ian

Notorious member
I haven't read that particular EO but as with all Title I firearms if you do it yourself then and the legal term changes to "make" instead of "manufacture", unless you do it with intent to sell.

I'd be quite tempted to bore the barrel out with a pilot drill, ream it with a chucking reamer, and single-point rifle it myself. The cylinder would be even simpler with a chamber reamer, milling machine, and rotary table.
 
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JustJim

Well-Known Member
Ian said:
I'd be quite tempted to bore the barrel out with a pilot drill, ream it with a chucking reamer, and single-point rifle it myself. The cylinder would be even simpler with a chamber reamer, milling machine, and rotary table.
Click to expand...
Well, that would give you the option matching rifling twist to suit your preferred bullet weight or preferred theory. . . .
 
Missionary

Missionary

Well-Known Member
I would think you could sell your .357 and buy (maybe trade) for a 41 Mag BLK Hawk much cheaper.
We have had numerous 41's and never owned a bad Ruger .41.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
I agree with Missionary.
While, I haven't seen many 41M RBH at the local gunshows, when I have, they have been priced reasonably, due to lack of demand locally. Once they get listed on the internet, the price climbs.
that's my 2¢
 
Snakeoil

Snakeoil

Well-Known Member
I would try to fix the .357, first. If someone ported the barrel on a drill press, you might have burrs spoiling your accuracy. You might want to slug the bore and make a lap out of it. Push it thru the barrel. If you feel any irregularities, add lapping compound and lap them out. Make that gun shoot.
 
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richhodg66

Well-Known Member
Everything on this gun was very professionally done. I have wondered if that porting would be the casue, but everything seems smooth and correct. I've been told that porting shouldn't affect cast accuracy. I have not, as yet, tried jacketed bullets in it, but that's kind of a moot point as I won't keep a handgun like a .357 that requires jacketed bullets to shoot well.

Thinking that having a smith who specializes in such things to uniform the cylinder throats is the first thing I should do.
 
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creosote

Well-Known Member

richhodg66​

Thinking that having a smith who specializes in such things to uniform the cylinder throats is the first thing I should do.

Post number 6. "DougGuy" does/is the person to do the cylinder throats for you.
 
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Uncle Grinch

Uncle Grinch

Active Member
DougGuy is the man to use for reaming cylinders. He did 4 for me and each one showed improvements in accuracy. My 45 Colt benefited the most. It would cluster 5 shot and then the 6th would be 3-4 inches out at 10 yards.
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
2-3 days back he said he'd respond here through a PM or you could get him on facebook.
it's linked at the bottom of one of his posts.
 
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richhodg66

Well-Known Member
I took this one out and shot it yesterday with some jacketed loads I've had laying around for years, it shot better than I remembered, still not what it should. I shot it at 25 yards off of bags. Just to satisfy curiosity, I took a big L frame 6" my dad gave me and did the same thing with it just to see, it shot circles around the Blackhawk, needless to say.

Guess I need to send it off and let someone who knows what he's doing take a look. Not a huge priority right now. My gut tells me that porting is the problem.
 
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