OT - Ruger Blackhawk extra 45 ACP cylinder

AndyM · Post by **AndyM** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 8:47 am

If I was looking to sell this - what is it a fair market price?
I bought the 5.5" Ruger Blackhawk 45 LC with the extra blued, 45 ACP cylinder and have only shot about 25 rounds of 45 ACP through it - it just does not seem right to me - that gun was made for 45 LC and boy does it love them - from plinkers at 800 FPS to cast 310 grainers at 1250 - 1300 FPS.

thanks...

Malamute · Post by **Malamute** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:23 am

Are you asking about selling just the ACP cylinder?

Tha cylinders are fitted to a particular gun, it may or may not fit another gun. I tried 4 ACP cylinders in several different guns, and found one cylinder that would work in one gun.

I don't know what the cylinders are worth on the market today, but it may be worth just keeping it. I got one for my gun for travelling. I rarely ever shoot the ACP Cylinder, but 45 auto ammo is easier to find and cheaper than 45 Colt ammo if I run short when away from home.

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:36 am

Andy,

Keep the cylinder with the gun. If you don't use it, it's not hurting anything.
As Malamute said those cylinders are fitted to each gun. They may or may not fit another gun.

Not to mention the fact that your gun is a convertible model. If you sell the cylinder you will be reducing it's resale value.
Keep the package together.

There is nothing wrong with shooting the .45 ACP out of a single action revolver. Colt chambered it's SAA for that cartridge early in the last century.
S&W and Colt made double action revolvers for it. Every body that's made a .45 Colt SA has offered an extra ACP cylinder at one time or another.

Joe

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:22 pm

I wore out a Smith and Wesson 25-2 back in the 80's shooting IPSC, using full moon clips.

Last year, I decided to get a Ruger Convertible with the 45 ACP cylinder.
I ran into a little glitch regarding ammunition choices with the ACP cylinder. In the old double action Smith using the full moon clips, the cases of course were held correctly for headspace by the full moon clip, and were usually very reliable, unless a bent clip was used or a reload had a high primer.

But on the single action Ruger, the bullet headspaces on the case mouth, as it was designed to do, on the Colt 1911 auto, but on the auto you also have the extractor which actually helps maintain proper headspace, which you don't have on the Ruger. What I found out, the hard way, was that different brands of factory 45ACP ammo, has tollerances that vary among the different manifactures. As a result, some brands of ammo I tried would fall into the cylinder too far and develope excessive headspace, which caused misfires, frequently, and other times resulted in very hard extractions because the brass actually slipped past the step in the cylinder just a tiny bit, probably creating excessive pressures as the bullet left the case.

I found that as long as the correct ammo was used everthing worked pretty good, but more then one brand of factory ammo gave problems. At first I figured it was a bad cylinder that got out the door, and might have been to degree, but with some brands of ammo it worked as intended. In the end I traded that gun off, and gave up on the 45ACP concept for single actions, the gun was just too finikey to suit my taste. The whole ideas was to be able to shoot cheap 45ACP ammo in the revolver, If I was going to shoot handloads, anyway, I might as well load 45 Long Colts and be done with it.

If all of the ACP ammo had been giving trouble, I would have probably sent the the gun back to Ruger, but since some did and some didn't, I chose not to mess with it.

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:40 pm

Lastmohecken,

Sounds to me like you got an ACP cylinder just on the borderline of being out of spec. It happens.

I'm on my second Old Model BH and I've had just the opposite result with ACP ammo. Never a glitch or a misfire. My cylinder is a bit sensitive with cast bullets sometimes, especially if there is some lube or lead shavings at the case mouth.
I'm happy.

Joe

Post by **Hobie** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:45 pm

Lastmohecken wrote:But on the single action Ruger, the bullet headspaces on the case rim, as it was designed to do, on the Colt 1911 auto, ...

That's on the case mouth not the rim. The .45 ACP is not a semi-rim case like the .25 or .32 ACP. But the case length would indeed give you the headspace problems noted.

cubrock · Post by **cubrock** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:59 pm

A New Model 45 cylinder will get you well under $100 most likely. If you really want to sell it, you'll have to price it between $50 and $75. If it were me, I'd keep it with the gun.

I've had a couple convertibles and shooting the ACP cylinder is just plain fun. Not to mention I could get tons of free brass from guys at the range who were shooting their 45 bottom feeders. Never got any free .45 Colt brass.

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:19 pm

Hobie wrote:
Lastmohecken wrote:But on the single action Ruger, the bullet headspaces on the case rim, as it was designed to do, on the Colt 1911 auto, ...
That's on the case mouth not the rim. The .45 ACP is not a semi-rim case like the .25 or .32 ACP. But the case length would indeed give you the headspace problems noted.

Hobie,

You're right, that is what I ment, case mouth, I don't know why I said rim, wrong choice of words.

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:29 pm

J Miller wrote:Lastmohecken,

Sounds to me like you got an ACP cylinder just on the borderline of being out of spec. It happens.

Joe

You're probably right, that was my first thought, then I tried different brands of ammo and noticed the difference. I probably should have sent it back. Sometimes I think I am a magnet for lemmons, as I have definately had my share, from the gun manufactures. And while Ruger singleactions are great guns, a good many get out the door that with flaws. I have had to work on several, usually machining burs, etc that caused problems.

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:32 pm

J Miller wrote:Keep the cylinder with the gun. If you don't use it, it's not hurting anything.
As Malamute said those cylinders are fitted to each gun. They may or may not fit another gun.

Not to mention the fact that your gun is a convertible model. If you sell the cylinder you will be reducing it's resale value.
Keep the package together.

Yep. I looked at a .38-40/10mm convertible, minus the 10mm cyl. Asking around I found the 10mm cyl was hard to find and would have to be fitted.

Passed even though it was a good price but it wasn't what I wanted.

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:32 pm

Lastmohecken wrote:
J Miller wrote:Lastmohecken,

Sounds to me like you got an ACP cylinder just on the borderline of being out of spec. It happens.

Joe

You're probably right, that was my first thought, then I tried different brands of ammo and noticed the difference. I probably should have sent it back. Sometimes I think I am a magnet for lemmons, as I have definately had my share, from the gun manufactures. And while Ruger singleactions are great guns, a good many get out the door that with flaws. I have had to work on several, usually machining burs, etc that caused problems.

Lastmohecken,
I've had to tinker with and work on every Ruger single action I've owned except one. That's maybe a fat half dozen. I hate to admit it, but I just figure that most Rugers will come with bugs in them. Once those are worked out you've got a gun that will last you two lifetimes.

Joe

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:36 am

Lastmohecken,
I've had to tinker with and work on every Ruger single action I've owned except one. That's maybe a fat half dozen. I hate to admit it, but I just figure that most Rugers will come with bugs in them. Once those are worked out you've got a gun that will last you two lifetimes.

Joe[/quote]

Yes, I understand exactly what you are saying. So, I guess I am not the lone ranger after all when it comes to dealing with bugs in guns.

piller · Post by **piller** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:27 am

Maybe I god a good one, but my BH with a 4 5/8" barrel shoots the .45 ACP just great. The .45 LC in it does better than I am capable of in accuracy. I shoot 300 grain Speer flat nose soft points with Hodgdon Lil Gun and get about 1200 fps. That load is amazingly accurate for me. The only thing I have done to the pistol is put on a set of Pachmayr grips and unhooked one side of the trigger return spring. It made the trigger pull a little lighter and smoother, but I don't know if that is from unhooking it or just the revolver finally getting broke in after about 1,000 rounds. I have some Tennessee Valley Bullets in 340 grain lead that I was given for .45 LC. They are the Wide Flat Point type, and if anyone has a recipe for using these could you please send it to me. I'd like to try them.