Blackhawk Convertible .357/9mm

[Blunderbus]

Am thinking of picking up a Ruger Blackhawk .357 with the 9mm convertible cylinder. Have plenty of past experience with Blackhawks-- including .357s -- but have never had one of these.  Is the 9mm cylinder truly useful or is it basically a paperweight?

Blunderbus

[Paladin]

I had a 4 5/8 bh that my wife loved to shoot with the 9mm cyl,very little recoil in the black hawk

[rocco]

My favorite handgun .BH 357 4 5/8 .

[Winter Hawk]

I have one and like the versatility in that I can shoot .38, .357 mag or 9mm.  I am thinking of sending it in to Ruger for a longer barrel, though.  The 4 5/8" length doesn't do much for me, personally.

-WH-

[unspellable]

I have a rather odd use for a 9 mm revovlver.  Today's 9 mm factory loads do not conform to the original DWM specs, their greatest fault being that the SAAMI maximum OAL is the old DWM minimum OAL length.  This is responsible for the Luger's poor reputation for reliablity.  The Luger magazine works like a 22 LR magazine in that the nose rides on the front of the magazine, not the cartrdige under it.  (Provided the OAL is correct.)

So the Ruger gets to burn all that short ammo.  A revolver is not fussy about OAL.

[RadioTech]

I have a 6 1/2 inch and sent the 9mm cylinder to Bain and Davis and it came back a 347/44 bain and davis cylinder.  For 9mm I bought a Kel-Tec and carry it in an ankle holster with corbon loads.

[unspellable]

I'd be interested in how the 357-44 Baine & Davis conversion works out.

Eventually I'll burn off all that short 9 mm stuff.

How much did it set you back?  Is forming cases easy?

[RadioTech]

Had the conversion done around 1979.
Send a lubed 44 mag case into the form decap die and out comes a 357/44 bain and davis case.
140 gr. JHP @1450 fps from the 6 1/2 inch Ruger and 2000 fps from 10 inch contender.  Cylinder/barrel gap and shorter barrel causes the loss of velocity.
For bigger things I load the speer 180 gr. FP at 1600 fps.  That is their 35 remington bullet.  It has a short neck and long ogive.  It works in the contender but is too long for the Ruger cylinder.
You can get a second or third cylinder fitted to your gun but have it done before you have any trigger work or action work.  Ruger replaces all the internal parts and returns the gun in AS NEW condition.  You lose all the action work.
The original charge was $65 but I think its more like $100 now.  Other gunsmiths might do the work for a different price, I sent the cylinder to the Bain and Davis shop in California.

[unspellable]

Radio Tech,

I'd like to hear more about your 357 Bain & Davis in the revolver.  Any problems with set back?  Erosion?  Putting it in a SA vs DA.  (Seems like the conversion would be simpler in a SA with no extracter star to worry about.)

[Deaf Smith]

I have been looking, for a 9mm cylinder for my 357 convertable. I sold the origional befour I knew how useful it could be. I can't sent the gun back to ruger as they will ruin my action job and the polish on all the action parts. It took my buddy almost a year to get that all done and I don't want Ruger to ruin it. He not only did the action but polished all the action parts especually the hammer & trigger to a mirror shine. Looks great and the action feels great now. So anybody have a 9mm cylinder then can spare?
Jim
jmlv@aol.com
and thanks

[Old Griz]

:cb2: Bought a case of Wolf 9mm because it was so cheap, and it shoots great in my Blackhawk Convertibles (have 2 of them). Fun for plinking and just messing around. The .357 shoots the best, but the 9mm stuff is almost half the price. And since it isn't spray and pray shootin' a case goes a looooooooooog way. For some reason the jacketed bullets pattern tighter than the lead. Why's that?

[unspellable]

You didn't say which cylinder you are running the lead through.  In general a lead bullet will be more sensitive to an undersized chamber throat diameter than a jacketed bullet.  Ruger has a reputation for undersized throats.

[Old Griz]

:cb2: Sorry, it's the .355 9mm that does better with the jacketed bullets than lead. And please enlighten me further. What an undersized chamber throat?

(I love this forum. So many intelligent, well-informed, and friendly folks to learn from!)

[John Traveler]

Chamber reamers wear, get dull, and need resharpening.

When resharpened, they tend to cut undersized holes, and become eventually become unserviceable.

For whatever reasons, Ruger revolvers have a reputation for having undersized (tight) chamber throats (that part of the chamber just ahead of the cartridge case).  

Most revolvers are less accurate when the barrel groove diameter is larger than a chamber throat.

HTH
John

[Winter Hawk]

undersized (tight) chamber throats (that part of the chamber just ahead of the cartridge case).

I see!  The cutters are sharpened and their diameter is slightly decreased which makes the chamber a touch undersized.  Upon firing, the undersized throat swages the bullet down, it is loose in the barrel and accuracy suffers.  Very interesting!  Thank you for enlightening us.

-WH-

[HAMMERHEAD]

My 9mm Blackhawk cylinder shot pretty well. 3-4" off the bench at 25 yards, not bad, good enough for plinking, close range shooting. If you're not a handloader, I think they're worth it as cheap 9mm can be real cheap sometimes.
It was quite consistant with all types/brands of 9mm.
Taught my wife with 9mm. Low recoil.

[paladyn]

There is a Ruger .357 SA Blackhawk sitting in the case at my local gun shop. I'll have to check to see if it's a BN 36X.

[paladyn]

On the other hand, at my range .38 special ammo is only $1 higher than 9mm, so I don't really see a big need for 9mm.