From: gmk@falstaff.MAE.CWRU.EDU (Geoff Kotzar)
Subject: Re: .45 Single Action revolvers
Organization: /etc/organization

In article <2ol1ge$r4k@search01.news.aol.com> stevens710@aol.com (StevenS710) writes:
#In article <1994Feb16.195830.28368@galileo.cc.rochester.edu>,
#kkrh@troi.cc.rochester.edu (K. Karcich) writes:
#
#
##As a ex Blackhawk owner and a 45 colt fan, I can tell you that not all
##Rugers shoot. To be honest, I wouldn't own a ruger again. As far as
##colts being only for looking at, ( and I realize that your talking about
##single actions, here ) my colt anaconda will shoot right along with my
##casull to 100 yds and thats a lot better than my ruger ever did. Now I
##know that some people like rugers, so some of them must be ok. But since
##mine was so bad, that means that they must be highly variable.
#
#I own or have owned 7 different Blackhawks of various calibers.  The Bisleys
#shoot like the target pistols they are named for.  The Super Blackhawk was
#accurate but the squareback trigger guard bit my knuckes once too often and I
#sold it.  I've got a .45LC/.45ACP convertible 4-5/8 bbl, and it can't hit
#ANYTHING - the cylinder pin is apparently misaligned.  My .30 Carbine Blackhawk
#is load-sensitive, but give it stuff it likes and it will hit NRA Hunter
#Silhouette rams (1/2 scale at 100 meters), no problem (no problem for it, big
#problem for me!).


I thought I would add a few observations about the quality of Ruger
SA's both of the Blackhawk and Bisley configurations.

Ruger has a real problem drilling the hole in the cylinder through
which the base pin fits. I have found a number of Ruger SA's with
substantial cylinder wobble. I am not talking about the cylinder
being free to rotate slightly AROUND the base pin or free to slide
in the fore/aft direction along the base pin(called end shake), but
rather, because the hole is oversize, the cylinder is free to wobble
from side to side on the pin. If you pull the base pin and examine
the hole in the cylinder, these will look like they were gouged out
rather than drilled. If you are looking at a new gun you will have to
remove the yellow plastic insert at the back of the cylinder to test
for the wobble, but guns with this problem are lemons. The most recent
occurance of this was found on a .357 Bisley. What a pig. I believe that
this is why, when these guns are used as a basis for conversions while
retaining the original cylinder, an oversized base pin is installed.
This allows the gunsmith to ream out the cylinder to improve the fit
betwen it and the base pin. I also had this problem on a 5.5" SBH
and  was able to correct it by swapping its cylinder with a spare I
had from a Bisley that fit perfectly, obviously both the same caliber.
Things improved dratically, but not everyone happens to have a spare
cylinder lying in their parts box. So it is best to avoid the problem
in the first place, just remember to remove the yellow plastic disk
when examining new guns.

geoff