Sending another revolver to Bowen Classic Arms Corp.

A couple of years ago I sent a Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan to Bowen Classic Arms to have him convert it to a 4" barreled model. He did a fantastic job and now I'm sending the Ruger Redhawk out this coming Monday. There isn't much that he can do but it will come back in better shape than when it left. I chronographed some handloads this morning using a 345gr Beartooth WLN GC bullet, 22.5gr of H110 and CCI 350 primers. Average velocity was 1,105 fps with a reasonable ES of 30 fps for 12 shots. Not bad from a 4" barrel. I'm sending him a few of those loads to get the sights set up. I've asked him to remove the .45 Colt stamp from the right side of the barrel and replace it with .45 Colt Bowen Classic Arms Corp. the way he did to my Alaskan. It's fluff and I know it, but it's nice fluff and that's ok with me. So here's what I'm having done.

• Trigger/action tune
• Provide/install heavy-duty, extra-pressure mainspring (if necessary)
• Provide/install Rough Country adjustable rear sight
• Install extra-length firing pin
• Install Weigand Combat DX front sight base
• Install XS tritium dot front sight
• Remove factory .45 Colt marking from right side of barrel
• Add .45 COLT CAL. BOWEN CLASSIC ARMS CORP. to right side of barrel
• Shoot for regulation

The Redhawk shoots really well but I'm a fan of the Rough Country rear sight and Weigand/XS front sight combination so it's an upgrade for me. I wish he could fix the obvious gap between the trigger guard and frame but I don't know if it's fixable. I guess that's what you get when you buy a mass produced and cast revolver. The issue described in the previous sentence has been resolved. The trigger guard needed to be tapped with a rubber mallet to seat it properly. I'll be posting follow-up photos in six months or so.

Here's the Redhawk in its current form with the Super Redhawk Bowen Alaskan.

.38 Special said:

And your taste in guns is wonderful!

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Thanks! I can't account for it other than to say I know what I like.

Mr. Bowen confirmed this morning that he can do everything I want since the Redhawk has a "flat-top rib and pinned front blade". I've asked him if he can improve the fit between the trigger group and frame. It's not essential, but if he can do it I'd certainly consider it worth the cost. I've also asked him to recommend a better set of grips. As many here know, the GP100/SRH frame offers a lot more options, but if there's a grip out there that's worth trying I'm certainly open to suggestions.

It might not be obvious from the photo above but I'd deepened the finger grooves a fair amount to the extent that the grip is almost comfortable. I'm considering removing the lowest "peak" entirely because it puts pressure on the inside of my little finger. I injured that finger many years ago when I worked as a welder/diver so it's more sensitive than it should be. That said, I won't do anything more to the grip until I get it back from Mr. Bowen so there's no rush. Now comes the wait ... but in the meantime I'll be carrying the SRH Bowen Alaskan on the trails and enjoying every minute.

ApacheCoTodd said:

Had I known of their operation - I might have hung onto my own Alaskan.

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You can always buy another, maybe a used one. If you decide to go the Bowen route, it needs to be for reasons other than investment. I very much doubt that the initial cost of the revolver and the excellent work done by Bowen Classic Arms Corp. could ever be recouped in a sale. For me I could care less since I've never bought a firearm for investment reasons. I had Mr. Bowen build me something that's not available off the shelf so to speak. I carried the Bowen this afternoon on a six mile trail behind my house and got within 100 yards of 30 or more elk. I plan to shoot and carry the Bowen for many years to come and hopefully when I'm done with this life someone else will get to enjoy it as much as I have.

LUCKYDAWG13 said:

Any idea on how long it will Take him

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The Super Redhawk Alaskan shipped to Mr. Bowen on February 28th, 2018 and I got it back on Septemeber 19th, 2018 so that took close to 7 months. There was a lot more work to do on the Alaskan conversion, and there were issues getting the new barrel completed so hopefully I'll get this one back a fair bit sooner. Obviously I don't know what sort of backlog they have at Bowen Classic Arms Corp., so that will be a determining factor too.

ApacheCoTodd said:

It'd be for droppin' hard-droppin' critters.

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That was my thought too! I carry mine in the unlikely event of being face to face with a grizzly or other critter when hiking/hunting/camping. Bear spray works too but a 360gr hardcaset bullet doesn't care which way the wind is blowing!

I had a 4" 629 for years and sold it a couple of years ago. It was one of the earlier models and wasn't much fun too shoot, particularly a 240gr "hot" load. Once I got into .45 Colt and .454 Casull I had no reason to keep the 629.

The thing that got me looking at Bowen and the 4" swap was the realization that the Ruger Redhawk with its 4.2" barrel could push a 360gr bullet from a .45 Colt case faster than the Super Redhawk Alaskan could push the same bullet from a .454 Casull case. That was simply unacceptable to me so off it went. A 5" barrel would be very cool too.

Here's another one of those "duh" moments for me. I emailed Mr. Bowen yesterday asking about the gap between the trigger assembly and the frame and he suggested calling Ruger and having them address it before shipping the revolver to him. I took his advice and called this morning and spoke with a nice woman called Candace. After asking for her email address I sent her a photo of the revolver. About an hour later she sent a reply stating that a tech at Ruger agreed that the gap was excessive and suggested tapping on the underside of the trigger guard with a rubber mallet to make sure that it was seated correctly. If that didn't work they would set up an RMA. During lunch I did exactly that and now the trigger assembly/frame interface looks a whole lot better. The Redhawk will ship to Mr. Bowen tomorrow. Here's how it looked earlier this morning and how it looks now. Another "live and learn" moment for me.

@ApacheCoTodd, there's a chisel shaped plunger with a spring at the rear of the trigger assembly that handles all that. I'm pleased that I don't need to send the Redhawk to Ruger before sending it to Mr. Bowen.

I'll be sure to post photos of the revolver when it gets back ... maybe this summer if I'm lucky.

LUCKYDAWG13 said:

I have to ask did you shoot it like that or did it separate like that from shooting it

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I shot it like that. I had played around with some different springs a long time ago and didn't give the trigger guard a whack with a rubber mallet. Shooting more than a few rounds through it didn't make the gap any bigger.

Last comment for a while. The Redhawk shipped out to BCA today along with 12 rounds of a Beartooth Bullets 345gr WLN GC handload consisting of 22.5gr of H110, CCI 350 primer and Starline brass. I'll report back in a few months.

Of course! It wouldn't be much fun otherwise.

UPDATE: The work is done!!!

LUCKYDAWG13 said:

Any idea on how long it will Take him

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I shipped the Redhawk on February 25th and received an invoice today that was mailed on May 23rd so that's just about 3 months. I always enjoy Mr. Bowen's letters that accompany the invoice. He mentions that this week he's dialing in the sights and then the revolver will go through final inspection. I should have it sometime next week and will certainly post some photos. I've listed the upgrades below that have been completed. Mr. Bowen must have discovered a problem with the headspace and endfloat since he charged me $60.00 to correct those. I requested the removal of the crappy factory .45 Colt stamping on the right sight of the barrel along with the addition of his excellent engraving on the same side of the barrel like that shown above. Definitely worth $100 to me. I'm exited!!

RD01(2) Standard Issue No.2 ($795.00)
· trigger/action tune
· provide/install heavy-duty, extra-pressure mainspring; if necessary
· provide/install Rough Country adjustable rear sight
· extra-length firing pin installation (blue guns reblued)
· provide/ install Weigand Combat DX base and XS tritium dot front sight
Misc De-Letter and Re-Mark Factory Barrel ($100.00)
R250 Shoot for sight regulation ($95.00)
R210 Set Headspace and Endfloat ($60.00)

The Redhawk should ship out today or tomorrow and hopefully I'll have it by the weekend. In the meantime, I asked for a photo of the upgraded Redhawk which was kindly sent. Mr. Bowen uses his own grips for trigger work, testing etc. so the wood grips aren't mine. You can see some of the upgrades including the Rough Country rear sight, Weigand Combat DX base and XS tritium dot front sight and much nicer engraving on the barrel.

Before



After

CraigC said:

Nice! Glad to see he still has some Weigand front sight bases. Bet the action is like butter on glass.

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Yeah, he did such a great job with the SRH Alaskan that I'm sure this one will be just as good. I like the proportions of the Weigand base up front and the much better XS front sight and excellent Rough Country rear sight. The revolver looks more purposeful and rugged now and will undoubtedly function better too.