New Ruger Blackhawk .357 Mag. I need some help with the second cylinder.

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Ranger30-06

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2011
Messages
762
Location
The better part of Jersey
Hello all. I managed to pick up an extremely nice Ruger Blackhawk today with a 6.5" barrel. It was extremely natural to me and a Blackhawk was on my gun bucket list so I snatched it up. (I'll get some pics up tomorrow; couldn't take it home today being Good Friday and all).

Now the gun comes with 2 cylinders. The tag said one was a .357 Magnum cylinder, and the other a .38 Special cylinder, but I don't think this is right. Doesn't Ruger make a convertible Blackhawk with .357/.38 and 9mm Parabellum cylinders? Does anyone have a comparative photo of which cylinder is which, because I honestly have no way to tell if the second one is really a 9mm or a .38 special cylinder. There are no markings on either cylinder.


Thanks everyone!
 
I have never had one, but , I am pretty sure there should be a ridge of some kind in the chamber of the 9mm for the case mouth to "sit" on.
 
357 Terms, I know that makes sense, however I was more so wondering if there is an external way (top or bottom of the cylinders are different or something) to tell which cylinder is in the gun rather than having to take it out and look through the chambers.


Also, will .38 special fit in a 9mm chamber? I'm thinking that it will go about 1/2 way in, then stop because of a lip if it truly is a 9mm chamber. Am I right?
 
Correct. The 9mm has a short tapered case and the straight walled long .38 special will not chamber in it. the .38 S&W is the closest rimmed revolver round to the 9mm in profile.
 
Ranger30-06 said:
357 Terms, I know that makes sense, however I was more so wondering if there is an external way (top or bottom of the cylinders are different or something) to tell which cylinder is in the gun rather than having to take it out and look through the chambers.


Also, will .38 special fit in a 9mm chamber? I'm thinking that it will go about 1/2 way in, then stop because of a lip if it truly is a 9mm chamber. Am I right?
Click to expand...
the convertible cylinder should be the one with the serial#
 
and make sure the serial no. matches the serial no. on the frame (i'm guessing this is a used gun).

murf
 
From what I've read & seen they both would have the last of serial etched on them if they were originally fitted to the gun. (I have two convertibles.)

My 9 cylinder has a hard rim inside the cylinder that the case headspaces on. My 357 cylinder obviously headspaces on the case rim, and it's a smooth radiused step inside the cylinder. So, if you have a mystery chambering possibly the type of rim / step might help you figure out if it's for a rimmed or rimless cartridge.

From the outside, no, you can't tell the difference. I have to open my loading gate & peek inside a hole. Thought it might be nice to somehow change / polish the 9 cyl for easy identification.
 
Okay I picked up the pistol today and got to take a better look. In one cylinder, it's 100% smooth and a .357 fits in there just fine. On the other cylinder, there is an obvious rim in there, and tomorrow at my grandfathers I'll borrow a .38 special and make positively sure that it isn't a .38 Special cylinder, then try a 9mm.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll get some pics up later tonight. On the side, does anyone have a recommendation for a good gunbelt (with ammo loops) for under $100?
 
I am skeptical that your extra cylinder is a .38 Special. Why bother when you can shoot .38 Spl. and .357 Mag. out of the same cylinder? :scrutiny: The 9mm Luger cylinder should have a shoulder approximately halfway down the chamber. The statement about no external identifying marks is correct; you have to look inside the chamber. There should be a hand-engraved (actually sort of scratched on with an electric pencil engraver) three-digit number on the back of the extra cylinder which should match the last three digits of the gun's serial number.
 
Ruger will not make a 38 cylinder. I have a new model 357 which I sent to Ruger to make me a 9MM cylinder. Because mine is not a convertible from Ruger but built after the fact by Ruger the cylinders are not marked with part of the serial number. My new model 45 ACP/45 Colt, the cylinders are marked with the last three numbers of the serial number.

Take the cylinders out and try the 357/38 and the 9MM in them and it will be evident which is the 9MM and which is the 357 and 38 cylinder.
 
The Lone Haranguer said:
I am skeptical that your extra cylinder is a .38 Special. Why bother when you can shoot .38 Spl. and .357 Mag. out of the same cylinder? :scrutiny: The 9mm Luger cylinder should have a shoulder approximately halfway down the chamber. The statement about no external identifying marks is correct; you have to look inside the chamber. There should be a hand-engraved (actually sort of scratched on with an electric pencil engraver) three-digit number on the back of the extra cylinder which should match the last three digits of the gun's serial number.
Click to expand...

Those were my thoughts exactly. I'm glad to report that I managed to find some OLD .38 Special ammo and a lone .357 Mag round, as well as a couple spent 9mm casings, and my tests confirmed that one is truly a .357 Mag cylinder while the other is a 9mm cylinder.

I did find those numbers on the 9mm cylinder, but I didn't know what they meant and didn't bother to match them to the serial number. I'll double check that when I take the gun out for photo time. :D

As far as the 9mm cylinder goes, does anyone know what it's rated for as far as +P and +P+ goes? the chamber walls are just as thick as the .357 chamber, so I'm assuming it's majorly overbuilt for a 9mm.


Now I just need to find a nice gunbelt! Maybe I can mooch one off grandpa. :D
 
9x19 +P is 38500 psi, .357 magnum is 35000 psi. As the Blackhawke was previously chambered in .357 Maximum at 48000 CUP, I doubt you could hurt it with any 9mm powder charge you could cram a bullet on to. That being said, stick to published safe loads.
 
While I don't know the answer I can say this. In my NMBH 9 cylinder, ball plinker loads have been fine. My 124gr XTP load I developed for a M&P 9C have been fine, they're at the top of the Hornady book load. However, when I shot some Remington GS 124+p loads out of it about 50% of the primers were pierced. The same lot never pierced or had any problems in the M&P. Not sure what it means, but there it is.
 
Salmoneye said:
There is no such thing as a ".38 special" Blackhawk cylinder...
Click to expand...

well...

My buddy has a Blackhawk that is marked ".357 Caliber" on the frame. The cylinder will not chamber a .357 Magnum. It chambers and shoots .38 Specials just fine. The rest of the gun shows some "customization" and we figure the cylinder was probably made special too. We can't tell for sure but the cylinder looks like it came from Ruger. Other than that we don't have a clue.
 
Well I already confirmed that I have .357 and 9mm cylinders by testing which calibers fit in which cylinder, so I think I'm all good.


SabbathWolf: These guns are nice! I can't wait to get out and shoot it mainly because it's so darn comfortable to hold! I also really like having 3 calibers on tap in case of an emergency...
 
well...

My buddy has a Blackhawk that is marked ".357 Caliber" on the frame. The cylinder will not chamber a .357 Magnum. It chambers and shoots .38 Specials just fine. The rest of the gun shows some "customization" and we figure the cylinder was probably made special too. We can't tell for sure but the cylinder looks like it came from Ruger. Other than that we don't have a clue.
Click to expand...

I guess I should have clarified that to:

"There is no such thing as a ".38 special" Blackhawk cylinder...That came from the factory that way as an original option"...

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure not...

No one ever said that you could not bore out a 9mm cylinder to .38 special...

I also have never seen a .357/9mm convertible that said anything other than "Ruger .357 Magnum Cal." on the left side of the frame...
 
Salmoneye said:
I guess I should have clarified that to:

"There is no such thing as a ".38 special" Blackhawk cylinder...That came from the factory that way as an original option"...

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure not...

No one ever said that you could not bore out a 9mm cylinder to .38 special...

I also have never seen a .357/9mm convertible that said anything other than "Ruger .357 Magnum Cal." on the left side of the frame...
Click to expand...

I'll see if I can get a picture. I'm going to see him next Sunday. I've seen the gun twice and both times he commented how strange it was that it says .357 caliber without the "magnum".
 
Some one has probably shot a bunch of 38 's in the cylinder and it has a residue buildup stopping the magnums from chambering. Give it a thorough cleaning that should help.
 
Never heard of a seperate 38 cylinder. Mine has neither marking on the cylinders. The above mentioned ridge and actually inserting a a round is the only way for me to tell them apart.
 
Waaaaaaaaait. Your saying the old 3 screw models just say .357 cal? Ohhhhhhh my I may have just gotten the biggest deal of my life... I'll get some pics up today, as I've been extremely busy the past couple days.

EDIT: Ok I compared mine to the 3 screw picture, so mine isn't a 3 screw model. Oh well. I still love the gun. :D
 
Last edited:
Alright here we go. Got some pics for ya'lls!

attachment.php



attachment.php



I don't know if it's an older one or not. There wasn't even a turn line on the .357 cylinder until I put it there. The only little issues with it is there is a crack in the grips (not bad at all) and a couple little dings on the bottom of the grip. It looks like the guy that had it before me pretty much only used the 9mm cylinder as that was the one that had a turn line and a little carbon in the chambers. I walked out of the gun store all said and done shelling out $400. I can't wait to take it out and shoot it, but unfortunately that probably won't be for another 2 weeks when I have my extended family fishing/camping trip!
 

Attachments

  • Ruger Blackhawk .357.jpg
    Ruger Blackhawk .357.jpg
    91.7 KB · Views: 184
  • Ruger Blackhawk .357 (2).jpg
    Ruger Blackhawk .357 (2).jpg
    61.6 KB · Views: 183
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
  • Locked
Ruger 357/9mm blackhawk
Replies
16
Views
1K
Barr
B
T
  • Locked
Ruger Blackhawk .357 mag convertible
Replies
0
Views
367
TexasPatriot.308
T
T
  • Locked
Ruger 1976 200th Year Of Our Liberty Blackhawk
Replies
6
Views
2K
BlkHawk73
B
Bullseye
  • Locked
Ruger Blackhawk cylinder question
Replies
10
Views
2K
Jim K
J
J
  • Locked
Question about .357 Ruger Blackhawk
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
JSH1
J
Back
Top