I have finally decided to do something for myself for a change and that is to build a Ruger "SUPREME HUNTER" 44 magnum and I thought I'd share this with you. This first picture shows the gun that I am going to start with and build everything around it. This is a Ruger Super Blackhawk, Silhouette Model with a 10 1/2" barrel and unfluted cylinder....




This shows all of the components and accessories that was purchased to go with this project....




This shows the Action wrench and barrel bushing that I had made specifically for this project....




Once the work starts, here is a list of things that I am going to do to this revolver...

1 - The barrel will be removed and shortened to 9 inches, threaded, recrowned and a muzzle brake added. The forcing cone will also be polished and rethroated to "Taylor Throating". The barrel will also be set back to .003 barrel to cylinder frame gap. Overall barrel length with the addition of the brake will be 11 inches. Also, the ports on this brake are angled 5 degrees forward to keep powder residue and gasses away from the scope lens. This brake does NOT increase the noise level of the gun when fired...

2 - All internal workings will be removed and stoned to remove any rough edges and both the hammer and trigger will be honed for a smooth pull and clean break. The hammer and trigger springs will also be replaced...

3 - I will recut all chambers to the same EXACT diameter and hone the throats to the same EXACT diameter as well...

4 - The wood grip will be replaced with a Hogue Rubber Finger Groove Grip...

5 - The gun will be set up for "sling carry" as I will drill and tap the barrel/brake for a sling swivel stud and will modify the grip attachment so as to allow for a sling swivel stud there as well. To this I will add a set of QD swivels and a 1" nylon sling...

6 - I will fit an oversize locking cylinder pin to both the cylinder and frame. This will eliminate any and all play in the cylinder, along with the addition of an oversize cylinder latch that I will also fit to the gun...

7 - For attaching the scope base, I'll have to drill and tap two extra holes in the top strap...

8 - I did not have the time to measure it today but, if possible, I will mount the scope with "4" rings...

The bullet of choice for this gun is Remington's 240 gr. JHP. One load will be with 24.0 gr. of Winchester 296 and the other load will be 9.0 gr. of Unique. After barrel break-in and some range time and just getting used to the gun, I'll then proceed with a proper load development and chronographing along the way...

I'll post more pictures as the work continues with this project....

This picture shows just the basic parts that were removed so as to allow for the removal of the barrel from the frame and to get it ready for other work as well....



After removing the ejector rod housing, all "burrs" that were around both the inside and outside edges were removed with a small file and diamond lap....

Next, the ejector rod itself was polished to a mirror finish as it had a very rough, almost gritty feel to it....

This picture shows the Ruger receiver as it is clamped down tight in the action wrench....



This picture shows the barrel after being clamped between the two bushing halves that I had made earlier. I first dusted the inside of the vise with rosin and then dusted the barrel and then put a couple wraps of paper around that and then tightened everything down good and tight. This assures that there will be no slippage of the barrel in the vise....



This shows the barrel after it was removed from the action. I also cut the end of the barrel off just behind the front sight screw hole. I haven't decided 100% on the barrel length yet but, this will allow me to accurately measure the bore and groove diameter away from the muzzle....



This shows the barrel being faced off in the lathe at a 90 degree angle. This allows me to be able to measure each one of the raised lands and to get a true bore measurement....







This shows the barrel after being turned between centers so the barrel could be set back one complete revolution. This allows me to be able to close the barrel to cylinder gap to .003 as oppose to the .0115 that the gun originally had from the factory....



I will also point out that this gun is brand new as I just purchased it on Monday - specifically for this project...

I fired the gun 6 times with the following load:

CASE: Star Line nickel plated 44 magnum

PRIMER: CCI-350 Magnum

POWDER: Winchester 296 / 24.0 gr.

BULLET: Remington bulk 240 gr. JHP

VELOCITY: 1,580 fps. average with a + or - of 18 fps. between the highest and lowest...

The velocity test was done to see how much of a velocity gain there would be between the factory .0115 barrel to cylinder gap as compared to the now .003 barrel to cylinder gap...

I'll post more pictures on Monday as the work continues....

Okay, here we go again...

With the barrel already removed, I decided to go ahead and lap the bore to remove some of the factory imperfections and polish it up a little bit to help keep fouling down to a minimum but first, I recut the forcing cone. I had originally planned on cutting "Taylors" throat but instead, decided to cut the throat like what I do when chambering a barrel to Bench Rest specifications. This is the reamer that I used to recut the factory forcing cone....



This shows the forcing cone after I recut it with a "throating" reamer....





After cutting the forcing cone with a "throat", his shows everything that I used to lap the bores internal finish....



This shows the barrel securely held in a vise for the lapping operation....



I used a solid brass jag with a very tight fitting patch, first soaked in KROIL and passed through a couple of times and then a patch covered with J-B Bore Paste. Each patch was worked through the bore 30 times before it was removed and replaced with a clean patch that was also coated with J-B Bore Paste. All in all, 350 passes were made down the bore. After lapping was complete, I then ran several patched coated with KROIL down the bore to remove any and all traces of the lapping compound....



This is what each one of the patches looked like after the 30 stroke lapping....



This shows the finish of the bore after lapping....



After the "bore was finished", I cut the barrel back to exactly 9 inches, squared the muzzle and got it ready for threading. This shows the shank being turned....



This shows the muzzle end after threading. The muzzle was then crowned and ready for the muzzle brake....



This shows the barrel after the brake was installed. The barrel and brake will later be refinished before being screwed back onto the revolver frame. The reason for leaving the brake oversize and not machining it down to the exact barrel diameter was to allow for a little more metal when installing a sling swivel stud a little later on. Overall barrel length is now 11 inches...



In the next series of pictures - honing and stoning and trigger job....

Remember the old saying - a picture is worth a thousand words....






After all parts were removed from the frame, EVERYTHING was honed and polished to remove any and all burrs and sharp edges before being put back together. The hammer and trigger spring were both replaced and after fine honing the sear and contact surfaces, the trigger now "breaks like glass" at 30 ounces....



Everything was put back together and the factory wood grips were replaced with a rubber Hogue grip....



I also modified the grip attaching saddle to accept a sling swivel stud....



I drilled and tapped the top strap to accept the Weigand scope base. I think this one of the best looking and most rock solid bases on the market when it comes to these Ruger's....



With two 8-40 screws and a 6-48 screw that all run the full depth of the top strap, along with the design of the built in recoil lug of the base, this is one base that will NOT shoot loose - especially when I install one....



Okay guys, here it is!!!








A couple of other things that I did and forgot to take pictures of was the polishing of the cylinders chambers and the recutting of the throats in each chamber...

Also, when the barrel was set back to close up the barrel to cylinder gap, the ejector rod housing had to be set up in the lathe and modified so as to allow it to be able to be screwed back to the original factory drilled and tapped hole...


I'll give a full report on the accuracy, velocity and loads that are being shot out of this gun when time permits. Even though the barrel was cut back from 10 1/2" down to 9", I still believe there will be a velocity gain by the tightening of the barrel to cylinder gap. I just remeasured after everything was fully assembled and tested and a .003 feeler Gage will fit between the end of the barrel and cylinder face but, the cylinder will NOT turn. However, with a .0025 feeler Gage, it will turn with some resistance and then turn freely at .002. This is actually better than what I had originally hoped for. The only draw back to this though is that if you shoot 30-40 rounds in rapid succession, the cylinder may lock up due to heat expansion. For me though, that's okay. I would rather take things slow and easy instead of just trying to see how many rounds I can send down range in the shortest possible time...

Loads and load data to follow at a later date....

Looking good

Dimitri

Thank You Dimitri....

D/S

That is one nice Blackhawk. Comentary was excellent, I only wish we could hunt with our handguns over here this would be a fun thing to do to my own Blackhawk.

Hey Wicky....what happened to the unwritten rule that you could carry a pistol in NT openly when hunting so that you could finish off critters humanely?

I've also read of the Safari Club in the US coming out to the NT to hunt with pistols...mainly JD Jones with his wildcat Contenders.

Cheers, Vince

Did you slug that barrel before you spent all the time on it? Ruger is real bad to sell oversized bores, especially in the 44 mag NM guns. A lawyer thing for them. You can look a long time and not find a .429 barrel.
Ed
RCA1504

Thank you Wicky, I'm glad you liked it....


SwampFox,

I did slug the bore - .4299 and after lapping, exactly .4300 and as smooth as a baby's bottom....

D/S

Deer Sniper

Wonderful commentary and beautiful job...I hate you....

I'm sorry Bushmaster but thank you for the compliments ...

I have targeted this gun with Hornady's 180 gr. XTP and Remingtons 240 gr. JHP bullet loaded to 1,200 fps. and from my bad hands - "arthritis", I could still keep 6-shots well inside a 3 inch circle at 100 yards. My handgun shooting days are over and if I can't shoot it, I don't want it around. I build between 25 and 30 of these guns a year and if I feel the need to make one go BANG, I'll just shoot one of these a time or two for testing before shipping it out...

This gun is for sale for $1,000 if you know anyone wanting it and I'll even pay for the overnight shipping charges. I did change out the rings though and have a new picture of it posted over on the Trading Post...

D/S

D/S
Did not know you have a shop and all, so the caution was redundant, I am sure. At $1,000 that is a very good price for a custom gun that shoots. Sounds like you have her indexing and locking up just right as well. Nice gun.

My handgun days are over as well. As a diabetic, my nerves started to get bad about 6 years ago. I can still do rest shooting but that is about it.
Best,
Ed

Hi Ed,

sorry to hear about your diabeties - I'll keep you on our prayer list...

I have been a Custom Riflesmith for 25 years now. My web site is: dandtcustomgunworks.com

Take care and God Bless.

D/S

Deer Sniper.

First of all, I want to thank you for the great write up on this mod. I love to read gun smithing articles, especially one as well documented as yours. Two thumbs up for you. Please write up more of these projects.

Second, although I want to own that beauty, unfortunately beside the fact that I have already used up all my pistol allocations from my wife, there is the law in Australia, these items are banned
Maybe one day you will do another write up for something that I am allowed to own...

Again Thanks mate for the great write up. You are a champion!