I have tried several different handloads for a Ruger 4 5/8" blackhawk in .45LC. The best 6 round group is probably around 2 1/2" CTC @ 25 yards. I don't think that this is that great.

My throats are .450". I know that this is a debateable topic, but logic and reason aren't helping the Ruger's case. How can a bullet being sized to .4515, .452 up to .454 be shot and not be deformed before exitting the cylinder?

I know that this is a fairly easy fix for a gunsmith for under $100. Will this help the accuracy?? I've called a few and Gary Reeder is the only one not blowing me off. He's been featured in several articles in the past few months. Seems over qualified. I just want to get an accurate gun. I am trying a Belt Mtn base pin, if Brownell's send me the correct one this week. don't know if a $20 part will do anything for accuracy.

I had a Redhawk with a similar problem. The throats were so tight that some loaded rounds wouldn't even chamber. All 6 were different sizes. The largest was .4505. The bore was oversized. Bullets got squeezed/stripped down to .4505 then acceleration swaged up to .4535. It shot patterns, not groups.

Hamilton Bowen fixed the throats and fitted a 44 mag bbl that was re-bored to my specs. It shot much better when all the dimensions match.

There is excellent information on this topic over on Beartooth.com. To sum it up, the cylinder throats need to be larger than the barrel. If the throats are smaller than the barrel, the bullet will not stay in perfect alignment as it travels down the barrel. Sure the lead will obturate to fill the barrel, but it may not keep the bullet centered. The ideal condition is the bullet is sized to slightly over throat diameter, which should itself be slightly larger than barrel diameter. Say the barrel slugs to .452, then the throat should be .452 or larger, say .453. Then, the bullets should be sized to .453 or .454. The bullet is aligned in the chamber, then fired, it gets sized slightly smaller in the cylinder throat, enters the forcing cone centered where it is again sized to bore diameter, still aligned. If your throat is .450 and your bore is .452 you will not achieve top accuracy.

Send $70 or so and the cylinder to Hamilton Bowen. I did on my Bisley Vaquero 45 Colt and accuracy went from 3" to 1 1/2" with 325 gr LBT's. Turnaround time was 2 weeks.

Jesse, I have a SS Blackhawk 4 5/8 .45 Colt that shoots cast worse than yours. It is going off to Gary Reeder sometime in the near future for some work. I have not used him before, but several acquaintenances have and were pleased.

There is some disscussion of this problem at rugerforum.com in the handguns and gunsmithing sections. The reamer that Brownells sells for about $60.00 will open the throats to .4525 according to some of the posts and is easy to use.

As a dealer I see this problem crop up from time to time. It is absolutely ridiculous that Ruger cannot make some very simple changes in their production line and machining methods to take care of this problem of undersized throats, and especially the oversized bores.

We shouldn't be presented with the prospect of **having** to rebuild the gun after purchasing.

Though I sell them to folks who want them, T\this is why I do not shoot Ruger revolvers anymore.

Sorry, but I am a bit passionate about folks getting cheated by very poor/sloppy and very preventable manufacturing methods!

------------------
http://seanhhi7364.tripod.com/starivout/

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin, 1759