I saw something this weekend on the television that I hadn't seen before.

Thought I would ask some of the 'smiths here about it.

The shooter had a Ruger Vaquero pistol, that had been modified to allow the cylinder to swing out to the side (like a modern double action revolver) for reloading.
The cylinder swung over to the shooters left...not so great for lefties like me, but good for right-handed shooters.

Apparently Colt single action Army revolvers have had the same conversion.

That seems like a lot of gunsmithing/machining to create an entire cylinder crane to allow this to work.

Anyone familiar with this?

Thanks,
Garrett

If it's the same program I saw The revolver was HIGHLY modified !Pretty much completely redesigned .Probably a number of times the original cost of the gun.

Hello N. Garrett:

You may be thinking of a Sedgley-type conversion of a single-action revolver. It's more properly a "lift-out" removal of the cylinder and base pin.

Hamilton Bowen, just a few hours east of you, has done a few of these, and they're excellent examples of the gunmaker's art. Of course, what you saw may be something else entirely.

Best regards,

Dave Manson