Hey All,
Just wondering what you think of my brain child?


I have built three of these now and they are great. This one has a 5" tube, the others had 4.25". It weighs only 2 ounces more than a S&W mountain gun! The 4.25" weighs the same! I don't think anyone else does this. I have machined off all the fat, from the front sight to the grip frame to the scope mounts. I have also added a full moon clip conversion to allow shooting of .454, .45 colt, 45 ACP, And 45 winmag! You must use jacketed bullets with .45 colt, 45 acp, and 45 win mag. You have to use a moon clip with the acp and win mag. It's really great to shoot with .45 acp, cheap practice and almost no recoil. It's a little stiff recoiling in 454 but no worse than a 7.5 in stock ruger due to very effective porting. I developed it as a carry gun while fishing, packing meat, or backup hunter in Alaska. It also suprisingly shoots the 45 acp and 454 to same point of aim.
I would appreciate any comments/suggestions.
I could also do it to a .480 but it wouldn't be as versitile. I'm not really trying to sell them here but if you're interested make a post and I'll tell you where to get one.

Thanks,
Aaron

Very nice piece of work. Can you give me the finished weight (comparing it to my 53oz SRH 44mag) I don't think anyone would mind you posting a contact addy or link for the revolver, I for one would like more info. Thanks.

take the brake off, BLUE it, and make it in 480!!

please
jeffe

I like the looks of that. I would also drop the brake, and go for one in 480.

I like the slab sided barrel, it makes the gun look alot better. I think SRH's normally look a little goofy. This is an improvement.

I have a few questions about the 454/480 SRHs. What is that finish thats on them from the factory? Also, I have read that it is difficult to remove the barrels on the new SRHs, is this true?

Kristofer

I don't know what Ruger calls the finish, but it looks to me like a powder coat paint. It definatley does wear off with use, as mine attests to, but is fairly tough.

Ruger does use a loctite compound on the barrel threads for the 454 and 480, and it can cause problems with removal.

What I really like about the conversion is how they sculpted the top strap to remove the scope base. The reduction of the front sight base is also really nice, as the factory unit is bulky. A buddy handled the gun in the shop, and said it is really light.

Thanks guys, They weigh from 39-41 ounces. The guns are stainless so blueing woud be more difficult. As for the porting, it really isn't any fun to shoot without them. I have shot .500 Linbaughs (sp?) that had much less recoil than this without the ports. The ruger barrels are nearly impossible to take off. After having ruger telling me three times there was nothing holding them in and totally destroying my own personal gun they finally admitted there was a "high strength adhesive" holding it in. That's why I machine off all the ruger markings(yah, I'm a little bitter. As for the finish, it sucks. I use a heavy bead in the sand blaster that leaves nearly the same grey color on stainless but much more attractive.

www.wildwestguns.com

By the way I much prefer the 454, gives you more energy with the versatility of .45 acp when used with the full moon clip.. The full moons are alot better than half moons in my oppinion.

KB,
I forgot to mention, or did I , that I love the rifle you put together.. great pics.. and I get green/purple on the shroud, too.

Aaron,
it's a great looking gun... I am known for hating brakes, though... i could live with stainless, in 480.. and if i got mad at it, i would just chunk it in some brownells OXYNATE No. 84 stainless blue... sure, it's not wonderful, but it's not gray...

Great gun...
jeffe

Per the October 16, 2000 issue of "Design News Magazine", Ruger had a problem with the 454 Super Redhawk design. The 410 stainless in prototypes was ok with the 65 kpsi working pressure of the 454, but not ok with the 93.5 psi proof loads.
The original Super Redhawk had been designed for the 36 kpsi 44 magnum. Making a six shot, a design goal, was made difficult by the 454 larger cylinder holes AND larger proof pressures.

The Cylinder solution was to go to a specialty stainless, Carpenter's Custom 465, a martensitic alloy with an ultimate tensile strength of 260
ksi at peak aging.

Also the barrel had a problem. The standard 410 stainless was ruled out because of "throat slamming", a gas erosion problem. The first solution was 15Cr-5Ni stainless steel (15-5), but it took 28 minutes to machine instead of 17 minutes like the 410. Ultimately Ruger chose Project 7000, a 15Cr-5Ni type stainless designed specifically for machinablity. It matched the 410 machine time.

All these goofy alloys explains why this thing machines like sticky crap. It's impossible to get a decent surface finish. I end up doing alot of polishing.. Any idea why they decided to glue the barrel in, there's more than enough threads in the thing to hold without it. I think they just don't want you messing with their guns. They wouldn't do anything for me after lying to me about what was holding it in. They wouldn't even fit my parts to a new frame and barrel.

I am a fan of the futuristic Super Redhawk but this custom gun does not look right. There are too many flats and steps, making it look like an amateur job to cover up something. It would look better to blend and taper everything a little bit. I love that Target Gray from Ruger and I would leave that finish alone. Thanks for sharing your creation.

Ming-
I understand your aesthetic objections but seems the design (mod) goal was a lighter version of the original, mission accomplished. I too would do without the brake, I would not have one on a long or short gun. But, having carried my boat anchor SRH 44 through Alaska and the better part of the western US I would not miss that pound a bit. Paint the damn think pink for all I care, this was designed to be a working handgun and anything I'm trying to impress with it will only see the big black hole in the far end of it anyway. In my opinion its a good concept FWIW (maybe not much)

Aaron, what would your shop charge for a conversion job (pink or whatever)?

Mingo, Snowcat pretty much hit my purpose. The steps on top have to be there to leave enough meat above the cylinder and acommodate the rear sight. The flats are all about weight savings...
We get 799 on your gun or 1399 if we provide the gun. They are very labor intensive (20+machine/finishing/tuning hours).

I just had a guy ask if we could do the same thing with the new 500 smith! I can't wait to get my hands on one . I don't know if i would actually wan't to shoot it when I'm done though .