Ruger SRH 454, serious accuracy problems

[KYsquirrelsniper]

I picked up a used (but seemingly in good condition) Ruger SRH in 454 a few months ago, and I simply cannot get the thing to produce anything resembling reasonable accuracy. If the gun had been new, I would have contacted Ruger right away, but since I bought it used, I've just tried a variety of loads hoping to find something that would be decent.

About the best I can get it to do is 6rds into 5" groups at 25yds from a rest. I've tried it with open sights and a 2x Leupold, both with the same results.

Since this is the first 454 I've ever owned, at first I thought that maybe it was just me having problems with the greater recoil, although I've been shooting 44mags for several years. However, I've tried both light and heavy 45 Colt loads, which are pussycats in the big SRH, and they are no better than the 454 loads. In the 454 loads, I've tried heavy bullets and light bullets as well as trying minimum loads all the way to max loads, and nothing has worked, some being so bad they wouldn't all 6 stay on a sheet of notebook paper at 25yds.

If anyone has any suggestions I'd sure like to hear them, or else this gun will be traded off for something else.

[Questor]

There is probably a fix for this that isn't too expensive. The things I'd check, and you probably already have are:
1) Condition of the bore, especially near the muzzle
2) Condition of the muzzle crown for even the slightest irregularity
3) Cylinder alignment. Are there any signs of the bullets being shaved between the cylinder and the forcing cone?

There isn't that much that can go wrong to affect accuracy outside of those things except operator error and a bad rest.

What are you using for a rest? I've had trouble with a commercial rest that my Encore simply could not shoot well with. The groups were spread horizontally. The fix was to switch back to sandbags.

A trip back to Ruger may be the best thing. It'll cost you some postage and maybe a reasonable repair cost, but you should get your problem solved.

[Prof. Fuller Bullspit]

Also check the size of the chamber throats to make sure that they are not undersized for the bore diameter. It's simple and not too expensive to correct this problem. It's common in single action Rugers, I don't know if it is a common condition in the SRH, but worth a look.

[Questor]

I always wondered why so many people were getting their Ruger SA chamber throats customized. Can it really make that big a difference in accuracy?

[dubber123]

Questor, it's my understanding if you get one that has noticeably smaller throats than the barrel groove, it's not uncommon for this modification to knock an inch or more off of group size.  Brian Pearce did an article a while back where he tested either 2 or 3 Rugers, before and after, and got about this level of improvement.  I believe he bought his own throating tool from Brownells for something like 70$.  So it's worth looking into, especially if you've got more than one gun needing attention like he did.

[huntswithdogs]

One thing that noticed here, you didn't mention bullet types. My BH does not like jacketed bullets. Cast bullets are all I shoot now,whether it a "play" load or some serious stuff.
Oh yeah ,I had the throats done on mine and it made one heck of a difference. The way it was explained to me is that tight throats act similar to a Xfull choke. The bullet gets squeezed down as it laeves the cylinder and starts bouncing around in the barrel because its too small. By the time it can re-expand its out of the barrel and trying to stablize,which it usualy doesn't.

Hope this helps some.

HWD

[DWTim]

Not to mention problems with gas cutting from an undersized bullet!

[KYsquirrelsniper]

Thanks for the replies.

As for anything noticeably wrong with the gun, the only thing I can find is an excessive barrel/cylinder gap. I took a guess when I bought it and thought it looked like about .006-.007" which isn't good but would have been okay IMO. However, my eyes aren't as accurate as feeler gauges, and the gap actually measures .011" . Of course that's costing some velocity, but I don't really think that's the source of the accuracy problem. The alignment isn't exactly spot on, but it's very close. I've got other revolvers that are worse and shoot a lot better. It's certainly nowhere close to shaving bullets. The bore and crown appears fine, though it does foul a bit more than I would prefer, so evidentally it's a bit rough.

I checked the throats with a caliper, and the best I can tell (which might not be that accurately), they measure .452". With a fair amount of pressure, I can actually push a bullet through the throats. I wouldn't think that would be too tight, but of course I'm no revolver expert either.

The only thing I haven't tried was mentioned by HWD. All the bullets I've tried have been jacketed. I guess I'll give some cast bullets a try and see what I get.

[Prof. Fuller Bullspit]

If you are having to push a jacketed slug through I'm guessing your throats are too tight as most jacked slugs are .451.

Try dropping a .452 lead slug through the cylinder from back to front. The bullet should not quite drop through the whole way but it should emerge from the cylinder 1/4 to 1/2 of the length of a 250 grain slug. If it doesn't, you may have a problem. You can also slug the cylinder. Use a pure lead round ball like you would shoot out of a cap and ball gun. They come in .454 and .457, I would use the 457. Oil the cylinder chambers and push the slug through with a dowel and plastic mallet. Measure the slug where it is constricted and see what you get.

It would also be a good idea to slug the bore. Conventional wisdom holds that you want the chambers .001 or so larger than the groove diameter.

On the barrel/cyliner gap, .011 is (I think) within specifications, it's at the max end though.

[PaulS]

If the cylinder gap is more than .008 it is out of spec. You don't want it so tight it will bind in use but anything between .004 and .008 is good. .008 is the limit though, you are on the edge at that gap and your performance will show it.