Author Topic: bisley cylinder swap  (Read 1137 times)

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Offline canoe13

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bisley cylinder swap
« on: January 31, 2012, 10:50:29 AM »
Hey Guys, Does anyone know if I could swap out my OM BH .357 cylinder for a NM Bisley one. Would it be a drop in conversion or would I  have to visit a gunsmith to get the job done? I really like the looks of the unfluted cylinder. Does anyone know where i could find a clean one with no engraving ?     thanks, canoe13

Offline 44 Man

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Re: bisley cylinder swap
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2012, 12:51:26 PM »
I believe that unless your .357 is one of the old 'medium frame' 3 screws, the swap would be pretty straight forward.  I have done several Ruger cylinder swaps and I have been fortunate that all have dropped right in.  Only once did I end up with a swap that had more barrel/cylinder gap than I preferred (but still within specs), and I had a gunsmith set the barrel back one thread and recut it.  44 Man
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Offline BlkHawk73

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Re: bisley cylinder swap
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2012, 12:56:43 PM »
  OM to NM?  Ahhh, I do believe that's a no-go.  OAL is a factor.    For what you could sell the OM cylinder far, you could get a NM one.    Brain currently only 1/2 there so maybe I'm mistaken.
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Offline Lloyd Smale

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Re: bisley cylinder swap
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2012, 01:19:47 AM »
ok just for grins i tried this. I dont have any 357 rugers but have a bisley 44 special and an old model 3 screw converted to 44 special. I pulled the cylinder out of the old model and dropped it into the bisley. It fit like a glove. I cocked it and it lined up fine. Only thing is when i dry fired it and went to cock it again it was locked up. I looked and the locking bolt was hung up. Open the loading gate and it dropped and you could cock it again but the same thing kept happening. Id say with a small ammount of fileing work on the bolt it would work fine and thats just my gun that old model gun was line bored and fitted with an oversized bolt and hand fitted to the cylinder. I would about bet if you were comparing to typical sloppy rugers it would have worked fine.
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Offline flexjr

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Re: bisley cylinder swap
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2012, 03:02:54 AM »
  OM to NM?  Ahhh, I do believe that's a no-go.  OAL is a factor.    For what you could sell the OM cylinder far, you could get a NM one.    Brain currently only 1/2 there so maybe I'm mistaken.
not just overall length, but cylinder diameter as well. the new model cylinder wont even fit a little bit in the mid frame cylinder window.

Offline Lloyd Smale

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Re: bisley cylinder swap
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2012, 12:16:38 AM »
an old model is a three screw and a new model is the same large framed gun. As to the midsized new models on the 357 frame there the same size as the old model 357s 3 screws were.
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Offline canoe13

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Re: bisley cylinder swap
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2012, 02:29:07 PM »
Okay, I bought a bisley cylinder off Ebay and the answer is NO; it does not fit in my OM frame. Anybody in the market for a stainless bisley cylinder? Let me know.