Anybody have a spare New Model Blackhawk 9mm Cylinder?

[November]

Ruger says they'll fit me a new 9mm cylinder for my .357 New Model Blackhawk, but it'll cost $100 plus fedex shipping.  Does anyone here have one in good to excellent condition that they don't use and wouldn't mind selling for less (hopefully alot less) than Ruger would charge?  You can PM me or just reply to this thread.  Thanks.

[Flint]

They often show up on Ebay.

[sawfish]

FYI.  If you do send your gun to Ruger to have a cylinder fitted, they will return the gun to factory stock condition i.e. if the springs, hammer, trigger, etc, have been replaced or altered, those parts will be replaced by stock parts and your old parts WILL NOT be returned.  A word to the wise.

[November]

Thanks for the replies fellas.  I got very lucky and scored one locally today.  Now for some cheap shootin'.

[safetysheriff]

I'm wondering how that new cylinder worked out since I'd expect a new cylinder to need proper fitting into most revolver frames......since you are talking about several parameters when fitting a cylinder:

endshake; barrel to cylinder gap; total length inside the frame; location of chamber bores (centerlines) to the barrel which is affected by the cylinder bolt cuts locations and the location of the cylinder stop/bolt in the frame.     I'd not expect to just throw a cylinder into a revolver and get good performance out of it.  

Just my thoughts,

SS'

[unspellable]

It's been my experience that the main issues in fitting a Ruger SA cylinder are overall length and barrel gap.  A new cylinder is typically a bit long to allow fitting.  When adjusting the over all length, you have to be careful which end you take metal off of or you will come out in the wrong place for barrel gap.  Head space is not quite as critical.

As for chamber to barrel alignment, its been my experience so far that the frames are consistent in where the bolt is located but cylinders are not so consistent in where the chambers are located.  In other words, if there's misalignment it's more likley the fault of the cylinder than the frame.

The last consideration is the hand.  Occasionally the hand will be too long.  On the Ruger SA an over long hand will result in the cylinder locking before the hammer is all the way back so the sear will not engage.  With this condition present, playing around with the revolver will eventually result in getting things out of sequence and a jam that can only be cleared by complete dissasembly.

[November]

Update...The new cylinder's OAL was too long.  Couldn't even get it in the gun.  I guess I'll need to take some metal off the barrel end of the cylinder a little at a time till it fits in the cylinder window.  After that, I'll check chamber alignment, etc..  Good thing I love to tinker.  Thanks again for the replies.

[safetysheriff]

When adjusting the over all length, you have to be careful which end you take metal off of or you will come out in the wrong place for barrel gap.  Head space is not quite as critical.

In other words, if there's misalignment it's more likley the fault of the cylinder than the frame.

The last consideration is the hand.  Occasionally the hand will be too long.  On the Ruger SA an over long hand will result in the cylinder locking before the hammer is all the way back so the sear will not engage.  

Just a little reaction, with no flaming intended:

Isn't headspace governed by tolerances for the sake of revolver longevity?    In a tightly-chambered revolver, like a .357 Ruger magnum I've worked with, it might also be important to the longevity of the brass.          

Misalignment would more likely be with the cylinder because it has multiple chambers.......but that doesn't negate the value of properly locating the cylinder stop within the frame.     They go together to get decent alignment......

The cylinder should lock before the hammer is all the way back.....to allow for some wear-in and as a safety feature.     If it did not, the hammer might be released without the chamber and barrel being held in alignment.  

To the best of my understanding that's the way things work, anyway.   No, I'm not a gunsmith, but I've worked with some Ruger's and that's how they perform -- from what I've seen.

They're usually great revolvers!

SS'

[Onty]

Update...The new cylinder's OAL was too long.  Couldn't even get it in the gun.  I guess I'll need to take some metal off the barrel end of the cylinder a little at a time till it fits in the cylinder window.

My 0.2 cents; I would contact Ruger and see if they are willing to install 9 mm cylinder. If so, sell that cylinder and send the revolver to Ruger. As you had seen, fitting is required and considering everything, Ruger could be the best way to go.

[November]

Onty, I went ahead and did just that about 3 weeks ago.  It should be coming home soon.

[unspellable]

<< Isn't headspace governed by tolerances for the sake of revolver longevity? In a tightly-chambered revolver, like a .357 Ruger magnum I've worked with, it might also be important to the longevity of the brass. >>

Too much headspace will not affect the longevity of the revolver.  It may affect the longevity of the brass, or if sufficently overspec can cause misfires.  Too little will cause the revolver to hang up.  Typically not on every cartridge but once every so often.  In any case, the tolerances are greater than for the cylinder gap.  They will typically be close enough if you get the cylinder gap correct, so the cylinder gap is the thing to worry about when you decide which end of the cylinder to take metal off of.

<<Misalignment would more likely be with the cylinder because it has multiple chambers.......but that doesn't negate the value of properly locating the cylinder stop within the frame. They go together to get decent alignment...... >>

The typical case is a misindexed cylinder, all the chambers wil be off by about the same amount.  Of course the bolt slot must be properly located, but it's been my experence that if there is misalignment it's usually the fault of the cylinder.  You will have a misaligned cylinder and the next four cylinders you try will line up correctly in the same frame.

<< The cylinder should lock before the hammer is all the way back.....to allow for some wear-in and as a safety feature. If it did not, the hammer might be released without the chamber and barrel being held in alignment. >>

All perfectly true, but we were talking about a mis-matched hand and cylinder.

<< To the best of my understanding that's the way things work, anyway. No, I'm not a gunsmith, but I've worked with some Ruger's and that's how they perform -- from what I've seen. >>

I have a couple of bad examples at home.  Had to replace the cylinders.  This was on a couple of Old Armys.  Since they were cap & ball revolvers I fitted new cylinders and kept the old ones as extras as in the old days they carried extra cylinders for quick reloading.  (The old ones were not so far off as to be unusable.)  Ruger will not replace the cylinder unless you turn in the old one.  And there is also the risk of their "fixing" my trigger job.

[wilded]

Ruger says they'll fit me a new 9mm cylinder for my .357 New Model Blackhawk, but it'll cost $100 plus fedex shipping.  

I called Ruger today and the lady said they would not fit a .45 acp cylinder to my .45lc vaquero nor would they sell me a cylinder.  Who are where did you call.  Thanks, ET