5 shot conversion on a budget

Part II

So the new gun was finally here. After unwrapping it I was pleasantly surprised at just how good it looked. The two-tone style was really neat. The gun weighed a bit more in hand despite the shorter barrel length. This was obviously from the 5 shot stainless cylinder the piece now wore.

I inspected the cylinder gap. Looked tight. No end-shake. The cylinder completely filled its new home from stem to stern with no space to spare. What about the lockup? Well, it’s tighter than a factory gun but as I have said before I do own a Freedom Arms revolver and that can spoil a fellow a bit in this area. My gun was set up as follows:

Cylinder gap- .003

Chambers - .480

Throats - .452

Head space - .006

The cylinder material is 17-4 double aged stainless which is heat-treated to a RC of 42/44. I was pleased with the appearance of the shorter barrel as well. The gun wore the stainless trigger, hammer and ejector rod housing I had sent to Phillips and Rodgers directly from Ruger. All parts seemed to fit fine and looked good on the blue frame. Looking at the inside of the chambers I could see that they and the throats were polished to a shine.

Now, all can look good but the proof is in the pudding so I was determined to shoot the beast. I had an early morning rabbit hunt planned and that would be a great chance to put a few through her. I had some loads made up that I was playing with in the FA .454. The load was a 328 LBT LFN / 25 / H110 in Starline brass.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANY LOADS LISTED. THEY ARE LOADS THAT WORK WELL IN MY RUGER CONVERSION GUN AND FREEDOM ARMS ONLY! SO THERE!

The next morning found me in the hills about an hour after sunrise driving up a two track heading toward a favorite bunny hangout. I had the new conversion lying on the seat next to me when all of a sudden I spotted something out the side window of the Ford. I came to a sudden stop as I grabbed up the Ruger, a hand full of shells and bailed from the truck.

There on the hillside was the most perfect shooting stump you ever did see. The sun shone perfectly on it. Beautiful. About two-foot tall it was, dark and hard on the outside from its years in the dry climate. About as big around as a basketball. I could wait no more. I loaded up the Ruger with five and took up a position on my butt resting my arms across my bent knees. When all felt right the Ruger roared, and roared four more times after that. I could not see or hear the hits. I could see a lot of dirt flying and covering the white snow near the backside of the stump. I walked to the stump to see how close I had come to hitting it and about fell over when I found five holes I could cover with the span of my hand in the center of the stump. The slugs went through the stump with ease and dug up a good amount of earth on the other side. I paced the distance back to the truck. I won’t tell you exactly how many paces it was cause I don’t remember now but it was about 150 yards. I never touched the sights since the gun came back. No… I’m not normally that good.

Recoil was as I expected. The bisley grip goes a long way toward helping me handle recoil. The rest of the day was spent chasing rabbit with my Colt .45 and busting rocks with the Ruger. Ahhh, life can be tough some days.

What can the conversion do on paper you ask? Well I am here to tell you that my conversion will hold it’s own just fine against any revolver costing any amount made by anyone. Using heavy LBT cast slugs the gun will shoot as good as I can hold it. The real star performer in this gun I found to be the 325 LBT WFN GC that I cast myself from wheel weights and water drop to temper. These are lubed with LBT blue in a .454 sizer. Bullet diameter is .453 from the mould. I load these with 25/H110 in Starline brass and a magnum primer. At 25 yards the holes will usually touch each other if I am doing my part. This load gives just under 1400 fps. Plenty of power for anything I care to tackle with a handgun.

When I took the Ruger to the range to get a few pictures for this story I only grabbed up a handful of a few different loads. All were 25/H110 with LBT slugs. To be fair, not every combination of bullet and powder I have tried will shoot like the above mentioned loads. But the worst performance I got from the gun was still quite acceptable.

When I had the cylinder made I asked that the chambers be cut a little deep so I could shoot .454. I was informed that Phillips and Rodgers did not make a cylinder to chamber .454 but if I wanted my chambers cut a little deeper to assist with my custom handloads, they would do that. Yes, the gun will shoot 454! The only bullet that I have that will work is a 300grn. LBT WFN sized to .452. If I try any of the heavier bullets the overall length is too great due to the placement of the crimp grove. The 300 grn. bullet ends up just below flush with the end of the throats when loaded in .454 cases. I have not shot a lot of them or done any serious target work with the .454 round in this gun but the ones I have shot did just fine. I was using 24 /2400 /300LBT WFN. I know that is not a screaming hot load for a .454 but I was not looking for one. With the way the Ruger shoots using heavy slugs and .45 Colt brass I really don’t have a burning desire to experiment a lot with it. I hope that doesn’t sound to un-American. I almost can’t believe that I said it myself.

Now, I am not the world’s greatest photographer. I don’t know if you can see it or not but I replaced the Ruger emblem on the grips with the case heads of old black powder .45 Colt cases. It is so easy as they are basically the same diameter and it adds a bit of a custom touch.

Since this whole story was to be about a conversion on a budget I guess I should tell you what such a project costs.

.45 Colt 5 shot cylinder $185.00

Factory fitting $ 50.00

Shorten barrel/remove writing $ 45.00

Belt Mtn. base pin $ 22.00

So, there you have it. To say that I am pleased with the project would be an understatement. I have not been paid nor offered a dime from Phillips and Rodgers for my story. I have corresponded with Roger Hunziker from Phillips and Rodgers about this story so I could gain some technical information. As I said in part one, they are easy people to do business with. Roger also let me know that his company is introducing their own frame and building a gun for the new .450 marlin as well as .500 Linebaugh with an extra cylinder for .500 Linebaugh maximum. This is a company that has a lot to offer the revolver man.

After part one was posted I received a lot of E-mail asking how to contact Phillips and Rodgers. I’m sorry that I did not respond to everyone. It has been a rather busy month for me. You can contact Phillips and Rodgers at 1-800-682-2247 or find them on the net at www.phillipsrodgers.com