Pat Riot Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 I was thinking of buying a Ruger Redhawk 5050 .45 Colt / .45 ACP revolver but I came across discussion on another forum about Ruger Blackhawk "Convertibles" that interested me. Apparently Ruger makes a Blackhawk .357 that comes with a 9mm cylinder and they make a Blackhawk .45 Colt that comes with a .45 ACP cylinder. The BH with the .357 / 9 mm combo is interesting because you can shoot .38 Special, .357 Magnum and 9mm from the same revolver. I also heard that Ruger will make cylinders for your existing gun. I am very tempted to send them my New Vaquero .45 Colt to have a .45 ACP cylinder made. Do any of you have experience with these "convertibles"? I was thinking a Blackhawk might be a good choice as I could use it as a backup gun for Cowboy Action Shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 I used to have a 45, but it was the 4⅝ barrel, and they just don't balance right for me. So I sold it off. If they will fit another cylinder to your gun, this is something they've started after Bill died. I tried to have them fit a 9 mm cylinder to my Security Six, and they said that if I sent them the gun they would do that. They would keep the 357 cylinder, but they would fit a 9 mm cylinder to my gun. They just would not turn it into a convertible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconKC Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 I have not heard of a convertible Redhawk until just now, but have a .45ACP/Colt Blackhawk and really like it a lot. Had a .357/9mm years ago and got talked out of it. The 9mm did not shoot as well, I can only guess it was the few thousandths of an inch difference in the bore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 10 minutes ago, DeaconKC said: I have not heard of a convertible Redhawk until just now, but have a .45ACP/Colt Blackhawk and really like it a lot. Had a .357/9mm years ago and got talked out of it. The 9mm did not shoot as well, I can only guess it was the few thousandths of an inch difference in the bore. The Redhawk is chambered for .45 Colt but has the ability to shoot .45 ACP using moon clips from the same cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconKC Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 One "cheat" you use on the Blachawk with the .45 ACP cylinder is to use a 1911 magazine as a speedloader on the cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 I had a Blackhawk convertible. 45 colt and 45 acp cylinders. They both worked well. The gun was an 80's vintage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 I have three unconverted 3-screw 9mm/.357 Blackhawk convertibles, and occasionally shoot them in matches with the 9mm cylinders. Also three Lipsey's/Ruger Vaquero .38-40/.40 S&W convertibles, which I've also used in matches with the .40 cylinders. And I picked up a pair of nifty .45acp Birdshead Vaquero Sheriff's models about a year ago that are a real hoot to shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waxahachie Kid #17017 L Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 I bought a new Blackhawk .357 with a 9mm extra cylinder, in 1969. It was the three screw model. I enjoyed it very much. It's one of those revolvers I wish I had not sold, but...youth is wasted on the young. As they say: my hair was darker then, and my heart was lighter then. It was a really great revolver to own and shoot, with either cylinder. I would buy/use Super-Vel .357 magnums, in it, and switch to .38 special semi-wad cutters, and then switch out the cylinder and hammer away with the 9mm. This revolver, with the extra cylinder, cost me a whopping $90.00, new in the box. Not in the market, myself, for a Ruger Blackhawk, with extra cylinder, but if you are interested, it would be an investment in fun. W.K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailrider #896 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 My main match guns are OM Vaqueros with convertible cylinders for .44-40 and .44 Magnum. The cylinders were obtained and fitted by a gunsmith, not by Ruger. Each gun will only interchange its own set of cylinders. They are NOT interchangeable between guns. With this combo, I can shoot .44-40, .44 Magnum (with SASS-legal .44 Extra Long Russian powder charges), .44 Spl, .44 Russian and .44 Colt (Modern case). To avoid having to decarbon the Maggie chambers, I only shoot the longest brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 5 hours ago, Trailrider #896 said: My main match guns are OM Vaqueros with convertible cylinders for .44-40 and .44 Magnum. The cylinders were obtained and fitted by a gunsmith, not by Ruger. Each gun will only interchange its own set of cylinders. They are NOT interchangeable between guns. With this combo, I can shoot .44-40, .44 Magnum (with SASS-legal .44 Extra Long Russian powder charges), .44 Spl, .44 Russian and .44 Colt (Modern case). To avoid having to decarbon the Maggie chambers, I only shoot the longest brass. Thanks, yes, the cylinders have to be tuned to the gun. It looks like you really have some options with those set ups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Give this 'Smith a call. Top notch Ruger work. http://www.clementscustomguns.com/home.html OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Convertibles is a wife driven conspiracy to to get you to buy fewer guns! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 1 hour ago, Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 said: Convertibles is a wife driven conspiracy to to get you to buy fewer guns! No, see, I think if you say “Honey, this single gun shoots 3 different rounds therefore it’s like buying it on sale.” that this is a major influence on her opinion of the purchase...It’s best to use this logic AFTER the purchase... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mongo, SASS #61450 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 I have a Ruger Blackhawk in .357/9mm and a Blackhawk in .45/.45 ACP. I bought the .357/9mm from a work friend for a great price and acquired the .45/.45 ACP in a multi-gun trade. I've kept them because they will shoot 2 different calibers each. I guess my "inner prepper" is strong. I had a pair of Ruger Vaqueros in .38-40/.40 S&W. I shot them as my main match pistols for a few years using the .40 S&W cylinders. It was like shooting .38s and there was a ton of free brass laying around at my gun club. I miss those pistols, but I didn't like having to load different ammo for my rifle and pistols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raylan Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 My two new Vaqueros in 45 Colt both came with 45ACP cylinders which was one reason I bought them. I enjoy them very much, since I reload they don't save me much in ammo costs but if I didn't reload they would save a bunch for practice. Always nice to have the option to swap them out. And as another poster mentioned if you have the 45ACP in you can use 45 mags to load from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffield, SASS #23454 Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 I used a pair of Blackhawks for my main match guns when I started CAS. The conversion cylinders work quite well, the guns shoot either caliber accurately. The best part of using them is when other shooters start yelling at the loading table: "You can't shoot those 45 autos in that gun!" Duffield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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