By Jim Taylor
A year or more ago I wrote a piece entitled "Anatomy of a Working Gun" which centered around my old Ruger Blackhawk. (You can read the article HERE). The gun had been given to me by my Uncle around 1972 and I had used it since then. "Used" being the operative word. It was carried horseback, in the pickup, under the seat, in a backpack.. just about where ever we happened to go.
Over the years numerous animals were taken with this gun including deer, javelina, dogs, cats, coyotes and one burro. It always performed well if I did my part. The first time I shot full-length through a deer was with this gun. Some wonderful long-range shooting was enjoyed with it and I have a video of Mike Venturino and I doing quick-draw on bowling pins, standing side by side, jerking our guns and shooting the pins. I used this old Ruger during that filming.
After 30 years of faithful service it was getting tired. The finish was mostly gone ... no big deal ... but the bothersome part was the forcing cone erosion that was beginning to show. Even with my old eyes I could see the lines being etched into the breech end of the barrel. And that was causing the gun to "spit" some .. a habit it had not picked up until of late.
The trigger pull had gotten lighter over the years also. I had "tuned" it to be pretty light .. a pound or so .. years ago .. and after lots of use it seemed to have lightened up from there. While there was no "push off" - that is, you could not push the hammer forward off the sear - and it did not drop the hammer if you slammed your hand onto the side of the gun (don't try that with a loaded pistol please!) .. it was still darn light.
Cylinder "end shake" had developed also. That is, you could move the cylinder back and forth in the frame. This is just normal wear and tear on a gun and was not something to be alarmed about. It simply showed that the gun had been used. And it had! Thousands of rounds of ammo have gone through it in the 30 years I have been shooting it. "End shake" (or "end float") problems can be severe enough to cause headspace problem, but that was not the case with this old Ruger. It just was getting loose.
As I said earlier, the finish was pretty well gone. The bluing was thin and while that adds character, the whole gun was looking tired.
It still shot well enough. I have never measured the cylinder throats on this gun. Bullets of .452" diameter shoot better than I can hold and I have left well enough alone. Some of my 300 gr. loads were accurate enough to knock down 4" targets at 200 yards if I did my part. Why mess with it if it don't need it?
But it obviously needed some TLC. After deliberation I decided to send it to Bowen Classic Arms and have Hamilton work his magic on it. I contacted him and went over with him what the gun was like and what it needed and what I wanted. One thing I wanted was a set of his sights on the rear! For some reason I can see the Bowen rear sight more clearly than I can the standard Ruger sight anymore. I know my eyes are getting older and my vision is changing. It has been for more than 10 years now. And it may not work for everyone, but the Bowen sight does it for me!
I asked him to cut the 7 1/2" barrel back to 5 1/2" and to install a full-length ejector rod and housing. These just look sharp in my estimation. They set the gun apart from the ordinary... at least for me.
I also asked him to look the hammer and trigger over and to tighten the gun up overall. I also asked him to install a new front sight ( I sent a drawing of what I wanted ) and then reblue the entire thing.
Hamilton made some suggestions and we came to an agreement and the next day I shipped the gun off to him.
Time Passes ......
One day I was out on the mower and saw the UPS truck coming down the road, the driver signaling to me. I shut the mower down and approached the truck to find that there was a large package for me ... from BCA Corp.!! Yippee! Mowing could wait. I beat a hasty path to the house and unwrapped the package to find ... a NEW GUN! Well.. it sure looked new.
The old sixgun had come back with more than just a new hairdo. It was completely rebuilt. Bowen had installed a new (Old Model) hammer and trigger as he did not trust the original. The gun had been completely gone through and re-worked, re-built, repaired and revived. As Hamilton said in the letter that accompanied the gun, "...the thing took some tidying up to get looking good again..." Which is putting it mildly. As you can see from the photos below it was pretty rough when it was sent off to him.
The work done included:
Hamilton did a couple other things I asked for such as making a new screw for the grips that I had on the gun. I have owned these grips since 1961 or '62 ... they were on several other guns that I had owned, coming off of the original Ruger Blackhawk my Dad gave me when I was a teenager. I had lost the grip screw in various moves. I had a home-made screw in the grip that was ugly and when I sent the gun I had asked Hamilton to fix that and make it fit in with the renewal the gun was going through. He did, excellently.
In his letter Hamilton said he hoped the gun would "...pass muster..." - which it does indeed. Very much so. As I said, I could not be happier with it and with the work that was done.
A year or more ago I wrote a piece entitled "Anatomy of a Working Gun" which centered around my old Ruger Blackhawk. (You can read the article HERE). The gun had been given to me by my Uncle around 1972 and I had used it since then. "Used" being the operative word. It was carried horseback, in the pickup, under the seat, in a backpack.. just about where ever we happened to go.
Over the years numerous animals were taken with this gun including deer, javelina, dogs, cats, coyotes and one burro. It always performed well if I did my part. The first time I shot full-length through a deer was with this gun. Some wonderful long-range shooting was enjoyed with it and I have a video of Mike Venturino and I doing quick-draw on bowling pins, standing side by side, jerking our guns and shooting the pins. I used this old Ruger during that filming.
After 30 years of faithful service it was getting tired. The finish was mostly gone ... no big deal ... but the bothersome part was the forcing cone erosion that was beginning to show. Even with my old eyes I could see the lines being etched into the breech end of the barrel. And that was causing the gun to "spit" some .. a habit it had not picked up until of late.
The trigger pull had gotten lighter over the years also. I had "tuned" it to be pretty light .. a pound or so .. years ago .. and after lots of use it seemed to have lightened up from there. While there was no "push off" - that is, you could not push the hammer forward off the sear - and it did not drop the hammer if you slammed your hand onto the side of the gun (don't try that with a loaded pistol please!) .. it was still darn light.
Cylinder "end shake" had developed also. That is, you could move the cylinder back and forth in the frame. This is just normal wear and tear on a gun and was not something to be alarmed about. It simply showed that the gun had been used. And it had! Thousands of rounds of ammo have gone through it in the 30 years I have been shooting it. "End shake" (or "end float") problems can be severe enough to cause headspace problem, but that was not the case with this old Ruger. It just was getting loose.
As I said earlier, the finish was pretty well gone. The bluing was thin and while that adds character, the whole gun was looking tired.
It still shot well enough. I have never measured the cylinder throats on this gun. Bullets of .452" diameter shoot better than I can hold and I have left well enough alone. Some of my 300 gr. loads were accurate enough to knock down 4" targets at 200 yards if I did my part. Why mess with it if it don't need it?
But it obviously needed some TLC. After deliberation I decided to send it to Bowen Classic Arms and have Hamilton work his magic on it. I contacted him and went over with him what the gun was like and what it needed and what I wanted. One thing I wanted was a set of his sights on the rear! For some reason I can see the Bowen rear sight more clearly than I can the standard Ruger sight anymore. I know my eyes are getting older and my vision is changing. It has been for more than 10 years now. And it may not work for everyone, but the Bowen sight does it for me!
I asked him to cut the 7 1/2" barrel back to 5 1/2" and to install a full-length ejector rod and housing. These just look sharp in my estimation. They set the gun apart from the ordinary... at least for me.
I also asked him to look the hammer and trigger over and to tighten the gun up overall. I also asked him to install a new front sight ( I sent a drawing of what I wanted ) and then reblue the entire thing.
Hamilton made some suggestions and we came to an agreement and the next day I shipped the gun off to him.
Time Passes ......
One day I was out on the mower and saw the UPS truck coming down the road, the driver signaling to me. I shut the mower down and approached the truck to find that there was a large package for me ... from BCA Corp.!! Yippee! Mowing could wait. I beat a hasty path to the house and unwrapped the package to find ... a NEW GUN! Well.. it sure looked new.
The old sixgun had come back with more than just a new hairdo. It was completely rebuilt. Bowen had installed a new (Old Model) hammer and trigger as he did not trust the original. The gun had been completely gone through and re-worked, re-built, repaired and revived. As Hamilton said in the letter that accompanied the gun, "...the thing took some tidying up to get looking good again..." Which is putting it mildly. As you can see from the photos below it was pretty rough when it was sent off to him.
The work done included:
- providing an Old Model hammer and trigger
- refit and retune with the above, set the timing on both cylinders (45 Colt and 45ACP)
- set the headspace and endfloat on both cylinders
- set the barrel back and recut the forcing cone
- provide and install a full-length ejector rod and housing
- fabricate and install a recoil key under the ejector rod housing (to help hold it in place under heavy recoil .. Bowen knows I shoot some hot loads at times)
- modify and install the rear sight
- cut the barrel to 5 1/2" - make and install custom front sight
- hand polish the gun and grip frame
- reblue the gun
- new base pin latch
- new grip frame screws
- shoot for sight regulation
Hamilton did a couple other things I asked for such as making a new screw for the grips that I had on the gun. I have owned these grips since 1961 or '62 ... they were on several other guns that I had owned, coming off of the original Ruger Blackhawk my Dad gave me when I was a teenager. I had lost the grip screw in various moves. I had a home-made screw in the grip that was ugly and when I sent the gun I had asked Hamilton to fix that and make it fit in with the renewal the gun was going through. He did, excellently.
In his letter Hamilton said he hoped the gun would "...pass muster..." - which it does indeed. Very much so. As I said, I could not be happier with it and with the work that was done.
