- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
So OK, I’m not going to spring for a gun this ornate, but for those of us that carry a revolver for serious work, the custom makers produce some very interesting pieces. They can also relieve you of some of that pesky money that is needlessly weighing down your jeans. While excess coin has never been one of my problems, I did need to send my Ruger 3 screw SBH out for some tweaking, and decided that if it was going to be out anyway why not make some improvements at the same time.
In order to determine if a change would indeed be an improvement I needed to look critically at this gun and see what it’s weaknesses were. The next step would be to address the specific weakness and work out solutions to the problems.
Starting with the simple stuff I needed to replace the damaged rear sight, and a broken grip panel. Attention had to be given to the lockwork because the gun was tying up. I also wanted to get a durable coating which could stand up to prolonged holster wwar and being exposed to the elements. I would also want a lanyard ring. Simple and straight forward right? Well, it would of been except about this time I received a copy of “The Custom Revolver” by Hamilton Bowen. Bowen built the Seyfried #13 in the pic.
First problem the gunsmith encountered was that the lock work was badly worn and would need replacing. Ruger told my guy they no longer made 3 screw lockwork for the SBH, and he would have to send the gun out to a Ruger warranty shop and have it converted to the New Model. Oh no - not my gun your not going to convert - I want that 3 screw lock work - that’s why I bought that gun! I told him to order the lock work for the Ruger Old Army which still uses the original 3 screw lock work.
Before the gun was sent out I ordered a Rough Country rear sight from Bowen, to replace the factory sight. The blade flew off from recoil, so it made sense to me to get the toughest rear sight I could find. The installation instructions said that the sight was at it’s strongest when it was screwed down in the lowest position. This I did, and with the aid of some red Loctite made sure it would stay there.
Now the gunsmith would have to install a new front sight and regulate it to the loads I would use. I wanted a baughman style vertical face on that front sight with a brass insert. I discovered from the front sight on my .375 that a brass sight produces good contrast to the target regardless of color. It appears black against white and white against black. The top of the sight would have to be steel because brass would be worn too quickly from holster wear, so an insert was the answer.
With durability in mind I ordered a set of black micarta grips from Lett grips. I didn’t get the grips until the gun had been sent out, so I forwarded them in case some minor fitting was required.
By now I was well into the chapters on the Ruger Blackhawks in Bowen’s book, and decided there were some must haves. A locking screw in the base pin, while not handsome, is recoil proof. An 11 degree forcing cone, (Taylor Throat) makes the bullet’s entry into the barrel from the cylinder throat more gentle, resulting in better accuracy. A black powder chamfer is the machining of a chamfer to the front edge of the cylinder. The purpose, aside from a nice look, is reduced holster wear. I had originally planned on a recessed crown but I changed my mind and will stay with the factory crown. One part of the factory design which would have to go was the hook at the bottom of the square trigger guard. I considered making the guard round, but I like the look of the square back, so I just had that knuckle banging hook ground away.
All that was left now was to choose the type and color of coating. The gunsmith suggested I go with Duracoat as one of the most resilient coatings available, and that I should go to Lauer Weaponry's web site to pic a color. The first attempt was dismal - let's just say the color I picked was not the color I saw on Lauer web page. A color blend resulting in a dark blue shade was finally chosen.
All that is left now is the waiting - for you too because I won't post pics until it's back home.
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