.44-40 Cylinder for .44 Mag Super Blackhawk?

[John D]

I know that Ruger made some convertible SBHs in these calibers. I'm thinking that if I could get my hands on a .44-40 cylinder, I could use it interchangably with my .44 Mag cylinder, no? Any observations??

Now, why I would want to do this I really don't know...I guess, just 'cause I could!

 

[Poodleshooter]

IIRC, the bullet diameters are slightly different, aren't they? Then again, the .357/9mm is not exactly a perfect match either. I'd just like a 44 Special and .44 Russian cylinder for mine, to avoid chamber leading using the shorter cases.

 

[Gunslinger]

The .44 mag is .429 where as the .44-40 is .427. In the Vaquero Ruger actually uses a .44-40 barrel on both guns.

Ruger will not sell you a .44-40 cylinder. For that matter they will not sell you any cylinder. The only way to get a cylinder out of Ruger is to send in the gun and they will replace the exisiting cylinder with one of the same caliber only. (Ruger's deductable on their liability insurance is 7 mil and they are overly cautious about selling parts. That may change now that the old man retired but don't hold your breath.)

Before health reasons forced me to quit I was running a small, but humble and very progressive business building custom single actions for cowboy action shooting and hunting. The main service I offered was custom caliber conversions on Ruger single action revolvers. I was building everything from .22 Hornet to .50 Action Express. But the most popular was the dual caliber .44 MAG/WCF conversion. (I have six Vaqueros in my personal collection in .44 mag./.44-40)
There are a few sources for cylinders out there but I used Philips & Rodgers cylinders exclusively. Cost for a fitted cylinder then was slightly over $200. I'm no longer doing it but as far as I know P&R is. For most the cost is not worth the return.

Good luck.

 

[sw627pc]

One point JohnD. The cylinders on the convertible guns are both fitted to that action, they are "matched" sets. You can't stick just any cylinder in any frame and have the timing come out right.