It began life as a 6 1/2" barreled .357 Magnum, brought out of the Ruger plant in the last century. Somewhere along the way it had suffered abuse. Not by neglect, but by someone trying to "customize" it apparently. When I picked it up the hammer had been butchered, it had a home-made trigger and cylinder hand (pawl) and it did not work very well. The timing was messed up pretty badly. Whoever had "worked" on it had filed the "ears" off the rear of the frame giving it the looks of the Flat Top.

I had been looking for a gun to build another "Project Gun" on and this was perfect for the task! I love the old small framed Ruger 357's. They are just the right size for a packin' gun ... being eclipsed only by the Freedom Arms Model 97 in my opinion. The Old Model 3-screw Rugers are the same size as the best packin' gun ever built .. the Colt SAA. Made with better springs than the Colt, the Rugers are a perfect platform for transforming into other calibers and various custom options. Many have built .44 Specials on this frame which works very well. (see Jeff Quinn's article on GunBlast.Com and John Taffin's articles on Sixguns.Com)

Among my junk lay a barrel I had pulled out of one of my .45 Colt Blackhawks when I had Linebaugh rebuild it. This had been set aside for a rainy day and now it was clouding up! Ruger had conveniently made both the large and small frames with the same barrel threads so the .45 barrel will screw right into the .357 frame, which eliminated lots of work and fit right into my plans.

Next I set out to find a cylinder hand (pawl). John Taffin located one for me in Boise. In a few days he had it sent to me... Thank you John! Carl Laco came up with a trigger and we arranged a trade I trust he was happy with. Thank you Carl. The hammer proved harder to find and it took me several months to locate one. It has some light rust pitting but perfect notches and I was happy to get it.

The gun and parts were shipped off to Jim Stroh of Alpha Precision in Georgia. Jim had done other work for me in the past with which I was pleased ... and I had made a deal with him where I did some website work for him in trade for him doing some gunsmithing for me. I told him I wanted the cylinder rechambered to .45 ACP, the .45 Colt barrel installed and shortened to 3 1/2" to 4"...however short he could get it and still have an ejector that worked. I needed the new parts installed and the gun timed and the trigger pull worked on. I did not want any finish put on the gun as I have other plans that I still have not finalized in my mind. Jim was agreeable to the deal and the gun was shipped to him.

I choose the ACP cartridge for several reasons:
(1) In the small gun with a short barrel it will develop 90% or more of full power.
(2) It has plenty of power for self-defense work, being proven for nearly 100 years now.
(3) I am set up to reload .45 ACP's and have lots of brass, bullets, molds etc.
(4) This type gun has been customized in .44 Specials and .45 Colts by others.
(5) You can use 1911 magazines as speedloaders for an ACP sixgun ... nice, flat, easy to carry.
(6) I wanted to.

When I got the gun back from Alpha Precision I was extremely pleased. Mr. Stroh had done everything I asked. The barrel was cut to 3 5/8" .. as short as you can get it and still have the cylinder pin work. On this frame size, with a shorter barrel that has an ejector rod, the cylinder pin will not slide far enough forward to allow you to get the cylinder out. Mr. Stroh had shortened the head of the cylinder pin and flattened it to get it as short as possible. There is a "fingernail notch" on the underside of the pin to allow you someplace to get ahold of it and slide it forward when you want to remove the cylinder.

The barrel had been turned so there was no writing on it. This also brought the O.D. down to about the diameter of the original .357 barrel. He had left the front sight purposely high so I would have plenty of material to work with when I sighted it in. I had asked him not to make the gun too tight. This is to be a "using" gun and I want it to function if it is dirty from lots of shooting, or if it gets dropped in mud or whatever. I also asked him to not turn the back off the cylinder. I do not plan on using Auto Rim cases (or moon clips) in this particular firearm.

I began shooting it using Cor-Bon's +P ammo as well as Speer's Gold Dot ammo. Bullet weights of 185 gr., 200 gr., and 230 gr. were used. It soon became apparent that the Cor-Bon ammo worked the best in this gun as far as accuracy was concerned. After shooting quite a bit I decided to cut the front sight for the Cor-Bon ammo. These will be my "social loads". Accordingly I filed the front sight so the gun hits near POA with 185 gr. JHP and the 200 gr. JHP +P loads at 25 yards.

Shooting rapid-fire 2-handed at 15 yards both the Speer ammo and the Cor-Bon's worked just fine. I shot some of the Speer "Lawman" 230 gr. hardball ammo and they hit POA at 15 yards. This is fine ammo. I have never had a problem with using hardball, even for self defense work. If I remember correctly that is why it was invented in the first place wasn't it? An interesting side-note: The Speer Lawman ammo averaged the same exact velocity that I got when I chronographed it out of an Officer's ACP.

While the Gold Dot ammo shot well enough for self-defense use it did not give the tack-driving accuracy I had experienced with it when using it in a 1911-type firearm. I could not understand why at first. Then, thinking about it, I realized that by using the .45 Colt barrel I had gone to a larger bore diameter than is normally used with the ACP. Apparently the higher pressure of the Cor-Bon +P loads upset the .451" diameter bullets enough to work just fine. The more standard pressures of the Gold Dot loads did not allow that. At normal "interpersonal conflict" ranges both types of ammo work just fine though.

I fired a number of targets with different kinds of ammo at 15 yards. These were fired with a 2-hand hold, bringing the gun up quickly, catching the front sight and firing fairly rapidly. It was pretty easy to put 5 shots into 2" or less. As the intended purpose for this gun is social, not hunting, it fills the requirements pretty well.

MODIFICATIONS

The gripframe on the gun is an XR3 grip I got in trade. I installed a set of Grip Maker's stocks on it and put the factory ones away.

I rounded the front edges of the cylinder to make it easier to slip into the waistband, and because I like the looks. And I straightened the trigger a bit. Just a personal thing I like on my sixguns.

Next I removed the rear sight and took it apart. Using a fine-bladed hacksaw I cut down through the sight body in the sight blade slot. Then using a Dremel Tool (and sandpaper and elbow grease) I reshaped the sight and the top strap into a fixed sight. (this was done before final sighting in).

I have run some handloads through the gun with bullet weights from 230 gr. to 270 grains. The SSK 270-451 at over 900 fps is a thumper! The gun weighs 31 oz. in it's present configuration. The 200 gr. Cor-Bon +P loads let you know when they go off. While recoil is not heavy, it is fast.

I rediscovered that the crimp is important to pay attention to on the ACP case. It's been awhile since I messed with them. If the crimp was too heavy the cartridge dropped too far into the chamber for the firing pin to reach the primer. Hmmmm.. oh yeah...TAPER CRIMP!! Where did I put that die?

LATER

After I used the gun awhile I sent it to Brian Cosby of Cosby Custom Guns. He cut and reshaped the top strap to resemble the Colt SAA, polished the gun and then nickle plated it. It sure did turn our nice!

Before we moved to Mozambique I sold the little ACP sixgun. I disremember who got it, but I am sure they are enjoying it to this day.

Nice to be reminded. The tip on using the 1911 magazines for speed loaders stuck around, I've just never had an ACP cylinder fitted to one of my sixguns - yet.

little pistola over on the Leverguns Community forum. It, however, came from the factory set up for the 45 ACP. It's got a birdshead grip frame.

I might just re-post this over there .... or did I do that recently? Getting forgetful in my old age! Guess it won't hurt. Old men repeat themselves a lot.

Jim,

I was at a teeny little gun show in a teeny little town this morning and picked up a New Vaquero .45ACP. I sent pics to Doug K and he shot me a link you your post from this morning. I can now blame you.

I have been blamed for lots of stuff ... some of which I actually did do!

He has been thinking about a similar concept.

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Not sure if he has seen it yet. Probably still driving home. We missed you this weekend.

And will be for the next few months. Lane and Jami bought a house in San Antonio and are setting up an Air B&B or VRBO. They were gone this week .. just got back today .. and will be leaving again mid-week and gone for 4 to 6 days. I am taking care of the property here and the animals and sometimes the grandkids. I will miss the Holiday this year but it's for a good cause.

Bought this from Dixie Gunworks in .45 Colt, and added a .45 ACP cylinder

Otony

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One of those days I need to head out your way and we can grab lunch or something.

There is room for you to stay overnight or for a week or so.

I always wanted to do this ever since I read about it on the old website... my first effort was when I bought a Ruger Vaquero Sheriff in .45Colt back in the late 1990's and put a .45ACP cylinder in it... was a nice combo but it was just a bit on the large size (since the Vaquero back then was built on the SB size frame)... had to sell that gun when we had the flood on the ranchette to pay bills... been lamenting that loss ever since... but this last year I saw that Davidson's had offered a Pietta 1873 in .45Colt/.45ACP convertable in 4 5/8" for a very reasonable price (GunBroker)... So I got it and found an old Jay Scott Two-Tone grip panels for it... the original size 1873 in combo with a .45ACP cylinder makes for a nice size and weight SAA ... this ended up scratching the itch I had to get a .45ACP revolver for a long time... handier than a full size L-Frame S&W and, for me, better feel than the 5-shot Taurus Tracker (K-Frame size) in .45ACP...

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I've been eye-ballin' those myself. How does it shoot, Don?

Real nice... a little sharper recoil than a .45Colt but that's from a faster burning powder if you shoot the hotter stuff... I like Golden Sabre 185's in my 1911's... and I have bunches of those on hand so that's what I stuff thru the 1873... I haven't tried .45 Supers yet... tho I might get a box just to see how they run in it... I haven't shot the .45Colt cylinder in it yet... no hurry since I don't have any .45Colt rounds on hand and I know what a 1873'll do with that... as far as accuracy... it'll print better than I can see and hold... but at social distances and "around the farm critter control" distances... it'll hit what I'm aiming at... the whole idea for me was to have a SAA revolver that can shoot what I have on hand for ammo and I have and had .45ACP's forever and a day ( a 1911 of one form or another has been my staple since the early 1970's )... a .45ACP SAA on one hip and a couple of .45ACP magazines in another pocket and I'm ready to "ride the farm" ... Hehehe... it'll play alternate to my .357 SAA Bounty Hunter that I normally use around the farm (easier to find .38/.357 shotshells than .45ACP shotshells)..

As practical as can be.

Otony

That's all good info. Current project is an old IJ Cattleman 44 Mag I cut (Jim Taylor's fault ) to 5". I expect that'll keep me entertained through the fall.

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I've played with it for years. It has enough power for social needs but it is mild mannered in recoil and muzzle blast compared to some other popular revolver cartridges.

IJ Cattleman in .44mag? ... Is that the Uberti made one? .... how old is it? ...

I had a Cattleman in .44mag back in the early 1970's that I used for hunting when I was stationed in Arizona... I had that and a Virginian Dragoon... I used the Cattleman when I felt more "traditional" and didn't want to lug around the "tank" of a gun the Dragoon was... man that Dragoon is massive... the Cattleman I had was 7 1/2" and was a dream to handle... I liked it better than a Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44mag... it was the handgun that took me from being a "long gun" hunter to a "hand gun" hunter...

it made me be a better game stalker and shooter back then... when all my hunting buddies were using rifles when we went out on a trip, I took along my .44mag and left my rifle/carbine back home... sorta forced me to use the revolver and hone my hunting skills... when you have to get within 75 yards of your game/target, you need to learn some stealth hunting skills... and proper shot placement skills...

sorta funny in that I became a better shooter with a handgun than a long gun... my brother used to shoot competition with a Anschutz .22 and on a good day I could keep up with him at 100 yards on oil cans... used to perturb him greatly... hehehe...

but those days are long gone and my eyes are worthless... in fact this past week I had an appointment with my VA eye doc and he said he'd give me a script for a set of glasses with the left lens set for distance and the right set for arms length (reading)... that way I could see the sights on my gun better when I go shooting... and all free to boot... maybe I'll start "practicing" again...

And IIRC, this one date codes to 1975. Like many of them, it had a short front sight and shot way high; pretty easily corrected. But it's a good straight old single action that shoots fine with loads it like.

Lyman 429667, 7 1/2 grains of W231, Starline 44 mag cases. Five rested (shooting over my knees) at 100 yards with a home-made 'try sight' a tad left.

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Yup... those were nice little poppers... mine eventually got a indentation ring around the hammer firing pin hole in the recoil plate... a little too many SuperVel's thru it... I finally sold that Cattleman around 1978 to pay for another hobby of mine... a 5-string banjo... I was playing in a bluegrass band and needed an upgraded banjo from the one I had... had one custom made up from parts I was able to get at the music shop where I worked... still have that banjo... wish my fingers would still work...

They were known for soft frames and peening the firing pin hole. This one had the slightest bit when I got it. I cleaned that up a year and a half ago and so far, so good.