[SLABSIDE]

I cant decide which variation of Blackhawk in convertible I like the 45acp/45lc

Somebody stop me or twist my arm a little. I have 3 other Rugers none of them is a Revolver any suggestions on other revolvers Thanks

 

[firemanjones]

Well the Blackhawk and Super Blackhawk are single action, I assume you know that. If that is what you are interested, get it. If you are interested in D/S action get a GP 100 or Redhawk.

 

[True Grit]

I have a GP100 357/38 and a Blackhawk convertible 357/38/9. They are both awesome!!

If you decide on the Blackhawk in 45, be advised you will eventually get it's Redhawk sibling.

 

[biquer]

I have 4 Ruger single actions:
Blackhawk 6.5" .357, bought used in late '80s. Trigger done to crisp perfection. Small groups at 20 yards with handloaded 158 grain cast.
Blackhawk 5.5" .45 Colt, bought new 2013. Ditto above, except 255 grain.
Vaquero 5.5" .44 Magnum. From pawn shop. Ditto above, except 240 grain.
SBH Bisley 7.5" .44 Magnum. Bought new in 1988. Ditto above. 240-320 grain.

In my opinion, revolvers are best when fed properly prepared handloads.
So, I don't get the attraction to convertibles.
.45 ACP and .45 Colt in revolvers can mimic each other's ballistics with interchangeable bullets.

 

[SLABSIDE]

Im thinking now about the 357/9 I forgot about it being able to fire 38spc.
Or maybe the 30 carbine

 

[Frontiersman]

I used to work at an LGS; I've done a lot of shows. From my experience, most people don't use the second cylinder. They are often missing altogether. I've even picked up stray cylinders from time to time, though there is no guarantee they will fit another revolver.

I think it's the "just in case I need it" mentality that attracts most people.

In reality, it's just not that practical to shoot 9mm or .45 acp out of a single action. The shorter rimless cartridge often lends them to eject and load at a disadvantage to full size cartridges.

 

[twodog max]

I have a Bisley 45Colt/45 ACP and I enjoy the revolver. I have used the ACP cylinder quite a bit in the past but these days find that the Colt cylinder stays in the gun. I had to change elevation adjustment when switching so I don't do that to much. The big advantage for me is that I don't have to chase down the ACP brass for reloading like with a semi auto 45. With all the cheaper 9mm ammo around if you are set on a convertible and don't reload that might be the best option. Convertibles are fun and handy at times but after the new wears off I think most shooters tend to put one or the other in the gun and leave it. IMO

 

[petergunn]

My .45convertible wears the .45acp cylinder 99% of the time, I switch to the .45C for deer season and I don't notice any real change in POI between the two.

The .45 convertible was a purchased to replace a .44mag(KSRH-7) that I couldn't afford to feed anymore, so far the plan has worked well as I can shoot cheap(relatively) .45acp plinking and switch to BB .45C +P round for hunting.

 

[Kurt kaBoom]

"""""In reality, it's just not that practical to shoot 9mm or .45 acp out of a single action. The shorter rimless cartridge often lends them to eject and load at a disadvantage to full size cartridges.[/QUOTE]

I don't get what you are saying here. .45ACP or Colt go in the cylinder, bullet goes out the barrel, eject the cases, repeat. ACP cartridges are about half the price of Colts. If I reloaded, I would fire the .45 Colt cartridges though. There is just something visceral about loading a big cartridge, especially when you are next to a person shooting those cute little 9mm things.
Kurt

 

[AZLCR]

Im thinking now about the 357/9 I forgot about it being able to fire 38spc.
Or maybe the 30 carbine

I find that my .357/9mm BH shoots 9mm quite accurately, and I'm glad I bought the convertible model. Originally I wanted to shoot 9mm due to the lower cost vs 38spl or .357; now that I handload, that is not as big an issue, but I still like the flexibility of shooting 3 calibers. I think you'd like the convertible BH, in either .357/9 or .45 Colt/.45APC.
Good luck and good shooting!

 

[terry_p]

I don't get what you are saying here. .45ACP or Colt go in the cylinder, bullet goes out the barrel, eject the cases, repeat. ACP cartridges are about half the price of Colts. If I reloaded, I would fire the .45 Colt cartridges though. There is just something visceral about loading a big cartridge, especially when you are next to a person shooting those cute little 9mm things.
Kurt

I had trouble with it as well. The 45 acp case head spaces in the front and ejection in the S/A is the same as with a rimmed case.

 

[at liberty]

I cant decide which variation of Blackhawk in convertible I like the 45acp/45lc

Somebody stop me or twist my arm a little. I have 3 other Rugers none of them is a Revolver any suggestions on other revolvers Thanks

Sounds like you will pick whatever matches ammo you already have in the semis.

 

[SLABSIDE]

Sounds like you will pick whatever matches ammo you already have in the semis.

I just don't know which one I have a SR1911 and a SR9c. and a few other in the calibers. I have a Smith & Wesson 686-1 revolver. So this would be my first single action revolver

 

[Fragman]

IMHO, the convertibles are nice if you don't reload. It increases the options for available ammo during those panic buying times. And there will be one coming.
If you reload, and you have built up your component supply, then I feel there is little to be gained from say a 9mm cylinder in a 38/357 SA revolver.
Of course, what if you run out of components and all that is left available is whatever factory ammo you can find? The benefit of the revolver is that it really will shoot almost anything.
So, although I would not see the benefit TODAY, I guess if I was buying only one gun, I would get a convertible in case of tomorrow.

 

[SLABSIDE]

I have all the equipment for reloading but with the components being low I haven't perused it yet Im not sure it would be of any benefit yet

 

[SLABSIDE]

Would these be considered a Flattop?

 

[Bob Wright]

In reality, it's just not that practical to shoot 9mm or .45 acp out of a single action. The shorter rimless cartridge often lends them to eject and load at a disadvantage to full size cartridges.

I beg to differ with you, there. The short .45 ACP case ejects completely with the ejector throw, as does the .45 S&W, and does not tend to hang in the chamber as the Colt round often does.

I don't have a supply of ACP brass anymore, sort of went through that many years ago. But the ease of extraction, plus the mild "pop" of the .45 ACP round makes the .45 feel like shooting a .22 r.f.

Bob Wright

 

[bwinters]

If only one 71/2 45/45 blued or stainless.

 

[SLABSIDE]

So these are Flattops?

 

[Varminterror]

So these are Flattops?

If the top is completely flat, then it's a Flattop, if it has ears around the rear sight, it's not.

This is a Flattop.

This is not.

The 5240, 5241, 5242, and 5243 Lipsey's Convertible Blackhawks are Flattops, the 0308, 0318, 446, and 0463 standard Convertibles are not.

My personal advice is this:

1) You'll never save any money reloading for just a few pistol cartridges unless you're shooting incredibly high volume, as you might as a competitor. Talking thousands and thousands of rounds per year. The incremental savings on pistol and revolver ammo just isn't that much, when you only save a nickel per shot, it takes 10,000 shots to pay back even the most inexpensive entry level reloading kit. It takes around $500 to get set up to effectively reload even with a low end single stage or turret press, around $1,000 to get set up with a progressive. By the time most people get to 5,000 rounds on a single stage or turret, they replace it, or some other part of their kit, so their fixed cost per shot goes back up. For guys that start with a progressive, usually they've replaced some part of it, but their fixed cost was way higher to start with, so you still end up taking 10-20,000 rounds to pay that back. Most people will never fire 20,000 rounds in their lifetime.

2) You'll likely never save any money reloading, even at high volume. You'll find that you just shoot more, and either spend more - since you're replacing/upgrading kit too, or you'll break even and spend the same as you did before. That's been relatively universal for everyone that I've helped get started in reloading, nobody ever saves money in the long run.

3) Most Convertibles will never use one of their cylinders, especially for a reloader. If it were a 32-20/32h&r or 44mag/44-40 convertible, that isn't always true, because one of each of those is difficult to find, but for 357/9 and 45LC/ACP convertibles, both are readily found and there's not a lot of motivation to swap cylinders. The only guys that make that really work do their plinking with the 45acp, then hunt with 45colt, which can make sense to some, but not for most, simply because their hunting is not high volume shooting, so again, the one cylinder almost never gets used, even in that scenario.

4) Given your other firearms, unless you have a specific application for a single action, you'll likely find that you don't have use for it. Your other pieces are largely defensive weapons, which for most folks means they only really get used for plinking. Plinking with a single action takes a lot of time compared to a double action or semiauto, and it's easy for semiauto plinking guys to get bored loading a single action. If you're wanting to take up handgun hunting, then a 45 Blackhawk can make sense, but just for plinking, you might find yourself very bored, very quickly.

5) If you find that you do want a Blackhawk for plinking, and want to line up with your current ammunition, then I'd recommend simply selling off the other cylinder. You can recoup some cost that way, and make some other shooter that needs a cylinder happy. So then it's up to you to decide whether you'd rather plink with a 9mm or 45acp - the 45 makes more sense to me in such a large revolver, but it's more expensive than the 9mm. If I were going 9mm revolver, it'd be a mid-frame new vaquero, not a blackhawk.