Chamfer revolver chambers?

[Blizzard of '93]

fong - if you order the correct reamer, one that will reach to the bottom of the chambers, would you consider renting it out or reaming others cylinders for a reasonable price? would add powder capacity and likely enhance accuracy too.

 

[kwilfong]

I haven't checked the price yet, but I believe it will be very reasonable. If/when I do it, I'll loan the reamer to you when I'm finished.
I say if/when because my barrel has some pitting and I'm thinking of relining it to a .36.
And I would be happy to ream your cylinder or anyone else's here. I do a little gunsmith work on the side. I work cheap. :shocked2:
If there's enough interest here; I'll get a .451" reamer whether I do my own or not.

 

[R.M.]

Fong, the Rugers are almost size for size. Personally, I prefer the projectile in all my pistols to be a thou or two over groove diameter, so I would suggest reaming to .452". That's still 2 thou smaller than the .454" balls. You could even go to .454" and use .457" balls. That'll cut .003", and be .003" over groove diameter. Ya, I like that combination. :hmm:

 

[kwilfong]

I'm thinking .451" reamer because I'll polish it after reaming so it would finish out around .452.
Thanks for the #'s on the Old Army. I thought they'd be pretty close. I should have kept mine. :cursing:
I picked up a Blackhawk Convertible .45 recently.
The Long Colt cylinder throats are just about perfect @ .452", but the ACP throats are a bit tight;around .450". I have to seat my cast SWC bullets a bit deeper to have them chamber easily and I'll open those throats to .452 eventually.
I agree that chamber throats should be groove dia. or +.001".

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I can't answer your question, as I don't own or have ever shot a ROA. When Bill Ruger was alive, he used to love to chat with folks. Maybe someone at the factory knows the answer you're looking for.

As for the '58 NMA: if you ream-out the ends of the chambers be careful to be consistent. I'm not sure how many thousandths of an inch the ball is supposed be be. Maybe bore-size, maybe slightly bigger so it has to get squeezed into the forcing cone. Others who know more may answer you better than I. Keep in mind that the chambers in most revolvers are off-set at an angle and that the lead ball enters the barrel's forcing cone at a slight angle due to this. To check this fact out, take a cylinder with the nipples on it and turn it so as to enable yourself a view of the inside of the chambers. You'll note that you have to turn the cylinder sideways some in order to see light out of the end of the nipples. And you can't get all 6 nipples into alignment at the same time. Your reamer should match this same angle so as to not deform the ball.

Good luck with the job and let us see some targets soon! 25-30 grains should do the trick in a '58.

Dave

 

[R.M.]

I think you'll find that the chambers are parallel to the outside, but the nipples are canted or offset.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

:redface: O-K, I guess it's a good thing that I don't own a reamer either :haha: .

These tri-focal progressives sure do bend them light rays! I swear I can't see nuthin close-up the way I used to!

Dave

P.S.: Thanks for being kind to me when you could have "REAMED" me :thumbsup:

 

[R.M.]

:rotf:
I know what you mean about eyes.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

:thumbsup: Sounds right!

 

[mykeal]

How is the Ruger Old Army set up(chamber dia vs groove dia) out of the box?

One of my ROA's slugs as follows:
chambers: .450
land-to-land: .444
groove-to-groove: .450
6 lands & grooves, right hand twist

 

[tv_racin_fan]

Actually according to what I have read most are straight BUT there are a few chambers that are indeed a touch skewed by design.

I would love to have the cylinders on both of my ROAs blueprinted. Wouldn't hurt to have what is supposed to be a tight spot in the bore right where the barrel mates with the frame as well. My son has a Pietta 1858 remmy I would like to have the chambers cylinder blueprinted.

Thinking about doing it myself but I am not a machinest...

 

[nkbj]

Don't forget to check your chambers to see if they were cylindrical or taper reamed. The seating depth sometimes determines the resized projectile diameter.
Light charges used in c&b revolvers won't produce obduration but, when you squish something it has to go somewhere so lead moves into the grooves a bit when it hits the rifling.
Reckon if I'd got my better 2/3's that swimming pool it would be a lot easier to study this.

 

[kwilfong]

Thanks for those #'s.
I found a .4531" reamer locally. When it gets here, I'll have a go at my cylinder and report the results. I'm not sure I can make this piece a tack driver due to the slightly pitted bore but it will be an interesting experiment regardless, and worst case is I'll reline the bore and cylinder to 36.