# Ruger old model Blackhawk restoration....sort of



## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

So I picked up this old model Blackhawk .357 for a reasonable price. It came with a Qualite brass birdshead grip frame that is for a New Model (no it is not for sale..)

Anyway I was struggling with what to do with the project. One part of me wants to build something custom like what we have seen from Sharps40 ....the other side of me says restore the gun

It is a 1972 vintage



Here is what it looked like when I got it, rusty, but not too heavily pitted


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

This blog post has more to the story and more pictures

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 1


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

Here is what makes the decision tough....I already have a factory aluminum grip frame in excellent condition:



as well as a brass grip frame from an 1851 Colt copy (bought it for $24)



TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 2


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I decided to restore the gun, I figured I could always customize it later....

1st step was to figure out what parts I had and what parts I needed



I was able to trade a stainless new model base pin for a hammer strut, main spring along with the trigger spring and plunger.

The bag of screws was not complete, it was actually two sets of new model grip frame screws, since the I had two sets I was A-OK, I just ended up with two pivot lock screws (for a new model)



I needed a few more items, I found an old model ejector rod & spring on ebay



I also found these Ruger Old Army frame screws, they also fit the old model



Numrich Arms (Gun Parts Corp) supplied some other misc parts


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

Blog post with more detail

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 3


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

The process of collecting the parts taught me a lot about what parts interchange between the old model, New Models and the Old Army guns

A quick assembly to make sure the gun functions



I used some Speer practice ammo to test her out










Everything worked like it should...1st hurdle overcome


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I tried to restore this aluminum ejector rod housing using the B-C Aluminum Black and it didn't work, maybe the solution was old or I did something wrong? I have never had much luck with this stuff


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I stripped the old bluing and rust off with some B-C rust & bluing remover



I started with the top strap



A little file work and sanding and it looks like new



same for the sides of the frame


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

Then I started on the cylinder, ....I mounted the cylinder to a 1/4" bolt so I could chuck it up in my drill press



220 grit finish



and a finish polish with Krokus cloth


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I polished some of the internal and small parts



I scored a mint condition steel Ejector Rod Housing on ebay (along with the screw and another ejector)



and fitted it to the frame, I had to remove some metal from the hole that the ERH fits into


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

Now that the metal was smooth and shiny it was time to start the bluing.....1st step is to clean and degrease the metal, every nook and cranny must be clean and free of oil and dirt




I am trying out Mark Lee's Express Blue #1, it has some great reviews and it uses heat to speed up the rusting process taking hours instead of days to blue a gun. The stuff looks like racoon piss


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I warmed the parts (150 degrees is recommended) using an electric heat gun



I then swabbed on the solution per the instructions, we got some good rusting right away




Then boiling for 10 minutes and carding the loose black oxide with de-greased 0000 steel wool


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

after 6 cycles I put the parts in baking soda and warm water to neutralize the chemicals and stop the rusting



then I dried them and put them in a bath of WD-40 for 24 hours



The results were less than pleasing......I was hoping that by using a rusting method I could avoid the dreaded plum color (maybe I should've used Plinkington's?) The cylinder looks horrible, the frame had some weird coloration to it, splotchy, almost like color case hardening







The only parts that turned out great were the base pin and the ejector rod


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

More detail and pictures here

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 4


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

While I contemplated my options (strip and reblue or live with the odd color). Lance Shively from Triggershims.com contacted me with an offer to try a set of his shims on this project. I disassembled the gun and measured the clearances



Some gun grease keeps the shims in place during assembly



more pictures of the "completed" gun here at my blog

http://tincanbandit.blogspot.com/2015/06/ruger-old-model-blackhawk-project-part-5.html


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I decided that I like the color, it is unique.:mrgreen:....guaranteed no one else will have an old model Blackhawk like this one! Soooo since it was not going to be looking like a restored gun, I figured I would go ahead and install the Colt brass grip frame

I am following the lead of another gunsmith who has done this before, only his was a new model which had different challenges (harder ones if you ask me)

The grip frame has the trigger guard portion and the back strap, but came with no screws



We will need to accomplish the following:

Make clearance for the wider Ruger trigger and possibly the hammer
drill a hole in the rear of the trigger guard for the trigger return spring and plunger
make clearance for the hammer strut/main spring assembly
build a mount for the hammer strut
plug and redrill the front trigger guard screw hole
find the two necessary screws (Main spring and back strap connecting screw)
Make a custom set of grips, including drilling a hole and installing an indexing pin


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

this picture shows the Colt & Ruger frames side by side, you can see the hole in the back of the trigger guard on the Ruger grip frame


We (my friend who is a machinist) drilled from the front

here is a picture of the fixture he built to drill the hole, setting it up to mimic the angle and depth of the hole on the Ruger


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

the next part of this project involved filling and re-drilling the front trigger guard screw. The Ruger is a copy of the Colt and all but one of the screw holes lined up.

The Ruger's hole sits closer to the trigger guard loop and it overlaps with the original Colt's hole, so simply re-drilling isn't an option (at least not a very good one).

The old hole was threaded for a larger screw, the screw was bottomed out, then silver soldered in place. The new hole was drilled and counter sunk for a perfect fit with the Ruger screw (The Colts screws had slightly larger holes)



we left a little bit of the screw sticking up, it fits in the recess of the Ruger frame and acts as a guide.


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I was able to source the two missing screws. the larger one is the Main Spring screw, the other one is the screw that attaches the back strap and trigger guard sections together at the bottom of the grip.



next up: The building of the main strut/spring boss. Just like Sharp's 1860 Blackhawk, I wanted to use the old Main Spring screw as the mount. I measured the angles on my Ruger Single Six. I will try to mimic the angle and the location of the stock boss.



I had this bracket in my scrap metal pile, that had the right size hole, thickness and a 90 degree bend already in it...



I cut and filed away until I had the correct shape and angle



This is what the end result looks like, I will refine it a bit, cleaning up the edges, polishing the slot and then blue it


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I knew that I would have to make clearance for the main spring/strut assembly, so I broke out the dremel and carved out a channel that was just a bit wider than the spring/strut



I also made clearance on the back strap for the strut where it meets the hammer



Trial fitting, I had to modify the spring/strut boss numerous times to get the angle just right, I also opened the slot up some (length wise) to prevent binding


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

function test with all springs and parts, the only thing missing is/are the grip panels





everything worked perfectly, in fact the modifications have taken up some perceived "slop" in the action, it feels like new

Time to figure out the grip material. I have the following wood on hand: Bloodwood, Purpleheart, Walnut (American Black, straight grain), Oak and Mahogany.

Since this project is a tribute of Sharps 40's work and his bloodwood panels look really good with the brass, 

I decided to go with the bloodwood.

I have this 4x4x4" chunk, I'll have to swap the blade on my saw and cut off some 3/4" wide slabs


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I had thought about buying 1860 Colt stocks and modifying them, Dixie Gun Works sells semi-inletted ones as well, but I figured I would make some on my own as the fit would not be guaranteed and we are working in uncharted waters in that department. It is a good thing I didn't as it turns out my grip frame was from an 1851 Navy (same size as an 1873 SAA).

So I will make templates for the grip panels from cardboard, one thing to be wary of is that the top corner where the grip panels meet the Ruger frame, is not a perfect 90 degree corner. I see a lot of grips where a gap is left in this location due to poor fitting. I will try my best to avoid that



I also purchased this grip screw and escutcheon set from Gun Parts


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

Time for some math....(I know I hate math...) anyway, if we don't plan out the thickness of the grips, we won't know how much material we need to cut and how long of a locating dowel we can use.

I measured the Colt brass grip frame and compared with the stock Ruger XR3-RED



The Colt frame measured approx. .442", the Ruger XR3-Red is about .513" thick a difference of .071"

Next I measured the Ruger grip frame with the factory grips attached (at the widest spot, the heel)



They measured out to roughly 1.542" thick. I like the feel of a palm filling grip, and these factory Ruger grips feel pretty good, so I will attempt to make my grips (including the frame) about the same width.

I cut 3/4" wide pieces for the grip panels, I will file/sand them down to get close to the 1.5" overall thickness.

I will fit the top corner 1st, then drill for the locating pin, then fit them to the grip frame



Before fitting the grip panels I needed to install a dowel/locating pin to keep the grips from moving.

The Ruger's grip locating pin is about .80" wide, I found both 3/4" (.75) and 1" roll pins at the store. I purchased the 1.0" wide ones (1/8 diameter).

The protrusion on the Ruger pin is about .1435" (.80-.513=.287/2=.1435). So I drilled a 1/8" hole, pounded in the 1" roll pin and filed it to .144" protrusion on each side.


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

I found the rear edge of the trigger frame stuck out a little more than the pistols frame. A small file cleaned it up



Fitting the corners first, hoping to avoid any gaps between wood and metal.



I then drilled the 1/8" holes for the dowel pin and the grip screw










I cut the grips close to their final dimension and did a trial fit



now time to remove everything that doesn't look like a proper grip panel


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

The screw that came with the escutcheon kit was too short, I found these brass ones at the local nut & bolt monger, but the head would not fit in the escutcheon recess, So I taped up the threads and chucked it into my drill, a file supplied the necessary friction



I wrapped the metal parts in tape to protect them and let me know when I was close



I then moved to a 1/2 round file to begin contouring the wood



Getting close, the trick is to mimic the Ruger factory grips in shape and profile, but also making sure both sides are identical


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

Grip panels are finished, they are not perfectly symmetrical, but I went by feel more than looks, you really can't tell unless you compare them up close




I used Minwax Antique Oil Finish on these, I have seen the results some have gotten with this product and I wanted to try it out

This is after the 1st coat was rubbed in by hand



I stripped the gun to get all the sanding dust out of it and then finished sanding and polishing the brass


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

One last coat of finish and a gentle rub down with 0000 steel wood


The gun is finished (I think?)

It ain't the prettiest, but it is unique!

I would like to thank Sharps40 for sharing his projects and inspiring us to try new stuff....here's to you buddy!


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## swfan (Jan 18, 2013)

amazing pics and work enjoyed following it along! congrats


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## TINCANBANDIT (Jun 12, 2015)

for those that are interested here are all the blog post links for this build:

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 1

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 2

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 3

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 4

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 5

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 6

TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: Ruger Old Model Blackhawk Project part 7


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