Ruger .357/38/9mm wheel gun.

[stormryder]

I was checking out a Ruger SA chambered in .357/.38/9mm.
Instead of buying this, I was wondering if it would be possible/cheaper to re-chamber an existing SA to take 9mm as well as .357/.38?
I am looking at increased versatility for my .357/.38, over everything else.

 

[jwh20]

I don't think that would be possible. The issue is that 9mm Luger is "rimless". So the end of the brass is what keeps it from falling through the chamber into the barrel. A .38 Spl and .357 Mag have a rim at the primer end of the case that keeps it from falling in.

But the issue is that both .38 and .357 are LONGER than a 9mm. So an edge in the chamber to keep a 9mm in place would prevent a longer cartridge from going all the way in.

 

[stormryder]

I don't think that would be possible. The issue is that 9mm Luger is "rimless". So the end of the brass is what keeps it from falling through the chamber into the barrel. A .38 Spl and .357 Mag have a rim at the primer end of the case that keeps it from falling in.

But the issue is that both .38 and .357 are LONGER than a 9mm. So an edge in the chamber to keep a 9mm in place would prevent a longer cartridge from going all the way in.

The Question is, how did Ruger do it w/this Pistol then?

 

[SSGSAD]

The Question is, how did Ruger do it w/this Pistol then?

IIRC, they used a seperate cylinder, and it was "made for moon clips" .....

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

There are already 9mm revolvers out there. They use moon clips.

I guess it would be possible to get a gunsmith to work on an older gun and machine out the cylinder to accept moon clips. Probably would cost a lot though.

Id buy the factory gun and be done with it.

 

[tude]

I have a Ruger Blackhawk .38/.357/9mm. I bought it about a year ago. Love it! It is very accurate with all calibers. The 9mm cylinder does not need moonclips, it has a lip inside the cylinder for the 9mm case to rest on.

 

[jwh20]

I have a Ruger Blackhawk .38/.357/9mm. I bought it about a year ago. Love it! It is very accurate with all calibers. The 9mm cylinder does not need moonclips, it has a lip inside the cylinder for the 9mm case to rest on.

Well, it was not clear to me how this is possible so I looked up the dimensions of the 9mm (9x19) and the .357 magnum to try to understand what's going on here.

First the .357:

Note that the case diameter is .379 inch all the way except for the rim which is .440.

Now the 9mm:

Note that the case is TAPERS from 9.65 mm at the bullet end to 9.93 mm at the extractor groove. In inches that is .379 to .390.

So it's the taper that keeps the 9mm in place in the chamber, not the lip (as I incorrect believed.)

If we have a chamber that is shaped for a 9mm with a taper from .390 down to .379 and then stays at .379, we can fit a .357 magnum or a .38 spl (which is the same diameter but shorter) in the chamber or we can fit a 9mm.

The .357 and .38 will have a bit of extra room near the primer end but obviously this is not a problem. I suppose worst case the case would be expanded a bit but that would only be an issue if you were trying to reload one of these. In that case you'd have to pull a bit harder on the resizing die than for one fired in a .357 only gun.

Interesting question though, and I learned something new in the process.

 

[tude]

The Blackhawk comes with 2 cylinders. One for 38/357 and one for 9mm. A 9mm won't go all the way in the 38/357 cylinder and a 38/357 won't go all the way in the 9mm cylinder so you can't possibly get them mixed up. There is also a Blackhawk 45 colt/ 45 ACP convertable that coms with 2 cylinders.

 

[kboom524]

So it's the taper that keeps the 9mm in place in the chamber, not the lip (as I incorrect believed.)
.

You were correct in your first assumption. The 9mm case as with other auto loading pistol cases, same as 45 acp, headspaces on the case mouth not the taper of the case. The Ruger Blackhawk 9mm cylinder is built to correctly headspace the cartridge, so it does not need moon clips.

 

[jwh20]

You were correct in your first assumption.

In that case I'm not sure how the combo that was mentioned that doesn't use moon-clips can work. There can't be a lip in the chamber to hold the 9mm in place that would also let the longer .357 go all the way in.

Or perhaps I'm missing something.

Is it possible that the "standard" 9mm is setup so that the headspace stops the round from going in too far but in this .38/.357/9mm combo setup that the taper is doing the job?

 

[sonofagun]

In that case I'm not sure how the combo that was mentioned that doesn't use moon-clips can work. There can't be a lip in the chamber to hold the 9mm in place that would also let the longer .357 go all the way in.

Or perhaps I'm missing something.

Is it possible that the "standard" 9mm is setup so that the headspace stops the round from going in too far but in this .38/.357/9mm combo setup that the taper is doing the job?

I believe a couple of the posters said the 9mm used a different cylinder from the .357.

 

[tude]

My Blackhawk has two (2) cylinders. One is for 9mm only and has a lip inside the cylinder for the casing to rest on. The other cylinder is for 38/357 only.

 

[kboom524]

In that case I'm not sure how the combo that was mentioned that doesn't use moon-clips can work. There can't be a lip in the chamber to hold the 9mm in place that would also let the longer .357 go all the way in.

Or perhaps I'm missing something.

Is it possible that the "standard" 9mm is setup so that the headspace stops the round from going in too far but in this .38/.357/9mm combo setup that the taper is doing the job?

In the .38/.357/9mm combo guns use two separate cylinders. One for .38/.357 and one for 9mm. Ruger uses the same two cylinder setup for 45 Colt/ 45acp. It would be almost impossible to setup a gun to correctly headspace on case taper for all the different manufacturers of ammo let alone handloaded rounds. The tolerances would have to be too tight to accomplish this.

 

[stormryder]

The one I handled had one cylinder for all 3. There was lip in the chambers for the 9mm, that a .38/357 would slide over.

On a side note, does anyone remember the "Medusa" pistol that was Multi-caliber?
I think it had one cylinder for several calibers.

 

[tude]

The one I handled had one cylinder for all 3. There was lip in the chambers for the 9mm, that a .38/357 would slide over.

On a side note, does anyone remember the "Medusa" pistol that was Multi-caliber?
I think it had one cylinder for several calibers.

All due respect, if the one you handled was a Blackhawk, the owner was not showing you or did not have the other cylinder. The ammo cannot be interchanged in the same cylinder.

 

[hopper68]

The only convertible model Rugers I have seen have 2 cylinders.

https://ruger-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/_manuals/blackhawk.pdf
pg 15

https://ruger-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/_manuals/blackhawk-pre1973.pdf
page 3

 

[HoughMade]

What you are missing is what several people said. There is one cylinder that fits the 9mm. When you want to shoot the .38 or .357, you have to take the 9mm cylinder out of the gun and put in a wholly different .38/.357 cylinder. The gun comes with 2 separate, diferent, differently designed cylinders. You cannot shot a 9mm in the same cylinder as a .38 or .357. Therefore, to have a gun to shoot those cartridges, there must be a cylinder made only for the 9mm and one made for the .38/.357

 

[ru44mag]

My brother has the single six with a cylinder for 22 LR and a cylinder for 22 mag. He loves it. He also bought a Blackhawk in .357/38. I think he just has one cylinder. How hard would it be to buy an extra cylinder to shoot 9mm out of it? I like my Supers the best.

 

[kboom524]

My brother has the single six with a cylinder for 22 LR and a cylinder for 22 mag. He loves it. He also bought a Blackhawk in .357/38. I think he just has one cylinder. How hard would it be to buy an extra cylinder to shoot 9mm out of it? I like my Supers the best.

The cylinder would have to be fitted to the gun preferably by Ruger, or at least a very good gunsmith.

 

[Leo]

The few (and very few) revolvers I have seen that did not require moon clips had a little extension piece built into the ejector star. They worked ok for shooting, but really did not work very good ejecting. I ended up holding the ejector out with one hand and digging the brass out with a knife. Kind of slow for tactical reloads.

On the other hand, my moonclip S&W 625 works perfect every time. If I were wanting to have a 9mm revolver made it would be moon clip all the way.