Half-a-Ruger Where to start?

[Flash]

Yes, half a Ruger. A 357 "Old Model" Blackhawk. Early(1962), low s/n. I took it in trade, because it is a good start, though maybe I paid too much for it. But now that I have it, here is the problem.

The other guy did not have all of the pieces, so I need everything for a Ruger Blackhawk below the reciever. I have barreled action, loading gate, cylinder, ejector rod and housing, firing pin, pawl & spring, cylinder base-pin retainer assembly with spring, and not much more. All of that is original and not fired very much at all, but not a terribly good finish as it laid around a couople of decades in a junk-box since his first marriage crashed and burned.


That means I need grip, trigger, hammer, and all the small stuff that makes it work.

Anybody have any ideas?

I'd not be above scrounging a mess of parts and giving it a go myself, though if somebody has the parts and the skill, I'd let them do it, if the price wasn't too outrageous.

Any suggestions will be welcome. Thank you.

Flash

[Durandal]

I would suggest having a go at Numrich to try and get as many of the common parts as can be had. http://www.gunpartscorp.com/

I have no experience with the Blackhawk, so I'm not sure how much the design has changed over the years. You may end up having to try Ruger directly for any of the harder to find bits and pieces. In my limited experience, their customer service and support has been quite good.

Hopefully others here more experienced than I can chime in with additional sources for parts.

Sounds like a fun project. Good luck!

[mauser]

Durandal beat me to the Numrich reference so I'll offer one that isn't as well known. I didn't have time to look or your parts, I'm being chased away from the computer, but here's the link, good luck.

http://www.gun-parts.com/index.html/

[Wiley-X]

I believe that you can get nifty aftermarket grip frames from Brownell's

[normanvin]

You might check brownells as well.

[brian]

talk to ruger?

[rkrcpa]

Ruger can supply the trigger, hammer and transfer bar free of charge for the Old Model Blackhawk. They may be able to supply the other small parts as well. If not, there is no shortage of other sources for parts for these revolvers. You just have to spend some time looking, these revolvers have a cult like following.

http://www.ruger.com/pdf/safetyOfferAd.pdf

[Flash]

Just got an e-mail from Ruger:

Response:
The firearm would first need to be evaluated, then an estimate would be mailed to you.Ship to Sturm, Ruger & Co. 411 Sunapee St. Newport, NH 03773. Put a detailed letter inside with your firearm stating the problem. Include a daytime phone number, return physical address, and mailing address.

If you need further information, please visit our website at www.ruger.com or contact us .

Gun Parts will prob take a few days to respond.
Numrich may have parts, but pricey.

Thanks,

Flash

[Xringshooter]

Flash, go to www.rugerforum.com and /or www.rugerforum.net and pose your questions there. It's an older Ruger and the frames have changed over time. The folks at rugerforum.com are extreme Ruger fanatics and can tell you a lot about them.

Also, pick up the THE RUGER SINGLE ACTION REVOLVERS - A SHOP MANUAL from Brownells. An excellent book for repairing/restoring a Ruger single action.

If you do send it to Ruger you can also ask them to reblue it after repair and you will get a factory bluing job.

[rkrcpa]

Ruger will probably be of limited help for many of the parts, I'm not sure they still have grip frames etc. available for those. But, grip frames are probably the easiest of the pieces to find. First thing I would do is get a parts listing for the model and go through and figure out exactly which parts you need. Many will be available new from the aftermarket, some will require a little searching but I would doubt that any are unobtainable.

As stated above, the ruger forums will have lots of info for you. While the old model hasn't been made in quite a while (1973) there are plenty of them still in use. I keep looking for one at a decent price for a custom project I have in mind.

I think your best bet may be to obtain the parts and if you are not comfortable with reassembly find a competant gunsmith to do it. They are simple revolvers that are very easy to work on. And, if you decide you want to turn it into a high dollar custom, there are plenty of gunsmiths out there who can provide you with a stunning work of art.