Ruger Blackhawk 30 Carbine conversion question

**PaulH** · September 21st, 2009, 11:55 AM

Does anyone know if it is possible to convert a Ruger Blackhawk, in .30 Carbine, to 7.62x25 (the Tokerev round)? From what I know (which is very little), the diameter's are similar. The carbine is .308 and the Tok is either .308 or .310. I would figure the Tok round has a higher pressure, but the info I found was the carbine moves about 2,000 fps (probably from a longer 16" barrel) while the Tok is about 1,400.

The cylinder would have to be rebored, and there would be a longer jump to the barrel, but would this be a reasonable conversion, provided a 2nd cylinder could be found? Or, are there other dangerous issues I haven't thought about.

**Seabee CO** · September 21st, 2009, 10:30 PM

Paul,

The first thing that I would have to say is "why?". The "normally corrosive" Tokarev round offers NO tangible ballistic advantage over the 30 carb? Other than travelling at a higher velocity, why would you want to do this?

From an engineer's view:

To directly answer your question, you overlooked the key thing to be considered - pressure. I don't have my books in front of me now but you would have to compare the chamber pressure of both the tokarev round and the carbine round. I believe the tokarev round is higher pressure, but don't know to what magnitude. Considering the diameter of the tokarev case requires the cylinder to be bored out, you would be risking putting a higher pressure round into a cylinder designed for a lower pressure round and weakening the cylinder walls even more by boring it out (so the tokarev round would fit). Your thinnest point may be the thickness between the cylinder wall and the bolt recess. (pressure will most likely be greatest there instead of the flutes) If your cylinder blows, you may be lucky and only deform the metal in this place causing your cases to really stick on extraction. Worst case is if the whole side wall of the cylinder blows and you have a catastrophic failure and a trip to the hospital.

I see no gain in doing this and you'll be hard pressed to find a reputable gunsmith to do this for you.

**Matt2496** · September 21st, 2009, 10:47 PM

I would guess he wants to do this for the same reason everyone buys .22 conversions. The price of ammo. The 7.62x25 is cheap.

**PaulH** · September 22nd, 2009, 10:47 AM

Matt, you're right, the idea was because 7.62x25 is a lot less expensive than 30 Carbine. I also enjoy shooting the Tok round. As they're both .30 caliber, I figured it would be a good conversion, but didn't know if the pressures would be too high for the Ruger, thus, the question.

It's not something I'm too serious about, but if someone had already made a conversion, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Years ago, someone sold a .30 Tok cylinder to replace the original Nagant cylinder. Now, that was a dangerous conversion. Rugers are made pretty tough and if the frames and cylinders for the .357 and 30 Carbine Blackhawks are the same (which I think they are) then I would think the Ruger could take the pressure. Both are about 40,000 CUP. The base for a .357 is 9.6mm while the 7.62 is 9.7mm. I don't know if that 10th of a mm makes a big difference.

I'll keep looking.

**Matt2496** · September 22nd, 2009, 03:12 PM

Hey Paul how do you like your Blackhawk in 30 Carbine?

**PaulH** · September 22nd, 2009, 03:43 PM

Hey Matt,

It's an OK piece, but I find it's difficult to extract fired cases. I've heard that it's a problem with the 30 Carbines. I'm going to have to find some way to polish the chambers to make them slip out a little better. The last time I took it to the range, I had to resort to pulling the cylinder in order to get the empties out.

Other than that, it's a fun gun to shoot, it's accurate and with the 7 1/2" barrel it still makes a big flame.