Anyone see any reason why one could not merely bore out that little bit in the cylindder to make this a 44 magnum??

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Forum consigliere

The very thin barrel shank would be one reason.

Dan

If Ruger wanted to do it they would have.

Don't get me wrong, I love Ruger wheelguns but when it came to getting a 5 shot 44 snubbie I never seriously considered the GP100 because the Mod 69 does what it can't.

Why, you can load the 44 special up to low level magnum loads?

Because the GP101 lacks the necessary strength to hold up to a steady diet of full-power standard pressure .44 Magnum loads, much less the so-called, irresponsibly-named "Ruger Only" overpressure loads that folks would ignorantly think were safe to shoot out of it.

If the GP101 could be made to shoot .44 Magnum safely, then Ruger would have done so by now, especially when there is clear demand for smaller-framed .44 Magnum Revolvers, as evidenced by the popularity of those offered by their competition, the Taurus Tracker 44 and Smith & Wesson 69.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

If it could be safely done, Ruger would have done it. I do not recommend that anyone ream one of these cylinders for 44 Magnum nor reload 44 Special brass to 44 Magnum pressures.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Wow, Caj, seems like you're not the only attorney here!
I'm just a little confused though as I've never heard of the GP101. See what Ruger says.

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There's a Monster on the loose

Ruger would say NO.

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

From your reply on the thread about reaming a model 442 cylinder to 357 mag

"I'm from the "Go ahead and do it and let us know what happens" school of thought. Don't forget pictures"

Both of the gun and your hand after firing

I’m betting it would be plenty safe. Of course Ruger would say no, but an experienced gunsmith could tell you for sure. It may not stand up to thousands of hot rounds, but not many people will ever shoot thousands of hot rounds. How many have said you can’t ream a model 10 to 357 mag. No telling how many have been done. I’ve owned at least 5-6 with zero problems.

I have to agree with this, but I'm not all there, so to speak! But, ream it out, get the camera, and, well, you have got to have an extra intern or two you could use to shoot the gun. Heck, from reading all the Dilbert cartoons for years, that's what interns are for!

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There's a Monster on the loose

I suspect the frame 'may' be ammenable, but the wheel is probably not heat-treated for the higher pressures.
Spend a bit of time researching Power, Bowen and Clements conversions.
See if one has already made a proper Magnum cylinder for the gun.

Gee, I have a scandium 396, why don't I just buy a model 69 cylinder and fit it to the 396 frame because an ultra light 44 mag is such a great idea. NOT

Anymore background Caj?

If the .44spcl isn't what you would prefer--guessing you want the flexibility of either/or--maybe sell what is not meeting the 'need/want' and get what you really like?

Hope you find a solution that works best. Maybe keep what you have and buy another gun? Good reason to add another one to the stable.

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Rather be outdoors

Well, bet with your own gun and appendages, then.

I say go for it.

Can I have one of your shotguns?

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That's just somebody talkin.

Who would say this is a good idea? Any gunsmith who would OK this is not a gunsmith I'd trust. As for experienced gunsmith, hardly any outside of a original manufacturer technicians would have the knowledge or equipment to test this.

Some of the S&W Thunder Ranch .44 specials cylinders would chamber
.44 mag ammo. I never shot any .44 mag through them.

Just how big is this cylinder? How thick are the cylinder walls? Both between each chamber and outside wall. Where is the cylinder stop cut. Here is an interesting thing about Ruger Super Blackhawk cylinders is they are almost the same OD as S&W n frame cylinders, but notch is offset a bit. The cylinder blows first not the frame. I know squat about GP100 stuff

Safety. I have often thought of purposely blowing up a S&W 45 colt cylinder just to see what it would take. You could do the same thing with a Ruger cylinder if you had the time and tools

Machine a cylinder sized hole in a 6"x6" x 1 1/2" thick piece of steel

Drill block for a bolt to act as yoke tube and hold cylinder centered and
square in window. Needs to be fairly easy to remove for reloads

Drill and tap for barrel.

Drill and ream a 452 hole in line and below the barrel and center bolt, so I could run a 452 piece of round stock in it and keep cylinder in time by punning 180 chamber in place. Use a cross drill and tap a hole for a small bolt to hold this rod in place.

Drill a small firing pin hole and make a long firing pin that comes out rear of block. Step it up considerable about 3/4" behind what would be the recoil shield to give it mass and connect a spring to it to pull it forward when released. Think similar to a bolt action rifle firing pin. Simple flat lever that one end pivots on back of block and moves out of a slot in firing pin. Pull a string, flat bar pivots from slot in pin body. Firing pin slams forward for the Bang.

Mount the whole thing inside a piece of heavy wall 10" pipe. Start at about 20 gr of 2400 behind a 255 gr slug and go up 1/2 a gr at a time until it lets go. According to John Linebaugh, in a 7" test barrel a 260 GR. LEAD SWC 260 GR. LEAD SWC, 20.5 gr of 2400 gives about 1294 FPS and 29,800 psi


I have a 45 colt cylinder a 45 barrel, a block of steel and a mill. But, I also have to paint my shop, make momma a "rustic" bench, paint the step daughters car, take naps, float the creek and do 6 or 7 other gun projects. LOL

Besides I believe my 45 colts with 255 gr slugs and 18.5 of 2400 will do all I will ever need

I have read older gun magazine articles stating that when the charter 44 special bulldog came out, that people were reaming the chambers out to 44 magnum dimensions, and loading up elmer keith/skeeter skelton 44 special heavy duty data, and doing it safely.

Some articles stated these people were safely using the starting loads for 44 magnum, and doing it safely. Some of these altered chambered bulldogs have shown up for resale.

However, please remember that the Ruger Factory said, about what 12 years ago, that the Ruger GP 100 revolver was not strong enough/dimensioned correctly for them to produce a factory version in 41 magnum or 41 special.

44 magnum has a higher chamber pressure than both of those cartridged.

As an owner of both a .44 mag and .44 spl. Vaquero, and former owner of a Ruger Redhawk .44 mag, simple view of the cylinders and frame show the GP100 .44 spl cylinder walls and forcing cone are too thin for conversion to be a safe thing to try. The cylinder is also shorter than the magnum cylinders in the Vaquero and Redhawk.

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Heavily armed old man.

It will only cost the amount of a .44 Magnum cylinder reamer to find out if you are really curious and want to find out bad enough to do it yourself.

Let us know what breaks, if anything. After all it is "ONLY A RUGER", what can it hurt? My money is on the gun would last longer than you would be willing to shoot it.

Revolvers are far stronger, and have a far greater safety margin than most people have any idea! Your question, your gun, your choice.

Considering who the OP is, and what day this is, I doubt this was a serious question!!!!! Is there really a Ruger GP101 .44 Special? If not this question is moot! There is a GP100.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Smith & Wesson is known to use metallurgy to strengthen weak parts of their guns. You cannot see this with the naked eye.
Important to caution owners of the Model 696, 44 spl, who think it can be converted to 44 magnum, "just like the Model 69!" they will say. I do not agree with them.

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696-6906-457-38-3913-CS40-411

Do everybody a favor and don’t blow up your gun. They’ll quit making them.

Perhaps he meant GP401?

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Uvidíme se později, aligátore.

This thread is almost 3 years old and was written in July, not on April 1st.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I hope that more people can accept this reviving of old threads especially here in the Semi-Auto Sub-Forum. When you get a new 3rd gen go do a search of that model and read everything going back as far as you have time. The prevailing etiquette however is to start a new thread, Thom_44, and include a link to the zombie thread. A comment or a like directed to someone who is dead or long gone makes us uncomfortable. Maybe we should get over it. SteelSlaver is very active here and truly one of the most helpful contributors. If he for one example comes in to add more, then the reviving of a zombie thread will be vindicated. OP is Cajun Lawyer a truly funny guy whom I admire.

Thanks and Kind Regards Muley Gil. I have noted your contribution here.
BrianD

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696-6906-457-38-3913-CS40-411

There’s a first time for everything.

Some first timers start a notable, and sometimes profitable, trend: most don’t.