A 10mm Magnum Super Redhawk!
I’ve liked the 10mm cartridge since I got my first Delta Elite back in 1995. Over the years I’ve had Glock 20s and 29s, an EAA full size, an RIA 1911, two 1006s, a 1026, and finally a 610 no dash I picked up in 2010. I’ve also converted a Sig-Mauser M2 and a CS40 into 10mm and have a 4013 and an AMT Backup .40 that are on my list for the ream treatment at some point.
Not long after getting my 610 back in ‘10, I happened across some talk on the internet here and there about a “10mm Magnum”. I was intrigued and searched out what I could find about it. Back then I could only dream about it because I was only thinking about reloading and my gunsmithing skills were nearly nonexistent, though actually I was just too apprehensive to try something like that anyway. I thought about it from time to time, and even purchased a second cylinder for my 610 before I realized it would only fit a dash 1 and later. The no dash spare cylinders seem to be as rare as hens teeth. I decided then that I wouldn’t convert my fairly scarce 610, that it was just too valuable to me to make the conversion.
When the new 610s came out, I was really tempted to pick one up to convert, but...the lock. I just don’t like them, personal opinion...don’t flame me
Anyway, I think the dash 1’s would be perfect: prelock, and unfluted cylinder...they would make a nice conversion and not harm a no dash model in the process. But now, the prices have become prohibitive even on the dash two’s and three’s, much less the dash one’s. The last dash one I tracked on gb went for nearly $1900!
Another conversion candidate I considered is the Ruger GP100, but they have been climbing in price steadily as well. You won’t touch one on gb for less than $1200. I finally settled on the SRH mainly due to cost, I’ll admit, but after working on it I think it is the superior platform for the 10mm Magnum. The combination of mass and longer barrel allow for better utilization of the 10mm Magnum cartridge.
Here is the work I did: I had never taken apart a Ruger revolver, but with a couple of youtube videos under my belt, it was easy. I chucked the cylinder in the vise padded by wood strips and at a comfortable angle to do the reaming. On the .40 to 10mm conversions, you are removing .15” of metal from ONE chamber. In converting a 10mm revolver to 10mm Magnum, you will be removing about .25” of metal from each of SIX chambers! I did the reaming over the course of three weeknights and part of the weekend. It’s a LOT of turning that tee handle! On the last three I tried to count my revolutions and I came out at around 290 to 320 full turns, which is around six hundred cycles of turning the reamer with a tee handle. You just have to pace yourself, take breaks, and realize you are making progress even when it seems you aren’t. Measure often, especially towards the end and keep your progression of measurements written down. Use a lot of cutting oil. I would clean the chamber and reamer and re-apply some tap-magic about every 20 turns. I think frequent oiling really extends the life of your reamer. I wasn’t sure if I was going to wear this reamer out before I finished. It had already reamed two .40 chambers for me and one that I had loaned it out for. But it did well. I don’t see any real wear on it after completing the SRH.
I couldn’t find any good info on the internet about how deep to ream and I didn’t have go-no go gauges for the 10mm Magnum, so I just took the average height of several factory 10mm rounds above the cylinder face and extrapolated the depth for the Magnum round and came up with 1.15” from the cylinder face to the headspace.
When I got it finished, I cleaned it up good and had to watch another youtube video to reassemble it
. Then I made up 100 rounds of 200gr. XTP over 18 grains of 2400. I can’t wait to try it!
I’ve liked the 10mm cartridge since I got my first Delta Elite back in 1995. Over the years I’ve had Glock 20s and 29s, an EAA full size, an RIA 1911, two 1006s, a 1026, and finally a 610 no dash I picked up in 2010. I’ve also converted a Sig-Mauser M2 and a CS40 into 10mm and have a 4013 and an AMT Backup .40 that are on my list for the ream treatment at some point.
Not long after getting my 610 back in ‘10, I happened across some talk on the internet here and there about a “10mm Magnum”. I was intrigued and searched out what I could find about it. Back then I could only dream about it because I was only thinking about reloading and my gunsmithing skills were nearly nonexistent, though actually I was just too apprehensive to try something like that anyway. I thought about it from time to time, and even purchased a second cylinder for my 610 before I realized it would only fit a dash 1 and later. The no dash spare cylinders seem to be as rare as hens teeth. I decided then that I wouldn’t convert my fairly scarce 610, that it was just too valuable to me to make the conversion.
When the new 610s came out, I was really tempted to pick one up to convert, but...the lock. I just don’t like them, personal opinion...don’t flame me
Anyway, I think the dash 1’s would be perfect: prelock, and unfluted cylinder...they would make a nice conversion and not harm a no dash model in the process. But now, the prices have become prohibitive even on the dash two’s and three’s, much less the dash one’s. The last dash one I tracked on gb went for nearly $1900!Another conversion candidate I considered is the Ruger GP100, but they have been climbing in price steadily as well. You won’t touch one on gb for less than $1200. I finally settled on the SRH mainly due to cost, I’ll admit, but after working on it I think it is the superior platform for the 10mm Magnum. The combination of mass and longer barrel allow for better utilization of the 10mm Magnum cartridge.
Here is the work I did: I had never taken apart a Ruger revolver, but with a couple of youtube videos under my belt, it was easy. I chucked the cylinder in the vise padded by wood strips and at a comfortable angle to do the reaming. On the .40 to 10mm conversions, you are removing .15” of metal from ONE chamber. In converting a 10mm revolver to 10mm Magnum, you will be removing about .25” of metal from each of SIX chambers! I did the reaming over the course of three weeknights and part of the weekend. It’s a LOT of turning that tee handle! On the last three I tried to count my revolutions and I came out at around 290 to 320 full turns, which is around six hundred cycles of turning the reamer with a tee handle. You just have to pace yourself, take breaks, and realize you are making progress even when it seems you aren’t. Measure often, especially towards the end and keep your progression of measurements written down. Use a lot of cutting oil. I would clean the chamber and reamer and re-apply some tap-magic about every 20 turns. I think frequent oiling really extends the life of your reamer. I wasn’t sure if I was going to wear this reamer out before I finished. It had already reamed two .40 chambers for me and one that I had loaned it out for. But it did well. I don’t see any real wear on it after completing the SRH.
I couldn’t find any good info on the internet about how deep to ream and I didn’t have go-no go gauges for the 10mm Magnum, so I just took the average height of several factory 10mm rounds above the cylinder face and extrapolated the depth for the Magnum round and came up with 1.15” from the cylinder face to the headspace.
When I got it finished, I cleaned it up good and had to watch another youtube video to reassemble it
. Then I made up 100 rounds of 200gr. XTP over 18 grains of 2400. I can’t wait to try it!
