Conundrum
Back in the mid-90s, I started taking a variety of gun projects out to Dave Ewer for gunsmithing. One of these projects was a 7.5” SS Ruger SBH (.44 Magnum). Dave installed a taller front sight (so I could zero the 300s properly), re-cut the crown, and did a trigger job, taking it to a crisp 2 3/4 lb. This gun has been zeroed for and dedicated to 300 grain bullets ever since, ready to go on a moments notice. Some years later I had a 300 grain RCBS GC-SWC mould modified by Erik Ohlen to make shallow HPs for hogs, deer, and elk with guns like this one in mind.
Over time, Dave and I became friends and I had him do a variety of different projects for me. At his insistence, he also started teaching me how to do some of these things for myself. One of these projects involved a 7.5” Bisley BH in .45 Colt. The throats were undersized and needed to be opened up to .452”, and the cylinder gap was too wide for my tastes so the barrel needed to be set back, fit to the frame and cylinder, and the ERH turned to fit. Dave coached me through these operations, and then said, “As long as you have the barrel off you might as well re-cut the forcing cone and crown.” So then he coached me through those operations. In this case, the “poor man’s trigger job” (removing one leg of the trigger return spring) resulted in a 2 ½ lb trigger, so I didn’t do any stone-work on the engagement surfaces. When I finished, I bought a pair of attractive Hogue walnut grips to top things off. It turned out rather nicely.
That project got me to thinking, I’ve always liked the looks and balance of the shorter “gunfighter’s” barrel length on a SA revolver, and several custom gunsmiths were starting to do a variety of RB conversions on Rugers at that time, and I thought that combining these features might make for a very useful and handsome package. I had a 4 5/8” SS .45 Colt that made an excellent starting point. Once again, Dave coached, and I learned – cylinder throats reamed, barrel set back, forcing cone and crown re-cut, ERH turned and fitted, then the gripframe round-butted and polished up. Once again, the “poor man’s trigger job” produced a trigger that breaks just a shade under 3 lbs. Then Dave looked at me and said, “Whatchya gonna do for grips?” At that point, I had made grips for 1911s, but not for a SA. He gave me some advice, and I found a nice piece of French Claro walnut and carefully made some grips. This little RB .45 shoots just as good as it looks.
Years later, Dave and I were discussing custom SA Rugers in general over breakfast one morning, and he asked, “What would the perfect hog gun look like?” (we were eating crispy bacon, so the subject of pig guns seemed pertinent). Somewhere in my response I made the comment that if one takes the flare out of the front of the Ruger SBH gripframe and then does a modest RB job on the backstrap, that one can capture many of the benefits of the FA gripframe. His eyes really lit up at that idea. A couple of weeks later, I found Dave out in his garage with a 4 5/8” SBH mounted in his mill, building a new taller front sight for 300s. “Hey Glen! Check out this gripframe! Is this what you meant?” He had modified the Ruger’s gripframe exactly as we had discussed, and it turned out beautifully. He would go on to make the cylinder free-wheeling, re-stamp the barrel, and bead-blast the gun. The trigger breaks consistently right at 3 lb. I had to admit, Dave just might have made the perfect hog gun.
Sadly, Dave died several years later and I ended up buying that .44 from his wife.
About a year ago, I stumbled across an RCBS .45 300 GC-SWC mould out in my mould box (that I had forgotten I owned) and decided to send it off to Erik Ohlen and have him do a similar conversion to my .44 300 HP mould. He did, and so now I have a beautiful matched set of 300 grain HP moulds in .44 and .45 caliber. Both bullets have proven to be very accurate, and the .44 300 HP has proven to really hammer hogs.
As I was sitting down reflecting over my coffee this morning, it occurred to me that I also have a matched set of hog guns – long and short sixguns, a pair of .44s and a pair of .45s, each worked over to shoot heavy cast bullets, and each ideally suited for hogs in the thick stuff. The two .44s were worked on by Dave, and I worked on the two .45s with Dave’s coaching. Each caliber has a 4 5/8” RB, and a more traditionally endowed 7.5”, and all 4 guns have proven to be excellent shooters. But not one of them has tasted pork yet! My conundrum is this – which one do I take on my next hog hunt?
Back in the mid-90s, I started taking a variety of gun projects out to Dave Ewer for gunsmithing. One of these projects was a 7.5” SS Ruger SBH (.44 Magnum). Dave installed a taller front sight (so I could zero the 300s properly), re-cut the crown, and did a trigger job, taking it to a crisp 2 3/4 lb. This gun has been zeroed for and dedicated to 300 grain bullets ever since, ready to go on a moments notice. Some years later I had a 300 grain RCBS GC-SWC mould modified by Erik Ohlen to make shallow HPs for hogs, deer, and elk with guns like this one in mind.
Over time, Dave and I became friends and I had him do a variety of different projects for me. At his insistence, he also started teaching me how to do some of these things for myself. One of these projects involved a 7.5” Bisley BH in .45 Colt. The throats were undersized and needed to be opened up to .452”, and the cylinder gap was too wide for my tastes so the barrel needed to be set back, fit to the frame and cylinder, and the ERH turned to fit. Dave coached me through these operations, and then said, “As long as you have the barrel off you might as well re-cut the forcing cone and crown.” So then he coached me through those operations. In this case, the “poor man’s trigger job” (removing one leg of the trigger return spring) resulted in a 2 ½ lb trigger, so I didn’t do any stone-work on the engagement surfaces. When I finished, I bought a pair of attractive Hogue walnut grips to top things off. It turned out rather nicely.
That project got me to thinking, I’ve always liked the looks and balance of the shorter “gunfighter’s” barrel length on a SA revolver, and several custom gunsmiths were starting to do a variety of RB conversions on Rugers at that time, and I thought that combining these features might make for a very useful and handsome package. I had a 4 5/8” SS .45 Colt that made an excellent starting point. Once again, Dave coached, and I learned – cylinder throats reamed, barrel set back, forcing cone and crown re-cut, ERH turned and fitted, then the gripframe round-butted and polished up. Once again, the “poor man’s trigger job” produced a trigger that breaks just a shade under 3 lbs. Then Dave looked at me and said, “Whatchya gonna do for grips?” At that point, I had made grips for 1911s, but not for a SA. He gave me some advice, and I found a nice piece of French Claro walnut and carefully made some grips. This little RB .45 shoots just as good as it looks.
Years later, Dave and I were discussing custom SA Rugers in general over breakfast one morning, and he asked, “What would the perfect hog gun look like?” (we were eating crispy bacon, so the subject of pig guns seemed pertinent). Somewhere in my response I made the comment that if one takes the flare out of the front of the Ruger SBH gripframe and then does a modest RB job on the backstrap, that one can capture many of the benefits of the FA gripframe. His eyes really lit up at that idea. A couple of weeks later, I found Dave out in his garage with a 4 5/8” SBH mounted in his mill, building a new taller front sight for 300s. “Hey Glen! Check out this gripframe! Is this what you meant?” He had modified the Ruger’s gripframe exactly as we had discussed, and it turned out beautifully. He would go on to make the cylinder free-wheeling, re-stamp the barrel, and bead-blast the gun. The trigger breaks consistently right at 3 lb. I had to admit, Dave just might have made the perfect hog gun.
Sadly, Dave died several years later and I ended up buying that .44 from his wife.
About a year ago, I stumbled across an RCBS .45 300 GC-SWC mould out in my mould box (that I had forgotten I owned) and decided to send it off to Erik Ohlen and have him do a similar conversion to my .44 300 HP mould. He did, and so now I have a beautiful matched set of 300 grain HP moulds in .44 and .45 caliber. Both bullets have proven to be very accurate, and the .44 300 HP has proven to really hammer hogs.
As I was sitting down reflecting over my coffee this morning, it occurred to me that I also have a matched set of hog guns – long and short sixguns, a pair of .44s and a pair of .45s, each worked over to shoot heavy cast bullets, and each ideally suited for hogs in the thick stuff. The two .44s were worked on by Dave, and I worked on the two .45s with Dave’s coaching. Each caliber has a 4 5/8” RB, and a more traditionally endowed 7.5”, and all 4 guns have proven to be excellent shooters. But not one of them has tasted pork yet! My conundrum is this – which one do I take on my next hog hunt?
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