"Ruger only" loads

[griffin12aaa]

Is there such a thing? Like say buffalo bore, double tap and underwood?
Ive been wanting some hot 357s just because they sound fun but is the "ruger only" deal just a myth or is it real?

Only read of this in 357 and 44 magnum.

I need a really hot load for them zombie water jugs!

[Dragline45]

It is absolutely not a Myth. I am more familiar with the .45 Colt Ruger only loads than anything else. Some of the hot and heavy .45 Colt loads as far as handguns go should only be used in Ruger Redhawks, Blackhawks, Super Redhawks, and the older style original Vaquero. The Ruger New Vaqueros can only handle standard pressure .45 Colt as well as S&W's unless chambered in .454.

[ligonierbill]

No "Ruger only" in .357 Mag or .44 Mag. Just for us old fashioned .45 Colt shooters.

[JawjaBoy]

The "Ruger Only" loads are also safe in a few other guns such as the Colt Anaconda, large frame Dan Wesson's and Freedom Arms.

That said, a few loads can only be used in Ruger Redhawks and Super Redhawks due to the loaded length being too long for any other revolver. This is especially true of Freedom Arms. Their guns are insanely strong, but have a very short cylinder that seriously limits the rounds that will chamber.

[sandbag]

The Georgia Arms "Deerstopper" (260gr,1200 fps)45 Colt come with warnings about using it only in Ruger,Freedom Arms,and Thompson Center Contender handguns,The original Vaquero is basically a fixed sight Blackhawk and very strong-but the New Vaquero is built along the lines of the Colt SAA and unable to handle hot loads.I have an original Vaquero in 44 Magnum-you don't see that many of them.

[Jim March]

There are some "44Mag+P" loads meant for the over-length cylinders in the Ruger Redhawk and SuperRedhawk (but NOT SuperBlackhawk) from Garrett Cartridges:

http://www.garrettcartridges.com/44mag.html

There are NO 357Magnum "Ruger ONLY!" loads. I do know of some load data for the insanely strong Freedom Arms full-size 5-shot 357 that are in a whole 'nuther world .

I think Garrett are the only ones messing with the idea of a 44Mag+P right now.

[Dragline45]

No "Ruger only" in .357 Mag or .44 Mag

I think Garrett are the only ones messing with the idea of a 44Mag+P right now.

Technically this would be considered a .44 magnum Ruger only load

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...ct_detail&p=54

This new load is designed ONLY for certain firearms. They are as follows; Ruger Red Hawk, Ruger Super Red Hawk, Ruger Super Blackhawk or Vaquero, Freedom Arms Model 83, Taurus Raging Bull, Colt Anaconda and Dan Wesson Revolvers. Suitable rifles include T/C Encore, "modified" Marlin 1894

This is a +P+ .44 magnum load. I can imagine it would be a handfull.

Heavy .44 Magnum +P+ Ammo - 340 gr. L.F.N. - G.C. (1,478 fps/M.E. 1,649 ft. lbs.) - 20 Round Box

[Bezoar]

I believe the so called "myth" of the ruger only load for .357 magnum comes from the ruger redhawk chambered in .357.

An article once talked about a group of shotoers that had been destruction testing gp100s with tested loads that were well well well past the original .357 proof loads. and shooting massive amounts.

[James K]

"Ruger only" was a convenient way of saying "not for Colt SAA's, other old guns, or reproductions of same." Listing all the old .45 Colt caliber guns that could NOT handle high pressure loads would be impractical, so "Ruger only" came into use.

Jim

[madmo44mag]

I am a long time Ruger abuser.
Years ago I fell in love with the 44mag round and bought a Ruger SBH with a 10 inch bull barrel.
I up loaded this round till I had catastrophic case failures and back the load down a bit.
I tried to shoot one of these rounds in one of my S&W model 29’s and cracked the top strap and split the cylinder.
Years later I tried it again in another model 29 thinking maybe it was just a fluke failure and cracked the top strap on that model 29.
I will not post these loads as I fear someone would attempt to duplicate and injure themselves or others.
This leads me to believe that Ruger produces a stronger frame than most other manufacturers; at least in 44 magnum revolvers.
I could be wrong in my thinking but after destroying 2 S&W 29’s I feel pretty confident in my assumption.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Be careful! These "Ruger only" loads don't apply to all Rugers. For example: the 45 Colt New Vaqueros and the Flat top Blackhawk 45 Colts can NOT handle these hot loads. You've got to know your Ruger.

[Roughedge]

Thats why when I was looking for a 44mag I got the Ruger Alaskan, when loaded it weighs almost 3 pounds with a 2 1/2 inch barrel

[Pond, James Pond]

ears ago I fell in love with the 44mag round and bought a Ruger SBH with a 10 inch bull barrel.

I beg thee. Post a picture!

Heavy .44 Magnum +P+ Ammo - 340 gr. L.F.N. - G.C. (1,478 fps/M.E. 1,649 ft. lbs.)

I would love to try those from my 4" RH, if only the once...

[madmo44mag]

I get a picture posted for ya.
Lets put it this way; a 340gn bullet will fly over 1700 fps if ya can hang on to the gun and will pass through a phone pole like butter.

[Dragline45]

Be careful! These "Ruger only" loads don't apply to all Rugers. For example: the 45 Colt New Vaqueros and the Flat top Blackhawk 45 Colts can NOT handle these hot loads.

While you are right about the New Vaqueros not handling heavy +P .45 Colt Loads, the Blackhawk handles them perfectly fine.

According to Buffalo Bore

These Heavy .45 Colt +P loads are safe in all LARGE FRAME Ruger revolvers.
(includes Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, all pre-2005 Vaquero, Bisley, Redhawk)

[SHR970]

Ruger Only loads also applies to 32 H&R magnum. As the round was originally developed to be fired in the H&R models 504, 532, and 586 revolvers it was held to 21k CUP. Rugers, Dan Wesson, S&W, F.A, et. al can handle more pressure safely. We get to make the 32 H&R a lot closer to what it should be.

[Jim March]

While you are right about the New Vaqueros not handling heavy +P .45 Colt Loads, the Blackhawk handles them perfectly fine.

Not 100%!

There has been a special distributor run of "flattop" 45LC/45ACP convertable Blackhawks built on the NewVaq-sized "mid-frame". I kid you not. Same horsepower limits as a NewVaq.

Ruger is being very stupid on this issue.

[Dragline45]

There has been a special distributor run of "flattop" 45LC/45ACP convertable Blackhawks built on the NewVaq-sized "mid-frame". I kid you not. Same horsepower limits as a NewVaq.

Ruger is being very stupid on this issue.

Wow, that sounds like a recipe for disaster. Thanks for the heads up. Might not be a bad idea to email Buffalo Bore and let them know so they can add it to their page.

[Peter M. Eick]

I would argue there is such a thing as ruger only in 357 Magnum.



Here is a redhawk 357 next to a S&W Pre-27, or what is normally considered a big N frame. The S&W is danty compared to my rugers.



Look at the amount of steel around those little 357 Magnums.

I now have several of these big Redhawks and have been loading them up for real power with 357 mag loads that would make Phil Sharpe proud. It is a lot of fun to cut loose real full power 357 Mag loads where I am tossing a 158 at 1550 FPS like they did back in the 1930's to 1960's. Not like the 1200 fps of today, but full power. You know Ruger only power.

To me the 357 Redhawk is the 38/44 Outdoorsman of the modern times. Way over built, big, heavy, strong and will last a life time or until I decide I want to load some 363 Casull loads in one of them. (I have already designated one of the 7.5" as a test gun for absurd loads. The other I have for fun).

[Don P]

Ive been wanting some hot 357s just because they sound fun

Buy a S&W 500 or 460. Big, loud, fun. No need to shoot hot loads in these 2 S&W's

[Hal]

I would argue there is such a thing as ruger only in 357 Magnum.

That's also an excellent picture of the Ruger off set bolt stop.

In addition to the extra metal the cylinder has, it's clear to see the Smith bolt stop cut outs are directly above the chambers.
That's the real weak spot of the Smith (and also the Colt I believe).

[Jim March]

I now have several of these big Redhawks and have been loading them up for real power with 357 mag loads that would make Phil Sharpe proud. It is a lot of fun to cut loose real full power 357 Mag loads where I am tossing a 158 at 1550 FPS like they did back in the 1930's to 1960's. Not like the 1200 fps of today, but full power. You know Ruger only power.

WARNING for anybody reading this.

RISK ONE.

There is a problem when you push small case capacities to wild-child pressures. You get to a point where tiny increases in powder cause big jumps in pressure...and it's hard to feel exactly where the "edge" is where this is going to happen.

Put another way, the pressure doesn't increase steadily, instead it increases logarithmically. The resulting chart will look like the FIRST of these charts:



...where pressure goes up much faster as you add powder, versus the "smooth increase" you'd expect (second chart).

If Peter were to convert that same 357 gun to, say, 45LC, he could deliver more energy on target for less pressure and less risk.

Now, as long as he explores this "edge" very, very carefully he'll be OK. But it IS possible to break a Redhawk 357.

SECOND PROBLEM

At some point his brass is going to come unglued. That will be "exciting" when it does. And again, due to the way pressure can "spike" in edgy loads, you might add half a grain of powder to a recipe and jump from 55,000PSI (which that gun and brass can probably cope with!) to 80,000+ or somedangthing and life gets very interesting very quickly .

[Jimbo-Indy]

Actually, there was a Ruger made for "full power" 357 loads. It was the Blackhawk in 357 Maximum. Had one of these and it would really wake up the guy next to me at the indoor range. Crono'd 110 gn. JHP at over 2000 FPS form a 7 1/2" barrel with max book load of 4227. Just made a few as I know it isn't good for the top strap. Perfect gun for 180 gn bullets.

[Jim March]

The 357Max has more case capacity which tends to alleviate the problem whereby stuffing "just a bit more" powder in leads to a pressure spike. It will happen of course but it will take longer.

Gary Reeder came up with a better idea: take a normal-size Blackhawk chambered in 357Mag with a second cylinder in 9mmPara and ream the 9mm cylinder to a wildcat he came up with based on a 41Magnum case necked down to 357. This "356GNR" will perform like a 357Max but in a standard-length gun - he got the extra case capacity needed by going wider instead of longer. You need to use a full-sized Ruger SA frame for this, not a "mid-frame" like the New Vaquero.

There was a previous effort involving a 44Mag shell necked down to 357 at the Bain and Davis gunshop but the neck needed to be steep enough that it caused setback issues....fired cases want to "ram backwards" and tie up the revolver's ability to spin the cylinder (whoops) which is also why the 357Sig is a no-go in wheelguns. Reeder's setup works better because the neck transition is gentler and the "backwards pressure" on the fired shells isn't so extreme.

Now, it occurs to me that one of Peter's Redhawk 357s would make a splendid conversion to 356GNR. He would have to send the cylinder in to Gary, and he'd be buying both the cylinder conversion service plus a set of dies and reloading data for the 356GNR. Starline makes 356GNR brass, or he could convert 41Mag brass himself. The barrel and frame wouldn't need to change.

---

Sidenote: my "Maurice" FrankenRuger that started out as a 357Mag NewVaq and is now a 9mmPara is a very, VERY strong 9mm gun. Possibly among the strongest ever, considering that my cylinder is a chromoly Hamilton Bowen blank. It may be as strong as a full-size Ruger Blackhawk with a factory 9mm second cylinder. I'll have to resist the temptation to handload my 9mm into something crazy . I'm wondering though if I can take a 100gr double-ended wadcutter like Penn Bullets sells (sized .356) and load it deep enough in 9mm cases that I can get 10 rounds into my foot-long magazines, yet still make 120 power factor (in this case drive 100gr wadcutters at 1,200fps). If I can do that for ICORE or Steel Challenge revolver class I'll be able to get 25 rounds downrange with just one reload - start with 5 in the cylinder and a 10rd mag inserted, swap to another 10rd mag, that's 25. Might let me run even with guys shooting 8-shot DAs. With convensional rounds my extended mags only hold 9rds.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Be careful! These "Ruger only" loads don't apply to all Rugers. For example: the 45 Colt New Vaqueros and the Flat top Blackhawk 45 Colts can NOT handle these hot loads.

While you are right about the New Vaqueros not handling heavy +P .45 Colt Loads, the Blackhawk handles them perfectly fine.

According to Buffalo Bore

Quote:
These Heavy .45 Colt +P loads are safe in all LARGE FRAME Ruger revolvers.
(includes Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, all pre-2005 Vaquero, Bisley, Redhawk)

Not true. But you did make my point for me. I didn't say "Blackhawk" I said "Flattop Blackhawk 45 Colt". If you're not careful, you can have an accident. But if I didn't know the difference and read that quote from BB, I would assume it was safe. It isn't. The Flattop isn't the large frame like other Blackhawks.