THE RUGER FLATTOP PACKIN' PISTOL
BEFORE 
DURING 
and AFTER 
as always, if you want to see a bigger size of an image, click on it!
As coincidental as it is, I noticed a number of posts on the Sixgunner.Com bulletin board concerning converting Flattop Rugers. Here's my idea of what to do with one.
In early 2000, my dad bought the .44 Mag Flattop you see in the "before" picture. The gun turned out to be not very accurate with any load and after four months of trying handload combinations that outnumbered our combined fingers and toes, rethroating the barrel, recutting the forcing cone and polishing everything in sight, he finally threw in the towel and declared:
"THIS GUN JUST WON'T SHOOT!"
Anyone knowing dad would attest to the fact that, after he decides a thing, it's just about impossible to change his mind! I have a bit more of a flexible constitution and figured that, barring a gun so far out of manufacturing tolerances that it couldn't be salvaged, I could get a good working gun out of it. In July of that year, having a devious idea spring to mind, I decided to convert the thing to my favorite caliber;.45 Colt ( I know, I know. even now I can hear the cries of BLASPHEMY!!!" ) and began to plan out what I wanted to end up with. One style I really couldn't say I had was a set piece "packin' pistol". I mentioned the project to Jim Taylor and he dug out an almost unfired Ruger .45 barrel he'd had laying around for awhile.
As
my plan included a birdshead gripframe from Qualite'
Pistol and Revolver, 
we struck up a trade.
He'd
get my XR3 frame 
for the 4 3/4" barrel 
in his desk drawer.
He had a project of his own in mind (now finished) and wrote an article about it, HERE.
I almost decided to have the barrel cut back to 3 or 3 1/2" but decided to keep the original length as much for economy's sake as velocity. I e-mailed Jim Stroh of Alpha Precision, who'd done a previous .45 caliber experiment, and, after we made sure we both understood what was wanted, I shipped the gun off in January 2001.
The completed project would have: The new barrel installed, Taylor Throated and "warning label" removed. The alloy ejector rod housing replaced with a steel one. The cylinder rechambered and headspaced specifically for Winchester SuperX factory ammo. The gripframe fit and the completed pistol reblued.
I received it back on May 2d of 2001 and here are a sample of targets fired at the Billing's BR and J-T Ranch ranges. Offhand, standing at 25 yards. The Magnus Bullet's load is 8gr of Unique in WW cases & WLP primers. (the flyer was the second shot and my fault)
Magnus 255 SWC WinchesterSuperX WinchesterSilverTip WinchesterCowboy
I purposely had the front sight left intact as I want to have the rear sight up 3 clicks up from bottom and the center of group at the top of the front sight at 25 yards, which is my preference for guns not used in competition. I like to have adjustable rear sights down as far as possible. This allows the elevation screw to engage more threads and also keeps the sight out of the way. I made two trips to the range for sighting in and cutting the front sight down. Cutting a front sight isn't the most difficult of things but, SLOW and CAREFUL are the words. I've found removing metal much easier than replacing it. The primary carry load here is the same as my two Colt's SAAs; Winchester SuperX. I consider myself fortunate that other factory ammo shoots this close and that the first standard handload I tried did so well. This is a definite testimony to Mssr. Stroh's craftsmanship.
Here are a few more photos of different parts of the gun.
The cylinder star before and after. The differences of the barrel mounting point for the ejector rod housing
Jim's and I plan to do some chronographing in the near future, so I'll get some comparisons between my Colt's and this one.
The one thing I neglected to do and have since remedied was to replace the Base Pin. You can read about that HERE