41 Flattop

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41 Flat Top

by Gunner

Several years ago I read an article by John Taffin called "In Search of the Perfect Sixgun", the article centered around a 357 Ruger Flattop converted to 41 Special, the wildcat round created by gunsmith Hamilton Bowen. I decided then and there if I ever ran into a 357 Flattop I would have it converted like JT's. The whole idea of a small frame matched with the 41 caliber, my favorite, appealed to me. In December 2001 I found a Ruger Flattop in Maine, after receiving the sixgun I wrote out a list of modification I wanted done and mailed it in a letter to several gunsmiths along with a stamped self addressed envelope asking for price quotes for the work I wanted done to the Flattop.

After receiving reply's back from the gunsmiths I made the final list of modification to be done and picked the gunsmith to have the work preformed by, the gunsmith I choose, Dave Clements. I sent the 6 1/2" Flattop along with a check, sat back and tried not to think about it, as Dave projected a turn around time of 5 months.

Less than 4 months later I received an email from Dave stating that the 41 conversion is finished. With final payment made and a quick trip by Fed Ex I had my 41 Special in hand. This is my first custom sixgun, after reading so many articles over the years about custom sixguns and now to have my own finally is a real treat. A dream come true.

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Before	After

The laundry list of modifications;

Cylinder chambers line bored to 41 Special
4 5/8" factory barrel in 41 cal re-contoured and fitted
3 1/2" trigger pull
Cylinder bolt notch leedes polished
Oversized cylinder locking bolt installed
Oversized base pin fitted, #5 style with locking screw
Custom post type front sight
Set barrel to cylinder gap
Correct cylinder end shake
Reblue complete gun

Along with my request Dave also remarked the barrel "CCG 41 Spl" and the frame "Ruger Blackhawk", as he removed the 357 Magnum lettering off the frame.

The finished gun is just beautiful, and the first range test proved that Dave knows how to build sixguns, as I shot some real nice 1/2" groups at 25 yards with a 215 LSWC over 9.5 grs of Blue Dot, while the velocity is higher than I wanted, averaged 1197 fps, it sure is accurate and recoil is not heavy, but I was looking for a load that averaged around 1000 fps for a everyday load. A little more range work should solve that. One final note, the 5 digit serial number ends with the numbers 410, how poetic.

Write to Gunner