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written for the Sixgunner Community by Miles Fortis and A K Church 15th MAY 2004 Single action revolvers have cylinders which come out easily. This is necessary for cleaning and mechanical maintenance, but it also makes it mighty handy to slip in cylinders chambered in different cartridges for the convenience of cheaper ammo, more readily available rounds, lower recoil, or just to amaze and impress your friends. This concept has been around quite a while, and the test guns tried out for this little piece of writing both date back over 30 years. Both are chambered for .357 Magnum, and come with auxiliary cylinders set up for 9x19 mm Parabellum. Conservatively, this would allow one gun to fire: .38 Short Colt .38 Long Colt .38 S&W Special .357 Magnum 9 mm Parabellum
The first two rounds were, for years, the answers to trivia questions. With the arrival of the various Cowboy oriented shooting games, these low recoiling rounds of the 19th century are making a comeback. The last 3 rounds, for most people, are where the fun will lie. With a variety of loads available, .38 Special remains one of the most popular handgun cartridges in the US. It also possesses a reputation for good accuracy. .357 Magnum has been downrated in the last 20 or so years as a big game round, but it still is regarded as being quite capable of taking whitetail sized game at close ranges. Inside 50 yards, it will kill deer just as dead as it did in the late '30s. 9 mm is of interest because so many owners already have autopistols firing this one, and because MilSurp and Eastern Bloc import ammo allows the cost of centerfire plinking to be kept low. We tried out two vintage convertible single actions for this article, a 1971 Ruger Blackhawk, and a J P Sauer made Herter's Powermag which apparently dates to the mid '60s. Herter's Powermag by J P Sauer
The respected West German firm of J P Sauer, based in Eckenforde (then West) Germany was imported by a variety of US firms in the 1960s and '70s. In roughly chronological sequence it appears these were Hy Hunter, Herter's, and Hawes. The Powermag was later trademarked the Chief Marshall by Hawes. Herter's was an immensely complete mail order sporting goods dealer whose heyday appears to have been the 1960s. They sold via a catalog not much smaller than contemporary Sears publications, and one could get filet knives, boat trailers, varmint calls, wool blankets, and a huge variety of other outdoorsman items delivered to the home. I recall seeing these age 11 or so, ca. '70, and being fascinated by the variety of goods. In a less jaded era, the Herter's catalog contained hours of entertainment. One original item of equipment this concern sold was a proprietary cartridge approximating the .41 Magnum, but in a .40 format, designated the .401 Powermag. These were chambered in the heavy and well made, if highly unattractive, J P Sauer single action revolver. These appear to have been based on a mixture of Colt Single Action Army mechanics and Ruger Super Blackhawk aesthetics. To hedge their bets against .401 failing in the marketplace (as, indeed, it did), Herter's also sold these guns in .44 and .357 magnum. Like Colt,the revolver runs flat springs for the trigger, cylinder bolt and hammer. However, a low hammer spur, guarded adjustable sights, grooved trigger, floating firing pin and elongated grip frame all seem to derive from Ruger practice. The Ruger inspirations seem to have not been taken too literally, and unfortunately these deviations lead to a gun which lacks a fair bit in the looks department. The grip frame is too long for most adult hands by nearly an inch, the topstrap is immensely thick, the front sight taller than a wooden ship sail, and the hammer spur is bloated and blocky looking. A lot of excess steel is visible to the eyeball, and the hand finds it, too. Unloaded, this is a 49 ounce gun-a little over 6 1/2 inches of barrel, so it's not much bigger than a Super Blackhawk. This gun showed up online cheaply enough, and for one nostalgic about reading his Uncle's catalogues 35 years ago, it was more or less irresistable. A little over two bills US, and it was mine. Not much actual use, a fair bit of holster wear. This one lacks the none-too-common wooden grips, and instead carries glossy black plastic panels with a white metal medallion carrying the Herter's logo. These wooden grips, most commonly rosewood, were typical on the Hawes' version, but are now scarce. If someone has a set of wooden stocks for this gun, you are invited to contact author Church. SHOOTING THE POWERMAG
Earlier, author Church picked up a fixed sight .357 Hawes from Sixgun Community Member Tinker. This was a good shooting gun, and came with both a .357 Magnum and a 9 mm cylinders. Carrying fully click adjustable sights, the Powermag seemed to Church to be the more natural home for the nine mil cylinder. Fortunately Sauer's pretty tight tolerances in that area allowed complete cylinder interchange, and gunsmith Miles pronounced the lock-up of cylinder #2 quite adequate. The gun has as plus points; a very slick action, and light crisp trigger guesstimated in the absence of a trigger scale at around 4 pounds. This one shares with 2 other Hawes the minus point of a loose firing pin bushing which is a barometer of higher pressure-the primer will occasionally tie up, both with Buffalo Bore and even Winchester's standard pressure rated .357 125 grain load (a less than exotic, Wal~Mart available load). Another major plus is that with all that weight, these don't kick much at all. Winchester's above mentioned 125 grain .357 JHP ran as follows: 1450 f/s, 1454, 1484, 1470 1468 averaging 1465, with a standard deviation of 13.3 feet per second. One primer tied up in the firing pin bushing. Accuracy was quite good:
This was also, it should be noted, remarkably clean ammo, apparently burning up or blowing out every bit of powder. 2 of these are in the left most hole. This is good good accuracy, just wish the hangup hadn't happened. From the Czech Republic, Sellier & Bellot has exported the budget priced .357 Mag 158 grain jsp. Accuracy and cleanliness are adequate, less than the Winchester stuff, but good enough. No hangups of any sort showed up. German gun and Czech ammo seemed compatible.
Velocities ran 1480, 1256, 1296, 1392 and 1276 with a standard deviation of 94.1.
Shooting Nato's favorite, the 9 millimeter round was interesting indeed. Out of this heavy heavy revolver, the standard velocity ammo seemed about like shooting a warmed up .22 mag. Accuracy wise, nothing inspiring happened with the 2 loads tried. Winchester provided white box hardball, and Russia provided Silver Bear. The latter had a couple of oversized rounds which simply wouldn't chamber in this gun.
Velocities with the Winchester 115 grain hardball load, another item available all over the US, ran 1212, 1256, 1257, 1267, and 1294. This was, like the .357 ammo, nicely clean
Another East Bloc import, Silver Bear features a Berdan primer, plated case, and is notably less clean than Winchester. Gun show pricing on this hasn't been notably lower than mass merchandiser (hint, Bentonville Arkansas) pricing on the Winchester, either. Bullet weight is 115 grains. Velocities ran a pretty average 1165, 1216, 1152, 1196 and 1218, sd=29.9. This should dispel the urban legend of universally hot Euro-Spec nine-mil ball. Some is, but certainly not all. THE PRIDE OF 1971
Gun two showed up with a friend of Miles' just in time for this writeup. It's the once universally common Old Model Ruger Blackhawk. This reiterates the .357/9 mm theme. This one has escaped Ruger's safety recall program, but is not bone stock. At some point in its life it apparently has been professionally and nicely reblued, and has received retrofits of both a steel aftermarket grip frame, and a similarly ferrous ejector housing. This has added a few nicely positioned ounces to the 4 5/8" gun. It is compact, but at 42 ounces, not that light. As used to be common, this gun carries a nicely crisp trigger, not as light as the Herter's at an estimated 5 pounds, but quite adequate and clean breaking. It isn't as slicky slick as the Herter's either, but lockup is rock solid. We used the same loads the German gun got, and herewith publish the results: The shorter Ruger ran slower with .357 loads than the long tom Herter's.
Winchester's 125 JSP .357 mag stepped out of Ruger at: 1230, 1243, 1247, 1242 and 1242 again. Standard deviation is a really tight 6.3 feet per second. Accuracy was nice too, no, really nice. Two clusters of 2 connected holes, and a called flyer. This is the working load for this gun, not surprisingly.
S&B didn't group as well as Winchester in the Ruger, either. Nonetheless, for those preferring a heavier bullet for closeup whitetail shooting, this would appear to work. Velocities ran 1225, 1282, 1290, 1278, and 1231 with an SD of 30.7. As with the Herter's, the Ruger didn't seem to like 9 mm overly much for accuracy. Winchester White Box again beat the underachieving Silver Bear.
This would serve for general familiarization, and certainly works for plinking delight. 115 Winchester velocity was: 1263, 1248, 1213, 1226 and 1196 for a standard deviation of 26.8 feet per second. Silver Bear 115 ran: 1187, 1293, 1166, 1161 and 1179 for an SD of 54.5. Random Thoughts
The Herter's appears sensitive to ammo running higher but standard pressures, and will announce this by allowing primers to hang up on the firing pin bushing. I would consider +P forbidden.This needs to be tested before depending on any type of ammo. S&B would be the chosen round out of the loads tested, despite my great happiness with Winchester's accuracy. Recoil is comfortable owing to the great weight. Grip shape is both too long, and way too flat. Adequate accuracy with the S&B coupled with smooth running would let me carry this for under 50 yard deer hunting with a clean conscience. The Ruger is vastly handier in grip size and weight, and would be much handier even without the shorter barrel. It presented really good accuracy with both S&B and Winchester, and no reliability hinks. I would carry either round with great confidence. The accuracy, at least so far, with 9 mm ball is a disappointment. It would work with both guns for familiarization and for plinking, the US military round will bounce a can far higher than any rimfire. The Ruger is, for its owner, a working gun. The Herter's, is, for me, a project.
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