Converting Ruger Redhawks

Ruger has been manufacturing the Redhawk double-action revolver since 1979. The Redhawk is a large-frame version of Ruger’s "Six" line of double-action revolvers originally designed to take the larger, more powerful .44 Magnum cartridge, but has since been manufactured in other calibers such as .41 Magnum, .454 Casull, and .45 Colt (or .45 Long Colt.) Unlike other double-action revolvers, the Redhawk uses an innovative, one-piece frame rather than a removable side plate, giving the Rugers superior strength.

The cylinder locks into the frame at the rear, bottom, and in the crane, giving the revolver additional stability and accuracy. 45 Colt. Due to its innovative design it is a very strong revolver. Beginning in 2015, Ruger began producing a model of the Redhawk in .45 Colt that also took .45 ACP cartridges using full moon clips.

This model 5032 Redhawk comes with three full moon clips and additional moon clips are available direct from Ruger (ShopRuger.com, .45 ACP ammunition is cheaper to shoot, is more readily available than .45 Colt, and has many more choices for plinking and self defense. I am a big fan of interchangeable caliber guns.

I fitted .45 ACP cylinders to my two old-model .45 Colt Ruger Vaqueros (see "A Tale Of Two Cylinders" in the November 2015 issue) and I have two Ruger Super Single-Six Convertible revolvers that shoot .22 Short, Long, and Long Rifle out of one cylinder and .22 WMR out of a second cylinder. I wanted the flexibility of being able to shoot two different calibers with the Redhawk but didn’t want to pay the price for anew one. The standard .45 Colt Redhawk can be converted to also shoot .45 ACP.

I found a used older -45-4 Redhawk in .45 Colt caliber on Gunbroker.com for a very reasonable price. It had the 4.2-inch barrel, adjustable sights, and came in stainless steel like the newer 5032 model so I was ready to make the conversion. Full Moon Clips .45 Colt cartridges headspace on the rim. On the Redhawk the rim sets on the rear face of the cylinder and ejector star. .45 ACP cartridges headspace on the case mouth.

Since there is no lip in the .45 LC chamber for the mouth of a .45 ACP cartridge, that cartridge would fall through. The way to get around this is to use a full moon clip to hold the .45 ACP cartridges. .45 ACP cartridges snap into the full moon clip at the ejector groove. With the moon clip in place .45 ACP cartridges headspace on the rim just like a .45 LC cartridge.

I purchased a package of eight full moon clips from MidwayUSA.com (#323361) manufactured by Ranch Products (Ranch- Products.com, To get the moon clip to work with the .45 LC Redhawk I needed to remove metal from the ejector star. This is standard practice for competition shooters who want to modify their revolver to take full moon clips because this makes loading and unloading much faster.

There is an excellent video on You Tube by TK Custom (youtu.be/WVf HKk AAE50) on how they mill a Smith & Wesson 686 cylinder and ejector star to accommodate full moon clips. The ejector star on the Redhawk was wide enough to accommodate the full moon clips so I didn’t have to remove any metal from the cylinder itself.

I used wooden sticks so I wouldn’t mar the frame or grips. 021" off of the ejector star. A 0.010" shim under the ejector star prevents it from rocking during the milling process. Disassembly There are many books and videos on how to disassemble the Redhawk. This gun did not come with the manual but a quick call to Ruger customer service and the nice lady there sent me one. I placed all small parts in plastic trays so they wouldn’t get lost.

There are five different plungers and springs used in the revolver and they are all different, so I was careful not to get them confused. When I reassembled the gun I made sure all moving parts were properly lubricated. This used gun didn’t come with the special tool for removing the Hogue monogrip. I requested the tool during that same call to Ruger customer service and they sent me the tool and instructions free of charge, but I’ve since learned how to remove the monogrip without the special tool.

First, insert two plastic cards between the bottom rear of the grip and the frame. Do this on both sides of the frame. I used some old NRA membership cards. Then, slip Popsicle sticks or similar between the two cards to spread the monogrip away from the grip panel locator. The plastic cards help to prevent marring the frame. Finally, slip the bottom of the grip forward, remove the plastic cards and sticks, then rotate the grip down and off of the frame.

Light Primer Strikes The Ruger website showed that my Redhawk was built in 2008. As late as 2011 it was reported that many Redhawks suffered from light primer strikes. Internet research indicated this was caused by a short firing pin, thick hammer surface, a short and/or radiused transfer bar, or a combination of any of these. However, not every model or individual revolver displayed this problem.

The most common fix was to remove a small amount of metal, 0.0005-0.001, from the top face of the hammer so it would move the transfer bar farther against the firing pin. Be warned, removing too much metal from the top face of the hammer can cause the hammer to strike the firing pin without the transfer bar in place, effectively disabling this safety feature. Bowen Classic Arms (BowenClassicArms.com, sells an extended length firing pin for the Redhawk if the hammer solution doesn’t work.

Testing for this condition is fairly easy. I pressed the trigger completely to the rear and lowered the hammer so it would press against the transfer bar and firing pin. I measured the firing pin protrusion with a firing pin protrusion gauge and it measured 0.050". With the hammer removed I pressed the trigger and pressed the transfer bar against the firing pin. I again measured firing pin protrusion and it also measured 0.050". Industry standard for this is 0.050-0.055".

Because protrusion was the same with and without the hammer I didn’t have to remove metal from the top of the hammer face. Milling The Ejector Star The whole purpose of this exercise was to modify the .45 Colt Redhawk to take .45 ACP using full moon clips. In order to accommodate the moon clips I had to mill the ejector star. This was not a problem with my CNC mill, but I needed to do a little math first.

According to SAAMI cartridge specifications, the rim of a .45 LC case is 0.060" thick, but the rim of a .45 ACP case is only 0.049". The thickness of my .45 ACP moon clips is 0.032". Since this Redhawk headspaces on the rim of a .45 Colt cartridge which is 0.060", I needed to make sure with the moon clip in place the rear face of a .45 ACP cartridge was also 0.060 above the edge of the cylinder. Adding it up, we have 0.032 for the moon clip thickness, plus 0.049 for the .45 ACP rim thickness equaling 0.081.

Subtract 0.060 for the .45 LC rim thickness and that gives us 0.021 as the amount to mill off the ejector star. The thickness of the ejector star was 0.070" and I was afraid I would have to mill 0.032 off of the ejector star, almost half of the thickness. I

45 Colt cartridges still headspace on the rear face of the cylinder. Because the ejector star is now 0.021" thinner, not all of the case head is supported. 45 ACP cartridges to be loaded using a full moon clip. was concerned that removing that much metal would weaken the ejector star, but removing only 0.021" should not affect the strength of the star. However, I won’t be able to use moon clips for .45 LC cartridges but that’s really not a problem. If necessary, I could use speed loaders.

Ruger built in to the Redhawk cylinder a very innovative solution to a common revolver problem. If the revolver is not held muzzle-up when ejecting cases, unburned powder granules can get caught under the ejector star causing the star to protrude and possibly jam the gun. Ruger milled a 0.010" gap in the cylinder under the outer edge of the ejector star to help alleviate this problem. I made a 0.010" shim ring with an outside diameter of 1.312 and inside diameter of 0.750.

I cut a split in the ring and installed it under the ejector star to provide support during the milling process. I fixed the cylinder to the milling table of my hobby CNC mill and centered a 1/4" square end bit to the center of the cylinder. I milled 0.021 off of the ejector star. I left the ejector star installed on the cylinder; the cylinder provided extra support during the milling process. Now .45 LC cartridges can still be loaded one at a time as before or by using a speed loader.

The rim of the case sets on the outside edge of the cylinder and doesn’t touch the ejector star. Headspace is still on the rear face of the cylinder, exactly the same as when the revolver came from the factory. With the recessed ejector star, I can now load six .45 ACP cartridges with a full moon clip. I did notice, however, that a raised primer had a tendency to bind the cylinder because the primer would rub against the recoil shield.

If I plan to shoot .45 ACP reloads with this revolver I need to make sure all primers are flush or below the level of the case head. Reducing Trigger Pull Weight I made one additional change to this revolver. On the Redhawk, the mainspring serves as both the hammer spring and trigger return spring. This is the reason why the single-action trigger pull is so heavy. Wolff Gunsprings (GunSprings.com, produces a hammer spring pack for the Redhawk that includes three reduced power mainsprings at 12, 13, and 14 pounds.

The factory spring is 17 pounds. I placed the rear of the hammer strut in a padded vise, pushed down on the mainspring lever, removed the takedown pin, and gently relaxed pressure on the factory spring. I wore safety glasses and covered the assembly with a cloth so I wouldn’t lose the spring. I polished the hammer strut with 800-grit wet/dry sand paper, then replaced the mainspring with the 12# replacement mainspring, the lightest of the three.

I reassembled the gun and tested the new spring with six empty .45 LC cases primed with CCI 300 large pistol primers. CCI primers are the hardest in the industry so if the gun can reliably ignite CCI primers, it will pretty much fire anything else. I loaded the cases into the cylinder and tested by cycling the gun double-action because the hammer does not come as far back in the double-action cycle as it does manually cocking it single-action. All six primers ignited and the trigger returned without binding.

The double action was already smooth, just heavy. Replacing the factory mainspring with a lighter aftermarket spring significantly reduced the trigger pull. My trigger pull gauge couldn’t measure the double-action pull weight but single action went down from 6 pounds, 12-ounces to 4 pounds, 7 ounces; very acceptable.

Summary Pretty much any revolver designed for .45 Colt can be modified to also take .45 ACP, either by fitting a separate .45 ACP cylinder to a single-action revolver or by milling the ejector star of a double-action revolver. I have also seen this done to a .45 Schofield revolver by milling the ejector star and some of the cylinder so it could take .45 ACP using moon clips. This conversion makes the revolver more flexible by being able to shoot multiple calibers, and a lot more fun to shoot.

By the way, the ejector star is a Ruger restricted part which can only be installed at the factory and is not sold separately. Be careful with this conversion to the Redhawk or you will have to send the entire gun to Ruger for anew ejector star. AG