wingspar

I own 9 different calibers, .45 ACP is one of them, but I don’t need to be adding another caliber, and have never really had an interest in .45 LC. Money is too tight to add another expensive caliber I probably wouldn’t shoot that much.

rdp357

This is one gun I'm saving up for, 357/9mm, I want the shorter barrel, hard to find in my area.

Qc pistolero

I got a 6.5'' Blackhawk .357/9mm that'll shoot along with my best .38s and other 357s(got 5 others).As a bonus,the thing is comfortable when shooting 357 full loads which is a lot more than I can say from my others 357(exept maybe my 4'' model 28 S&W which comes a close second).

But as for accurately shooting 9mm,patterning is the word that comes to mind.Maybe it's because I only shoot cast bullets or maybe it's because I shoot only 125 gr through it(keyholes at 25 yards are occuring 2 times out of 10)but as far as I'm concerned,my Blackhawk will not see 9mm ammo for as long as I own it.

Don't get me wrong here;the gun is not up for sale.You should see its groups with .38 and .357:!!!

Marshal Ruger

Love my Ruger Blackhawk "Twins" in 357 Mag / 9mm. Bought mine for Single Action Shooting and shoot 125 grain RNFP with Trail Boss Gun Powder. Never shot them so far with the 9mm cylinder.

Gray wolf

I have 5 Ruger convertibles and enjoy them all. Especially the 38-40 /10mm.

bwinters

I would go for the 357/9 as you do not appear to reload and 9 and 38 is cheaper than 45s.

wingspar

No, I don’t reload and I never will. Never had enough interest to try it, and I don’t need the expense of starting another hobby.

The .357/9mm is very appealing, but I’m going to keep my options of just going for the .357 open as it’s getting tougher and tougher by the month to live on my retirement annuity and keep this hobby going strong. The standard .357 BH is $70 cheaper than the convertible. I hope to be able to rent one sometime this summer. Won’t be a convertible, but it will be the BH in .357.

I almost bought one back in the mid 80's from a guy I worked with for $150, but I had a gunsmith look at it, and he said it was pretty worn out, so I decided to pass. My shooting hobby went on hold for about 20 years, then I brought it back up in a big way once I retired. It’s an addiction, and I keep finding guns I want. The convertible just sounds like the best of 3 worlds combined into one. 9mm is cheaper than either .357 or .38 SPL.

red feather

I have a Buckeye BH in 38-40/10mm,love it I did but some larger after market grips

on it.Looks good now.

rclark

Then the .357 or convertible is the cat's meow. Ammo shouldn't be hard to come by.

wingspar

I’m probably going to think about this for a while. Money is tight, and while I have shot a BH in .357, that was around 1984 and was the first time I’d ever shot a .357, so it left an impression on me. Even if I just went for the .357 and not the convertible due to cost, I’m sure I’d be just as happy. Both my other half and I own .357's and we keep plenty of .357 and .38 ammo on hand. 9mm is cheaper than either .357 or .38, and I buy 9mm by the case as I have 4 handguns and 2 carbines in 9mm. Kind of hard to beat that cartridge, hence the appeal of the .357/9mm convertible.

opos

Got really lucky on a 357/9mm convert....a guy here wanted to do cowboy action shooting and bought one brand new....never fired it...decided to not do the CAS after all...sold me the new, never fired gun for way less than he paid for it (and he'd gotten it at a discount)....so now with my 2 single sixes and the 357/9 all that remains is the 45/45acp....and I'm "tracking one" right now....Just fun to have the multiple caliber capabilities...

Iowegan

One thing I really enjoy is to shoot my firearms from a bench rest and see just how accurate they are. About 5 years ago, I bought a "like new" Ruger Blackhawk 357/9mm Convertible with a 4 5/8" barrel .... an excellent specimen in both appearance and function, although it was missing the factory box and papers. Prior to going to the range, I cleaned and inspected the BH ... all measurements were well within spec.

One day I took the BH Convertible, a Beretta 92FS, and a variety of ammo to the range. I started with 357 Mag ammo in the BH ... reloads with 158 gr JHPs and a healthy dose of W-296. At 15 yards from a sandbag bench rest, I was able to get groups well under 1.5", in fact my best group was slightly under 1". POI was about 2" high.

I cleaned the bore and cylinder, then again from the same bench rest, fired several cylinders full of 38 Specials, maintaining the same loads in each cylinder. These were a mix of factory ammo, reloads with 158 gr JHPs and reloads with 158 gr lead round nose bullets. My best groups were with my reloads with lead bullets ... well under 1" and my worst groups were with factory Winchester White Box, measuring about 1.5". POI was about 1" low. All things considered, I found this Blackhawk was very accurate with both 38s and 357s .... with some loads actually making "match grade" standards.

After another thorough cleaning, I installed the 9mm cylinder and went at it again ... same day, same bench rest. This time I only had 2 types of ammo ... factory Winchester White Box 115 gr FMJs and reloads with 115 gr Speer JHPs. My reloads shot much better than the WWBs but the best group I could get was just under 3". WWB printed about 3.5" with a few fliers that exceeded 4". POI was about 3.5" low. I broke out the Beretta 92 FS and with the same ammo, my groups with both batches of ammo were about 2 ".

Out of curiosity, I set up my chronograph and tested both types of 9mm ammo in both the BH and the 92 FS. To my surprise, the BH chroned 100 fps slower than the Beretta, both having about the same barrel length. In theory, the BH should have been a few fps faster. I contribute this loss to the slightly larger .357" bore diameter (.355" is optimum for a 9mm) that prevents a good bore-to-bullet seal.

So here's what I came away with ... the 9mm cylinder was not as accurate as 38 Specials or 357 Mags. It had about a 10% velocity loss versus a similar length semi-auto and didn't group quite as well with the same ammo as the Beretta. It also shot a considerably lower POI. Is that a deal breaker? No, I think the 9mm cylinder is just fine for casual target practice with cheap ammo. Besides, it is a Convertible so if you want more power or better accuracy, just slide in the other cylinder and adjust the sights accordingly.

No doubt, special ammo could be loaded to enhance 9mm accuracy. Because of the BH's slow 1:18.75 twist rate (optimum for a 158 gr bullet) and the Beretta's fast twist rate of 1:10 (normal for 9mm pistols), I would expect heavier 9mm bullets, especially .356" 125 gr lead bullets to group a bit better in the BH. Personally, I can't see any reason to make special loads for a 9mm BH when 38s shoot so well. Another issue ... not all guns are created equally ... some 9mm BHs may shoot better than mine ... some may not shoot as well. The same is true of my Beretta ... I sold it soon after buying a CZ-75B. It will shoot 1" groups (15 yds) with both WWB ammo and my reloads.

wingspar

Nice writeup lowegan. I have seen comments on the 9mm being less accurate, but I don’t know if that’s a deal breaker or not. It’s still probably more accurate than I am. The cost of the 9mm ammo is what makes the convertible so appealing.

ExArmy11b

I really want a 9mm and .45 ACP convertible Blackhawk........

Since I have a .357 Blackhawk already,and MANY .357 DA Rugers....... and would rather have a dedicated .45 LC Vaquero and .45 LC Redhawk at some point to fill the .45 LC "niche" in my collection , I would probably sell off the .357 and .45 LC cylinders and just leave both guns as 9mm and .45 ACP.

I was never a fan of "convertible" guns and never will be, I would rather have different handguns for different calibers, than one that can be switched back and forth.

I also tried to get into the whole "upper swapping" with my AR15's for different calibers, but again, would rather just have a complete rifle for each caliber.

rclark

Well ... you then buy two convertibles . One has the .45 Colt cylinder and the other .45 ACP. When I go to the range (or in the field), each revolver I take is usually parked in a holster -- the other cylinder stays home. I reload, so my .45 ACP rounds are loaded with 250g bullets. That way the POI is really close to the .45 Colt rounds. Personally I like my .45 convertibles (both medium frame flattops) !