Guns & Outdoors Forum

Of all his guns my SIL really enjoyed shooting and carrying his old Ruger .41 Mag. He liked that it was a relatively odd chambering and he loved to handload for it, everything from hot thumpers to BP loads.

He bought this gun used at BPS and while it was nice and tight and the bluing is very good without much wear, it had some visible mileage on it. He wasn’t really fond of the Aluminum frame either. So I promised him I’d dress it up for him a bit by replacing the appropriate aluminum parts with stainless. Well it took me a little longer than I expected to find all the right parts but I just put it back together, now to be passed along to my grandson…

Original condition: First roll at it: I MIGHT get a stainless .357 cylinder and have it rechambered to .41 Mag for the full two tone effect because I don’t believe there are any .41 stainless cylinders out there. I was also thinking of a high polish to the stainless parts but I’ll sleep on that too.

I think it’s a nicer shooting/carry gun now and not a showpiece, but I think it looks pretty good like this.

For the leather lovers in here, I gifted him that holster. It’s a vintage (no longer made and relatively rare) Bianchi “Cheyenne” 1880 model.

It looks good.
Personally I would leave it just like it was when his father used it. You can tell him this story when he is old enough for you to hand ownership over to him. Scars and all.

Diver43 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2026 11:42 pm It looks good.
Personally I would leave it just like it was when his father used it. You can tell him this story when he is old enough for you to hand ownership over to him. Scars and all.

We discussed it and I promised him the “upgrades” and he was looking forward to them so I’ll take it to the point he wanted done. I’ll make sure it’s one of the kids’ first magnum and field gun someday with the whole story and they can add their own character to it and pass it along. My daughter can decide which kid gets it. In the mean time I’ll just be the guardian for his stuff.

I dig it as is. The stainless cylinder would be too much I think. As well as the polish.

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2026 12:02 am I dig it as is. The stainless cylinder would be too much I think. As well as the polish.

That’s the way I’m leaning so far. I’ll show it to my daughter tonight and ask but I’m sure she’ll agree. Our plan was to do these first upgrades and then decide if he wanted to dress it up a little more. But knowing him he would have said good enough.

Looks great!! I really like it! Great work. What ya thinking for grips?

I’m going to keep it simple. I’ll find a set of Ruger factory grips with nice wood (their out there) or get a nice set of Black Walnut. But for now I’ll clean up and wax the grips that came with it.

Looks good. I like it.

Ruger 41 Magnum S/S Barrel & Cylinder

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Thanks. The only part that required fitting was the ejector housing. Obviously made a little oversized by Ruger so you can get it snug. A few minutes with a fine file and it was perfect.

rberg wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2026 1:48 am Ruger 41 Magnum S/S Barrel & Cylinder

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Damn! A bit too rich for my blood. I only paid $80 for the Stainless .44 Mag cylinder for my 44-40 old Vaquero. But thanks for the info, now I know they exist!

I thought it was a bit high also. you are welcome.

I like the contrast, does it change how it shoots/ POI change?

rberg wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2026 1:55 am I thought it was a bit high also. you are welcome.

Generally the price order for Ruger cylinders seems to be from cheapest to most expensive:

.357 Mag
.44 Mag
.45 Colt
.45 ACP and 9mms
.41 Mag, .32s, .30 Carbine, 44-40 etc

But I don’t think I’ve ever seen any above $300.

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2026 12:02 am I dig it as is. The stainless cylinder would be too much I think. As well as the polish.

Agreed. I like the two- tone it is now.

bullsi1911 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2026 3:45 am

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2026 12:02 am I dig it as is. The stainless cylinder would be too much I think. As well as the polish.

Agreed. I like the two- tone it is now.

Yeah it’s really growing on me. I showed it to my daughter and she thinks it’s perfect so it stays as is. I might still try to find slightly nicer wood grips.

Chiro1989 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2026 3:19 am I like the contrast, does it change how it shoots/ POI change?

Don’t know yet. With two babies in the house out shooting time has been cut severely. Will try to sneak out this weekend to function test.

Turned out nice. Like the two tone as a salvage.

Well done. Black paint on aluminum looks like crap even when it's new, and I never really approved of Ruger's choice to put that cheesiness on otherwise really nice guns. When it gets all cancerous and scabby like that, it reminds me too much of stag grips.

Came out great! I personally dig the two tone look on most guns, and this one is no exception.

Thanks guys, I think I’m leaving well enough alone. It has really grown on me and my daughter since yesterday. The intent was not to make it look brand new, it was to make it look better but still keep it a shooter. I think we accomplished that.

You did it for sure! Great revolver, great work!

I think your SIL would be quite happy with it