My understanding is based on other information, which says 40k for 44 Magnum and 20% less for 45 Colt (32k). That was Brian Pearce as I recall. My reference to substantially higher was relative to 45 Colt. I already have a Flat Top in 41 Mag and a standard Blackhawk in 41 mag.
I suspect that the discrepancy comes from the fact that SAAMI list the Maximum Average Pressure for many cartridges in both PSI (pounds per square inch) and CUP (copper units of pressure). The MAP for .44 Magnum in PSI is 36,000 and in CUP it's 40,000. It is a confusing state of affairs because there is no direct conversion formula for PSI to CUP or vice versa. That being said, PSI is the more modern unit of measure and is used for most cartridges today.
I did not make a distinction for grip frames. The Super Blackhawk is a different gun as a result, and not all of them use the Dragoon grip frame, I gather.
No, but I did in my original post. The standard Blackhawk in both .44 Magnum and .45 Long Colt are both listed as having aluminum grip frames on Ruger's website.
I still am not getting why Ruger needed a "Super" model, confined to 44 Magnum, if it is really the "same gun" as the Blackhawk.
It's the same frame, but not the same gun. The Super Blackhawk is available with features besides the caliber that are not available on the standard Blackhawk including the steel, Dragoon-style grip frame, unfluted cylinder, square back trigger guard, different hammer profile, different barrel lengths, and Ruger's proprietary scope mounting system. Now, obviously not all of these features are available on every submodel of SBH, but enough of them are for Ruger to make a distinction between models.
Also, the "Super" model is not confined to .44 Magnum. Ruger also lists a .41 Magnum SBH as a distributor exclusive for Davidson's:
http://www.ruger.com/products/newModelSuperBlackhawkDE/specSheets/0863.html
It just doesn't make sense that the SBH was a result of "beefing up" the Blackhawk frame for the .44 Magnum because Ruger had already done that three years before the SBH was introduced. The original Blackhawk in .357 Magnum was built on a smaller frame more analogous to the 50th Anniversary .357 Blackhawks from 2005 and the flat-top .44 Specials that are cataloged now. In 1956, Ruger enlarged the frame of the standard Blackhawk to accommodate the .44 Magnum. Eventually, Ruger discontinued the smaller Blackhawk frame size and simply made all calibers on the larger .44 Magnum frame. This is why a Blackhawk in .45 Long Colt can be safely loaded to .44 Magnum ballistics while other SA revolver's can't. Unlike a Colt SAA or clones thereof, a .45 LC Ruger Blackhawk is built on a .44 Magnum frame.
If the standard Blackhawk was not stout enough to handle the .44 Magnum, it is doubtful that Ruger would have made them so-chambered for three years prior to the introduction of the Super Blackhawk much less continue to make the two models in .44 Magnum concurrently for another three years or reintroduce the .44 Magnum Blackhawk in 2006. The "Super" in Super Blackhawk does not denote a stronger frame but rather other features which are advertised as making it a better hunting revolver.