Blackhawk 30 Carbine

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DealHunter

New member
Picked up a new Ruger BH in .30 Carbine for fun and will be trying it out this weekend.

Anyone with one of these have advice on factory loads that stick "less" in the chamber? Found some Federal Power Shock (110) and some Remington C-L but I've read that with many factory loads the brass expands a great deal and the ejector rod isn't enough to get the empties out...

Hoping it'll be a fun time regardless though :)
 
I can tell you from limited hands-on experience... and from a heavy dose of research experience... that your quest is a dark one.

What I'm saying is that I handload all my ammo for my .30 Carb B'Hawk, and all the factory I've ever fed it has been, well, a nightmare scenario for ejection. I haven't attempted any manner of "polishing" other than a wee-bit of Flitz creme, which didn't seem to make a difference.

I've got just over a thousand rounds through my .30 Carbine B'Hawk, but I haven't tried factory again to see if ejection is any different. I don't intend to... I simply don't buy factory center fire ammo anyway, so I certainly won't for this revolver.
 
I am not sure of Ruger's motivation in making that gun, but a lot of makers built carbines and others tried handguns in .30 Carbine at a time when surplus ammo was available literally by the ton for a $.03 - $.05 a round. But by the time the Ruger hit the market, the cheap ammo was gone and so was the desire for a revolver in that caliber. The appeal of a rifle and handgun using the same ammo had some appeal, but not enough when the ammo was .30 carbine and the rifle was not legal for hunting in some states.

Jim
 
Well in this case it's purely for fun: little recoil, flat shooting, a "new" caliber (for me).

I'd looked at the .327s but it's been easier for me to find .30c by far than .327 mag or .32 H&R mag.

Also have the option of getting an actual carbine since I like having long gun/revolver pairs (.22lr, 22 wmr, .38/.357, .44mag) and you can't find .32 H&R carbines anymore (don't think they ever made one commercially in .327).

Guess we'll just see how things go (and I'll bring a dowel and a mallet just in case).
 
IIRC, Ruger debuted the .30 Carbine B'Hawk for exactly the reason you seem to state they shouldn't have... (cheap, surplus ammo) The revolver originally came out in like '68 or '69, wasn't it? In fact, there was a .30 Carbine Blackhawk on the market before Ruger ever built, sold and shipped a .45 Colt Blackhawk.

It's a curiosity, and a lot of fun to shoot. It's a bit of a pain at the load bench (in comparison), but it's still a fun, accurate revolver... even if it doesn't have a lot of utility.
 
I have one. I shoot cast bullets--a Lyman 311008/311410 with 5.0 of Bullseye or 5.5 of Unique...accurate and fun to shoot. Amazingly flat shooting....
 
For whatever its worth, AMT made a .30 Carbine auto loader. Looked pretty much along the lines of their .22 WMR auto-loader, as opposed to an AutoMag.

I got a chance to fare one of these and its really a blast to shoot, very mild recoil and seemingly very accurate i what little shooting I did with it.

Think an oversized .22 pistol.

Bob Wright
 
I had a 3 screw 30 BH about 20-25 years ago. The muzzle blast is unbelievable. Took a lot of the fun out of shooting it. Also, 110 grain factory ammo clocked a pathetic 1400 FPS from the 7.5" barrel. I have loaded 110 JHPs to 1405 from a 38 Special M10 with a 4" barrel so the 30C BH can't even match a 38 Special in power. Didn't see much point to it and sold it.
 
Yes, the .30 Carbine Blackhawks have a reputation for being one, if not THE one loudest barking handguns there are.

AMT did make the Automag III in .30 carbine. Quite a bit after Ruger brought out their Blackhawk .30. Automags, II (.22WMR), III (.30 carbine), IV (9mmWM & .45WM), and V (.50AE) only have three things in common with the original .44AMP (& .357AMP) Auto Mag pistols. One is the similar name (original Auto Mags are two words, not one), two is Harry Sanford (founder of the original Auto Mag company, and later involved with AMT). And three is they were both made of stainless steel. Otherwise they are completely different guns.

Also, 110 grain factory ammo clocked a pathetic 1400 FPS from the 7.5" barrel. I have loaded 110 JHPs to 1405 from a 38 Special M10 with a 4" barrel so the 30C BH can't even match a 38 Special in power.
Click to expand...

1400fps seems in line with the data I could find, for the 7.5" Blackhawk. Factory ammo out of the carbine barrel seems to run 1970fps or so. Some guns and some lots of ammo will, of course, be a bit higher, or lower.

Saxon, I have no doubt you got 1405fps with your gun and load, (I've loaded some pretty warm stuff myself) but no data I could find shows the 110gr .38SPL doing much over 1000fps from a 4 inch, and still stay within specs to be safe in ALL .38s. I think comparing that load to what you got from your Blackhawk as a basis for saying the .30 carbine cartridge can't match the .38 Special isn't a fair comparison.
 
i love my 30 carbine blackhawk...the only ammo i used that sticks in the cylinders is tula ammo.....the casings have some kind of coating on them that makes them stick...
 
I have one and it's fun to shoot. It's a load crack and a noticeable shockwave. I wanted to reload for it and I received some good knowledge from Sevens. I have kinda put that on the back burner for now. As far as not so sticky ejection, the least sticky factory ammo I've used seems to be the mag tech 110 gr FMC
 
i use what ever 30 carbine ammo i can find...i try and stay away from the tula ammo... its definitly an attention getter when you pull the trigger...
 
A friend had one and yes, the cases were usually difficult to extract. Wear plugs and muffs shooting that thing. You will swear it's the loudest thing you ever heard.
 
44 AMP- If it was a load from a manual (and I don't recall this long ago) it was an older manual written before the lawyers took over and the loads were reduced. It may have been me going where no (sane) man has gone before. It was a very hot load and useless as it shot so low. But I used a S&W Model 10 with a 4" barrel and chronographed 1405 FPS with a 110 grain JHP.

But I would point out that such velocities are not fantasy. Below is an ad for S&W ammo (I think made by Fiocchi) from the 1970s and note the 38 Special 110 JHP at a claimed 1390. Just about where I was.


standard.jpg
 
As to the .30 Carbine in a handgun, I seem to recall a pistol by the name of Kimbal, or Kimball, that looked sort of like a High Standard automatic in a vague way. Didn't last too long, sold only by mail order, I believe.

Shortly after the Blackhawk came out in .30 Carbine I had some correspondence with a man in Montana who swore by his as an antelope getter.

I was never enamored with the .30 Carbine as the Blackhawk is too much gun for so little performance, the .357 Magnum being, to me, a better all-round combination.

But the fact remains that those who do take a liking to it, and take the time to work out good loads, reap good benefits from its use.

Bob Wright

P.S. Pardon my miscue of making Auto Mag one word.
 
One spring day I had access to a freshly disked farm field 1 mile long. It was of sandy loam and dry. I set a 20 ounce can out to 250 yards and used a rest and fired my Ruger BHK .30 using a Lyman 311410 (120 RN) bullet and 5.0 grains of W-231. I could easily see the strikes, as they would make a plume of dust. What amazed me is to how flat this load shot and how it was not affected by a crosswind..compared to a .357 & .44 Magnum. Yes, I did hit the can a no. of times! The .308 Pistol caliber is intrinsically accurate, however I do agree that a .357 Magnum is a better choice between the two.
 
The old Blackhawks must not have this problem. Never happens in mine (ca. 1980). Winchester, Federal, and S&B ammo, and my reloads. Never tried steel case, Aguila, or Magtech. I have an Automag III and a couple carbines, too.

Clean the chambers thoroughly; if that does not help, then a very gentle polishing.

BTW - Taurus made a Raging 30 briefly; and there has been a T/C Contender barrel.
 
The Kimball did exist and it did look somewhat like a High Standard, I believe the company was founded & ran somewhere near Detroit... certainly in Michigan.

However, catastrophic failures ruled the day, with guns & slides coming apart with a genuine ability to injure. They did not last long and did not make many. They remain a unique curiosity & footnote in history.

I've said often that I'd try to shoot about anything offered, if only once or twice, and a Liberator is on that list. (I really want to shoot one!) But the Kimball, I would has to respectfully decline.

Interesting was that someone arrived here at TFL a couple years ago that found a box in an old house or garage (or something of that nature) and in it were a stack of old, original Kimball frames that never made it any further in production. A run on the TFL search engine would find it, it was amusing and kind of like a time capsule.

Not to thread drift too much... but if there's anything you like about a .30 Carbine Blackhawk, consider a .327 Federal Magnum Blackhawk. Not exactly the same, but you almost couldn't get "closer" if you tried. Many improvements but with a couple detractions.
 
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