Blackhawk 30 Carbine

Well, tried the Power-shocks and the C-Ls and no sticky cases at all (even after several cylinders).

And it was loud and flashy but lots of fun; might need to find a decent woods holster for it :)
 
Sevens, I didn't say Ruger should not have made that gun, it made perfect sense at the time it was conceived. I said that when it was ready for the market that time was going and today I think the gun is a relic of the past. I don't own one, but have fired several and concur with those who find the noise and blast to be excessive. In practical terms, I think .357 is much better.

As to the Kimball, the gun was made in .30 Carbine and .22 Hornet. I have never seen one of the Hornet guns and saw the .30's only at the NRA meeting when the inventor was pushing it. The fatal flaw was that it was blowback, only slightly retarded by the cutting of circular grooves in the chamber. The design was High Standard, but the gun is much bigger than the H-S .22's it resembles in pictures. In any case, the part of the frame that stops the slide simply was not up to the .30 Carbine and they came apart.

Jim
 
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.
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I wasn't alive when the .30 Carbine Blackhawk hit the market, so I don't know what the ammo supply looked like. Are you saying that surplus .30 Carb ammo had dried up by the late 1960s? :confused:

FWIW, the ridiculous 40,000 PSI -BLAST- and yet light felt recoil of the massive handgun & light bullet is truly the lion's share of the FUN of the .30 Carbine Blackhawk... at least to me and many others. Can't speak for anyone else, but I've got a gaggle of handguns, as they are my passion, but a genuine, serious "USE" for them? Only a couple, really. All the rest are for fun.

.30 Carbine Blackhawk doesn't need to be compared to (or fall short of) any .357 Magnum. I've got more .357's than I can carry in my range bag -- I'm a -HUGE- fan, it's got to be my most favorite chambering. When it's time for something different than a .357, a .30 Carbine B'Hawk is a fine choice for... having fun.

My Coonan doesn't make a lot of "practical" sense either. But, haha, try and convince someone who shoots one that ______ is a better choice. :p
 
I don't own one, but have fired several and concur with those who find the noise and blast to be excessive. In practical terms, I think .357 is much better.
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I shot my 686 (4 inch) and Sp101 (2.5 inch) shortly after the .30c w. a few 125 357s as well and I couldn't tell that much difference between the noise volume (muffs + plugs). They were all very loud (not something I'd try without hearing protection).
 
I inherited one a few years ago and though it was fun to shoot, it was rather pointless. The blast was impressive to say the least and reminded me of shooting a .357 Sig or 5.7x28mm.

As for the OP, I bought some cheapo .30 Carbine ammo at the gun show and had no ejection issues.
 
I have run a ton of Aguila in mine with no problems other than a waxy residue on the cases from the burn.
The blast is on par with the stubby 357 and less than a 5" 41 mag. Instead of the big boom you get more of a loud crack like a rifle.
I really enjoy mine. It's a ton of fun.
 
Mine's also been a fun, flat-shooting toy from a bench at 100 yards. Sure, you can do that with any handgun, but this one seems to be a little easier at that distance than a -LOT- of revolvers.
 
Hi, Sevens,

Yep, the cheap surplus carbine ammo was pretty well gone by the late 1960's. It had never been made in the quantity of the .30-'06* or the .45 ACP since the carbine was a limited issue weapon. They made a batch during the Korean War, but shot up a lot of it also.

*From late 1941 to late 1945, Frankford Arsenal alone produced 1.1 million rounds of .30 ammunition - per day. Neither the .30 Carbine nor the .45 ever reached anywhere near that level of production.

Jim
 
My "take" is that the .30 M-1 Carbine Ruger revolver is best with cast bullets at 1,100 FPS or so using 5.0 grains of Unque. Very accurate with less "drop" than other calibers as the BC are higher. I suppose saome may feel if one downloads it, what is the point--might as well use as .38 Spl P+ or a .357 Magnum. I do notice that the .30 is a bit more accurate than a .38 Caliber.
 
I have been shooting and reloading my 30 BH for years now.
I rarely have a stuck case.
Usually when I do it is after several cylinders of shooting the gun is hot.
Also I have noted older brass (reloaded many times and no annealing) has a tendency to stick.
The biggest issue / complaint I ever had was how picky it was to the OAL of the brass.
All my brass in trimmed 0.010 short – problem solved.
 
All my brass in trimmed 0.010 short – problem solved
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Careful with the trimming technique... you still must find the sweet spot, cannot simply trim short. Because if you go great gonzo with a few pieces (as I did, :p) you'll find that they sit so deep in the chamber after over-trimming that they cannot be detonated and you end up with a loaded round that you can't discharge in a Blackhawk.

Tough lesson. :D
 
The Hornady 90 grain xtp may give the ruger some more utility. Those Hdy 110 fmj exposed base bullets are just so dang accurate at 100 yards.

The firing pin protrusion on mine seems shorter than the other rugers, and deeper primer pockets on some of the older brass can lead to no-fires.

Good advise on being careful with the trimming.

Finally got one of these 2 years ago, after looking at local shows for quite awhile. A lot of fun, especially when at the 100 yard bench next to occasional rifle shooters who can't hit squat.:D
 
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