Cowboy 44 mag. Ruger or Uberti?

B

Bernie Link

New member
Need some insight. I'm thinking about buying a 44 mag. Looking at
Ruger New Model Super Blackhawk and Uberti. Anyone have an opinion? Thanks, Bernie
 
I do.

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My New Model Super Blackhawk, of which I'm very fond. Very accurate, very potent. Good for whatever you want a .44 Magnum for.

Bob Wright

But then, I'm a little biased:

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In .44 Magnum caliber - Ruger definitely. The Ubertis will hold up for a while and then loosen up. Mr Wright, sir, you got it real bad, don't you? It does my heart good to see someone who loves and takes good care of all those fine revolvers. Just beautiful photos. Thank you. Can we come over to your house and play? Pretty please?
 
I recommend the old model super blackhawk. You will have to careful to keep the chamber under the hammer empty (load one skip one load four).

I once had a new model super blackhawk that the transfer bar would hang up under the firing pin rendering it useless.
 
If your transfer bar was hanging up on the pin then the gun was defective or assembled incorrectly. Ruger's transfer bar design works very well. The usual cause for what you described is the base pin is not seated fully into the frame. The tip of the base pin holds the transfer bar far enough up off of the frame and firing pin so that it cannot catch on the firing pin. I'm thinking your base pin had walked out of the frame from recoil.
 
"Cowboy 44 mag. Ruger or Uberti? ...Anyone have an opinion?" [Bernie Link]

Ahoy Bernie, welcome aboard.

Depends on what you want.

Ruger makes rugged framed SBHs with adjustible rear sights and large front ramp sights that look decidedly un-Western.

Uberti makes revolvers that look like the real deal, but may not be as durable as Ruger. I have a Uberti because of my love of the Old West ... it is hard to tell them apart from the real thing.

If I wanted an Old West looker from Ruger, I'd go with the Vaquero (no 44 Mag available) in 45 Colt (or 45 ACP) which can be handloaded up to near 44 Mag levels. For those who do not handload, Buffalo Bore sells 45 Colt ammo (or 45 Super which I think the Vaquero can handle) that will stop a 1,000 lb bear.

Have fun deciding, look forward to reading more posts from you.
 
Wrong about the transfer bar. There is a spring that pushes the transfer bar out of the way that failed to do so. Bottom line is they fixed something that wasn't broke.
 
Thanks

Thanks Guys. In thinking about Ruger which would be better, super blackhawk, old style blackhawk (3 screw), or red hawk? Thanks, Bernie
 
A current model Super Blackhawk will be the logical choice.
I like the one Bob shows on the far right with round trigger guard instead of the Dragoon trigger guard and long grip. But they are made only at 4.6 and 5.5" barrels and the 7.5" will get more out of the magnums and kick less, too.

A "three screw" Blackhawk or Super Blackhawk, long out of production, will be an expensive semi-collector's item.

Redhawks are good revolvers, but they ain't cowboy, being double action hand ejectors and all.
 
Ive got an older .44mag Uberti, no model name on it. It is made like the old Colts, not the Rugers, as far as the outside looks go... Much better looks! Picked it up for 200 bux at a small gunstore a few years back. It has some kind of internal safety which allows the safe loading of 6 rounds, not 5, tho it took some time and reading up on it to figure this out. It suits me fine as a "cowboy" pistol tho I usually download the mags to a warm .44 spec level. My Redhawk will blow thru 2 counties and the barn door if I need that potent a .44mag. The guy had one just like it in .45Colt which I should have gotten "just cuz" at the time.. Oh well, can't be greedy. It fits well with my Old Model Puma .44mag carbine, should I ever get transported to "WestWorld"!
 
To the poster that said there is no .44 Mag Vaquero, wrong. (There was the original large frame Vaquero in .44 Mag.) Instead, there is no such chambering in the current production guns, which are the smaller mid-frame New Vaquero (large N). Ruger (and vendors) has taken to confusing in the past few years by calling all current production New Vaqueros just "Vaquero," a moniker which is/was supposed to denote the large Blackhawk frame but in fixed sight ("cowboy") form. All but the oddity .44 Special NVs say "New Vaquero" on them and not just "Vaquero," and they're all on the same smaller mid-frame as used on the 50th Ann .357, and .44 Sp and .45 Colt Flattops.

Though long discontinued (other than occasional special distributor runs), the original, large frame Vaquero is available in .44 Mag on the used market. Functionally and strength-wise, they are the same as the New Model Super Blackhawk.

To the OP's question, I'd suggest Ruger. As someone else said, Uberti makes a nice Colt clone for the "cowboy" look and feel. I've got a Cimarron Model P that I really like. In something like a .44 Mag, I'd go with the Ruger, and have/had no qualms whatsoever with the New Model guns.

Regarding internal "safeties," they may say it's ok, but I wouldn't ever trust any non transfer bar "safety" in the Ubertis for loading the full 6, and that goes double for any older Uberti. I'd treat them--old or new--like a Colt SAA - load five and stay alive!

I too have been intrigued with the Uberti Callahan, "just because." It's got that unfluted cylinder--which in a fixed sight gun gives it that old 1847/51/58/60/72 (etc) look--and a non-standard 6" barrel length (versus the typical SAA/clone's closest apples-to-apples of 5.5"), which is interesting as novelty features at least and IIRC unique among Ubertis to the .44 Mag chambering. The gun also sports the longer 1860/"Army" grip--vesrus the SAA's '51/"Navy" grip--as well, unique among most other Ubertis and clones (they've got a few other models with...). Kind of a cool gun

...BUT, if I only could have one .44 Mag, it'd be the Ruger IMHO.
 
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DunRanull - does that Uberti have a brass grip frame? I have one like that and I think the only "safety" feature is supposedly a modified base pin - it fits farther back than a standard Colt base pin and presses up against the hammer. But I wouldn't count on that for much of anything.

I bought mine for almost nothing because it is missing the base pin. I'll just buy a cheap one when I find it, but would not load six in it. In fact, I don't plan to shoot stronger than Hornady .44Spl. in it. It looks like .44Mag loads sprung that brass frame slightly. There is no indication it was from dropping.

I thought mine might be a Callahan, but it has a fluted cylinder.
 
I have had one of the old Uberti 44 mags (buckhorn model) for seventeen years. It has seen thousands of factory .44 magnum loads. I have not had one problem yet. Don't see how shooting a revolver could "spring" a grip frame.:confused: As to the OP, go with the Ruger. They are built to take a lot more than a Uberti is, and this is from a guy that has twelve Uberti revolvers and two Uberti rifles.
 
They are built to take a lot more than a Uberti is, and this is from a guy that has twelve Uberti revolvers and two Uberti rifles.
Click to expand...

Weel, why not start a new thread and share photos of some of those with us?

Bob Wright
 
Trying my first photo attachment. Bought this for $50, so figure it's worth at least that, plus $15-20 for a base pin. It is difficult or impossible to see from the photo, but even after I tightened up the front grip frame screw, there is a small amount of daylight all the way across the top of the brass trigger guard section. Perhaps it is just poor workmanship, but to me it looks sprung.

I have a lot of other Ubertis, too, and I love every one of 'em - bought them new, though.

Couldn't figure out exactly what model this one is. Even though it says "S.A.CAL 44 MAG." on the left side of the barrel, I'm not interested in firing anything that hot out of it. Anyone know for sure what model this is? My guess is that it is from the '70s. To me, it never made sense to put a full brass grip frame on a modern-category single-action. But for $50, I am OK with this one.
 

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Wrong about the transfer bar. There is a spring that pushes the transfer bar out of the way that failed to do so. Bottom line is they fixed something that wasn't broke.
Click to expand...

As you noted in your first post they turned a 5 shot revolver into a 6 shot. Give me a 6 shot. 99% of owners will never have an issue with the transfer bar.

Maybe it wasn't broke, but it is improved.
 
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