Ruger BalckHawk?
- Thread starter David Bachelder
- Start date
Stainless or blued whatever suits your fancy. What you want to look for in the New Ruger Blackhawk is the distance between the rear of the trigger guard and the hand grip. Check where your knuckles are when you hold that firearm. They are right up against the trigger, no space provided. So when you fire the firearm the trigger guard on the New Ruger Blackhawks will come back and rap your knuckles pretty hard. I had one new last month, sold it! The LGS sales guy told me that the old Ruger trigger guards are further away from the grip, and they did not have this problem. But the new ones are pretty close to the hand grip. Now if you have large hands I would check it out real close. It is a great firearm, shoots awesome, but knocks your knuckles pretty good. Just something to think about when you buy the New Ruger Blackhawk. I had it the 45long colt/45Acp. 5" barrel.
jtmckinney
New member
Stainless steel is a wonderful material for many things but I prefer high carbon blued steel for my guns.
I also love my BH 45 convertible 5.5 inch barrel blued, Great Gun!
James
I also love my BH 45 convertible 5.5 inch barrel blued, Great Gun!
James
I love Blackhawks and 45 convertible Blackhawks in particular, so I've enjoyed this thread. Bear in mind as you shop, that the only currently available stainless 45 convertible Blackhawk is built on the same smaller frame as the New Vaquero. It is safe for loads up to and including .45 acp+P but if you desire to shoot the heavier "Ruger only" 45 Colt loads, the blued Blackhawk, built on the .44 magnum class frame with its beefier cylinder is the way to go. One exception to this, if there are still any in the marketplace, is a sizable run of 5 1/2" barrelled stainless steel Bisley 45 convertibles that were available through Lipsey's and Williams distributors. Those are all stainless steel and built on the large frame. Hope this helps you.
Super Sneaky Steve
New member
Ruger doesn't give many options for .45 Colt in SS with a sturdy frame. 
Does it have 'ears' around the rear sight? Then it is on the large frame. The only Ruger medium frame .45 Colt revolvers (that I am aware of) are New Vaqueros (of various grip configurations and barrel lengths) and the Lipsey .45 Flattop convertibles. At any rate, the medium frame .45 Colt will be a flattop (no sight ears) or the New Vaquero. Also, if you look at the serial number the medium frames carry a three digit prefix instead of two... say 520-xxxxxx .
SS is more rust 'resistant' but if you keep you guns in working order both will do just fine. If
There, I've finally heard someone say stainless is more
rust resistant, not "stainless is rustproof".
The stainless used in fire arms is a "low grade stainless mat'l"
if it were high grade machining would be cost prohibitive.
I also think that stainless barrels came from bench rest shooters
where the stainless throats wear better than the reg steel.
Saying that I have one of the 2nd orders "45 Bisley" by
Accusport from Ruger and the gun is heavy.
There, I've finally heard someone say stainless is more
rust resistant, not "stainless is rustproof".
The stainless used in fire arms is a "low grade stainless mat'l"
if it were high grade machining would be cost prohibitive.
I also think that stainless barrels came from bench rest shooters
where the stainless throats wear better than the reg steel.
Saying that I have one of the 2nd orders "45 Bisley" by
Accusport from Ruger and the gun is heavy.
Having carried and loved a lot of all blued revolvers of several makes over the years, I'll readily admit that every drop of rain that fell when I was wearing them on the belt worried me...didn't want any rust on one of my blued steel beauties...and I cleaned them assiduously on return to home or tent site. That said, stainless makes a lot of sense even if it's not as pretty as a good blued model. You can dress it up with some good stocks and make do and still enjoy a hunt or hike in the rain or snow.
The piece below is one of Ruger's SS .44 special Flat Tops; with a pair of home made grips..a particular pet of mine. If you go with the convertible .45 Rugers, be prepared to have the cylinder throats opened up so it'll shoot lead alloy bullets without leading excessively. Rod
The piece below is one of Ruger's SS .44 special Flat Tops; with a pair of home made grips..a particular pet of mine. If you go with the convertible .45 Rugers, be prepared to have the cylinder throats opened up so it'll shoot lead alloy bullets without leading excessively. Rod
David Bachelder
New member
Question:
If it's a Blackhawk (not convertable) are any mods needed for cast bullets?
How about a single caliber Vaquero?
I shoot lead and I'd rather not hunt down a machinist to modify the chambers.
If it's a Blackhawk (not convertable) are any mods needed for cast bullets?
How about a single caliber Vaquero?
I shoot lead and I'd rather not hunt down a machinist to modify the chambers.
Ruger has a tendency to do 45LC chambers with throats too tight. We don't know why, it's a decades-old "tradition".
If you want to shoot stomper loads, the best option is:
1) Get the 45LC/45ACP convertible - the standard-catalog-run blue ones are fine, get newer production with the under-barrel warning label instead of side-barrel.
2) Send the 45LC cylinder off to: http://cylindersmith.com
3) Meanwhile shoot it as a 45ACP
.
If you think Ruger is bad, a lot of the Italian chambers are way sloppy and that's much worse. The latest batches of Ruger chambers have been nice and tight (correctly so) from the back end forward, but then the throat is a bit too small. This is annoying but the fix is less than $50.
If you want to shoot stomper loads, the best option is:
1) Get the 45LC/45ACP convertible - the standard-catalog-run blue ones are fine, get newer production with the under-barrel warning label instead of side-barrel.
2) Send the 45LC cylinder off to: http://cylindersmith.com
3) Meanwhile shoot it as a 45ACP
.If you think Ruger is bad, a lot of the Italian chambers are way sloppy and that's much worse. The latest batches of Ruger chambers have been nice and tight (correctly so) from the back end forward, but then the throat is a bit too small. This is annoying but the fix is less than $50.
I was admiring the photos of "black mamba" and "rodfac", thinking that they had custom barrels on their guns because of the lack of markings [and barrel lenght for "black mamba's" bisley], But now I read "Jim March's" post & he states that the markings are under the barrel. Damn, how long did it take for somebody to come up with that idea?
Anyway, here is my older blued blackhawk bisley [case colors by Doug Turnbull]. There are alot of good reasons for choosing stainless, but I prefer blued.
David
Anyway, here is my older blued blackhawk bisley [case colors by Doug Turnbull]. There are alot of good reasons for choosing stainless, but I prefer blued.
David