Ruger Blackhawk .357 maximum info

9

9ballbilly

New member
To my knowledge Ruger only produced this gun for a couple of years. Does anyone know the reason it was dropped so quickly?

I've heard flame cutting in the top-strap was pretty severe, but as far as I know Ruger never recalled the gun which seems to indicate they didn't think it was unsafe.

Was it just a marketing flop or was it dropped for other reasons?

This gun has been floating around on my "maybe" list for a long time and I'm trying to decide whether to chase one down or forget it. I know ammo is rare, but I reload so it shouldn't be a problem.

Just to be clear, I'm not looking for reasons to buy a different gun instead but for reasons not to buy a maximum.
 
Ruger never thought it was unsafe. It was a durability issue. As it turns out, the flame cutting was self limiting but that was of little assurance to those who owned the gun and saw it happening. Also, this cartridge was rife with abuse to those who hand loaded and didn't know when to quit trying to see if they could make it go a bit faster and shoot a heavier bullet. This caliber made a resurgance as such in single shot rifles. I own a Browning Low Wall chambered in this cartridge and it's an outstanding deer rifle. Mike Bellm has done very well working on TC's with this cartridge getting the last bit of accuracy out of it. If interested, check out his web site....lots of good info on there. Bellmtc.com
 
The Ruger is a great gun in 357 Maximum. They are accurate and good for hunting, plinking and shooting targets. The flame cutting stops on its own and is not a danger to the gun or the shooter. If you are going to shoot gongs or plates make sure they are AR500 steel because this round will go through steel plate like a 38 goes through cardboard.
 
I bought one as soon as they first hit the market, and shot IHMSA with it. It was a very accurate and durable handgun as far as I was concerned, but eventually I moved on to a .44 just to use heavier bullets to knock over the rams. I would have no hesitation getting another one if I needed it.
We found that ball powder loads were the biggest enemy of the flame cutting, but even using it, the top strap damage was minimal and stopped on it's own.
Like lots of things...they just get blown out of proportion.
I continued to use the cartridge with 180 Gr. bullets in a Contender for a long time, and even had a #1 Ruger that was chambered in .357 redone into the maximum.
 
Silhouette competition was big in the 1980s. The "Hot Rock" revolver round at the time was the 357 Super Mag (Max). Elgin Gates came up with the cartridge design and recommended a cylinder long enough to handle heavier bullets. Ruger built their maximum with a 1.935" cylinder and some owners loaded common bullets used in the 357 mag like 158s or even 125s. All of that powder burning with a light bullet lead to flame cutting. I never heard of an example where it was dangerous and usually it would go so far and just not get worse. Dan Wesson came along later and made their cylinder 2.075" and it handled 180 and 200 grain bullets with no problem. The heavier bullets more than anything else greatly reduced flame cutting and the Dan Wesson and later the Seville revolvers became the desired 357 SMs in Silhouette. Meanwhile it appeared Ruger got warranty work on the flame cutting and it seemed that soon after that, the 357 Max Ruger was no longer offered.
 
I can give two reasons not to buy a Maximum:
(1) If you don't handload, there are only two places to get ammo; Reed's Ammo and Grizzly Cartridge. It's expensive and none of the offerings are ideal for the Ruger. Federal and Winchester factory ammo has long ago disappeared and the last production of Remington (which sometimes pops up on gunbroker and other sites) wasn't of the best quality.
(2) If you do handload, finding brass can be an expensive and frustrating proposition. Both Starline and Remington make "seasonal runs" and it quickly disappears. Once-fired brass is virtually non-existent. Combine that with the fact that the two ideal powders for the Maximum, Win 680 and IMR 4227, are no longer manufactured. Current IMR 4227 is actually H 4227 which will give you slightly slower velocities. AA-1680 is ok but borders on not being able to get enough into the case for the cartridge to operate as intended. In my experience, Lil'Gun burns way too hot and will accelerate the top strap and forcing cone issues the cartridge was infamous for in the Ruger.
 
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I've never had a problem getting brass for the 357max. I've been able to buy all I ever wanted with no problems at all. Reading info like this caused me to think it would be a problem getting it so by looking around for it I ended up with somewhere around a thousand cases.....and then I quit looking. Either brand of 4227 produces excellent accuracy in this caliber. I have both on hand and there is virtually no difference in accuracy. In addition to that powder, there are a good number of other powder choices that work as well or better in this cartridge. It's probably one of the easiest cartridges to load for and get good results. My Browning Low Wall will shoot five shots at 200 yds in around 2.5". It's a great deer cartridge, economical to shoot, and just plain fun to own. Don't avoid getting this cartridge on the fear of not being able to find brass. FWIW, you'll easily get ten loading out of each piece of brass....or more. It holds up quite well, with minimal loss due to firing.
 
From late 1981 until 1984 Ruger produced 16,314 completed Maximums and/or serialized frames. As mentioned above, the top strap cutting was not an issue as it would abate after a 1000 rounds or so. The death knell was the combination of lite bullets and fast burning powders that would destroy the forcing cone. The original forcing cone was 5*, Ruger did change it to 11*, which helped a little bit, but was too late. As also mentioned above the Max came out during the hey day of the Silhouette game. The Max was designed to give down range performance of the .44 mag at a much less felt recoil using heavy bullets, 180 grain and larger. I shoot 180, 200 and a 210 cast w/check on top of 4227. The other thing that hurt the Ruger Max was that some uninformed and underinformed gun writers back in the day jumped right on the band wagon to bash it. WBR had enough and the project was dropped. By the way Ruger "scrapped" over 5000 completed Maximums and or serialized frames. Coogs.
 
You start talking about the Maximums... sooner or later Coogs will show up!

I bought one like 5-8 years ago. Plus brass and dies. Sadly enough, it is one of the guns and cartridges that I never seem to get around to doing anything with. My brass is still in the bags and I've never fired the darn gun! It's pretty though!

Gregg
 
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