Ruger SBH .44 Magnum

I have a .44 SBH, 5.5” bbl, Pachmayr grips. It is my favorite revolver....maybe my favorite pistol.
The grips do not grab the skin on my hand..
I load my own ammo for it. Some years ago, a friend of mine passed away...he loved the .44 magnum amd loaded his own ammo. His widow gave his “stuff” to me. There was a lot of stuff....l have not had to buy .429 bullets in the last decade. Mostly 240 grainers, they make up my standard load. I am partial to Alliant 2400 as opposed to the ubiquitous W296/H110.
Have fun with the new gun.
Pete
PS: about dies...fwiw....i have die sets from every manufacturer that i know of. The .44 dies in my Dillon 550B are Lee dies. I do not find them any less useful or effective than any other die set.
P
 
I'm a fan of the Super BlackHawk. Mine is the OM and completely stock. I have small hands and the factory grips are comfortable and make shooting a pleasure.
 
My .44Mag SBH (non-dragoon style grip) and flattop 50th have wood grips. No rubber will touch my Single Actions.... Just prefer classic wood grips. Also I don't shoot anything over 1200fps, so recoil is fairly tame. My normal loads are 1100fps (240g SWC bullet). Just enough you know it isn't a .44 Special, yet still be able to shoot all day. Also the loads will do what needs doing in almost all situations I would ever likely run into, so no need for more blast and noise.
 
rclark You have the a Small Grip Frame like the looks but can,t shoot it .
All my SBH have nice WOOD the only thing for a Single Action .
 
As strange as it may sound my very first handgun was a SBH. I went with Rubber grips and felt they worked very well. Like any gun and any individual there may be a certain "art" to shooting the gun enjoyably. My recommendation review all these posts and then shoot the gun to determine what works for you.
 
The finish , porting and shortened barrel point to Mag-na-port Custom Work , if so the Mag-na-port will help a good deal with recoil . They do work and work well .
Nice little rig you have , it should be fun shooting .
Save you brass and work up a nice reload for it ...the 44 Magnum takes to reloading and cast SWC's like a duck to water
Gary
 
gwpercle I have two Rugers with 4.5/8 barrels One a Predator And also a Tomahawk .
Both are Mag-Na-Port ported I do shoot the Predator some I would give $200 bucks to have a new barrel put on it (with no porting) I hate it .
 
You put what ever grips you want on your gun, and I'll do the same on mine. There is no wrong, if it does what you want.

It does amaze me the style snobbery one finds in the gun world. I will admit to a degree of it, myself. Each of us is different. One wants no rubber on their SA, another says no scope on their lever gun....I don't like the look of rails and a collapsible buttstock on a lever gun, but I won't tell you that you shouldn't do it, it just means I'm not doing it, or buying one.

I might think your wife is pretty as a mud fence, but I won't tell you that you shouldn't have married her...:D
 
The only problem I have with rubber style grips is that they can't be shaped to fit my hand which is medium/small.

With wood, I am not afraid at all to buy a cheap set of grips on ebay and sand the crap out of them until they fit my hand right, keeping the pretty grips in the safe for if ever I sell the gun.

The rubber grips on my LCRX 3" .38 used to be ugly. Then I shot the gun more and more and realized they fit my hand really well and are comfortable and fit the over all idea of the overall package- to me it's my hiking/kit gun that might fall in a creek or marsh puddle with me and if it gets wet, no big deal. Dry it out when we get home. With pretty wood, I'd be fussing. Now I think they look exactly right. Stuff that doesn't bite your hand begins to look better and better.
 
The only problem I have with rubber style grips is that they can't be shaped to fit my hand which is medium/small.
Click to expand...

No matter what its made of, if it doesn't fit your hand, it doesn't fit your hand, and on a gun like a .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk, you need a grip that fits your hand. The oversize rubber fits me. And I've used wood plastic, rubber, and some things I'm not sure what they were....

For me, and the .44 Magnum I prefer Pachmayr. If that doesn't fit you, you shouldn't use them. It really is that simple.
 
I still have the stock grips on all my Ruger handguns except one.

I was lucky enough to be visiting Alex Harper in his shop one day and he had some scrap walnut from a rifle stock that made me think SBH grip. I wanted to buy the piece from him, but he just told me to take it as long as I promised not to sell to someone else. I made a custom fitted walnut grip and it was large enough to make a palm rest on the bottom. It feels good to me, but for most folks that shoot it, doesn't fit them as comfortable as it does me.

I showed it to Mr Harper and he said he liked it and "that gives me some ideas". I don't know if he ever did anything like that as he was more well known for his rifle stocks.
 
I was against the idea of using rubber on my single actions until I tried it. The Pachmayrs are allowing my 41 Magnum Flat Top to be more enjoyable to shoot. What really works though is the Bisley grip on my 44 Magnum SBH, so I have a grip frame and panels for conversion of the 41 Magnum. That won't be inexpensive, since the fitting and bluing will need to be redone. Maybe someday when money allows. I will need to find a specialty gunsmith to do that work.
 
Hey guys I thought I'd get back to everyone.

I had a chance to get out and shoot my new to me SBH this weekend.

I only had the .44 Magnum Remington ammo that I mentioned before.

The gun was very fun to shoot. Definitely had some recoil, but not at all unpleasant.

I am glad the gun is ported, because the muzzle flip is a very real thing.

Overall, I can't wait to buy some dies and work some loads up for this gun.

Oh and I must've lucked out as the gun doesn't tear me up. I did bring gloves though just in case as some of you mentioned.



Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
Hello and welcome to big bore revolver world. I have a SBH in .44 mag with factory wood grips. I like em. And thats including full house hunting loads, they don't bother me, I like that "thump". And its such a heavy piece, you can shoot hot .44 special loads, makes it seem like you're shooting a single six .22 long rifle. Congratulations on your purchase. You won't regret it.
 
HistoryJunky: My Wife bought me a 7 1/2 inch barreled Ruger SBH for a Xmas present in 1975 or 1976 if I remember right. And to me You are hard pressed to beat a Ruger SBH. I have used it to shoot a lot of Steel Silhouettes, and to hunt Deer & Pigs. And it does a great on all three of them. It also make a great comforting carry gun when I am out just walking along the river banks, or just out in the woods by my self for several hours. My SBH is just a superb companion. I like it so much that I shoot my Son`s 10 inch SBH quite a bit. I have been reloading for my SBH from the get go & use to cast my own bullets. But I don`t cast that much any more. As I said earlier IMHO you would be hard pressed to beat a Ruger SBH. But I have had a obsession with Long Barreled Single Actions Handguns since I was a very young boy. I hope You enjoy your Ruger SBH.
ken
 
Mine big bore is a .45 Colt Ruger Bisley-Blackhawk, and I've loaded for it like it was a .44 Magnum or a little beyond. Yeah, it's got a kick to it, but the gun is heavy so the recoil is not punishing. (my gun with the worst recoil is my little P3AT .380 and I hate shooting that gun) I'm guessing the SBH is even heavier than a Bisley, except yours has a short barrel. With my stoutest loads (255 grain bullet at about 1400 fps) I usually just shoot 6 or maybe 12 before dropping back to something lighter to keep me from flinching.

My gun came with a set of fancy checkered rosewood grips as well as the factory smooth walnut grips. The gun is easier to shoot with the smooth grips, but the rosewood looks so nice I use those.

Do you reload? (you will) Get some 240 grain cast bullets and a pound of Herco. That should be a good "magnum" powder for a short barrel, and economical to use. If you can't find Herco get Unique. After you burn that up if you want something with more juice, try a powder like 2400 or AA#9. Or if you want something lighter, use Green Dot or 231.

Blue Dot is good in the summer but it can get squirrelly in cold weather.

An empty paint can (you can buy new ones at Home Depot and probably Lowes, with a lid for a couple bucks) will make a *much* better ammo can than a cottage cheese container. Heck, an old tube sock will make a better ammo container than a cottage cheese carton :D
 
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