@DaleA
I like almost all things Ruger and a Redhawk or Super Redhawk would be a VERY nice addition to any collection but if you've got the money you might want to take a look at the S&W 460 Magnum.
http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/w...7_757751_image
Very versatile.
Well that just made things worse! That Smith looks good and I really like what I was reading about the 460. Price is a little more but not too bad for what you get. 2300 fps from a 200gr bullet out of a pistol. Wow. I like it. I was sure the SRH was the way to go but now I need to find one of these to handle.
@TfflHndn
I have a SRH and it is far more manageable and reduces felt recoil more than my Taurus 44 or Smith 29-2. I could shoot full-house .44 magnum all day and not wear out my hand, unlike the other two. That said, there is merit to the suggestion to look at the .41 magnum. It is nearly as powerful, shoots flatter, has less recoil and brass is relatively easy to find. I recently got a Smith 58-6 and it quickly became one of my favorites to shoot. Scary accurate. I put Hogue grips on it because the wood grips slipped in my hand too much. Can't really go wrong with either one. For hunting the SRH is more scope-ready. Good luck deciding.
The scope ready part is a big part of why I like it. The factory grips fit my hand well too. I've done some looking and the .41 seems harder to find. I'm sure online I could find it though. Thanks!
@TimSr
After trying multiple grips, I finally fell in love with a Pacmeyer.
I'm sure I'd end up trying different grips because I can't leave any of my rifles alone. About once a year I'd buy a new 'perfect be-all, end-all hunting' rifle, then by the next hunting season I had spent so much and made it a great bench rifle and I was worried about banging it up so I'd go buy the next perfect hunting rifle. My wife bought me a 300wsm Tikka and said I wasn't allowed to change a thing on it. Its been my hunting rifle for two whole years now because I'm afraid of her wrath if I start spending money on it. I can't leave guns alone, there's always something I could do to them to make them better. At least that's the way my head works.
@Pond, James Pond
If the SRH is more comfy to hold, then no contest: leave the Redhawk be.
As for barrel length, I guess that is also personal preference. You can get a lot of velocity out of a Redhawk/SRH.
I can get 1350fps from a 4" with a 240gr bullet and looking at Ballistics By The Inch, indeed the 7.5" looses between 20-70fps to the 9.5", depending on the load.
Not sure if it has been said, but handloading will get the most out of you Ruger.
Yeah, I'm not even considering the Redhawk anymore. I have big hands and the SRH just fits well. I'm starting to think even though its not much, I still want all the velocity I can get. I want to use it for antelope and need 100 to 150 yard range out of it. I like to get closer but can't always. I have a few used guns and can't say what all they've shot but every gun I've bought new only shoots handloads. I will definitely handload for the pistol.
@madmo44mag
Just my opinion but the longer barrel I found as a great help.
You do get a little more velocity and if you are a hand loader then you can custom load for hunting and barrel length but back on topic.
Why I liked the longer barrel is once optics are mounted it seems to me to give the gun a better weight balance and a more controllable recoil.
That extra weight out on the front of the gun keeps barrel flip to a minimal allowing fast acquisition of the target again.
With a longer barrel if you do take the optics off you have a longer sight radius and can make better open sight long shots.
Your thinking is right in line with mine. If I end up with the SRH, It will be the 9 1/2". That Smith 460 really has me screwed up now though.
@GeauxTide
That will be a great platform to get started with a high performance round. If you're not reloading, then the good old Green Box Remington 240JSP will shoot dandy and will shoot through a deer from any angle to 75 yards.
Reloading is the way forward I've found with every gun I own. I like the angle thing, maybe I'll start jumping up in the air when I shoot to get some downward angled shots. Tree stands aren't common here. They say there's a pretty girl standing behind every tree in Wyoming. My wife is the pretty one from this county.
@tulsamal
Way back in the depths of time, I bought a 9.5" barreled model and my shooting buddy bought the 7.5". We always passed them back and forth at the range. While mine became (and remains) a personal favorite, somehow the shorter gun just wasn't the same. I put a Leopold 2x scope on mine, maybe the longer barrel just helped with the weight distribution.
Neither one is going to be carried in a standard belt holster. I use a chest holster for my 9.5" with scope. And the two inches isn't going to make any difference in the deer stand. I prefer the balance of the longer model "in the hand" and I prefer its firing behavior on the range. Blast is further away, recoil a bit less. Certainly less harsh. I've put mega-hundreds of rounds through mine and it is still like new. Fine revolver. Mine even still has the factory grips on it. Liked the cushion feel in recoil.
Probably fired three bullets through it at the range more than any other. You can push the Sierra 180 JHC to crazy levels and it will really blow stuff up. And the two Sierra FPJ bullets they designed for silhouette. 220 and 250 grain. In my gun, the 250 was the long range star. It could hit things as far as you could realistically use that 2x scope.
Gregg
This is the stuff I like to hear. Exactly what I was thinking and since you have experience, I can pretend that I knew what I was talking about.
@benp
I actually picked up one of these last weekend.
Before I even had the pistol in my hand I had my mind made up that I would get it chopped. I'm just not into long barrels on pistols.
Then I got it into my hands. The balance is surprisingly nice and I was impressed by how light it felt. The trigger is excellent in SA. Better than my Smiths.
Then I shot it. The long sight radius is great and recoil was negligible with some 265 grainers I have.
While I am more of a "pack gun" guy, this one is going to stay the way it is.
Great pistol, just big.
Here it is in comparison to a SW Model 69 for a size reference.
It looks like the incredible hulk before and after he changed! I also just think it looks cool with that great big barrel. My stepfather was a collector and left his guns to me when he died. One was a Magnum Research BFR 45 Colt/410. It was gigantic but I sold it before I ever shot it. Just too big and ungainly, and from what I read about it, very inaccurate. The thing probably weighed 10 pounds so to me, that was too big. The 9 1/2" SRH is tiny in comparison.
@doctor j
As I recall, the cylinders on the Redhawk and Super Redhawk are slightly longer than those on other revolvers. I know for a fact that the cylinder on my SRH is longer that the cylinder on my S&W M29.
If you're a handloader, the longer cylinder will allow you to load some long heavy bullets. For example, I loaded some SSK 320gr cast bullets over 22.5gr W296. They fit in the SRH, but they protruded from the cylinder on the M29 such that the cylinder could not be closed.
My SRH is topped with a 4X Leupold. 100-yard shots are doable.
I like this post too. Very much something I'd end up trying so I could get higher BC bullets. Are 100 yard shots on game doable? I haven't looked at any ballistics charts yet, except for the 460 magnum and it is very doable with it.
Thanks again everyone, you guys are very helpful. I would start today trying to find the best price but DaleA screwed everything up showing me the 460. Chances are I'll still end up with a SRH but I'm not positive just yet.
