Super Blackhawk fans? Info?
- Thread starter jaughtman
- Start date
Had two Super Blackhawks, 1 .44 mag. Blackhawk. The Ruger Super Blackhawks are big, heavy guns that fit the bill perfectly for handgun hunting of deer (no pigs around here). The early 3-screws had better triggers than the current, transfer-bar ones...Bill Ruger's main fault was that he never knew when to leave well-enough alone. Transfer-bar was a down-grade. In any event, for hunting deer, pigs, it is an excellent gun.
newfrontier45
Moderator
Ruger designed the New Model because they had been sued over negligent discharges by fools who did not know to load them with the hammer down on an empty chamber. Not because Ole Bill "couldn't leave well-enough alone".
richardcorey
New member
mk70ss - I don't know how that Ruger would be firing full-house 44 Mag loads with a short barrel, but I can just see it gobbling up light loaded Mag loads or heavy loaded 44 Spl loads with the sights set for a specific load and aim-point. What a beauty....Congrats.
Ruger will make more and the revolver will show up on the shelves. I waited several years for my screaming deal to show up and it's one of my favorite revolvers,and one I use to train new shooters. It's not the first handgun they shoot, but I'll put it on the table and if they want to put a few rounds downrange I tell them about the gun and let them give it a fling, normally on the third or fourth range outing.
Here's a friend of the family giving it a go.
Here's my daughter-in-law trying it on.
They're great revolvers and that particular handgun is one of my favorites. You can load it from mild to wild and everyone seems to enjoy shooting it.
Here's a friend of the family giving it a go.
Here's my daughter-in-law trying it on.
They're great revolvers and that particular handgun is one of my favorites. You can load it from mild to wild and everyone seems to enjoy shooting it.
Well then you will just have to keep your eyes peeled and snag one as soon as possible. I have an early production new model. The action has been tuned and the trigger is easily as nice as a 3 screw. The chamber, throat, barrel dimensions mic out perfectly and it will dump 6 into a ragged hole at 25 yards. I will not publish my handload but it uses a less than max charge of 2400 under a cast 240 grain SWC which runs right at 1,400 fps. Standard deviations are in the single digits. I did replace the rear sight with a Millet unit, very nice. I also recontoured the trigger itself, removed the striations, and mirror polished the surface. This is my go to large bore outdoors gun.
Bob Wright
New member
It seems to be that I have mentioned that I like the Super Blackhawk hereabouts before:
Bob Wright
Bob Wright
In the early years with the exception of his .22 Auto, Bill produced close copies of existing designs (Ruger single actions, M77 Rifle). When he decided that he was a gun designer, came the butt ugly (his double actions), and the problematic (.44 Carbine, based on his own design). When he abandoned the .44 Carbine, and reintroduced a closer copy of the M1 Carbine but in .44 Magnum, the problems pretty much ended. Ruger should have stayed with copying other people's successful designs. Whoa! What did he (hes is dead, but his company lives on) just market?...a Ruger SC1911 and SC1911 Commander...copies of the classic 1911. Keep copying Bill (Ruger Company), it is what you do best.
As for the transfer bar, there were other manufacturers of Colt copies that did not redesign with a transfer bar. Just as Bill decided that we did not need any more than 10 rounds in a magazine, he decided to re-design his single actions..."could not leave well-enough alone". It was a choice.
Note: I am not a ruger hater...I will buy his SC1911's and wish the return of the three-screws...He (they) can keep their plastic, hideous junk.
newfrontier45
Moderator
The other makers didn't have to settle for millions of dollars on frivolous lawsuits. As I said, the New Model came about as a result of those lawsuits.
The Ruger single actions were based on the Colt but completely updated with new manufacturing techniques, materials and redesigned lockwork.
The only problem with the original .44 carbine is that it was too expensive to manufacture. It was milled from a solid steel billet. The new design was simply compatible with investment casting.
Bill Ruger's statements about magazine capacity have been taken out of context and used against him. Nobody bothers to learn the truth, just what they heard in the media soundbite. The truth is the gun industry was plagued with frivolous, government sponsored lawsuits. Bill tried to make a deal with Congress to stop the passage of sweeping bans and make a compromise on magazine capacity.
Funny how there is no shortage of regular folk who like to question the decisions of a self-made millionaire who began a company from nothing, which has turned a profit every year since its inception. Jealousy is a terrible thing.
The Ruger single actions were based on the Colt but completely updated with new manufacturing techniques, materials and redesigned lockwork.
The only problem with the original .44 carbine is that it was too expensive to manufacture. It was milled from a solid steel billet. The new design was simply compatible with investment casting.
Bill Ruger's statements about magazine capacity have been taken out of context and used against him. Nobody bothers to learn the truth, just what they heard in the media soundbite. The truth is the gun industry was plagued with frivolous, government sponsored lawsuits. Bill tried to make a deal with Congress to stop the passage of sweeping bans and make a compromise on magazine capacity.
Funny how there is no shortage of regular folk who like to question the decisions of a self-made millionaire who began a company from nothing, which has turned a profit every year since its inception. Jealousy is a terrible thing.
That, and it had a propensity to fire when out of battery. Following was not an isolated incedent:
http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/ruger/154496-catastrophic-failure.html
That is why Ruger pulled it.
.44 Super Blackhawk
I've had my 7 1/2 inch Super Blackhawk .44 since 1984.I'm working on my 3'rd 5 gal pail of alloyed wheel weights put threw it. All 1200 to 1500 fps Keith type SWC's. The gun locks up tight and is accurate . I also have the 6 1/2, .357 Blackhawk and 5 1/2 inch Single six. I love the Ruger single actions . hdbiker
I've had my 7 1/2 inch Super Blackhawk .44 since 1984.I'm working on my 3'rd 5 gal pail of alloyed wheel weights put threw it. All 1200 to 1500 fps Keith type SWC's. The gun locks up tight and is accurate . I also have the 6 1/2, .357 Blackhawk and 5 1/2 inch Single six. I love the Ruger single actions . hdbiker
SteelChickenShooter
New member
I had the Super Black Hawk for deer hunting. I was a bit put off at the fact that my gun had some degree of fussing and fiddling around to get the cylinder in place after removal. Didn't like the factory grip at all so I replaced it with a big fat rubber Hogue with finger grooves. A heckuva lot better hold after doing that. It did shoot very well. I later started to think it would serve another purpose as a HD gun. But then I began to re-think that and did sell off the Black and replaced it with the Super Red. I sort of like the idea of having a small scope on it during deer hunting season. And I prefer the swing out cylinder. I have no real beef with the Black. That little 3 1/2 inch Stout Bugger looks nice to me. Would not be surprised if I got one. Maybe serve well as a truck carry as well as a nice sidearm to have in the field or woods. Would look pretty good carrying it in the holster on a belt by the fire at camp.
Had 2 SBHs some years back, one blue and one stainless, both 7.5" barrels. Both were great guns and I loved shooting them, but sometimes life hands you lemons and they got sold so we could afford the sugar for lemonade.
Fast forward to 2003 and the finances were in much better standing and I had the opportunity to pick up a SBH Bisley. Best money I have ever spent on a gun! Some folks don't like the way the gun looks, but it is the best shooting .44 Magnum that I have laid hands on. The grip makes all the difference and I love the wide, smooth trigger and lower hammer spur.
A pic of my baby with a few rounds of its preferred load:
[/IMG]
Fast forward to 2003 and the finances were in much better standing and I had the opportunity to pick up a SBH Bisley. Best money I have ever spent on a gun! Some folks don't like the way the gun looks, but it is the best shooting .44 Magnum that I have laid hands on. The grip makes all the difference and I love the wide, smooth trigger and lower hammer spur.
A pic of my baby with a few rounds of its preferred load:
Bob Wright: I never get tired of seeing those beautiful case-hardened Rugers.
To the OP: I have a 5 1/2 inch SBH - I prefer the fluted cylinder and round trigger guard. I shoot mostly moderate loads (lead 250's at ~ 1100 FPS). It's very accurate, but even with the rear sight bottomed out, it hits a little high at 25 yds. I understand that's a common problem. Even though I would prefer wood or stag, I find that I shoot much better with Pachmayr grips so that's what I use. The trigger pull was pretty heavy, but was easily improved with a spring from Wolff's. It is a large, heavy gun so I think I would prefer one of the newer SBH's, or better yet, an original 3 screw. Even though it has the transfer bar, I carry it with 5 rounds...just because.
To the OP: I have a 5 1/2 inch SBH - I prefer the fluted cylinder and round trigger guard. I shoot mostly moderate loads (lead 250's at ~ 1100 FPS). It's very accurate, but even with the rear sight bottomed out, it hits a little high at 25 yds. I understand that's a common problem. Even though I would prefer wood or stag, I find that I shoot much better with Pachmayr grips so that's what I use. The trigger pull was pretty heavy, but was easily improved with a spring from Wolff's. It is a large, heavy gun so I think I would prefer one of the newer SBH's, or better yet, an original 3 screw. Even though it has the transfer bar, I carry it with 5 rounds...just because.
The latest-production SBHs made from about 2007 forward are more accurate than the older specimens. Easiest way to tell (on the large-frame Ruger SA series only!) is to look for the "lawyer's warning billboard" stuff on the barrel ("read the manual" and the like). If it's side-barrel it's older, under-barrel marks some engineering changes to how the cylinder is made - newer is better.
The same change originally happened to the mid-frame series (50th Anniversary 357 Flattop of 2006, New Vaquero) - side-barrel or under-barrel warning, all have the improvements.
The sole exception is the 50th Anniversary 44Magnum Blackhawk Flattop, the one not marked "Super". This interesting gun has "transition features" between the mid-frame and large-frame series. It has the new smaller grip frame from the New Vaquero, it has the improved cylinder, most had side-barrel warnings, it also has the loading gate "click improvement" from the mid-frame series. Nice guns but a lot of people don't like the smaller grip frame in a 44Mag. MANY got turned into home-brew Bisleys.
Anyways.
As to the transfer bar: the original non-transfer guns had a really sweet trigger and a simple, tough set of action parts. The New Model with a transfer bar was...well, not too bad. You can get a good trigger out of it and it too is pretty robust although you can break a transfer bar once in a great while.
Then Ruger came out with the transfer bar retrofit (for free) for pre-transfer-bar "Old Model" actions. And that was a total mess. Trigger feel was usually a disaster, reliability was way down.
It was that fiasco that gave the transfer bar Ruger SAs a bad reputation in many people's eyes! A real New Model with transfer-bar from the get-go usually has an acceptable trigger out of the box and it can be improved to a really wonderful point while retaining the fully drop-safe features.
Now. If I was buying one brand new Ruger SA today, it would be as follows:
Standard catalog Blackhawk large-frame, blue, convertible between 45ACP and 45LC. 5.5" barrel if I wanted to hunt with it, 4.68" if it was going to be a carry gun. Upgrade the sights, good grips, probably a Belt Mountain base pin, spring kit, done. I would keep the aluminum grip frame and ejector rod housing - less weight and less likely to pull the ejector housing screw loose under heavy recoil. That gun is still a large-frame and can eat 45LC+P monster loads that rival or exceed 44Mag power levels.
It can also take good 45ACP standard or +P personal defense loads, and spit them out at very strong velocities. Interesting things happen when you use short autopistol calibers in long revolver cylinders...the round goes through a "long throat" in the cylinder of almost an inch in which there's huge velocity boosts and no blow-by (tight smoothbore). Efficiency is just...yeah. Example, an S&W factory 2" barrel snub in 9mmPara set up this way will generate bullet velocities on par with a 4" barrel Glock 19...and Glocks "shoot fast" due to the poly rifling. Combine this effect in 45ACP with a 4.68" or longer barrel and you'll smoke the velocities seen in a 6" longslide 1911.
And unlike the situation in 357/9mm convertibles, 45ACP and 45LC require the same spec barrel, so there's no real accuracy compromise. You can also use semi-auto 45ACP mags as speedloaders, thumbing rounds into the loading gate
. It ain't "the cowboy way" of course but it's big fun.
The same change originally happened to the mid-frame series (50th Anniversary 357 Flattop of 2006, New Vaquero) - side-barrel or under-barrel warning, all have the improvements.
The sole exception is the 50th Anniversary 44Magnum Blackhawk Flattop, the one not marked "Super". This interesting gun has "transition features" between the mid-frame and large-frame series. It has the new smaller grip frame from the New Vaquero, it has the improved cylinder, most had side-barrel warnings, it also has the loading gate "click improvement" from the mid-frame series. Nice guns but a lot of people don't like the smaller grip frame in a 44Mag. MANY got turned into home-brew Bisleys.
Anyways.
As to the transfer bar: the original non-transfer guns had a really sweet trigger and a simple, tough set of action parts. The New Model with a transfer bar was...well, not too bad. You can get a good trigger out of it and it too is pretty robust although you can break a transfer bar once in a great while.
Then Ruger came out with the transfer bar retrofit (for free) for pre-transfer-bar "Old Model" actions. And that was a total mess. Trigger feel was usually a disaster, reliability was way down.
It was that fiasco that gave the transfer bar Ruger SAs a bad reputation in many people's eyes! A real New Model with transfer-bar from the get-go usually has an acceptable trigger out of the box and it can be improved to a really wonderful point while retaining the fully drop-safe features.
Now. If I was buying one brand new Ruger SA today, it would be as follows:
Standard catalog Blackhawk large-frame, blue, convertible between 45ACP and 45LC. 5.5" barrel if I wanted to hunt with it, 4.68" if it was going to be a carry gun. Upgrade the sights, good grips, probably a Belt Mountain base pin, spring kit, done. I would keep the aluminum grip frame and ejector rod housing - less weight and less likely to pull the ejector housing screw loose under heavy recoil. That gun is still a large-frame and can eat 45LC+P monster loads that rival or exceed 44Mag power levels.
It can also take good 45ACP standard or +P personal defense loads, and spit them out at very strong velocities. Interesting things happen when you use short autopistol calibers in long revolver cylinders...the round goes through a "long throat" in the cylinder of almost an inch in which there's huge velocity boosts and no blow-by (tight smoothbore). Efficiency is just...yeah. Example, an S&W factory 2" barrel snub in 9mmPara set up this way will generate bullet velocities on par with a 4" barrel Glock 19...and Glocks "shoot fast" due to the poly rifling. Combine this effect in 45ACP with a 4.68" or longer barrel and you'll smoke the velocities seen in a 6" longslide 1911.
And unlike the situation in 357/9mm convertibles, 45ACP and 45LC require the same spec barrel, so there's no real accuracy compromise. You can also use semi-auto 45ACP mags as speedloaders, thumbing rounds into the loading gate
. It ain't "the cowboy way" of course but it's big fun.bbqncigars
New member
My three screw brass grip frame SBH was my first centerfire back in '73. It loved the Hornady 240gr JHP over 10.5 gr of Unique (until Hornady changed the bullet). It had a pretty good trigger before I sent it in for the conversion. It has a great trigger now. Someone at the Ruger factory must have put a little extra care into it, as I'm never that lucky on drop-ins. I still shoot it every other year or so. A damned fine revolver.