What can you tell me about this Blackhawk?

I have the plain old Redhawk, not SRH.

Any idea how the cylinder length compares to the standard RH?
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Don't quote me on this, but I 'think' I remember the Redhawk and SRH have the same length cylinder (@1.750"), and that the difference is in the diameter of the cylinders...

Pretty sure the SBH has a cylinder length of 1.710"...
 
recoil junky said: New Super Blackhawks have the "beaver tail" hammer too, at least my Hunter does . . . .
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True, that is the only characteristic common to all Super Blackhawks now.

But Three Screw Super Blackhawks returned to Ruger for the transfer bar conversion will have standard Blackhawk hammer spurs, not the beaver tail one. As I said, the OP's photo shows an unconverted Three Screw model.

Bob Wright
Bob Wright
 
At the risk of being a PITA...

... could anyone post pictures of what the transfer bar actually looks like fitted to an Old Model SBH, as well as what the conversion-fitted hammer should look like?

Still giving serious thought to going to see this gun, but would like to go "armed" with all the facts so I can make an informed appraisal of it and it would not be the first time that someone posts a generic picture of a a gun on that website instead of the actual item....
 
Old Model meaning made between 1959 and 1973 with conventional single action lockwork.
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I just want to point out that the Super Blackhawk (.44Mag, non fluted cylinder, steel ejection rod housing, new hammer and trigger, and the Dragoon style grip frame was not on the market all that long before Ruger changed the lockwork in 73.

Ruger had produced a Blackhawk in .44 Magnum prior to the introduction of the Super Blackhawk, so your Super isn't a 1950's gun. I don't recall the actual production date, but I think it was either very late 60s or early 70s.

Ruger experts, feel free to correct me on this...

I have never personally had a converted old model. I have had an old model Blackhawk, and several new models. According to what I have read, people generally agree that the trigger pull on the converted guns is worse than on the originals, and worse than that on the New Models, as well.

Which is why people put the original parts back in converted guns.
 
Super Blackhawks were originally produced starting in 1959. The production of flattop .44 magnum Blackhawks and Super Blackhawks overlapped for about 4 years. From the looks of the grip medallion (assuming the grips are original), the gun was made sometime after early 1971. Ruger changed to the silver medallion about that time. A partial serial number will narrow it down some more.

Looks like a nice gun.
 
I don't have a photo of the transfer bar in a converted gun, but here is the hammer profile of the conversion job on a .357 Blackhawk:



Not the best of photos, I know. But the hammer is identical for a Super Blackhawk. Note the dark area is a cut out for clearance.

And the earlises I think the Super Blackhawk was introduced was 1963, as that is the time Ruger went to the ribbed topstraps to replace the Flat Top models.

Bob Wright

Incicentally, here is that same gun now, a .44 Special:





P.S. I stand corrected on the Super Blackhawk introduction. One gun was made in 1959, production began in earnest in 1960.
 
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Thanks Bob,

That picture will do nicely. I can then see if the conversion has been done.

If it is an Old Model, I am very curious as to how it got over here: must have been a private import...
 
Pond said:
Surely the transfer bar (assuming you mean that metal flap that I can see in my Redhawk) is a good thing to have?

It would mean the six shooter could be carried as a six-shooter, not a five-shooter!!

Am I missing something?
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You're not missing anything if you view it from a purely functional perspective.

There are a lot of Ruger aficionados who are willing to pay a premium to find an old model (a.k.a. "three screw") Blackhawk. They willingly accept that you can only carry it with five rounds loaded because the action is the same as the original Colt SAA.

This is why someone above mentioned that, if it has been converted to a transfer bar by Ruger, the gun is worth more if the original parts come with it -- because a lot of people would UNconvert it (I being one of them).

That picture will do nicely. I can then see if the conversion has been done.
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It's even easier than that. Unconverted will have a firing pin sticking out of the face of the hammer, just like a Colt SAA. A converted old model or a new model will have a flat-faced hammer (and that "flap" that rises up as the trigger is pulled).
 
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Bob, there were actually about 1500 SBHs delivered in 1959. I have one of them, serial number 725.
James Pond, note the plum loading gate and the original style hammer (no firing pin on hammer, the firing pin is in the cylinder frame). Also the grip medallion is the older style.





 
Very nice pics, all.
The beautiful OM SBHs in this thread put my well used three screw OM SBH to shame. It's got a bit of a cylinder ring, some backstrap rust and a little muzzle bluing wear from years of hunting.
I asked about the safety conversion on here probably 7 years back. I subsequently tried some new model Ruger Blackhawks and Vaqueros, and decided that I would leave mine in original condition, as the old model lockwork has spoiled me.
I'll sell the old girl off soon, but I'm going right over to 1873 clones. No single action transfer bars for me!
 
The New Model action can be tuned up quite nice. The Old Model "converted action" is a Rube Goldberg nightmare inside - fragile and resists tuning it to produce a good trigger.

Many owners of converted OMs have assumed incorrectly that a NM action must be just as bad, considering both have transfer bars involved. But this is not the case - the NM action is fundamentally better than the converted OM action with a transfer bar grafted in after the fact.
 
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