Why Not The Magnum?

R

roy reali

New member
I went to a gun show today. Several vendors had Ruger Blackhawks chambered in .44 Special. I do realize that it is a good round and the ballistics can be increased with reloading. My question is this, why not buy the gun in .44 magnum? You can shoot Specials out of it and really crank it up when needed.

Just curious.
 
The Ruger Blackhawk is available in .327 Federal Magnum, .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44 Special, .45 Colt, and .30 Carbine. Only the Ruger Blackhawk Bisley is offered in .44 Magnum (it's also offered in .45 Colt).

The Ruger Super Blackhawk is available in .44 Magnum only, except for a couple of distributor exclusive versions in .41 Magnum.

So if you want a Ruger Blackhawk in .44 Magnum, you need to find a Blackhawk Bisley, or a Super Blackhawk.
 
Quite simply because a lot of people have absolutely no reason to "crank it up". There are really not that many applications where you "need" the power of a .44 Magnum.
 
The .44 special Blackhawks are made on a medium sized frame, instead of the full-sized Blackhawk frame. It's the same sized frame as the old model .357 magnums that some folks were having converted to .44 special; just so you understand where the idea came from.

Smaller is handy for someone who doesn't want to shoot .44 magnums, and a lot of folks don't buy one or the other; they simply buy both, or several of both.

It's the same concept, on a larger sale, as buying a small, lightweight .38 revolver instead of a larger, heavier .357 magnum. A lot of folks prefer the lightweight, handy size of a .38 special revolver over it's larger cousin. I'd hate to have to carry a .357 magnum in order to shoot .38 specials, so I'm glad both are available.

Some folks even go to the trouble and expense of chambering handguns for .41 special, and commercial ammo isn't even available. Someone made a bunch of brass for it a while back, but I'm not sure if it's available any more, either. They have to trim .41 magnums to make the brass.

So why go to the trouble and expense? Mostly because it can be chambered in an OM Single Six. They like the bigger cartridge in a small, packable package.

Daryl
 
I have shot and loaded much .44 magnum. I would look for an buy the Super Blackhawk .44 maggie. You can load down much easier and safer than loading up. The .44 Special brass is weaker than mag. I am of the opinion it should not be loaded up very much at all. Same with .45 LC that some like to load to .44 mag. and .454 Casull ranges. Not good.
Besides the Super Blackhawk will retain resale value much better than the lighter built special.
 
Nonsense. Modern .44 mag brass is longer, not stronger. .45 Colt can be loaded safely to much higher levels, the difference is the platform not the brass. The exception would be any old balloon head brass which may be floating around even now. Save that stuff for display. As far as resale value goes, there are buckets of Supers floating around, very few Ruger .44 Specials. It has a smaller following and they will pay to get what they want.
 
Absolute correct jhenry.
The main advantage of the 44 special Blackhawks for me is the better balance of the gun. I have both Rugers in 44 special and Magnum. I also have both in N frame Smiths. I also reload them both and have loaded 44 special up to Elmer Keith loads which were very impressive.
Before you make comments like this about the weakness of “special” rounds you might want to do a little research and here is one place you can learn from the “BEST”

http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=21
 
Smaller is handy for someone who doesn't want to shoot .44 magnums, and a lot of folks don't buy one or the other; they simply buy both, or several of both.
Click to expand...

That is why I like the special chambered guns. Also like the caliber. I can load up a 44spl at less than Elmer's top end and enjoy shooting and they are still quite hot. As for shooting Specials in the magnum guns, not only is the magnum larger and heavier to carry but I don't like the shorter case throwing that hot powder/gas/fire into the chamber.

I probably won't shoot enough to see a problem and I do clean them but there could be erosion that would eventually cause extraction problems with the longer magnum cases.
 
Well, just how much smaller are these medium frame Blackhawks than the SBH's? I've had a SBH for years and have on occassion wished it a little smaller. The power of the cartridge isn't the deciding factor here, it's the gun.

Can someone who has both put up a pic of a SBH next to the (medium frame)?
Is the medium frame a 5 shot?

You can't have a thread like this without pics! It'll get locked (sic).:D

Show some medium frame Rugers people! Please! :)
 
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