.44 Special Ruger Blackhawk--no lock--great shooter

Waywatcher

Waywatcher

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I think we all appreciate good shooting irons, even if some have the wrong brand name for this forum.

I recently picked this beauty up; and it shoots as good as it looks. It's a .44 Special Ruger Blackhawk, and it does not have an internal lock. I checked when I swapped the black plastic grips to the factory rosewood. The gun is also all-steel, no plastic or aluminum.

Anyhow, I shot it for the first time yesterday, and was impressed. This group was at 20 yards, and I was standing on my own two feet. It measures about 1.9 inches center-to-center. I'm sure with handloads and a rest it will only get better.



Still sooty from its range trip. If you're looking for a current production .44 Special for a good price, you should check one out. There is a long history of this model, and I feel it is a modern classic.
 
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I have a Ruger Blackhawk in 44mag, They are a great firearm, accurate, solid, fun to shot. I did pick up a Model 29-2 4 in. barrel over the week end, but have yet to get to the range to see what it can do
 
Glad to hear Ruger is still putting out good guns. I have older new and old models and especially like those in .41 mag.
 
When I couldn't own a s&w 29 during the dirty Harry days not willing to pay the black market price I purchased a super black hawk in 44 7 1/2" barrel. We hammered it. I now have a sbh with a 10 1/2" barrel. I haven't shot it yet. The grips are old school but it doesn't feel as good as my new s&w m29-10 with the lock. It looks good next to my new s&w m24 with the loc too. Having the loc doesn't bother me they were all great buys. Plus not one gun manufacturer has the awesome history that s&w has.

I like my rugers, maybe like my Colts a little less, like my h&r, but I love my s&w's.

No history with the rugers but they are strong shooters I wish they would stop discontinuing everything.
 
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I'm glad you got a good one. I wasn't so lucky. A year or so ago I bought a .44 Special Bisley Blackhawk. The first time I shot it I could feel the right grip panel shifting on the frame. After about 50 rounds the rear sight pin was moving out. With any of my three proven handloads it would only group 5 to 6" at 25 yards.
I sent it back to Ruger who kept it for four months. They fixed the grip and sight, but accuracy was still unacceptable.
Its gone. I'll stick to my S&Ws for .44 Specials.
 
Grayfox said:
After about 50 rounds the rear sight pin was moving out.
Click to expand...

Bummer, sorry to hear about yours. There is a very easy, quick fix to the drifting sight pin problem--I had a GP100 that was doing the same thing as yours--I pulled the pin halfway out, gave it a little bend, and slid it back in. The tension from the slightly bent pin held it in as long as I still owned it.
 
Nice gun and good shooting! I have three of the new mid frame flat tops, and one "new" Vaquero in .44 Special. Ruger really should market these ones as target pistols as all of mine are great shooters and haven't had a moment of trouble with em. I shoot only lead boolits out of them with my standard load of a Lyman 250gr #429421 at 900 to 1,000 fps using Power Pistol with very good results. Brian Pearce has some great article's in Handloader on these revolvers and loads for them. Enjoy yours!
 
I'm glad the .44 Specials have the steel frame. I hate those alloy parts on std. Blackhawks.

I had a stainless Super Blackhawk that was a tack driver. It pointed so well that I just had to swing it up on a 15 yard human silhouette target and fire as the sights more or less aligned to get easy center hits. That was with full .44 Magnum loads.

Using the sights more carefully and with a steady hold, longer shots were also easy. Recoil was modest, considering the power.

My GP-100 does have that drifting sight pin issue. After a few cylinderfuls of .357 ammo, I have to tap the pin back in. I think I'll try that bending the pin trick mentioned above. I'll probably ask Ruger for a spare pin first, though.

The GP is otherwise outstanding in fit and finish and is as accurate as my S&W .357's. My SP-101 is also absolutely precise and fully functional. I wouldn't be surprised if its tolerances are tighter than on a S&W Triple Lock.

I was cleaning it recently and was reminded of a term the British colonial authorities used while suppressing Mau-Mau terrorism in Kenya in the 1950's. To distinguish real guns from the sort of zip guns devised by the Mau-Mau, they referred to the good ones as "precision weapons." My SP-101 is a precision weapon!
 
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Nice shooting iron!

Big fan of the 44Spl myself - inherently accurate.

Ruger makes a really nice SA and when you combine them, good things happen.
 
I think that is a wonderful revolver. I bought a Lipsey's Flat Top .44 Special Bisley Blackhawk several years ago. With the rear sight all the way down, it shot high. I tried 3 or 4 different loads, same thing. I called Ruger, they had me send it to the factory. I know they payed shipping one way, maybe both ways. They put a noticeably higher front sight on it and reblued the gun. I was completely satisfied. I love that revolver. The only problem is that is the only Bisley I have. I like the Bisley so much, I have not shot any of my other Rugers since I got it. I don't know if they ever made a Singl Six Bisley with adjustable sights, but if I ever see one, I am buying it.
 
Ah, so you have the small-frame flattop Ruger (like the old .357 frame before the New Blackhawk in '73, I believe). Those are nice.

I have a '75 vintage Blackhawk in .45 Colt. Love the Ruger single actions.
 
Nice gun. I always liked Ruger SAs. I never collected them, but I knew many of the top Ruger collectors decades ago. The Ruger Collectors Association were featured in an Atlanta gun show in the 80s. During that show I had the pleasure of eating dinner with Steve Vogel.
Enough rambling.



Waywatcher said:
I think we all appreciate good shooting irons, even if some have the wrong brand name for this forum.

I recently picked this beauty up; and it shoots as good as it looks. It's a .44 Special Ruger Blackhawk, and it does not have an internal lock.
Click to expand...
Ah, Grasshopper, but it does. :D
Flip the loading gate open, and you will find that your gun is locked up and non-functional.
You may be too young to remember the furor that ensued after the New Model Rugers came out in the 70s. The New Model differs from the traditional single action mechanism in this manner:
>Opening the loading gate locks the hammer and disengages the cylinder latch.
>There is a transfer bar that prevents the gun from firing unless the trigger is back
>There is no half-cock or safety notch

That created angst, hate, and anguish that has only been rivaled in the gun world by S&W's lock. You would have thought Bill Ruger had insulted every Ruger owner's mother. I know his momma was viciously insulted for years after! :eek:

I like traditional single actions.
I also like the New Models. At least we can finally carry SIX in our sixguns. ;)
 
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And believe it or not, somewhere in that safe is a Single Six RSSM (which only came with the .22WMR cylinder) that has not been converted.
 
One of my mistakes was selling a ruger hawkeye. They were in .256 win mag, a .357 necked down to .25 caliber. Like the jet, it was a ear ringer. I do have ammo and dies yet as I also have a barrel for my TC contender. Also had a converted martini rifle in one.
 
I recently bought a 1969 vintage screw .357 Blackhawk. Here is a group shot at 15 yds last Saturday with .38 wad cutters. Groups with .357 Mag ammo were a little larger but not much.

357%20blackhawk%20target.jpg


Here is the Blackhawk:
357Right.jpg


I also have a 1971 vintage 3 Screw .41 Mag.
 
handejector said:
Nice gun. I always liked Ruger SAs. I never collected them, but I knew many of the top Ruger collectors decades ago. The Ruger Collectors Association were featured in an Atlanta gun show in the 80s. During that show I had the pleasure of eating dinner with Steve Vogel.
Enough rambling.




Ah, Grasshopper, but it does. :D
Flip the loading gate open, and you will find that your gun is locked up and non-functional.
You may too young to remember the furor that ensued after the New Model Rugers came out in the 70s. The New Model differs from the traditional single action mechanism in this manner:
>Opening the loading gate locks the hammer and disengages the cylinder latch.
>There is a transfer bar that prevents the gun from firing unless the trigger is back
>There is no half-cock or safety notch

That created angst, hate, and anguish that has only been rivaled in the gun world by S&W's lock. You would have thought Bill Ruger had insulted every Ruger owner's mother. I know his momma was viciously insulted for years after! :eek:

I like traditional single actions.
I also like the New Models. At least we can finally carry SIX in our sixguns. ;)
Click to expand...


Lee, I believe the OP was refering to the lock that was located in the gripframe a few years back. It could only be accessed by either removing the grips or by drilling a small hole in one of the grips. It locked the action from working by blocking the mainspring IIRC.
 
Good point.

Lee is correct as is Muley Gil.

I recently bought a Talo Ruger Birds head 45 and much to my surprise and satisfaction, it had no internal hammer lock, but it has the transfer bar.

Best of both worlds.

I can carry 6 safely, no damnable California nanny safety.

BirdsHead1_zpse275bf93.jpg
 
Did you buy this new, or is newer?

44 special is current production gun, on their website. I have wondered how do the new single actions compare to the old? I have heard some people say they though the older ones were tougher.

Also do Ruger revolvers have locks on them? You mentioned under the grip. Can you tell without taking the grip off?

I have been thinking about 44 spcl, to shoot some of my stouter 44 loads. I have 696 and 4" bulldog.

I had thought about boring out 3 screw, converted, .357 blackhawk I have to .44, but for the price you could just buy a new one. Though you may end up with nicer custom gun.
 
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