Used blackhawk 44 mags not worth much anymore?

Browsing through GB last night and came upon a Blackhawk in 44 mag. Blued with plastic grips in excellent condition. The starting bid was $500. Nobody bid. I would have thought that pistol would have sold pretty easily but zero interest. Looked up older auctions and found several either sell for around that same price of maybe slightly higher. Also several at low starting prices that never got a bid. I always thought these were a pretty popular pistol but maybe not so much anymore. I almost bid on it since I don't own any 44's but I'm about to clean out some unused pistols from my safe already so I held off. Do these really lose that much value. Is it because they're single action or is 44 magnum no longer a popular caliber?

1sailor said:

Browsing through GB last night and came upon a Blackhawk in 44 mag. Blued with plastic grips in excellent condition. The starting bid was $500. Nobody bid. I would have thought that pistol would have sold pretty easily but zero interest. Looked up older auctions and found several either sell for around that same price of maybe slightly higher. Also several at low starting prices that never got a bid. I always thought these were a pretty popular pistol but maybe not so much anymore. I almost bid on it since I don't own any 44's but I'm about to clean out some unused pistols from my safe already so I held off. Do these really lose that much value. Is it because they're single action or is 44 magnum no longer a popular caliber?

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44's are popular, but I would say not so much in single action. Also, the 44 is one of those calibers you have to have, right up until you can't take the recoil, so they are plentiful on the used market.
If there is such a thing as protecting your investment, you need a pre model 29, a 29-2 or some of the other variations. It really works out best if you are a handloader

My dad bought a Super Blackhawk in the late 60's before he headed to Alaska , kept it until the mid 80's . I asked him why he got rid of it after so long and he told me it had had so many heavy loads shot through it that you couldn't keep the screws tight even with Loctite. I'd as soon have the .44 Special Flattop that I got loaded with Elmer's load as anybody's big bulky magnum. Had a 4" 29 for a while but just never could like it, too heavy.

I never had a Blackhawk or Super Balckhawk in .44 magnum. I did have a Redhawk, though, in .44 magnum. Sold it to one of my sons at a great price. I just didn't have use for a gun that could be used for tearing down telephone poles.

Eddie Southgate said:

My dad bought a Super Blackhawk in the late 60's before he headed to Alaska , kept it until the mid 80's . I asked him why he got rid of it after so long and he told me it had had so many heavy loads shot through it that you couldn't keep the screws tight even with Loctite. I'd as soon have the .44 Special Flattop that I got loaded with Elmer's load as anybody's big bulky magnum. Had a 4" 29 for a while but just never could like it, too heavy.

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You “never could like” a 4” modeln29……..don’t look out your window. There are forum members coming down your road with pitchforks and torches.

The single action .44 Magnums (especially the smaller framed original Blackhawk) are fairly brutal with full loads, and roll backward with stock grips...unpleasant. Also, depending on the vintage, $500 may not be a really competitive price in the current market, which is in somewhat of a price retreat.

in the mid 1960s before I was a reloader, I bought one of the early flat top .44 Blackhawks having a very low SN. With factory loads, it was far from a joy to shoot, and I did not keep it long. Much later I bought a .44 SBH and still have it. But I use only .44 Special-level handloads in it.

I still have on Blackhawk in 357 Max. Bought one the early 80’s to shoot silhouette. Ruger recalled them due to top strap cutting with the Max round. I sent mine in and they just sent a credit for any ruger product. Bought a Dan Wesson in 357 max for competition. A couple of years later I bought another Blackhawk in `357 max in a Gun show with original box. still have that one.

Warm 44 specials in a Ruger flat top I used to own rapped my knuckles pretty good with factory stocks. Rubber helped a lot, ........ but I couldn't just "admire" it as well with them. After a while it went on down the road for someone else to enjoy.

1sailor said:

... I don't own any 44's but ...

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If you are buying just to add to a Gun Collection get a S&W Model 29, 29-1 or a 29-2. Six or 6 1/2 inch will keep its
value because of the Dirty Harry following.

Ammunition is expensive so .44s can not be really appreciated unless you reload.

I was not looking at that Blackhawk as an investment. I was just surprised by how little resale value they seem to have. As was pointed out, a lot of guys who felt they needed a 44 mag may have ended up not really liking it after they fired it a few times. As I say, I was just surprised at the low prices used ones bring.

Some like them. Many think they want one until they shoot them. That's why they are often sold with a partial box of ammo. You can bet that's the box that was sold with the revolver.

In general revolvers are looked down upon by the current tacticool 9mm crowd....and that's the double actions. Single actions are akin to Black Powder firearms. They are beyond Fudd, they are Super Fudd.

I know because I get smirks at the range when I have my Blackhawk. Even though I will handily outshoot them they dismiss the weapon as a laughable curiosity. I don't care.

I have a Blackhawk in 45 Colt, and two Vaqueros, one in 44 Mag, and one in 44 Special. Also an Old Army 45 BP, with a 45 Colt conversion cylinder. I only shoot specials in both Vaqueros. Cowboy loads in the Colt.

The rolling up recoil is the way most single-actions work since their invention. The stock Ruger grips are small, more classic than useful. I've put Pachmayr on the Colt, my Old Army, and both of my Vaqueros. Just for shooting. In the cowboy holster for a bar-b-que, they have stock or fancy single action wood grips.

I'm not planning on selling any of them.

murphydog said:

The single action .44 Magnums (especially the smaller framed original Blackhawk) are fairly brutal with full loads, and roll backward with stock grips...unpleasant. Also, depending on the vintage, $500 may not be a really competitive price in the current market, which is in somewhat of a price retreat.

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The early three screw flattop .44 Magnums had the Colt SAA grip frame, but it was built on the larger cylinder frame, the same as the later Super Blackhawks.

Ruger never sold any .44 Magnum revolvers that were built on the mid-sized .357 cylinder frame.

1sailor said:

Do these really lose that much value. Is it because they're single action or is 44 magnum no longer a popular caliber?

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Veteran of 30+ years of gun show sales & gun shop work here.

Ruger & Taurus brands take a huge hit on resale value when sold used. Not an opinion, just a fact.

As expected, Smith & Colts hold their the most in revolvers. The buying public has determined that.

As mentioned, .44mag still sells pretty well, IMO.

I don't know about others, but it would take a substantial sum to make me even think about parting with either of these.

John

I bought my Old Model Super Blackhawk back in the late 80s for use as a hunting revolver. I still have it, and still have about 40 rounds of my hunting handloads. I need to shoot those up soon since I no longer hunt. I already have a box of 500 240-grain coated LSWCs that I'll load to about 950 fps and shoot for fun and maybe use for woods carry. There's nothing in south Louisiana that a 240-grain LSWC at 950 fps can't handle.

The Ruger Super Blackhawk is not just a great firearm, it’s a true classic! Definitely one of Bill Ruger’s “home-runs”!
He started with the basic Colt SAA design, kept what he thought was best, then looking to the custom work being done and the call from Elmer and the boys, added just the right modern appointments.
But, it’s not just the design, it’s the way they’re designed to be manufactured.
I think you’d be hard pressed to match it for sheer reliability, toughness, power, and accuracy. Buy it now, shoot it for life.

Don’t care for the recoil, yet don’t like “Goodyear” grips? Get the Herrett target stocks that fill the area behind the trigger guard!

I think the market phenomena is an anomaly. To begin with, the national economy is a mess. Everything is a bit sluggish, to say the least.
But, also, a lot of today’s shooters just don’t “get it”.
90% of the guys I see at ranges show up with their plastic 9mm and AR-15, then spew hundreds of rounds at a target the size of a refrigerator door barely 10-20 feet in front of them. They call this “training”…
Yet, that same target is an easy mark with the Super Blackhawk well out to 200 yards or beyond!

Honestly though, you need to be a reloader, or better yet also a bullet caster, to get the most enjoyment and performance out of a .44 Magnum. So, again, most new guys will never get it. (Yeah, I hear you, “reloading just isn’t worth it”…OK, fine.)
They just look at things through the viewpoint of being obedient factory ammo mass consumers…exactly like the investment holding corporations running the present-day American firearms industry want them to be!!

But, this is just my opinion.
Similarly, for as much as I admire and appreciate the Super Blackhawk, I also consider Bill Ruger’s No. 1 single shot rifle to be the finest factory rifle still being made in America today. I’m not alone in that sentiment: Have you priced a used one lately?

At some point the market will self correct. And, just as the Ruger No.1 is priced on the used market from at least $1-2k, the Ruger SBH will likely take off. When it happens there will be little warning! If you think you might like one, buy it now!

I’ve owned two or three Super Blackhawks over the years. Even when I reloaded I would eventually look at them and ask: why?

I hunt with a rifle. We have bears here but unless they come in the yard to eat the dog’s bones they don’t bother me and I don’t bother them, and even then I would use the 12 gauge by the door and not a single action revolver. So, the SBHs got traded away.

I have other Ruger single actions - some .22s, two Vaquero .45s, and a 1959 flattop .357 which I love. All were priced pretty low. I think a run of the mill SBH would sit for a while around here at five bills.

I have a 1959 .44 flat top, a heavily modified 3 screw SBH and a few double action .44 mags. All of them are shot mostly with Specials and occasionally with mid-power magnums at about 1200 fps. I carry full power loads in the SBH when in bear country and fire a few for practice now and then but that’s about it for the heavy stuff. I also have a .454 Freedom Arms gun and that gets the heavy loads about 1% of the time. I think my “big magnum revolver” phase is mostly behind me.