Ruger 44 mag

[Shakey Jake]

I'm interested in getting a 44 mag and can't decide between the Ruger Blackhawk and the Ruger Redhawk (both 5.5" barrels). The price difference is about $200 so not that much of a hit either way. I think it would be hard to shot DA anyway with a .44 but I like the idea of convenience for loading and unloading rounds. What's your take?
Jake

[JEBar]

my first was a Blackhawk .... fine piece of machinery .... my problem with it is a universal problem with western style single action grips .... the upward barrel jump from the recoil of a full power 44 Mag makes the revolver roll in your hand .... locking your little finger under the bottom of the grip helps but can make shooting many rounds somewhat painful .... the grip of the Redhawk is much easier for me to hold onto and allows me to get back into position for a followup shot much quicker .... plus, I prefer double action

[North Country Gal]

Shakey, I've owned several examples of both. Both are stout guns, typical Ruger 44 mags, and will handle as hot a 44 mag load as you can handle.

The Redhawk is an interesting design. It uses the same spring for single and double action. Redhawks have a well deserved rep for having a very smooth DA pull. One of my favorite revolvers for shooting in DA. However, that typically comes at a price, namely, a fairly stout SA pull. A lot of Redhawk owners try to lower that SA pull with a reduced power spring, but it gets very tricky trying to avoid light strikes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Strongly recommend try the SA pull on a Redhawk, though, before you buy. Some individual guns have had some SA pulls out of the box that were pretty decent, others were darn near unusable.



If the SA pull is a big deal for you, I strongly recommend the Super Redhawk. Different lock system, same as the GP 100 and most have a nice SA trigger. The grip design is different, too. For me, the SRH is the most comfortable 44 mag I've ever shot, almost too comfortable, because I tend to go through expensive 44 mag ammo at a frightening pace. This, too, comes at a cost, because I think the Super Redhawk has to be the ugliest DA revolver ever made. Beauty is as beauty does, though. Some of the most accurate 44 mags I've ever sot were SRHs.

The venerable SBH has no such problem with the SA pull and it is easily trimmed down with a Poor Boy trigger job. That 5 1/2" version is going to have some serious muzzle whip with the plow handle. Still, I prefer the plow handle to the Bisley, but I'm probably in the minority, there. Most prefer the Bisley grip on the hard kickers. If you're not familiar with shooting plow handles SAs with serious recoil, you might want to try a Bisley version. There are some oversized plow handle grips that really help with managing recoil, but they are ugly as sin. Would give a traditionalist a fit.

These are Altamont grips


Might be ugly with those grips, but can't argue with the way that 5 1/2" SBH shoots. Not sure I could ever repeat this one, but not one I'll ever forget.

[Shakey Jake]

Shakey, I've owned several examples of both. Both are stout guns, typical Ruger 44 mags, and will handle as hot a 44 mag load as you can handle.


The venerable SBH has no such problem with the SA pull and it is easily trimmed down with a Poor Boy trigger job. That 5 1/2" version is going to have some serious muzzle whip with the plow handle. Still, I prefer the plow handle to the Bisley, but I'm probably in the minority, there. Most prefer the Bisley grip on the hard kickers. If you're not familiar with shooting plow handles SAs with serious recoil, you might want to try a Bisley version. There are some oversized plow handle grips that really help with managing recoil, but they are ugly as sin. Would give a traditionalist a fit.

The only other version I've found is a 7.5" which I think is a little to long for me to want to carry.
Jake

[BigAl52]

I like the single actions cause Im a cowboy at heart. But I can tell ya Jake if you dont hold that plow handle just right when you light one off its gonna bite that big finger with the back of the trigger guard. Dont ask me how I know. I have a Blackhawk and a 629 Smith in 44. IM like NCG I like the Bisley grips on a Ruger.

[John E Davies]

How much do you want to carry it and will you use it for hunting? The SRH is a honking huge big revolver, best carried in a shoulder or chest rig. Even the Alaskan model is not exactly portable. I have never fired a Redhawk but I admit I love the look over the bigger gun.

If you can go with a different caliber Ruger makes the SRH .454 Casull in a Talo version with 5” barrel. That might just be your sweet spot in terms of dimensions. You could always shoot .45 Long Colt in it if you didn’t want to wear a wrist brace and a gel padded glove. .... https://ruger.com/products/superRedhaw ... /5517.html

I owned a SRH Alaskan clone (home made - I bobbed the barrel myself) in .480R for about 12 years. It just got too darned painful for my aging hands and I sold it to finance my new Henry BBX .44 Mag. The Alaskan is a little bit easier to transport but it still feels like a chunk of anvil. I tuned the action by light polishing, and added Wolff springs and trigger and hammer shims from TriggerShims.com, and it shot really really nice. As North Country Gal commented, it is quite easy to tune compared to the Redhawk....

Have you thought about other brands at all? I dislike Taurus in general but I think their DA revolvers are worth a look.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[JEBar]

Redhawks have a well deserved rep for having a very smooth DA pull. One of my favorite revolvers for shooting in DA. However, that typically comes at a price, namely, a fairly stout SA pull. A lot of Redhawk owners try to lower that SA pull with a reduced power spring, but it gets very tricky trying to avoid light strikes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Strongly recommend try the SA pull on a Redhawk, though, before you buy. Some individual guns have had some SA pulls out of the box that were pretty decent, others were darn near unusable.

my Redhawk was built in 1992 .... I have no clue if the innards are the same today .... shortly after buying it I changed a spring in ours .... NCG is absolutely correct that if you go with too light of a spring, the result can be light primer strikes .... as best I remember, the spring kit I bought had 3 springs .... when I installed the lightest, I do recall light primer strikes .... replaced that spring with the next lightest spring and its been in there every since .... both single and double action trigger pulls are excellent

[fortyshooter]

Just like .45 Colt the .44 Mag revolvers can really be enjoyed the most if you can reload for that caliber...load them for your comfort plinking level and for heavy duty use when needed. I have a nice SBH with 7.5 inch barrel I bought used and it is a pleasure to shoot with most my loads being 9 gr. of Unique with a 240 gr. hard cast bullet. Then you can move up to loads using Alliant 2400 powder.
For DA use I have the lighter weight S&W M69 5 shot 4.250 barrel. Nice single and DA trigger and no issue to carry in a field type holster.

You can shoot .44 Specials for plinking and SD use but might be hard to find and cost same as the .44 Mag load.

Depends on what you want to do with it I guess.

[fortyshooter]

How much do you want to carry it and will you use it for hunting? The SRH is a honking huge big revolver, best carried in a shoulder or chest rig. Even the Alaskan model is not exactly portable. I have never fired a Redhawk but I admit I love the look over the bigger gun.

If you can go with a different caliber Ruger makes the SRH .454 Casull in a Talo version with 5” barrel. That might just be your sweet spot in terms of dimensions. You could always shoot .45 Long Colt in it if you didn’t want to wear a wrist brace and a gel padded glove. .... https://ruger.com/products/superRedhaw ... /5517.html

I owned a SRH Alaskan clone (home made - I bobbed the barrel myself) in .480R for about 12 years. It just got too darned painful for my aging hands and I sold it to finance my new Henry BBX .44 Mag. The Alaskan is a little bit easier to transport but it still feels like a chunk of anvil. I tuned the action by light polishing, and added Wolff springs and trigger and hammer shims from TriggerShims.com, and it shot really really nice. As North Country Gal commented, it is quite easy to tune compared to the Redhawk....

Have you thought about other brands at all? I dislike Taurus in general but I think their DA revolvers are worth a look.

John Davies
Spokane WA

John...nice work on the barrel job!

[Shakey Jake]

Well, to be honest I've lost my enthusiasm for the .44 mag. I like to think too much, it's a flaw of mine, and have been vacillating for awhile now. I think I'll just wait a bit and maybe, just maybe go for the Blackhawk .45LC/ACP convertible.
Jake