Henry Rifle Forums

It was some fifty years ago when I was shopping for my first centerfire handgun and in those days I was big into handgun hunting, so naturally I would have to have a magnum for deer hunting. Had to be a single action, of course, so I was debating between a Ruger 44 mag Super Blackhawk and a Ruger 41 mag Blackhawk. I really loved the idea of the 41 mag's balance of power and recoil, but couldn't find one in our town. I did find the 44 mag Super, though, and I've been shooting one ever since. In fact, I got my first ever deer with one. I never did get around to trying a 41 mag, though, but I've always wondered about it. Maybe if I found just the right 41 mag Blackhawk, I'd bring it home.

Well, today was the day. Just the perfect vintage (early NM, pre-warning), great balance, very shootable barrel length (and I will shoot this one), great trigger, shows very little evidence of being shot AND very, very good price! Just couldn't go home without it. Yup, about time I tried the 41 mag.



Got home and looked up the date via the serial number and it came out as a 1976 Blackhawk. 1976? That should have made it a Liberty Ruger, of course, and that would be frosting on the cake, since I have a nice Liberty Ruger collection going. Sure enough!


I was now feeling a little guilty, given the good price my friends at our local shop gave me. I don't think they noticed it was a Liberty Ruger, either, and since a Liberty Ruger adds value to an otherwise nice Ruger, I called the shop and offered to pay more. They declined, of course, and told me just to go out and shoot my Blackhawk 41 mag and enjoy.


That I will surely do and soon.

Awesome find NCG. I applaud your offer to pay them more incase they missed it. I'd like to think I would do the same thing. I've given more than asking a few times for things worth it.

I've never shot a .41 magnum, but think it would be a good in between (.357 and .44). I passed on a pristine model 58 nickel last year. Way too much asking price.

Thanks, Dave. Can't blame you on the Smith. Vintage S&W revolvers are crazy high priced, now.

Nice snag there NCG, and congrats.
I've had a BH 41 for quite some time now, and
it is the cal. that actually got me off the ledge and into reloading.
It was the second pistol that I killed a deer with.
I wanted a Marlin 1894 to pair with it, but
I fooled around and let them get insane before I could grab one.
So when Henry decided to make one I jumped and got an early production one.

You'll like like the 41, other than sourcing some ammo.

RP

My Single Action collection is growing as well. Nice looking BH...

Its about time. You know what Im gonna say. 41 mag is the king at my house. Congrats on the 200th year model. Id like to run across an old 3 screw myself. Can’t wait for a range report.

Great find! 6.5" looks like? Have you settled on ammo yet? I shoot Underwood, usually 210grn XTP in my NMBH and my Henry. It's the most consistent (mv) factory ammo I've found. Hard to beat unless you cook your own.

Lotta love for the 41 around here. Back in the day with my S&W M/57 I killed hundreds of steel silhouette targets with mine but never killed a deer with it. And I did carry it hunting several times.

Nice find for you with both a desired revolver found and the icing on the cake with the fact it’s a Liberty model. Frankly, it couldn’t have found a better new owner than you with your appreciation of the model and the Liberty issue. It was meant to be.

Congratulations! great find.

Thanks again, guys.

My hunting days are long over. At my age, sitting still out in sub-zero cold any longer than maybe ten minutes and I'd be frozen solid. This is northern Wisconsin and single digits or less is the norm during rifle season. I still love a good venison steak, though, so now and then some of our younger friends who still hunt will supply us with some.

This will be a range gun, then, and I am still shooting as much as our weather allows. Thanks for the heads up on the Underwood factory ammo, Gunny. Yes, I've had great luck with that brand in other calibers, so I'll pick up a couple of boxes. Will try out some less expensive target loads for most of my range work, though, assuming I can find some.

I cleaned this Blackhawk up good last night and was amazed at just how little it's been shot. The cylinder face still looks like it came fresh out of the box, but even more amazing, there is not a single trace of flame cutting on the top strap. In fact, the bluing there is out of the box fresh and even. I suspect this gun spent most of the last fifty years sitting on a shelf or drawer. Yeah, home run on this one.

North Country Gal wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 27, 2023 12:05 pm

Thanks again, guys.

This will be a range gun, then, and I am still shooting as much as our weather allows. Thanks for the heads up on the Underwood factory ammo, Gunny. Yes, I've had great luck with that brand in other calibers, so I'll pick up a couple of boxes. Will try out some less expensive target loads for most of my range work, though, assuming I can find some.

I just looked for .41RM on Ammoseek, and it's all going to be pricey no matter what. Lowest I saw was 71cents/rnd, and even SWC cowboy loads were $1/rnd. I haven't bought any in 3 or 4 years, so I was surprised at the prices today.

Thanks, Gunny. Same thing on prices I found when doing my homework before picking up the Blackhawk. My main concern was availability of factory ammo and, surprisingly, it's actually better now for the 41 mag than it's been in past years. Seems to be a little more interest in 41 mag, these days. After all these years, go figure. At this point, I just want enough ammo to shoot the 41 mag when I get the itch. I have other single actions in other calibers when I want to do more shooting. Gotta say, though, I really like the balance of this Blackhawk as a range gun with its 6 1/2" barrel. Would have been great for deer, too, back in the day.

Very nice. Congratulations for a great find.

Thanks, Ernie.

Congratulations on the new acquisition. Hope you can find ammo to shoot as often as you like.

Thanks, I'm already starting to stockpile 41 mag ammo.

That is a great find NCG. Like others have said, it couldn't have gone to a better home. Congrats!

Some bad news after my first range trip with the 41 mag. After the first 10 shots, the cylinder started getting hung up as I pulled the hammer. The hammer then just locked up tight and the gun wouldn't cock at all. Took it back to the shop and had my friend who is quite the amateur gunsmith tale a look and he thought it was the transfer bar sticking and binding. Regardless, the shop offered to pack it up and send it into Ruger for repair, so I wouldn't have the hassle of shipping it on my own. Okay, I won't be shooting it for awhile, but in the meantime I will be getting more ammo. As for shooting, it looks to be a real keeper as far as accuracy. Recoil was about the same as my 44 mag Super Blackhawk, given that the Blackhawk with its shorter barrel and aluminum grip frame is a lighter gun.

North Country Gal wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 28, 2023 6:47 pm

Some bad news after my first range trip with the 41 mag. After the first 10 shots, the cylinder started getting hung up as I pulled the hammer. The hammer then just locked up tight and the gun wouldn't cock at all. Took it back to the shop and had my friend who is quite the amateur gunsmith tale a look and he thought it was the transfer bar sticking and binding. Regardless, the shop offered to pack it up and send it into Ruger for repair, so I wouldn't have the hassle of shipping it on my own. Okay, I won't be shooting it for awhile, but in the meantime I will be getting more ammo. As for shooting, it looks to be a real keeper as far as accuracy. Recoil was about the same as my 44 mag Super Blackhawk, given that the Blackhawk with its shorter barrel and aluminum grip frame is a lighter gun.

Well at least you got to introduce yourself. Never had a lick of trouble with mine. Probably a 1000rnds over the last 25 years. I'm sure Ruger will fix whatever is messed up.

That said I have a repro percussion gun, that got jammed up like that from a piece of a cap that worked it's way inside. Took me a while to even find the thin little piece that was causing the trouble.