Back to my cowgirl roots, the Ruger Blackhawk 45

[North Country Gal]

Now, Gene, you know it is almost a sacrilege to be addicted to lever guns and not single actions. I'm coming from the other direction, by the way. Have pretty much abandoned the lever guns to concentrate on the single actions, but need to balance that out with a few lever guns. Looks like we need to meet somewhere in the middle.

[BigAl52]

Man a guy who owns levers and doesnt own at least a couple of single actions thats just not right. Come on SH you need at least one to match up with a levergun. Al

[Sir Henry]

Man a guy who owns levers and doesnt own at least a couple of single actions thats just not right. Come on SH you need at least one to match up with a levergun. Al

I already own four single action revolvers. I think twelve is the limit for not being addicted.

[Sir Henry]

Now, Gene, you know it is almost a sacrilege to be addicted to lever guns and not single actions. I'm coming from the other direction, by the way. Have pretty much abandoned the lever guns to concentrate on the single actions, but need to balance that out with a few lever guns. Looks like we need to meet somewhere in the middle.

Although I don't shoot my SA's much I really do like the feel and balance to them. The only problem with them is I'm limited to six shots before reloading. I like loading on Sunday and shooting all week.

[North Country Gal]

Easy fix. That's why you need to carry two or even three or ...

[BigAl52]

Man a guy who owns levers and doesnt own at least a couple of single actions thats just not right. Come on SH you need at least one to match up with a levergun. Al

I already own four single action revolvers. I think twelve is the limit for not being addicted.

You've just solved your shoot all week issue then Gene. Buy 8 more singles load all of them up and I bet you can shoot for a little while. Shoot if 12 means your addicted then I need to buy more I have 3 FA's 5 Rugers. I need 4 more. Al

[steelersfan97]

I have the same model Blackhawk. I like the grips you have on yours. I will have to check out Altamont's products.

[.45Steel]

That's not bad shooting by any means. You'll love the Henry .45 colt. I know I love mine.

[ditto1958]

Now, Gene, you know it is almost a sacrilege to be addicted to lever guns and not single actions. I'm coming from the other direction, by the way. Have pretty much abandoned the lever guns to concentrate on the single actions, but need to balance that out with a few lever guns. Looks like we need to meet somewhere in the middle.

Yup. Lever guns and single actions are like peaches and cream.

[BigAl52]

I have the 5.5 inch bisley stainless version of this gun. I love to shoot it and that 45 acp cyl is a hoot to shoot. Accuracy is amazing with it especislly with some 200gr swc. Of couse my accuracy is no where near yours and if Im lucky with 2 hands at about 45 feet I can get a couple in a 3 inch bull. Al

[dmsbandit]

nice shooting.


I have a convertable 45colt/acp gun too, but it's a vaquero. When I first got it the acp rounds shot to the left of the colt loads. Sent it back to Ruger, and they fixed it. Now ball ammo and cowboy loads print the same.

I also have a 4 5/8" 45 colt. I bought is with some wear on it so I had is cerakoted. Sniper Grey and Graphite Black looks good and makes the gun nearly indestructible. It has probably the best trigger I've ever seen on any gun. probably 2# and not a bit of creep.

I also have a 3 screw blackhawk with the 4 5/8" barrel in 41 magnum. Took me 25yrs to find one and it is a sweet gun.

[North Country Gal]

Those are beauties. Neat what you did with that old 4 5/8" Blackhawk. Makes for a great carry or woods gun. To be honest, my 4 5/8" Blackhawk is my first in that barrel length, even though I've been shooting these Rugers all my life. I normally prefer the 5 1/2" - my usual pick - but now that I've been shooting the 4 5/8", I love it. Will definitely be looking for more in that length.

The 41 mag is such a great cartridge, but the only practical way to shoot it is to reload and I don't have time to keep up with what I need to reload, now, not even close.

[ditto1958]

Bandit, you had to do that? Now I need more Blackhawks!

[North Country Gal]

There's always room for another Blackhawk.

[DAVIDF]

Great shooting North Country Gal! Thanks for posting that. Blackhawks are certainly accurate. A Big Boy or maybe one of the new Original Henry Rifles in .45 Colt would match yours perfectly. Those Original Henry's are beautiful.

I have two stainless Super Blackhawks in .44 Mag, a 4 5/8" and a Bisley with a 3 3/4" barrel. I really love the Bisley, but shoot the 4 5/8" a bit better with the longer sight radius. I carry the Bisley concealed sometimes in a Simply Rugged "Loaded Pancake" holster. They don't recommend that one for concealed carry, but it rides very high and conceals well even with the six cartridge loops. Semi autos are great and more practical than my Super Blackhawks for concealed carry, but if I could only have one handgun I couldn't part with my Bisley.

I am shooting my own hand loads in my .44's only, including my Big Boy. So, it is cheaper than factory remanufactured 9mm. And, a great excuse to spend most of my time with revolvers and Henry, rather than my AR's and Glocks. My hand loads are lightly loaded, probably only 850 fps or less with a 240gr and 950 fps or less with a 200gr out of the Super Blackhawks and probably no more than 100 or 150 fps faster out of the Henry. Really light recoil out of all of them and very quiet out of the Henry.

Since my Super Blackhawks are stainless, I really need to get one of the new Big Boy All Weather's to match!

[North Country Gal]

Thanks, David. Couldn't agree more on the reloading. The only way to shoot the 44 mag or the 45 Colt is to reload, unless, of course, you don't mind spending a ton of cash for factory ammo. That's been my undoing with both cartridges, since I have so many irons in the fire with all my hobbies, I can never sneak away for an hour without interruptions for the sake of reloading and we all know better than to interrupt our reloading, once started.

The saving grace for me on my Blackhawk Convertibles, the 357/9mmm or 45 Colt/45ACP is the cheap factory ammo option with either 9mm or 45 ACP in aluminum cased ammo. My 45 Blackhawk actually loves the cheap aluminum case 45 ACP. Very accurate. By shopping around, I can get bulk 45 ACP ammo for about the same price per round as 22 mag or 17 HMR. 9mm, even less. Still could go cheaper by reloading, of course, but, for now, it's doable for us.

Also, MUCH prefer shooting these semi-auto pistol cartridges in a single action with an extra cylinder to a double action revolver using moon clips. Do NOT like the hassles of using moon clips.

[Bish1309]

Really liking that sniper grey!!

[tx gunrunner]

Don't let NCG fool you ........... She carried a 44 Mag SBH with a 7 1/2 barrel in here purse .

[North Country Gal]

Yup, it's true. There is a movement back to carrying larger guns for concealed carry. This bad boy is a lot easier to find in my usual cluttered purse than a J frame Smith.

[tx gunrunner]

Yup, it's true. There is a movement back to carrying larger guns for concealed carry. This bad boy is a lot easier to find in my usual cluttered purse than a J frame Smith.

That was a 3 screw and you sold it . You don't need to reload it because if you grab the barrel it make a super club