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60 years of the ruger blackhawk
THE BLACKHAWK HUNTER MODEL (1992)
Both the Bisley Model Blackhawks and the stainless steel 10-1/2” Super Blackhawk are exceptional hunting handguns, however Ruger went even further to provide handgun hunters with even more exceptional tools. Both the .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk and the Bisley Model were offered as the Hunter Model. These 7-1/2” stainless steel Blackhawks have heavy barrels which are set up with scallops to accept Ruger rings for scope mounting. Up to this point it was necessary to spend extra money to have a Ruger drilled and tapped to accept a scope mount. The Hunter Models not only come scope ready the Ruger rings are also standard equipment. The Hunter Models can be used with the adjustable sights furnished or they can be fitted with a scope making them extremely versatile especially when one realizes in close quarters or lousy weather the scope can easily be removed using a fifty-cent piece to loosen two screws. The extra weight of the barrel and the scope also helps to tame felt recoil.
Both the Bisley Model Blackhawks and the stainless steel 10-1/2” Super Blackhawk are exceptional hunting handguns, however Ruger went even further to provide handgun hunters with even more exceptional tools. Both the .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk and the Bisley Model were offered as the Hunter Model. These 7-1/2” stainless steel Blackhawks have heavy barrels which are set up with scallops to accept Ruger rings for scope mounting. Up to this point it was necessary to spend extra money to have a Ruger drilled and tapped to accept a scope mount. The Hunter Models not only come scope ready the Ruger rings are also standard equipment. The Hunter Models can be used with the adjustable sights furnished or they can be fitted with a scope making them extremely versatile especially when one realizes in close quarters or lousy weather the scope can easily be removed using a fifty-cent piece to loosen two screws. The extra weight of the barrel and the scope also helps to tame felt recoil.
THE VAQUERO BLACKHAWKS (1993)
As I set in Bill Ruger’s office in the early 1990s he showed me their new forward step backwards. Up to this point in time all centerfire Rugers had been equipped with adjustable sights. Now due to the extreme popularity of Cowboy Action Shooting Ruger had decided to modify their Blackhawk frame by rounding off the Flat-Top and removing the rear sight thus giving a Colt Single Action style appearance. This was mated up with a front sight also looking like it came from a Colt Single Action. This new sixgun named the Vaquero, or Spanish for Cowboy, became extremely popular with Cowboy Action Shooters. It was offered in both blue and stainless and chambered in .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, .44-40, and .357 Magnum. After producing over 700,000 of the Vaqueros, Ruger listened to Cowboy Action Shooters who wanted a Colt-sized sixgun and the result was the New Vaquero. This sixgun is built on the medium-sized frame, and offered in .45 Colt, .357 Magnum, and .44 Special. It is for standard loads only!
FINALLY A .44 SPECIAL BLACKHAWK (2008)
In 2005, after the introduction of the 50th Anniversary Model .357 Magnum on the New Model Blackhawk frame I happened to be standing in the lunch line at the Shot Show with the president of Ruger. I asked him to bring this same single action out in .44 Special as we had expected back in 1955. He didn’t say yes; he didn’t stay no. However, thanks to Lipsey’s the .44 Special New Model Blackhawk on the medium-sized Flat-Top frame became reality as they issued an order for 2,000 4-5/8” and 5-1/2” .44 Specials. They sold fast and the next year Ruger made it a standard catalog offering.
Lipsey’s ordered more medium-frame Flat-Top New Model Blackhawks including a stainless steel .44 Special and a Bisley Model .44 Special. They didn’t stop there as they also entered in with Ruger to produce Flat-Top New Model Blackhawks in both blue and stainless chambered in .45 Colt with an extra cylinder in .45 ACP. I repeat once again these are medium-sized frames and not for use with some of the heavy loads used in the large-frame Rugers. Ruger seems to take extra care with these big-bore Flat-Top New Model Blackhawks and all I have seen have been very nicely finished and very accurate. Both the .44 Special and .45 Colt cylinders have uniform chamber throats of the proper size. I have been especially impressed how accurate .45 ACP loads are when fired in the auxiliary ACP cylinders.
CUSTOM BLACKHAWKS
During the 1920s and 1930s especially the Colt Single Action was the number one choice for building a custom sixgun especially by such companies as King Gunsight Company. All this changed with the coming of the Ruger Single Action and Skeeter Skelton led the way in the late 1970s with an article about converting a Ruger Old Model .357 Magnum Blackhawk to .44 Special. It took a while for the nation’s custom gunsmiths to respond, however they did respond in a large way and today many custom sixgunsmiths are offering a long list of custom work and chambering on Ruger Blackhawks.
The .44 Special remains the most popular, however medium-sized frame Blackhawks can also be converted to such cartridges as the .45 Colt, .45 Auto Rim, .45 S&W, .44 Russian, .44-40, .38-40, .32-20, .41 Special, and .41 Magnum. Large frame Ruger Blackhawks can be turned into sixguns chambered for Heavy .45 Colt, .475 Linebaugh, .500 Linebaugh, and .480 Ruger. Gary Reeder also offers a long list of his custom cartridges for use in Blackhawks. The stretched frame Ruger .357 Maximum can also be chambered in other long cartridges such as the .445 SuperMag.
In addition to Gary Reeder who has done several sixguns for me I can also recommend the following in alphabetical order all of which have built custom Ruger Blackhawks for my personal use. These include Hamilton Bowen, David Clements, Brian Cosby, Ben Forkin, John Gallagher, Alan Harton, Andy Horvath, Jack Huntington, John Linebaugh, and Jim Stroh.
It has been a long time since I bought my first Ruger .357 Blackhawk. I feel as if I have grown up with Ruger and it has been a most interesting and pleasurable experience over the past six decades.
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