Ruger Blackhawk

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Ruger Blackhawk
A .357 Magnum, Blued Ruger Blackhawk, with Adjustable Sights, and a 4 5/8" Barrel
Type	Revolver
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Manufacturer	Sturm, Ruger
Unit cost	US$495 for the Blued versions ^[1]
Produced	1955
Specifications
Weight	36oz - 48oz (1021g - 1361g)
Length	10-1/4inches - 13-1/2inches (260mm - 343mm)
Barrel length	4-5/8inches - 7-1/2inches (117mm - 191mm)

Cartridge	Varies see Calibers
Action	Single-action revolver
Feed system	6-round cylinder

The Ruger Blackhawk, manufactured by Sturm, Ruger, is a 6-shot, single-action revolver. It comes in a variety of different finishes, calibers, and barrel lengths.

1 History
2 Various specifications
- 2.1 Calibers
- 2.2 Finishes
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

In the early 1950s, Westerns were popular in movies and television. Colt had discontinued the famous Single Action Army prior to World War II, and few single-action revolvers were available on the handgun market. In 1953, the new firm of Sturm, Ruger and Company introduced the Ruger Single Six, a .22LR rimfire single-action revolver with full-sized grips and a downscaled cylinder and action to match the small .22 cartridge. Popularity of the new Single Six warranted development of a full-sized centerfire version.

Ruger introduced the Blackhawk in 1955. Chambered for the .357 Magnum, the Blackhawk was a simple and strong design, and the new revolver sold very well.

The next year, in 1956, Ruger scored a nearly unbelievable coup. Ruger was located in Southport, Connecticut, near the firearms manufacturing center of Bridgeport. One of the firearms plants in Bridgeport belonged to the Remington Arms Company.

According to a widely-known firearms legend, repeated even in the Ruger Company's own literature, a Ruger employee was in a scrap metal yard when he saw some unusual cartridge cases in a trash barrel. He grabbed a few and took them to William B. Ruger. The cartridges were stamped with a designation nobody at the Ruger plant had encountered before: .44 Remington Magnum.^[2]

Remington was at that time developing the .44 Magnum in association with Smith & Wesson. But thanks to the inadvertent security leak, the Ruger Blackhawk in .44 Magnum came out at almost the same time as the first .44 Magnum, the S&W Model 29 from Smith & Wesson. According to John Taffin the .44 Blackhawk was available in much of the country even before the first Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum appeared.^[3]

Having a top quality, albeit single action, .44 Magnum available so quickly only confirmed Ruger and the Blackhawk as forces to be reckoned with in the revolver world. The Blackhawk has been successful ever since.

The first Blackhawks are known today as the Flattop models, because their adjustable rear sights aren't protected by ears extending up from the frame as has been Ruger practice since 1962. From 1962 through 1972, Ruger made the "Three Screw" Blackhawk in various calibers.

The Flattop and Three Screw Rugers were modernized compared to the Colt Single Action Army, but not much. They had adustable sights instead of the Colt's fixed sights, and they used wire coil springs instead of the Colt's flat leaf springs; coil springs are nearly impossible to break, which makes them much tougher than leaf springs.

However, these early models of the Blackhawk still operated the same way as the Colt. To load them, the hammer is placed in the half-cock position, allowing the cylinder to rotate. Then you would open the loading gate, load one cartridge, skip one chamber, and load four more cartridges. If you had done this correctly, you could then cock the hammer the rest of the way and let it down, whereupon it would be resting on the empty chamber.

In 1973, Ruger remedied this situation by developing the New Model Blackhawk. With the New Model, merely opening the loading gate (while the hammer is fully down) frees the cylinder to rotate so the revolver can be loaded or unloaded. In addition, the New Model includes a transfer bar mechanism. In order to fire, the hammer must strike a transfer bar, which in turn strikes the firing pin. The transfer bar is attached to the trigger. When the trigger isn't pulled, the transfer bar isn't there, and the hammer can't reach the firing pin. This device means the New Model has much less of a chance to suffer an accidental discharge than the original model-- assuming that original model is being used by a shooter who doesn't understand it.

Ruger then went one better by designing retrofit parts to allow adding the transfer bar safety to old model Blackhawks. The company offers to do this free of charge and will return the original parts with the modified revolver, to preserve collector's value.^[4]

[edit] Various specifications

Over the years the Blackhawk has appeared in a bewildering array of models. According to the 2007 Ruger website, here are some of the currently-available Blackhawks and related models:

New Model Blackhawk. The "standard" model of the Blackhawk line, these revolvers generally come with smooth rosewood grip panels and modern, adjustable sights. The latest models with internal locks come with black, hard rubber grip panels. Currently available blued in .30 Carbine, .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, and .45 Colt, with multiple barrel lengths available in some calibers. Available in stainless in .357 Magnum and .45 Colt.

New Model Blackhawk Convertible. It is easy to remove the cylinder of a single action revolver; just open the loading gate, press a cross latch, pull the base pin forward and out, and you can rotate the cylinder right out. That means it's easy to chamber a single action for multiple cartridges, as long as they use the same bore size. Ruger takes advantage of this by offering convertible Blackhawks which come with two cylinders. The .357 Magnum convertible comes with a spare cylinder for 9mm Parabellum (aka Luger), and the .45 Colt convertible comes with a spare cylinder for .45 Automatic Colt Pistol. The Convertibles are otherwise identical to the standard New Model Blackhawk.

New Model Super Blackhawk. Available in blued and stainless, in models rigged to mount a telescopic sight and models not so equipped, in multiple barrel lengths and with various kinds of grip, this is a heavier Blackhawk chambered for the .44 Magnum. The .44 Magnum does have significant recoil, and the greater size and weight of the Super Blackhawk help with this. They also help make it an effective hunting gun.

Vaquero and New Vaquero. With the popularity of Cowboy Action Shooting came demand for a single action revolver that was more traditional in appearance. The Vaquero answered this demand. It was a New Model Blackhawk with old-fashioned fixed sights consisting of a front blade and a notch milled into the frame at the rear. It also had other more traditional details in the shape of the frame. Its replacement, the New Vaquero, managed to look even more traditional by returning to the size and shape of the original Colt Single Action Army, which is somewhat smaller than the New Model Blackhawk. The New Vaquero has been popular in Cowboy Action Shooting, as intended, but interestingly enough is also popular among general shooters. Currently available in .357 Magnum and .45 Colt, in multiple barrel lengths. Its finishes are mirror-polished stainless steel that looks like a 19th Century nickel finish, and blued with a mottled-colored frame that looks like 19th Century case hardening. New Vaqueros come with checkered black plastic grips, which look similar to the checkered black rubber grips Colt used in the late 19th Century.

Bisley. For some hands, Colt-style grips are too small or otherwise too uncomfortable, especially when firing cartridges with heavy recoil. For these shooters, Ruger introduced the Bisley Model, with a larger and more vertical grip. It is currently available in .22 Rimfire, .44 Magnum and .45 Colt. The Ruger Bisley is named after the 19th Century Colt Bisley, a target version of the Single Action Army. However, the two revolvers don't look much alike. Bisleys are currently available blued with smooth rosewood grips.

Old Army. Based on the old Three Screw Blackhawk action, the Old Army is a percussion or "cap and ball" revolver. It uses separate percussion caps, hand-measured charges of black gunpowder, and lead balls for its ammunition. Instead of round balls, it can also use more modern-shaped round nose bullets. It gives shooters the opportunity to shoot cap and ball style, as was done in the years around the US Civil War, in a revolver that is stronger and more reliable than the originals or their modern copies. Available in blued and stainless, fixed or adjustable sights, and two barrel lengths. Grips are rosewood or imitation ivory, depending on model.