Ruger Blackhawk 44 special

[bones37]

I am itchin' for one of these new Blackhawk 44 specials, and was curious about how they handled, accuracy and so forth. I haven't actually handled one in person, but did handle a new Vaquero in 44 sp. a couple of days ago. Are they going to be similiar, except for the sight arrangement? Please share Your thoughts and opinions please.

[white eagle]

I bought one
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v730/kempobb/pix648828574.jpg,
like it alot it is sitting rite next to me now
my most accurate boolit so far is a 265 gr MP 44/640
keep it at sane levels and use the heavy stuff in the 44 mag which happens to be a
sbh Bisley with a 5.5" barrel w/swindler grips

[DaveCampbell]

Because I am admittedly bonkers over the .44 Special cartridge--and have been for four decades--I greedily bought both a 4 5/8- and 5 1/2-incher as soon as they became available. The 5 1/2-incher is particularly accurate, but the 4 5/8-incher more or less permanently resides in my truck.

Like most factory guns these Flat Tops can benefit greatly from a trigger job. My best advice is to get one, and if you don't like it you'll have no problem getting rid of it. Most lkely you'll keep it for the rest of your life. Secondly, don't try to be an Elmer and load it to magnum velocities. The .44 Special will do anything you can reasonably ask a handgun to do. If you want a magnum, buy a magnum. My favorite--and only--load is referred to as Skeeter's load: 7.5 grains of Alliant Unique behind a Lyman 429421 semiwadcutter, lit off with a CCI 300 cap. It is an accurate, well-behaved load that has flattened two running wild hogs.

[Walt]

I have a Bisley and the standard Blackhawk, both 5 1/2". My standard is a tack driver and the Bisley isn't far behind it. I prefer the way the Bisley handles/feels. I'm not really a single action guy, but I do like the 44 Special an awful lot. :) Both guns shoot the 429421 sized .432 over 8.0 Power Pistol very well.

[williamwaco]

I have owned four or five Ruger Blackhawk .44 mags since before 1960.
I currently own one exactly like Eagles photo above except the barrel is 7 1/2 inch.

I have been very happy with every one of them.

You will be too.


.

[Dale53]

I have two Ruger .44 Specials. One is a Lipsey Flattop Special - 5½" blued. The other is a Talo SS 4 5/8" Flattop. Theses two revolvers are among the finest that Ruger has built! They have correct dimensions, shoot extremely well and all they needed was a trigger job (which I had done on both of them).

They are just flat superb revolvers:

This is my Lipsey Special with Pachmayr grips:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/DalesPistolsRevolvers4Selects-0388.jpg

Good luck!

Dale53

[gandydancer]

I have the 4.5/8th Bisley flattop in 44 special had a little work done to it. fire lapped the bbl and cylinder and new wolff spring kit and outstanding curly maple grips by swindler. I also have that same mold 429421 and about four other 44 molds some with hollow points. and will be trying all you guys loads in the coming weeks/months. and like the man said if I need or want more power I will use a larger caliber revolver. thanks much. gandy.

[runfiverun]

i have the blued,the stainless, and a bisley.
plus the 41 mag,and the 45 convertable.
it's really a toss up between the 41 mag and the blued 44 special as to which one i like most.
the 41 will take hotter loads,the special is more accurate with cast loads. [7.2 grs of unique and the 429421 with cci-300's]
the stainless needs a little lapping on the cylinder throats,but is stupid accurate with the cylinder from the blued revolver.
haven't fired the 44 bisley just yet.


they all could use some of those pachmeyer grips though.

[Uncle Grinch]

I've been a BH fan for many years and didn't think it could get any better than my 41 Mag BH.... that is until I traded a couple of milsurps for a new stainless BH in 44 Special. The 4 5/8" barrel and frame size are so nice. Try one... you'll love it!

[rintinglen]

The Ruger Flat top 44 Special changed my thinking about the 44 Special.

I have , or had 5 other 44 Specials, being beguiled by Skeeter Skelton and other gun writers of the day into expecting great things only to be sorely disappointed. None of them were particularly accurate, but this Blue 4 5/8 Ruger absolutely shines. It is one of the most accurate revolvers I have ever fired. Like the others have said, I don't hotrod the Special, I have a couple of 44 magnums for that, but for just shooting pleasure, this Ruger is a delight. It absolutely devours cast boolits. In fact, it dawns on me that I have spent nearly as much for the molds I have purchased as I did for the gun!

[375supermag]

Hi...

I ordered one of the Lipsey's .44 Special flat tops as soon as they were announced.

Very nice and accurate. I think they are fitted and finished to a bit better standard than the average BlackHawk, IMHO. I am disappointed with the sharp checkering on the grips, but I expected to replace them at some point, anyway.

Mine shoots quite nicely with the Skeeter load and will probably see many thousands of that load over my lifetime.

I am considering a stainless version for my next revolver. I haven't seen one of those yet at the local shops

[jlchucker]

You guys have got me thinking about a Blackhawk in 44 Special. I've got an older Lyman 429215 mold for boolits that I've used pretty successfully in 44 mag leverguns. I don't see anyone mentioning that boolit in this thread. Has anyone tried that one lately in one of these newer Blackhawks? With what results?

[theperfessor]

The 429215 is a GC design isn't it? Much less need for a GC in a Special, probably why it isn't mentioned as much as the 429421 or clones thereof.

I don't have a .44 Special BH, but I do have a number of other revolvers in that caliber. Lately I've been using the Lee 430-240-2R in them for an accurate factory duplication load. Very easy to cast with and the cartridges just drop in the chambers. With my alloy the bullets have been dropping about 245-248 grs.

I know a round nose isn't the best game bullet but other than that paper and steel plates don't seem to mind.

[Larry in MT]

My 44 special sees a lot of use. It's VERY accurate with a variety of cast and jacketed loads but with 200 grain XTPs it's as accurate as any handgun I've seen.

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab176/larrykay47/a668c219.jpg

[Lloyd Smale]

mine shoots great. Probaly one of he most accurate out of the box rugers ive bought. By the way it shoots the 429215 real well. Gas checks may not be nessisary to prevent leading in a special but in my opinion theyve allways been easier to work with for accuracy at any velocity level. the 215 is a jewel of a bullet. Very accurate, mild recoiling because of its weight and its bee a good game bullet to boot.

[2 dogs]

I agree 100 percent with Lloyd here. Please note, there is a group buy discussion going on about the 429215 bullet that needs help getting off the ground.

[2 dogs]

Oh, BTW, here is mine. Please excuse the background. My wife decided to decorate my shop table...
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t256/Fermin_pics/010-3.jpg

[monge]

Just bought a stainless one from a buddy , great shooter I got to get rid of those black plastic grips!

[square butte]

Dont have one, but would like one, Just curious what the cylinder throats are measuring on the Lipsey versions and what cast diameters people are finding success with?

[PacMan]

Not sure about the Lipsey models but my two are both at .432 a stainles and a blued. I have heard of .430s in the Lipseys but i have a hard time beleving that Ruger set up special reamers just for the Lipseys and then sticks with the .432 for their production run guns.
Maybe they did.
I am courious what they are also from someone that pin gaged their throats.

[blackpowder man]

I am shooting .430s out of 2 consecutive numbered lipsey stainless vaqueros.
they shoot sized down .432 mihec kieth boolits to poa stock and low with the 200 grain lee. Both with nice groups

[rintinglen]

FWIW, mine has cylinder throats ranging from .4319 to .4325 with a .430 bore.

[UnderDawgAl]

My blued 44Spl flat top cylinder throats all measure .432 with my pin gauges. Perfect, since my three moulds drop at .434.

[bones37]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna get me one. Yes, I have Smith 629 if I want the magnum power level, but honestly I don't need nor want the recoil or noise. I only load for the special not the magnum. I would REALLY like to have one in stainless, but I haven't had any luck finding one in my area.

[white eagle]

mine mike out @ .431 use of a Starret dial caliper
size my boolit .431 and there is just a slight resistance when pushed through the cylinder's

[Trey45]

I bought one not too long ago and love it.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=655&pictureid=4738
It's a real shooter too. Ruger has finally started listening to their customers and began correcting mistakes and improving overall quality. I want a Bisley 44 Special and will buy one when/if I find it locally.

[Irascible]

I have a love affair with the Ruger Bisleys. What a comfortable, easy to handle grip size and shape. I also have lusted after 44 Specials for years. SO, when Lipsey's specials were announced, I ran out and ordered a 4 5/8 and 5 1/2. I should have waited a bit until the Lipsey Bisley models arrived. I love the guns, but was dissapointed that the frame and cyl were only slightly smaller than a std Blackhawk but also that the grip was too small for my hand. I hate having my pinkey finger curled up under the grip.
I recently bought a pair of extension grips from Tim Perkes which add on 1/2" below the frame and wow what a transformation. I had them made from American Holly and finished with clear Tung oil, they look just like Ivory! Of course, my wife thought they were plastic! Tim Perks can be reached at
timperkes2@gmail.com
I also looked into converting them to Bisley grips and found out the Bisley Blackhawk grips and frames bolt right on these "smaller" frames. The conversion also gets rid of the lock. But it would be cheaper for me to sell these at half price and buy 2 new Lipsey Bisley models, so I'll keep them as they are. Much improved by the Tim Perkes grips (stocks?)
Oh, favorite load; either the RCBS 250KT or 250K from an alloy of 8ww to 2 pure lead + 2% tin over 11gr of AA#7.

[EDK]

IF I didn't have a bunch of 44 MAGNUM SUPER BLACK HAWKS and Original Size VAQUEROS (and their BISLEY siblings) in the safe PLUS holsters, etc, I'd be looking at the 44 Specials. Most of us who shoot 44s on a regular basis don't load super hot any way.

The XR3-red grip frame doesn't work for me. All guns have HUNTER/DRAGOON grip frames or are BISLEYS.

:redneck: :cbpour: :guntootsmiley:

[white eagle]

I bought one
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v730/kempobb/pix648828574.jpg,
like it alot it is sitting rite next to me now
my most accurate boolit so far is a 265 gr MP 44/640
keep it at sane levels and use the heavy stuff in the 44 mag which happens to be a
sbh Bisley with a 5.5" barrel w/swindler grips

mine is fairly accurate as well
was hitting a 12" saw blade @ 100 yds fairly consistently today

[Rick R]

I've got enough .44 mags but if Ruger ever makes one of these in .44 Special I'll have to get one:

http://www.ruger.com/products/vaqueroDE/images/5151.jpg

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mine is a Bisley model and I bought one as soon as I found out they existed! It is the companion to my SBH Bisley, but it handles nicer and has a better feel to it. It fits the same Mernickle Holster perfectly and will probably get carried more than the SBH Bisley.

It will be getting the same treatment as my SBH with a Weigand front sight and a Bowen rear sight which gives you the option of changing the front blade for a different height blade to compensate for different loads.

Just dive in you won't be disappointed, we all will guarantee that!

Randy