Blackhawk 30 carbine price check and opinion

[wellfedirishman]

Guys,

I have the opportunity to pick up a like new (or pretty close) Ruger Blackhawk 30 carbine for $385, no tax. This looks pretty fair from what I can see on gunbroker. These guns are hard to find here in CA.

I love Rugers in general and own or have owned at least one of each model (Redhawk, GP 100, Single Six, Bearcat).

I already have 357s and 44 Mags, so thought this would be a neat mid-range cartridge in a revolver.

I reload 30 carbine, so cost of ammo is cheap.

After having read everything I can find with Google, the consensus seems to be:
Accurate
Fun
LOUD (although this could be fixed with milder reloads)
Flat shooting

Primary use here would be for punching paper, ringing gongs and ventilating recyclables (milk jugs, etc.).

What says the collective wisdom? Buy or no? If no, why?

[Changeling]

[QUOTE=wellfedirishman;718561]Guys,

I have the opportunity to pick up a like new (or pretty close) Ruger Blackhawk 30 carbine for $385, no tax. This looks pretty fair from what I can see on gunbroker. These guns are hard to find here in CA.

I love Rugers in general and own or have owned at least one of each model (Redhawk, GP 100, Single Six, Bearcat).

I already have 357s and 44 Mags, so thought this would be a neat mid-range cartridge in a revolver.

I reload 30 carbine, so cost of ammo is cheap.

After having read everything I can find with Google, the consensus seems to be:
Accurate
Fun

Primary use here would be for punching paper, ringing gongs and ventilating recyclables (milk jugs, etc.).

What says the collective wisdom? Buy or no? If no, why?[/QUOT



I can only relate that when I was about 15 my Dad came home with a brand new on that he found somewhere. I didn't reload then and just had the military ammo. That was the most inaccurate piece of **** I have ever owned, you just didn't know where it was going to shoot. It was a lot of fun for awhile but being so inaccurate I just lost interest and traded it for a shotgun.

I've never owned a revolver in that caliber. It could have been something inherently wrong with the rifle but I read once they were all that way. Maybe someone had a different opinion/experience with them in a good revolver in that caliber. Personally I would think long and hard, but I only had this one experience personally.

[longhorn]

I'd buy it at that price. Case trimming to uniform length is wise.

[Jeff.L]

Just got one a few weeks ago have only shot it twice but so far I really like
it.. Jeff

[9.3X62AL]

$385 is a pretty decent price in CA. Ruger's MSRP is $541, a shop here in town has one NIB for $549. Their prices are generally more reasonable than this.

I had one of these some years back, long before I got so deeply involved in the boolit casting hobby. I wouldn't mind getting another after the financial bumps in my road get re-graded. I never experienced the problems reported by some owners of erratic ignition--but I didn't roll-crimp bullets, either--just enough taper-crimping to turn in the case mouth flare after seating bullets. I never had an instance of bullets creeping out under recoil, either.

Milsurp-equivalent loads were indeed louder than Satan's sound studio, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Most of us here enjoy anything that turns money into noise. Accuracy-wise, the revolver at 50 yards meet or beat the alleged accuracy of a Rock-Ola M-1 Carbine I owned at the same time. I don't miss the Carbine, but thirst for a Ruger from time to time.

My own thoughts on the BH x 30 Carbine now would be to use reformed 32-20 brass if erratic ignition or bullet creep took place. This would enable a positive mechanical stop of the cartridge rim on the cylinder's back wall, and also a roll crimp with the 32-20 seater die.

I have read reports stating that some Carbine-fired brass won't resize down enough to fit in the Ruger's chambers. I did not have that issue with my guns, but it apparently crops up.

[dominicfortune00]

I'd like to get one for that price!

[Bullshop]

We have one available, apears to be unfired. $400.00 + $10.00 shipping.

[beagle]

Loaded correctly, they're great little guns. They make a great 100 yard plinker and small game gun with cast and are flat shooting.

Remember...it's a SA revolver. You don't have to drive them to M1 Carbine load specs as there's no action to function. They really shoot nice with .38 Special range loads and are accurate with them.

Trim cases, size bullet to the correct size and taper crimp and they give great reliability and accuracy.

The Lyman 3118/311008 bullet is tops. Brass life is long and they're pretty stingy on powder and lead.

The .32-20 brass shortened works well in them.

What more can you ask for in a handgun?/beagle

[Buckshot]

.............My grandfather bought one back before the transfer bar safety thingamabob. I got the pistol after he passed away in 1978. Maybe 4 years later we were burglerized and it was one of the things stolen. It was a very fine shooting pistol. VERY loud, and impressive to onlookers:-) For my birthday a few years after that Donna bought me a new one (transfer bar). It wasn't as accurate as the first one.

Then about 10 years after the burglery I got a call from the Riverside County Sheriff's office saying they'd recovered my stolen pistol! I almost said "What stolen pistol?" :-). That same afternoon a squad car pulled up and they gave me the pistol back. In the mid -90's one of the hangers-on at the range said he'd give me $500 for it as he collected Ruger BH's and needed a pre-transfer bar BH in 30 M1. I figured I could pickup about 5-1/2 milsurp rifles for that much and did the deal.

As mentioned my newer BH wasn't as accurate as the old one, but in truth it wasn't as 'consistently' as accurate. I got a Belt Mountain base pin for it (haven't installed it yet) in hopes that this might take care of things. It's barrel is perfect at .300"x.308" and the chamber mouths are all .308".

If I'm not mistaken Mike Venturino wrote an article about the pistol and said that up to that time it had been the most accurate revolver he'd ever shot. I did set out once to try and work up some mild 25 yard target type loads for it. I used the usual powder suspects for the purpose, like W231, Bullseye, HP38, and Red Dot. I used the little Lyman 311252 RNFB of 77grs (a 32ACP boolit) and the Lee Soup Can (C309-113F). It didn't seem to make much difference WHAT load I had in there, the report remained sharp and painfull. I think it's just somehting inherent with the cartridge and platform :-)

...............Buckshot

[bob208]

i have one of the old models it shoots well i use .32-20 bullets for it 110 gr. h-p gc. sized to .308

[runfiverun]

i use 32-20 brass trmed off and the rcbs 98 gr rnfp plain base sized to 312. yeah the 32 cal boolit.
freaking accurate and quiet. the load 3.5 grs 700-x.
took a wounded [car broke it's leg] doe at 70 yds with it a couple of years ago, killed it as quick as anything i've shot a deer with.

[Bret4207]

I don't know if any mentioned it but they're loud!!! Very, very, very loud!!!

[jh45gun]

Changeling that old carbine probably had a shot out barrel. I knew a guy who had one when I was a teenager and he let me shoot it a lot I mean a really lot as he used to get ammo cans full of milsurp ammo from his friends at the local National Guard armory. He would give me an ammo can and say have at it. For a gun happy Teen this was as good as it gets. :) This was in the late 60's From what I remember of it it was plenty good enough to plink with. I never shot it on paper it was always at objects but I always hit what I was shooting at with it. Neat little carbines I wish I had one but now days they are expensive and I can get the same satisfaction shooting my Winchester 94 30/30 shooting cast.

[9.3X62AL]

Rick et al--

The 32 Magnum and the 32-20 revolvers both can get a little barky if you run just about any boolit past 900 FPS. I guess its a caliber trait.

If I scrounge up another CarbHawk, loads like those mentioned above by Beagle would get a lot of attention. The Lee Soup Can or Lyman #311316 at 800-900 FPS would be pretty docile, and I'll bet the RCBS 32-98-SWC could be made to work. For a time, RCBS offered a limited-production mould for these revos, a 100 grain plain-base SWC with nominal .308" diameter. A gas check seems wasteful on all but the top-end loadings, to me.

[Cactus Farmer]

I've had an old model(4 serial numbers) and I'm the third owner. 1st one couldn't get it to shoot,2nd found the trouble.......small .306 throats(an ongoing problem it seems) and reamed it out to .308. I traded for it 25 years ago. It is a tack driver with anything it will chamber. Pop gun loads(3118 w/ 4 grns Unique) or a screamer( 12+ grns 2400 and 311359). Now the bad part,drilled and tapped for a scope and the first guy stamped him name in the bottom of the grip frame......be aware that it will remove meat if your hand is forward of the cylinder and shooting full loads....a GF turned her left thumb tip to hamburger with it....a gunshot wound with all that one of those required....Cops seemed to have a hard time beleiving she shot herself.
And did anyone mention they are LOUD!:bigsmyl2:

Excuse me, what did you say?[smilie=w:

PS, trimming to exact length helps with the accuracy too, as someone has already said.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

At $375-$400 new the price is ok. I paid a bit less a few years ago, but what hasn't gone up since then. It is a solid and accurate shooting machine. With GI ball ammo the muzzle blast will knock the ears off a stone horse. I load it with the RCBS roundnose and 13.5 grains of IMR 4227 and get good grouping at 50 and 100 meters. One must read the writeup in the articles section of this forum, done by Beagle. He also has written well on the use of 32-20 cases including load development and accuracy. I've followed his recommendations and the results are exceptional. I strongly recommend this Ruger revolver as it is well made and versatile. LLS

[buckbeans]

How much do you trim the 32-20 to shoot in a ruger?

[Loudenboomer]

I've had several over the years. The latest being a NIB 3 screw that I sold bout a dozen years ago way to cheep. The guns are fun to shoot. For a small cal. round you get a very large fire ball. sorta lights things up in the dark. They shoot flat. A good revolver varmint round on vermin to cyote size. My 2 cents