Are all Blackhawks this rough?

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vanfunk

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Hello All:

I recently acquired a Ruger New Model Blackhawk, 7.5" barrel, blue. It was an impulse buy - priced right, I was looking for a .45 Colt range blaster - you know the drill. I gave it the once over in the poor flourescent light of the store and it looked fine. When I got it home, cleaned the preservative oil off and examined it in better light, I was shocked to see how badly finished the frame and grip frame are! The aluminum grip frame in particular looks to have been hewn with dull files by a blind, one-armed blacksmith in an Afghan cave. The frame looks like it was finish-sanded with 80 grit sandpaper. The good news is that it is very accurate, which is most important, but still...

Now, I wasn't expecting a pre-war Colt SAA level of fit and finish, but this is baaaad. I haven't examined any other Blackhawks so I have no baseline of comparison. Are all New Model Blackhawks poorly finished? I'm keeping it, because it's a shooter and a darned good one at that, but is there anything I can do here? I am not a fan of the aluminum grip frame anyway - are blued steel grip frames available from Ruger (or anyone)? How 'bout blue steel ejector housings?

Thanks!

vanfunk
 
Yeah, sometimes examples like that slip out of the factory. The good news is Ruger will make it good as new if you tell them about it.

Ruger can install a steel grip frame while they have it, as well as a steel ERH (or you can buy one yourself for $25). However, if it were me, I'd leave the lighter weight aluminum ERH on the 7.5" barreled gun to help with the balance and keep it from being nose heavy.
 
Mine was made in 1991 and the blind, one-armed Afghan blacksmith must not have been hired yet. The fit and finish are close enough to perfect that I won't complain. I did however replace the grips with another factory pair I had laying around. The color and grain of the originals was much nicer, but the finish must have been done by your Afgan's father because they had some SERIOUS tooling and sanding belt marks. Rounds had flat places and flats were gouged and dipped. But like yours, it shoots :)
 
Thanks Gentlemen:

Is there a source online for factory Ruger blued steel grip frames? Power Custom makes them, but they're pricey. Will Ruger sell me one directly, by any chance?

Thanks again!

vanfunk
 
I reckon it's difficult to tell how 'bad' it really is without seeing it. Might be rough as a cobb by any measure, or it might be a case of differing expectations. At any rate it's a good argument for THOROUGHLY inspecting any firearm before bringing it home.

Steel grip frames are available. The easiest is to find a takeoff frame as all the large frame Vaqueros, 4 5/8" & 5½" Super Blackhawks and some special edition Blackhawks came with blued steel grip frames. Anything in parts form that comes from Ruger will be rough and in the white, which takes some doing to fit properly and then it has to be finished. Those from PC are of the Colt SAA pattern and require just as much fitting. Unfortunately the aftermarket suppliers have dried up.

You can also strip and polish the aluminum grip frame if the two tone look appeals to you.

Either way I'd suggest CLC for grips.

http://www.clccustomgrips.com

The good news is that the ejector is easily replaced by either a Ruger or aftermarket part with little or no fitting. I usually get them from Ruger for around $35.
 
Wow(!) Those are some nice grips, Craig. Very appealing, and a good value, too. I will try to get pics up, later, but I am soooo slloooowwwww with uploading pics that I usually give up before I even get the camera out. Trust me, though, this grip frame is embarrassing. I will search the auction sites for a cast-off steel grip frame, and if any members out there are looking to sell one, please let me know via PM.

Thanks!

vanfunk
 
You can post a wanted ad on RugerForum.com and probably get what you're looking for pretty quick. Might also want to query some of the big name gunsmiths to see if they have any takeoffs.
 
Keep in mind, if you get a take off grip frame from someone else's gun, a grip frame that has already been fitted to that specific gun, there's a good chance it will not fit well on your gun. If you are trying to improve the fit and finish of your gun, your best chance is to start with an unfinished, slightly oversized version "in the white" from Ruger, and have it fit to your gun and then blued.

I have a post over on Rugerforum.com in the gunsmithing section concerning a take-off Super Blackhawk grip frame not fitting very well on my gun.
 
Interestingly; he was working with one arm and the lights out in 1979 when I was introduced to RNMBH stainless revolvers. Seems he has come back to work on the blued ones now, sorry to hear that. I never looked at another stainless Ruger after 1979 but I do have a number of blued ones since. Maybe I'll have to look at some more and see if his quality of blind handicapped workmanship has changed.
 
My Alaskan was finished by the same Afghan. Shoots great, but looks like a drunk blacksmith built it out of old horseshoes.
 
New ones maybe, not the old ones.
Click to expand...

Definitely! Your three-screw is beautiful.

My Alaskan was finished by the same Afghan. Shoots great, but looks like a drunk blacksmith built it out of old horseshoes.
Click to expand...

Interestingly; he was working with one arm and the lights out in 1979 when I was introduced to RNMBH stainless revolvers.
Click to expand...

It's amazing that this man has been employed for so long! I would have thought that by now he'd be working on WASR's at Century Arms :)

Thanks,

vanfunk
 
Once a haven of Ruger revolvers, my home is now S&W-only. The reason was simple - poor QC. Some of it, like the nearly oversized chamber bores of my .32's, had no easy fix. The roughly reamed holes - rough pawl channels - I could deal with - and became adept at doing so. My early .454 SRH set a high standard - nothing before or since measured up. A .45 RH had to go back when brand new because they finish machined the cylinder with obvious voids (burst casting bubbles) when it was brand new - got it back in a month. A friend who bought one the same day got another new one - his had a warped frame. One day, I just had enough. Oddly, I noticed cosmetic improvements - mainly in the GP100's - about that time. No matter - I found happiness in S&W - and, except for my pair of enclosed hammer models, they have better SA triggers than any Ruger SA I ever owned. Of course, the S&W DA triggers were better, too. Vote with your wallet - I did!

I remember the swirl/grind marks apparent under the blued finish of the then new anniversary flat-top .44M several years ago - on the cover of American Rifleman. One cannot expect Doug Turnbull quality finishes on new Rugers - but it should be better than that one armed visually impaired guy in a high school shop class could do. If they allow that kind of a cosmetic flaw to pass - what do the innards look like? I know Ruger does a decent job on much of their production - but some folks put up with a lot - or never shoot them. Demand they get it right. Sorry for your troubles

Stainz
 
My Ruger Alaskan shoots great. Has a smooth, crisp trigger and puts the bullets where the sights are if I don't flinch. I buy Rugers to shoot, not love. I could put my Alaskan in the glove box or in a box of gear and not worry - getting bounced around with metal objects might improve the looks!

I buy a S&W to love...shoot as well, but they are too nice to beat up. I want to look at as well as shoot a S&W. But that isn't a knock on Ruger - those ugly ducklings of mine shoot & shoot & shoot.
 
UPDATE: Well, it just so happens that I had the aforementioned Blackhawk on me when I stopped into a local gunshop to peruse the cases for another impulse buy. As luck and sweet charity would have it, my favorite gunstore owner took that Blackhawk in trade for exactly what I bought it for, and I walked away with a brand-new S&W Model 17-9 .22LR. Now, this may not be the end of my association with Blackhawks - he also had a NIB 60's era three screw .44 Magnum Blackhawk that was very nice, I must say. We'll see. For now, though, I am having fun with my new S&W and its flawless machining (well, unless you consider the internal lock a machining flaw :) ). BTW, I took the new .22 right outside when I got home and was rewarded with 2 to 3 inch offhand groups at 33 yards, which is seriously good shooting for me!

Thanks All,

vanfunk
 
My new 4" x10 617 purchase of two years ago was met cordially by the other S&W revolvers in my safe. Not so now, as they languish in the safe - and the rimfire launcher gains frequent range-bag occupant miles. Seriously, while it won't whack your wrist like some stout .44 Specials, not to mention the real .44 Magnums, it also won't slice out a large hunk of your wallet per shot. In fact, you can have lots of fun for the cost of a Happy Meal with a 17 or 617. Congratulations - you did great!

Stainz
 
vanfunk said:
UPDATE: Well, it just so happens that I had the aforementioned Blackhawk on me when I stopped into a local gunshop to peruse the cases for another impulse buy. As luck and sweet charity would have it, my favorite gunstore owner took that Blackhawk in trade for exactly what I bought it for, and I walked away with a brand-new S&W Model 17-9 .22LR. Now, this may not be the end of my association with Blackhawks - he also had a NIB 60's era three screw .44 Magnum Blackhawk that was very nice, I must say. We'll see. For now, though, I am having fun with my new S&W and its flawless machining (well, unless you consider the internal lock a machining flaw :) ). BTW, I took the new .22 right outside when I got home and was rewarded with 2 to 3 inch offhand groups at 33 yards, which is seriously good shooting for me!

Thanks All,

vanfunk
Click to expand...
I picked up an older (pre-lock) S&W .22LR airweight snubby a while back, primarily for my wife to use as a training tool since she doesn't care for the recoil of even regular .38SPL in her nightstand pistol and the little .22 mirrors it in all respects other than weight. I found that I love shooting it at the range myself, it's amazingly accurate (especially for a snubby) and just all-around fun to play with.
 
I bought one last september, in 45 colt, and the finish on it is great. Everything machined smooth. Sounds like one with a bad finish got out, call Ruger and tell them about it, and I am sure they will take care of you. Contrary to what some will say, Ruger will take care of a customer.
 
Sometimes, companies are victims of their own success, and I think that has happened to Ruger several times. As demand grows, a company first tries to speed production but without hiring more workers (payroll is the major cost to any company). The result is that people have to do more work for the same pay and quality suffers. Plus, QC people are under pressure to "put it through" and ignore problems that would not have been acceptable in the past. Once the "surge" dies down, QC comes back until the next big demand.

Jim
 
I have noticed lighting plays a huge role in appearence of firearms.
Bright CFLs tend to exaggerate defects, sunlight tends to hide them. Incandescent seems somewhere between.

I keep CFLs away from my cleaning bench for this very reason!:D
 
I wrote something on here a few days ago about the fact that the new one I bought was not up to old standards; and got feedback to the tune of 'you don't know what you're talking about' from a couple of people.

I have a gunsmith who does my work, and HE said they aren't up to their older standards. He actually said a lot of the manufacturers today are cutting corners, laying off staff - - - it just reflects the state of the economy and a struggle to survive. I was around for some of the really early Rugers; I'm 68 and been around guns a long time. Sailing along on an outstanding reputation can be wrecked by poor quality. Somebody is going to notice the difference.

The finish on mine was dreadful. It hadn't been properly polished before the blueing. The cylinder cleaned off to almost bare metal, where the last three numbers of the serial number had been roughly scratched - - - I suppose to match it to the right revolver. And yes, the thing looked like it had been done by an Afghan in a cave.

I AM going to unload it - - - at a loss. I'm sorry, but junk is junk.

And by the way, I'm a big time Ruger fan: 2 Old Vaqueros, 1 Standard Super Blackhawk, 1 Stainless Hunter, 2 Blackhawks, 1 Blackhawk convertable, 1 Stainless Blackhawk .45, 2 Ruger 10/22s, 1 competition 10/22, 2 Ruger .22 pistols and a Ruger number 1 - - - - all of them made before 2004. I know a little bit about good Rugers.
 
I guess not. It seems to shoot OK; I haven't zeroed it, but it works. Some of the milling is rough though - - - just not finished to the standards I'm used to. I wonder if there Will be problems with extended use.

I just don't think you should have to re-blue a new gun; regardless what else may or may not be wrong. And I think it's a pretty good indication as to how much attention was paid to everything else.

I bought one of those Stampedes once. I fired it; and when I cleaned it - - - I found 'color case hardening' splashed all over part of the cylinder. I tried to get it corrected, and found out that they wouldn't cover the finish. Brand new - - - but I was just stuck with it. I took it to Bill, and he took it apart - - - rough junk. I got rid of it and never looked at another Stampede. I generalized it and never looked at any of those odd ball foreign Colt clones.

Now Ruger too:what: I've got too many guns anyway; time to sell off stuff and do more fishing - - - especially in Florida - - - It was beautiful down there, and one of our 5 pound Bass is a little fish to them.
 
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