Brain fade - oddbal Ruger question

[Ron L]

Brain fade - oddball Ruger question

OK, it's either old-timers or a general brain fade, but I disremember (unless it's a figment of my imagination)

At one time, I think it was Ruger that offered a Blackhawk-type frame with a more-or-less single shot cylinder that shot something like a 22 Hornet or some other taper-wall rifle cartridge? You'd open the loading gate and pivot the "cylinder" and load/eject the round/case.

Was it a Ruger? What caliber was it?

I'd ask you not to call me crazy but that's already been pre-determined.

 

[RON in PA]

Your not crazy, there was such a pistol, saw one back in the seventies, but can't remember the caliber other than that it was a bottle-nosed 22 (.256 Reminton?).

 

[Black Snowman]

I remember this too. I'm pretty sure it was a .22 Hornet but that's from my foggy memory. I actually got to play with one at a gunshow in the late 90s and I can't even remember. 30 carbine Blackhawks were big news at the time IIRC, when does that put it? I'm horrible with time.

 

[glockten]

The Ruger Hawkeye was chambered in .256 Winchester Magnum, a bottle-necked cartridge, in 1963-64.

 

[Majic]

The Ruger Hawkeye chambered in .256 winchester. Single shot single action with a pivoting breech block, built on a blackhawk's frame in 1961.

 

[Ron L]

OK, this sounds right, but for some odd reason I was thinking the gun was chambered in 22 Hornet. Maybe it wasn't this Ruger. I know Taurus offers a revolver chambered in 22 Hornet, but didn't some other revolver come in 22 Hornet at one time?

 

[Cortland]

Here's a picture that shows the pivoting cylinder/breechblock:



And more pictures:
pic1
pic2
pic3

 

[Black Snowman]

Never should have started this thread guys. Now I want one. . .

I had them all pushed out of my mind but NO you guys have to go and dig it back up

 

[Majic]

S&W experimented with the .22 Hornet and the .256 Winchester, but never commercially produced the revolvers. They did build the M53 chambered in .22 Remington Jet.

 

[ACP230]

After Ruger quit making them I saw closeout ads in a newspaper in Minneapolis. The price?











$80.
I should have had my Dad buy all they had. I think they are $1,000 or more each now.

 

[Jim K]

I don't think any factory chambered it, but .22 Hornet and .22 K Hornet were pretty common in revolvers in the '20s and '30s. The latter, developed by Lysle Kilbourn, was one of the first (if not the first) of the "improved" cartridges with a blown out shoulder for greater powder capacity. IIRC, the guns were made from a standard .38 or .32 solid frame center fire revolver by installing a .22 barrel or a sleeving the barrel and a fitting a rechambered .22 cylinder. Some folks used a .22 revolver and modified the firing pin to center fire, and this worked OK also.

As noted, S&W tried something of the sort (1960-1974) with their Model 53 in .22 Remington Jet. The gun had adapters to allow use of .22 LR and an adjustable hammer nose to strike either of two firing pins in the frame.

Results in the Jet were not good, due to case setback, and most owners gave up on them. Today, in new condition, they sell for $800 or $900. Ammo is no longer loaded, but can be found occasionally at gun shows.

The Ruger Hawkeye, in .256 Winchester, was made for only two years (1963-1964, only 3300 were made) and one of those in new condition can bring $1300-$1500, with an average being around $800 for a very good used one. Ammo has long been discontinued and is in the collector category.

HTH

Jim

 

[esheato]

A good friend of mine is a huge Ruger collector and has a Hawkeye with a serial number of *7*. Yes, I said 7. Of course there's a couple zeros in front of it. Paid big bucks for it years ago and I don't think he'll ever sell it. It was definitely an interesting piece.

esheato...

 

[Cortland]

I've heard those low serial numbers were "reserved" for specific highly-placed people. For instance, Elmer Keith had his own serial number (I believe it was 15) and everytime a new Ruger model or variation came out, he would/could get one with *his* serial number on it.

 

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

Yeah, I get my own serial number too. Somewhere between 10,000 and 1,000,000 :banghead:

 

[Penman]

IIRC, the .256 was a necked down .357 case. Marlin had a modern looking lever action rifle in .256 for a while...

 

[Mike Irwin]

The .256 is known for being one of the fastest flopping cartridges of the 20th century.

Ruger and Marlin were the only production makers to offer these guns, and they didn't sell a lot of them.

 

[zahc]

I don't understand why there is that huge cutout on the cylinder. Does the cartridge slide into a chamber in the barrel, and the cylinder seal the breech?

 

[Nightcrawler]

I'm guessing that that's just a cutaway view for the sake of the diagram.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Zach,

If I remember how this gun works yes, the cylinder cut out is essentially the breechblock, and the cartridge fits into the barrel extension.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Really? Huh.