Ruger owners: New model or old model?

[MovedWest]

I have grown up owning both old model (3 screw) Ruger Super Blackhawks and new model Super Blackhawks. I have recently sent my NM SBH back to Ruger for the 2nd time in a year while I've never known anyone in my family to send their OM SBH back for anything. Is this just a fluke, or am I missing something?

Which model have you found the most reliable as well as having the best feel and function? Please feel free to expound on your vote.

-MW

 

[earlthegoat2]

I think the differences are more imagined than real having shot both of them in various guises. However you cant really go wrong with passive safety devices that you dont have to manipulate but just work. The practical function of the revolver is the same so my nod goes to the new model for practical function.

 

[MaterDei]

When the old model gets updated you get the old parts back. Therefore that option gives, for all intents and purposes, a new and old model in one.

 

[SASS#23149]

Old model all the way ! I"ve read tooo many reports on the 'net about broken transfer bars on Rugers,and I want NONE of those guts in my 30 year old blackhawk.

 

[rishooter]

New Model

You get to carry an extra round safely.Otherwise I notice no difference from old models I've fired.(Don't own any)
I wouldn't want a transfer bar on my Colt SAA or my USFA SAA because those are only ever loaded on the range.I use my Blackhawk and Vaqueros for other purposes also.

 

[BENELLIMONTE]

I bought the best of both worlds; the 50th anniversary .44 magnum model flat top Backhawk.

 

[john1911]

Old model. Fit and finish has really went downhill at Ruger.

 

[JWF III]

A single action pistol without a half-cock position is about as useful as teats on a boar hog.

Col. Colt had it right to start with, Bill Ruger copied the correct version. Then he gave into the suits. And Ruger single actions have sucked ever since.

I do like my Birdshead Single-Six in .32 H&R though. But I'd like it much better if I could get rid of that damn transfer bar, and have my half cock back.

Carrying on an empty cylinder was always done for a reason. That was figured out 135 years ago. I guess some people forgot what common sense means.

Wyman

 

[BigBlock]

And Ruger single actions have sucked ever since.

Is that why they are the king of single actions, and sell more than anyone else?

 

[Floppy_D]

And Ruger single actions have sucked ever since.

Nuts, I didn't realize that. I guess I'll throw my New-Model tack-drivers in the trash.

 

[freefall]

I like my new models just fine, have very limited experience with old models. I think a lot of the "old model superiority complex" is curmudgeonly stubbornness by the same kind of folks that wont admit that new Model 70s really do shoot better than pre-64s. I know both older models are classics and have a higher degree of hand fit and finish, but sorry guys, the CNC machines do turn out superior work.
Of course, none of the above alters the fact that the Security Six is a far nicer revolver to handle and carry than the GP 100.

 

[JWF III]

Is that why they are the king of single actions, and sell more than anyone else?

Well what is their competition these days?

You have the new Colt SAA selling for (last time I compared) 5-6 times the price of the Rugers. You have Taurus Gauchos, haven't shot one, so I won't make a comparison in quality, though I do like other Taurus' I've shot over similar Ruger revolvers. And then you have the different Italian clones, Uberti, etc. Though Uberti would be my top choice these days for a full size single action (that's not going to have +P or +P+ loads run through it).

Now I said that I do like my Single-Six with the Birdshead grip. But to me a single action, just isn't the same without the half cock feature of the old Colts. There's just something about it that makes it (sound of cocking/extra click) beautiful.

Just like I will NEVER own a Marlin lever gun with a cross bolt saftey, they're just not natural. But this is just my personal opinion, and I digress.

I do understand why Bill folded to the pressures, it was a business decision. Same as his (now infamous) 10 round mag comment. But why ruin the aestetics of a classic design, when it didn't have to be? Was it impossible to add the transfer bar without the other changes?

No matter what, my 1950 something model Blackhawk will never see the inside of the Ruger factory. They aren't imposing their will on me, without my regards. And if I could alter my Single-Six(es) back, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I'm sure other new single action Rugers shoot great, I don't doubt that. But to have the natural aestetics of the design compramised, I do have to question that decesion.

Now on a side note. If I had grown up not knowing what an original SA was like to shoot, my view may be different. How many of you (that prefer the new guns) started shooting SAs with the new features? And how many shot older ones, and changed over to the newer designs because of the features?

Wyman

 

[BigBlock]

You can pretty easily pop in an aftermarket hammer to get your half cock back. I started out shooting black powder single actions and I like the Ruger way more than the half cock.

 

[VINTAGE-SLOTCARS]

Ruger owners: New model or old model

I have two 45LC "old model" 4-5/8" Rugers. The sound and feel is what I bought them for in the first place. I've shot both for over 30 years w/o a problem. The loads would make a .44 mag whimper. The old models were of a superior design. The new model is kinda like, well,, S&W putting a safety on their revolvers,,,,,no thanks!!!!!:banghead:

 

[JWF III]

I may have to give that a try BigBlock. I never really looked into it that much because it's just a toy I take out to play with every once in a while. (I play cowboys and indians much less than I play army.)

Thanks for the tip there. I just looked at Midway, hammer and trigger kit for $150. Not bad for such an improvement, it'll have to wait on funding, but it's on my list of things to get.

Wyman

 

[CSA 357]

I like them all, my colt has the 4 clicks

 

[BlkHawk73]

Have both but the vast majority are New models. Why... No OM Bisleys. WILL have one built eventually.

 

[SaxonPig]

I owned a number of Blackhawks in the early 1970s in 357, 45 Colt and even the 30 Carbine Model. The New Model turned me off completely and I have never owned one and never will.

 

[ArmedBear]

How many of you (that prefer the new guns) started shooting SAs with the new features? And how many shot older ones, and changed over to the newer designs because of the features?

Count me in the second group. Started with older designs than the 1873, for that matter.

Still have both, still shoot both.

The practical single actions I own are the Ruger New Models.

The old model makes a nice toy for the range and you can cock the hammer in your living room and enjoy the clicks. If that's all you will ever want it for, cool. It does feel great.

For a practical tool, though, I'll take not having to be careful to lower the hammer on the empty chamber when loading it. I'll take a gun that's safe to drop when it's in use, even if the hammer has been pulled back unintentionally. I'll take not having to load 1, skip 1, load 4. I'll take being able to load 3 bullets and 3 snake loads.

Now the traditional design is a tad easier to load, because of how the cylinder clicks into position under the loading gate. That's my one complaint about the New Model.

Unlike the Marlin safety, though, the Ruger design does not make the gun go "click" instead of "boom." In fact, it can do quite the opposite on that 6th chamber.

I've never met a single action I didn't like. However, the New Model Ruger is a gun that handles and shoots like a classic, but with modern safety. "Modern" and "New" are kind of misnomers, too, since there are now plenty of teenagers whose parents weren't alive when the Old Model was still being made...

Even in its day -- back before trains had air brakes and when getting killed on the job was a normal part of employment -- the original Colt really did reflect a total disregard for safe design.

WRT safe carry, it was a step backward from the Colt and Remington cap-and-ball revolvers that preceded it. It surprises me, actually, that an engineer like Bill Ruger would copy that design in the 1950s.

 

[stalkingbear]

The people that badmouth the new model without having ANY experience with an PROFESSIONALLY tuned new model crack me up. Just another example of knowing less than they think. The new models are just as rugged, and can be tuned every bit as smooth, as the old model. I own both and reach for the new models almost every time when going shooting. The new models just make sense-maybe too much for some people.:banghead:

 

[BlkHawk73]

I completely agree with you stalkingbear. I always wonder how much "knowledge" from forums is based on actual first-hand user expereince and how much is made up and percieved in someones grey matter.

 

[JWF III]

For a practical tool

Now I'm not saying that nobody does, but when most people look to a handgun for a practical tool, they look for a DA or semi-auto. (I'm talking SD here) there may be some people that carry a SA for SD, but they are going to be few and far between.

Hunting would be one exception for a practical use. But do you need that 6th shot? Not generally. Is it legal to have a 6th shot? Not everywhere.

without having ANY experience with an PROFESSIONALLY tuned new model

Is this statement referring to, just because someone hasn't spent $2000 on a pistol that cost a quarter of that, that they don't know what they are talking about? That's what it sounds like.

Kind of like, just because I own a 1943 model Remington Rand 1911A1, instead of a brand new Wilson Combat 1911, I don't know what the 1911 is capable of? Sounds absurd doesn't it.

I'll fully admit that my opinion is based soley on the aestetics of the gun. A SA revolver is nothing more than a range toy to me. Any other job that it COULD be used for, I have something else that'll do a much better job at it.

Wyman

 

[ArmedBear]

(I'm talking SD here)

And the rest of us aren't.

I didn't get a long-barrel Super Blackhawk because I was afraid of muggers, but I didn't get it as a range toy, either -- thought it does take a fair amount of practice to shoot the thing well, so I sure do take it to the range.

Even for plinking, though, the New Model offers better drop safety. That matters to me, when I'm slipping in the mud.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Stalkingbear, that's the only beef I have. My old models came with good triggers, my new models have to be given a good trigger. This costs money I shouldn't have to spend......

 

[Hoxviii]

^^^

That's the comment I was about to make. I have a 3 screw in .45 ACP, a Vaquero in .45 Colt, and have a buddy that regularily lets me shoot his .357 2 screw blackhawk, and another friend with a 3 screw 44 mag.

None of the guns have been touched by a smith or tuner or anything else.

The smoothness of the 3 screws are absolutely amazing, especially compared to my vaquero. My buddy with the .357 thought his trigger was nice until I let him shoot the 3 screw ACP, now all he does is grumble about how he needs to get his to a tuner but doesn't have the money right now

I keep thinking about working the trigger over on the Vaquero, but then I think about how those 3 screws came as smooth as it did from the factory and how these newer single actions are passed off as having "good triggers".

Add to that that everytime I load the vaquero (i've owned it 2 years) I try to pull the gun to half cock to release the cylinder before opening the gate, and I'm pretty well stuck on the 3 screws.