What to buy- .45 Colt Blackhawk or .44 Mag Super Blackhawk?

[.455_Hunter]

Greetings,

I am in the market for a new, low cost revolver for holster carry during hiking/camping trips in the lower 48 Rockies. I like the full size Ruger single action set-up, and currently own a .45 Colt Vaquero w/ a 7.5" barrel. The problems with this gun for this purpose is that the barrel is too long, and the fixed sights don't do well with non-cowboy loads.

The choices are as follows:

.45 Colt Blackhawk- 4 5/8" or 5 1/2" Barrel, Blued or Stainless Finish

.44 Mag Super Blackhawk- 4 5/8" or 5 1/2" Barrel, Blued or Stainless Finish

Which one would you choose and why?

Question- Have the Blackhawks been fitted with the key locking safety behind the grip panel, or is that just on the new "small" frame Vaqueros and XP-3 gripped guns?

Thanks for your input.

Hunter

 

[bowfin]

I think it would be splitting hairs if you reload. If you don't reload and want one of those "bear stoppers(?)", then you might find more high performance ammunition on the shelves for a .44 Magnum.

This can be a poor argument if you do find one good load for the .45 Colt, since you don't send a "wide selection on your dealer's shelves" downrange, you shoot a single bullet, and if it is a good one from a good load, whatever others can be found on the shelf is a moot point.

Most important and to the point: Not much difference, which one do YOU want?

 

[Tom C.]

You can do what I did: I have at least one of each; 5 1/2" stainless Super Blackhawk, and several stainless .45 Colt Blackhawks with 5 1/2" and 7 1/2" barrels.
If you reload, there really isn't much difference. Your choice will be based on personal preference.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

I don't know about the Supers, but the New Blackhawk uses the same original-size grip that the New Vaquero uses (they are the same pistol, after all, except for the sights), and I believe the New Blackhawk also has the lock.

IMHO, I would choose the Blackhawk, because I prefer the smaller grip frame. Also, there's a lot of versatility available there. You can get some fairly potent loads in .45 Colt, or you can use cowboy loads for keeping it on the mild side, and with a conversion cylinder you can also shoot .45 ACP out of the same pistol.

 

[Stainz]

Well, a KS458N 4.6" SS .44M SBH weighs in at 45 oz and lists for $594 in their '06 catalog, while a KBN44 4.6" SS .45 Colt BH weighs in at 42 oz, up from the '03 catalog's 39 oz, and lists for $589. The new BH just may have that hammer spring lock, although I doubt that the SBH does... I bet they still have the same grips as last year.

I would suggest you consider either a .45 Colt 625 Mountain Gun or a .44M 629 version, both available new again at 'stocking dealer's'. They run around $600-$630 new currently around here. I won't ever shoot really hot stuff from my 625MG, but my 629MG is now another story. The new Hogue made-for-S&W .500 Magnum grips, $35 from S&W Accessories, have made my 629MG into a real .44 Magnum... and you can buy ammo for that gun anywhere - even Wally World. Try to find any .45 Colt outside of a gunstore. Of course, I reload, so both are easy to find in my house... and lots of them, too.

One of the MG's could cost you a lot more than a Ruger BH... even that SBH is only $429 locally. But... they are great range guns, too. And, as a 'woods gun', they can be presented from holster and fired DA - and emptied fast, a great boon in an emergency. I am no Bob Munden, that is for sure, with a SA. Of course, even he needs two hands for rapid fire in SA. I love my MG's!

If you are hell-bent on a BH - especially one in .45 Colt - do consider a .45 Convertible - like blued BN44X - MSRP $546 - which includes a matched .45 ACP cylinder for cheaper plinking. If it is still the older sized BH, it will handle hot loads, something the down-sized newest BH's can't. Choices...

 

[mjolnir]

The .44 & .45 short-barreled Super B's and Blackhawks have the same size grip frame...which is NOT the same size as the New Vaquero (New Vaq is smaller...Hawkmoon, I think you meant Old Vaquero).

They DO NOT have internal locks....for now.

The 4 5/8" Super B has an unfluted cylinder and balances differently than the 5 1/2" Super B with its longer barrel and fluted cylinder. For shooting, I prefer the 5 1/2."

The blued .45s will have an aluminum grip frame and ejector housing; stainless models use...stainless steel. So, blued models will be somewhat lighter.

The Supers have the Super hammer, which spur is lower and easier for the thumb to reach.

If you don't reload, go .44. If you like to reload, I'd go .45

For general outdoor use, go stainless.

 

[Jim Watson]

I think I'd get the blue .45 because the aluminum grip frame and bigger holes would reduce the weight to carry around. Ballistics of high end .45 Colt are adequate for about any sixgun use.

 

[cortez kid]

My vote would be for the .44 sbh. I have a few. Workhorses at the very least. Accurate, strong and good looking. Got the Vaquero in the .45. Polished SS white grips. Can thread a needle(well almost) with it. My favorite gun. So much so I don't want to shoot it anymore. But my .44 mags are my plinkers. Good stuff.
kid

 

[461]

Personal choice for me is a .44 as it has more available ammo, I reload so it makes no difference, but if I run out I can find .44 ammo with acceptable power pretty much anywhere. You may be able to find .45 Colt ammo but odds are it'll be way watered down cowboy junk that'll do nothing for you. If you already reload for your Vaq then stick with what you know.

The guns themselves are little different but they do fit the hand different so you'll have to check them out and be aware the Super Bhawk can be had with squared or rounded triggerguard which makes a big difference to some folks. The weight difference between steel and aluminum frames make the gun handle different as well, again a personal choice.

Check them out and see what fits and then you'll have what you want.

 

[HSMITH]

If you reload go with the 45. If you don't reload go with the 44.

 

[.455_Hunter]

Made my choice!

Thanks for all your input.

I stopped by the Sportsmans Warehouse near the Aurora Mall east of Denver and picked up a NIB 5 1/2" Blued Blackhawk in .45 Colt for ONLY $341 (before tax). The gun listed at $359, but they are running 5% off all guns until Sunday. The gun was made in 2002, so no lock, and must have been sitting on a self for a while.

I also checked out a Mountain Gun, but it did not seem any lighter or more compact (except barrel length of course) and was almost 2X the cost.

I probably would have prefered the stainless, but for the cost, I had to buy the blued. The blued .44 Supers were running $100 more the regular Blackhawks. By the way, they have a really nice 7.5" blued .41 mag if anyone is interested.

I will keep you folks informed on how thing go with the gun!

Thanks!

Hunter

 

[Onty]

Can’t go wrong with 45 LC. Just make sure that cylinder mouth is .452-.453, ideal ..4525. DON’T check this with calliper/vernier, it’s not accurate enough. Use plug/pin gages. Go first from the front side. They will also detect if there is a burr in transition cone to bullet dia area. Any half decent machine shop has the set up to .500”. Also, pay close attention to barrel in thread area. Any constriction will ruin the accuracy, see this excellent article; http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/59 . I wouldn’t suggest John’s cylinder lapping technique. You have to be quite skilled to make it right. Otherwise the hole will be any shape but straight cylinder. For average Joe like me a correct reamer is better choice; http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/st...7700&title=REVOLVER+CYLINDER+THROATING+REAMER . Other solution is to send the cylinder to one of the smiths to clean the bores.

My .2 cents; for a general shooting 44 or, even better, 41. For full power hunting loads; 45 LC. See these http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=12 , http://www.rugerforum.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/009093.html . Too bad that John Linebaugh website is down. He wrote a number of excellent articles about 45 revolvers.

 

[paccw]

Get yourself a Pachmayr rubber grip part # 03137.
Also pick up some PMC 45 Colt 300gr JSP +P+ silver line of ammo.Cheap to practice with and carry.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

The .44 & .45 short-barreled Super B's and Blackhawks have the same size grip frame...which is NOT the same size as the New Vaquero (New Vaq is smaller...Hawkmoon, I think you meant Old Vaquero).

According to what I've been reading, the New Blackhawk is now built on the same frame and using the same smaller grip as the New Vaquero. And the New Blackhawk does have the internal (infernal?) lock.

 

[John C]

Double tap

 

[John C]

Onty;

I've been looking at getting a set of plug/pin gauges for my own use. Can you suggest a place to pick up the standard caliber sizes inexpensively? I'm looking for .357, .358, .359, .360, .428, .429, .430, .451, .452, and .453.

Also, what do the different classes of gauges mean? (Like X, XX, Y, etc?)

Thanks.

-John

 

[mjolnir]

Hawkmoon, what have you been reading? New Model Blackhawks haven't changed at all...I just bought a brand new one this past Friday, and handled about 5 other new ones.

I figure Ruger may be planning to introduce the lock across the ENTIRE revolver lineup, that's why I'm buying now, but I haven't seen any new ones with them.

Wouldn't mind if they introduce the reverse indexing pawl on the NMBs, but I seriously doubt they'd go with a smaller frame for the Super Bs and NMBs.

 

[paccw]

The blackhawk is not going to change in size.

 

[Tom C.]

A cheap set of pin gages is really handy. I bought a set from Enco (.250" - .500") for about $60. I have used them to measure all my revolvers. Very interesting.
New Model Blackhawks don't have the internal lock. The New Model Blackhawk Flattop 50th Anniversary Model in .357 in 2005 and .44 Mag. in 2006 have the internal locks, as does the new, smaller Vaquero.

 

[BlkHawk73]

According to what I've been reading, the New Blackhawk is now built on the same frame and using the same smaller grip as the New Vaquero. And the New Blackhawk does have the internal (infernal?) lock.

Better check and recheck your sources. The BH's and SBH's use the same cylinder frame which is the same size as the "old" style Vaqueros. The New Vaqueros use a medium sized cylinder frame similar in size to the 50th Ann BH that was made last year. These two did use the same gripframe which was very similar to the older style and smaller gripframes. Both utilized the internal lock. The large frame single actions are not yet having the locks.