By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
One thing about good revolvers a shooter never notices until it is time to sit on the patio and reminisce is how those wheelguns are quite often an integral part of many outdoor adventures, and on some occasions, are the star of the show.
Such is the case for my two Ruger Blackhawk single-action six-shooters, both on the New Model platform with its integral transfer bar safety feature and the ability to load all six chambers. It was a Blackhawk with a 6 ½-inch barrel that was my first big bore handgun purchase back some 40 years ago , a tale I shared with readers of my online column for GUNS magazine a while back.
Right out of the box, the Blackhawk shot nicely with factory loads, and once I started brewing my own reloads, I was able to tune it up a bit so I could hit a deer-sized target at beyond 100 yards. As it turned out, I’ve managed to notch two deer tags with that gun, both shot within 50 yards.
I picked the .41 Magnum model rather than a .44 Magnum for several reasons, chief among them being that the .41 Magnum has a bit flatter trajectory than the .44 with comparable loads, and it will essentially do anything the .44 can do with a little less recoil. While bullet choices weren’t that good four decades ago, that has changed and I’ve been lately experimenting with hard-cast lead bullets from Rim Rock and Stateline, and they seem to do what I need done, which is hit the target consistently.
I’ve been able to work up loads using different propellants including Hodgdon H110, Alliant 2400 and lately Accurate #9, pushing good bullets including 210-grain Nosler, Sierra, Speer Gold Dot and Hornady XTPs, 200-grain JHP and 220-grain JSP Speer, and cast LSWC pills weighing 200 and 215 grains.
I’ve used the Blackhawk to test various handloads, thanks to its stout frame and reliable accuracy. It’s important to clean brass inside and out, and I invariably check the case length to make sure whether it needs trimming back to spec. After tumbling, all of my clean brass will simply sit a few days—sometimes in a very warm greenhouse—and other times just on my loading bench. Each case is visually inspected for cracks, and I keep a bag of fresh Starline brass handy to replace any rejects.
Using properly loaded ammunition keeps my Blackhawks working like champs, and whether I shoot them or not, after each hunt or other outdoor excursion, they get a good cleaning.
The 6 ½-inch Blackhawk has gone with me to Montana and pretty much all over Washington state, and about 20 years ago, I acquired another Blackhawk, with a 4 5/8-inch barrel. It has been along in Montana and Wyoming, and also all over the Pacific Northwest.
I’ve never had an action job done on either wheelgun. Bill Ruger’s use of coil springs instead of leaf springs has proven to be a big part of this genius design.
On one summertime trek with my brother to visit a place in the high mountains where we used to go fishing with dad, my shorter Ruger was along for the ride and a hike down into a rugged canyon which seemed to have become a lot steeper during the two decades between visits! I had, on a couple of occasions in my youth, found cougar tracks down in that canyon.
Hunting and camping solo has provided me with plenty of experience, and the shorter Blackhawk has been a companion in deer and elk camps in all kinds of weather, ranging from mild to downright crummy. It has never skipped a beat. It also hides well under a heavy hunting parka, and even with a full cartridge belt, it has never felt terribly heavy.
I built cartridge belts for my Rugers, and the leather has also withstood the test of time, including hunts in the snow, heavy rain, bluebird sunshine and bone-chilling cold when it just wouldn’t snow, but the wind cut through several layers of clothing.
I had that shorter sixgun on a trek to Terry, Montana back in 2003 when I was on a mule deer hunt using a Remington test rifle in .350 Remington Magnum, topped by a Swarovski scope. I put down a big 4-point buck on that trek with a 255-yard shot across a small canyon, hitting him twice on the move. The .350 slammed him so hard it spun him completely around before he dropped in his tracks. As I recall, one of the guys was videotaping the shot and it appeared in a segment of an outdoors program.
I was photographed taking the hide off of that buck back in camp, and there on my hip was the short Ruger.
On a couple of occasions, the Blackhawk on my belt was the only gun I had, and when you’re in country where black bears, mountain lions and now wolves might show up, it has always been my opinion that it’s best to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it.
On one late whitetail hunt way up in Northeast Washington several years ago, my companion came across a really large pile of bear poop which we later theorized just “might” have come from a grizzly, but most likely was the handiwork of a very big black bear. Needless to say, I didn’t stray too far from camp without my sixgun, and fortunately never had to use it in a hurry.
Over the years, I have managed to swap the grips on both Blackhawks several times. They have at one time or another been adorned with faux ivory grips, Pachmayr rubber grips, sets of yellow grips from Ajax, Magna tusk panels from Arizona Custom, and the hardwood factory grips. These days, the longer Blackhawk wears a set of elk antler grips I personally crafted from an elk rack I recovered on the opening day of a grouse season maybe eight or nine years ago. The bull had shed both antlers at the same time because the were tangled up in a mess of wire fencing. It was an interesting project which took about three years to actually complete, but they fit good and shoot comfortably.
I’ve built holsters for both sixguns.
There’s just something about a single-action revolver which flips my nostalgia switch to “on,” and I can’t recall a single problem with either of my .41 Magnum Blackhawks.
Hopefully, I’ve got a few more years which will include more outdoor adventures. I suspect my Blackhawks will be along for the ride.
