Ruger .357 Blackhawk inbound

[MillCreek]

I have decided that I needed to add a single-action revolver to the stable, just for grins and getting in touch with my inner cowboy.  I had a Single Six that I traded off years ago and I always enjoyed it as a plinker.  I was originally leaning toward a .357/9 mm convertible, but after searching, was unable to find any reasonably available at a reasonable price.  The stainless convertible model in the 4.62 inch barrel seems to be somewhat of a unicorn these days; Buds did not have any in stock and they are only available from Williams as a distributor, and none of my LGS work with Williams, which I found odd.  Local FFLs quoted me anywhere from $7-800 to order one for me.

So I went with a stainless .357 in the 4.62 inch barrel and will just keep my eye open for a 9 mm cylinder.  List price was $ 599 and with fees and taxes, I paid $ 658 out the door.

[dm1333]

I'd be curious to hear your review.  I've been looking on and off for one in stainless to go with my Taurus snubbie and Rossi M92.  Both of them are stainless.

[Tuco]

Are Blackhawk cylinders plug and play or do they need a 'smith to index them?
Just asking because my SingleSix has matching ## on the S-L-LR and Mag cylinders and I wondered about that.

[gunsmith]

I wanted the new redhawk, because it was on the cover of firearms news.
I also want a blackhawk.
I didn't know you could convert one to a different caliber. awesome.

[MillCreek]

Are Blackhawk cylinders plug and play or do they need a 'smith to index them?
Just asking because my SingleSix has matching ## on the S-L-LR and Mag cylinders and I wondered about that.

I did some Googling on this very issue, and apparently you generally cannot get a 9 mm cylinder and drop it into the Blackhawk.  It has to be timed/indexed by a gunsmith, and that is supposed to cost a pretty penny.  So I will live without a 9 mm cylinder; I was primarily going to have it for TEOWAWKI anyway, since it would increase my ammo options whilst fighting the walking dead.

[MillCreek]

I also discovered to my chagrin that within the past year, Washington state has really cracked down on collecting the 9.5% use tax on all firearm sales, even those coming out of state and being shipped to your FFL for a FFL transfer.  So you can either buy a firearm from a LGS and pay the state sales tax, or you can do a FFL transfer and pay the transfer fees and use tax.  I used to be able to save some money by buying from Bud's or the like and having it shipped to a local FFL, but not anymore.  When I was running the numbers on GunsAmerica or GunBroker for the Blackhawk, I was surprised to see it was actually significantly cheaper to use a gun store 25 miles away rather than a FFL transfer.  This particular store is much cheaper than Cabela's and some of the more local gun stores to me.

[RoadKingLarry]

One of those is on my wish list but not sure of barrel length choice.
I've got a Vaquero (older version) in .357 mag. with the 5.5" barrel.
Oddly enough it's the only firearm I've ever had actually fail. Transfer bar broke. Cheap enough fix but it was DIW.

[dogmush]

I've got a BH in .357 with a 7.5" barrel.  They are great guns.

Honestly I'd rather have the shorter barrel, but my particular pistol has sentimental value.

You'll enjoy your new revolver.

[MechAg94]

For the Cowboy thing, I got a Cimarron Frontier single action in 357 mag say 4 years back.  A very fun gun to shoot and decently accurate.  I tried to get one with the 7" barrel, but it was less handy and not really more accurate so I traded that one away.  I will stick with the 4.5" barrel or whatever it is.  With adjustable sights, the longer barrel might be better.

As far as GP100's go, I recently picked up the GP100 in 22 LR (10 shot cylinder).  Not a small revolver, but fun to shoot.  I like it. 

I saw a guy at the range last year that had a Ruger Blackhawk in 327 Mag.  He let me shoot it.  Even with the 6" barrel, that round has a lot of muzzle blast.  It would be interesting to see that in a levergun.

[brimic]

Not sure I get the 9mm cylinder thing... you can already shoot .38spcl which costs about the same as 9mm.. what am I missing?

[RoadKingLarry]

That, and the nominal diameter of 9mm is slightly undersized for .357/.38.

[MillCreek]

The Blackhawk arrive a few days early and I just picked it up from the LGS.  Well this is a thing of beauty: nice trigger pull, pleasing grip, good satin finish with no tool marks, and it has enough weight to simply bludgeon the coyotes and the like.  The cylinder does not index with the loading gate, but rather spins freely.  I think that may be a feature, not a bug.  I have to do some research on that.

[RoadKingLarry]

It's a Ruger thing.  That's the way they work.

[Triphammer]

It's a Ruger 2 screw thing. The earlier 3 screw worked the same as Colts. When the transfer bar safety was introduced Ruger change the cylinder/ loading gate lockwork as well.

[HankB]

I also discovered to my chagrin that within the past year, Washington state has really cracked down on collecting the 9.5% use tax on all firearm sales, even those coming out of state and being shipped to your FFL for a FFL transfer. 

Don't most out-of-state firearms only cost $10 or so? 

[MillCreek]

Update: I can tell you that neither the Hogue Monogrip nor the Pachmayr presentation grip fits worth a darn.  I thought the negative reviews in this regard would not apply to me, with a recently-manufactured New Model Blackhawk.  I gave up on the rubber grips and reinstalled the original rosewood grips.

[Triphammer]

It's a single action, let it do what an SA is supposed to; roll up in recoil. The rubber grips stick it in your hand like a DA, change the recoil to straight back & slow follow up shots.

[T.O.M.]

It's a single action, let it do what an SA is supposed to; roll up in recoil. The rubber grips stick it in your hand like a DA, change the recoil to straight back & slow follow up shots.

Yep, the man who taught me revolver shooting back in my youth always said you always wanted smoother grips on Colt SAA style revolvers,  as slipping in recoil a bit puts the hammer right at your thumb.