The
Ruger Blackhawk is a 6-shot or 8-shot, single-action
revolverA revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
manufactured by
Sturm, RugerSturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated is a Southport, Connecticut-based firearm manufacturing company, better known by the shortened name Ruger. Sturm, Ruger produces bolt-action, semi-automatic, full-automatic, and single-shot rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols, and single- and double-action...
. It is produced in a variety of finishes, calibers, and barrel lengths.
History
In the early 1950s,
WesternsThe Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
were popular in movies and television.
ColtColt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...
had discontinued the iconic Single Action Army prior to World War II, and few single-action revolvers were available to meet market demand for cowboy-style revolvers. In 1953, the new firm of Sturm, Ruger and Company introduced the
Ruger Single SixThe Ruger Single Six is a single action rimfire revolver produced by Sturm, Ruger. The Single Six was first released in June 1953.The Single Six is currently produced as the New Model Single Six. The term "New Model" simply means that this model includes Ruger's transfer bar mechanism for increased...
, a scaled-down
.22 LRThe .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...
rimfire single-action revolver. The Single Six proved to be a popular seller, leading Ruger to develop and market a full-sized revolver similar to the
Colt Single Action ArmyThe Colt Single Action Army is a single action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges. It was designed for the U.S...
: The Ruger Blackhawk.
Ruger introduced the Blackhawk in 1955. Chambered for the
.357 MagnumThe .357 S&W Magnum , or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...
, the Blackhawk was a simple and strong design, and sold well. In 1956, as Smith & Wesson was introducing the new
.44 MagnumThe .44 Remington Magnum, or simply .44 Magnum, is a large-bore cartridge originally designed for revolvers. After introduction, it was quickly adopted for carbines and rifles...
, Ruger quickly developing a variant of the Blackhawk in the new cartridge. Ruger achieved wide popularity with this firearm in a hotly-anticipated new cartridge, which was both cheaper and more readily available than the Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver. According to popular legend, Ruger was able to field a .44 Magnum revolver at nearly the same time as Smith & Wesson due to a Ruger employee finding expended .44 Magnum cartridge cases at a scrapyard, and deducing that Smith & Wesson was about to launch a new cartridge.
The 1955-1962 Blackhawks are known today as the Flattop models, because their adjustable rear sights were not protected by "ears" extending up from the frame as later became standard. From 1962 through 1972, Ruger made the "Three Screw" Blackhawk in various calibers, so called by the number of screws visible on the side of the revolver.
The Flattop and Three Screw Rugers were modernized compared to the Colt Single Action Army, in that they had adustable sights instead of the Colt's fixed sights, and they used wire coil springs instead of the Colt's flat leaf springs. Bill Ruger chose coil springs due to their greater durability, claiming that it solved one of the primary weaknesses of the Colt design.
The early models of the Blackhawk still operated the same way as the Colt, in that the hammer was half-cocked to load and unload, and that the firearm was not safe to carry with all six chambers loaded due to the hammer resting upon the sixth chamber. In 1973, in order to eliminate accidents occurring from the hammer jarring against a round loaded in the sixth chamber, Ruger introduced the New Model Blackhawk. The New Model Blackhawk did not require the hammer to be half-cocked for loading and unloading, and employed a transfer bar mechanism which prevented the cartridge under the hammer from being fired without the trigger being pulled. The New Blackhawk was seen as limiting firearms accidents and legal liability. Ruger then began offering a retrofit program, offering free transfer bar conversions to earlier variants of the Blackhawk.
Various models
Over the years the Blackhawk has appeared in a wide variety of models. These models include:
New Model Blackhawk: Produced in blued steel in .30 Carbine, .357 Magnum, .41 Remington Magnum, and .45 Colt; produced in stainless in .327 Federal Magnum with an 8-round cylinder, .357 Magnum, and .45 Colt. Multiple barrel lengths were offered in many of these configurations.
New Model Blackhawk Convertible: The cylinder of a Blackhawk is easily removed, and can be replaced with a cylinder for a different cartridge of the same diameter. Ruger has offered "convertible" cylinder revolvers in .45 ACP/.45 Colt, .38-40/.40 S&W/10mm Auto, and .357 Magnum/9x19mm Parabellum. Other than being sold with multiple cylinders, these firearms are identical to the Blackhawk.
New Model Super Blackhawk: Produced in blued and stainless, with or without a rib for mounting a
scopeThe word scope may refer to many different devices or viewing instruments, constructed for many different purposes. It may refer to a telescopic sight, an optical device commonly used on firearms. Other uses of scope or Scopes may refer to:...
. The Super Blackhawk is built on the same frame, but with a larger grip (in the 7.5" and 10.5" barrels) and unfluted cylinder (except for the 5.5" barrel), in order to more effectively deal with the recoil of the .44 Magnum. As well, ejector rod housings and grip frames are of steel, versus aluminum for those same components in the Blackhawk.
VaqueroThe Ruger Vaquero is a six-shot single-action revolver manufactured by Sturm, Ruger based on the .357 Magnum New Model Ruger Blackhawk frame that was introduced in 1973...
and New Vaquero: With the popularity of
Cowboy Action ShootingCowboy Action Shooting , also known as Western Action Shooting or Single Action Shooting, is a competitive shooting sport that originated in California, USA, in the early 1980s...
came demand for a single action revolver that was more traditional in appearance. As the standard Ruger Blackhawk departs from the Single Action Army looks due to its adjustable sights, Ruger offered a fixed-sight equivalent to cater to buyers wanting a more traditional appearance. In all other ways the Vaquero was identical to the Blackhawk, though offered in slightly fewer variants.
Bisley: The Bisley grip is a type of angled grip developed by Colt for target shooting at the end of the 19th Century. Ruger's "Bisley" offerings incorporated a Bisley-style grip.
Old Army: The Old Army is a percussion ("cap and ball") black powder revolver based on the Blackhawk frame.
Calibers
- .30 Carbine
The .30 Carbine is the cartridge used in the M1 Carbine introduced in the 1940s. It is an intermediate round designed to be fired from the M1 carbine's 18-inch barrel.-History:...
- .32-20 Winchester
The .32-20 Winchester, also known as the .32 WCF , was the first small-game lever-action cartridge thatWinchester produced. It was initially introduced as a blackpowder cartridge in 1882 for small-game, varmint hunting, and deer. Colt produced a single-action pistol chambered for this cartridge a...
/.32 H&R MagnumThe .32 H&R Magnum is a rimmed cartridge designed for use in revolvers. It was developed in 1984 as a joint venture between Harrington & Richardson and Federal Cartridge...
Convertible
- .327 Federal Magnum
The .327 Federal Magnum is a cartridge introduced by Sturm, Ruger and Federal Cartridge, intended to provide the power of a .357 Magnum in six shot, compact revolvers, whose cylinders only hold 5 rounds of the larger .357 Magnum cartridge...
- .357 Magnum
The .357 S&W Magnum , or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...
/9x19mm Parabellum Convertible
- .357 Magnum
The .357 S&W Magnum , or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...
- .357 Remington Maximum
The .357 Maximum, formally known as the .357 Remington Maximum or the .357 Max, is a super magnum handgun cartridge originally developed by Elgin Gates as the wildcat .357 SuperMag. The .357 Maximum was introduced into commercial production as a joint-venture by Remington Arms Company and Ruger in...
(Discontinued)
- .38-40 Winchester
The .38-40 Winchester is actually a .40 caliber cartridge shooting .401 caliber bullets. The cartridge that was introduced by Winchester in 1874 and is derived from their .44-40 Winchester. This cartridge was introduced for rifles, but in its reintroduction for Cowboy Action Shooting it has seen...
/10mm Auto Convertible
- .41 Magnum
- .44 Special
The .44 Special or .44 S&W Special is a smokeless powder center fire metallic cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1907 as the standard chambering for their New Century revolver, introduced in 1908.-Development history:...
- .44 Magnum
The .44 Remington Magnum, or simply .44 Magnum, is a large-bore cartridge originally designed for revolvers. After introduction, it was quickly adopted for carbines and rifles...
- .45 Colt
The .45 Colt cartridge is a handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It began as a black powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver, but is offered as a magnum level handgun hunting round in modern usage. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as the...
/.45 Automatic Colt Pistol Convertible
- .45 Colt
The .45 Colt cartridge is a handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It began as a black powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver, but is offered as a magnum level handgun hunting round in modern usage. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as the...
External links