Growing up in a dysfunctional family and living on county welfare on a remote farm between Logansport and Royal Center and then Rochester, it was easy to say that the most inexpensive simple things I could attain made me as happy as a HOBO finding a fresh half eaten sandwich in the night. Two men in those days were my heroes that enabled me my gun (tools and hobby) fun. Bill Ruger https://ruger.com/ mastered American lower cost manufacturing and Richard Lee https://leeprecision.com/ made it possible to buy lower cost reloading equipment. I think I paid $3.00 for my first Lee Loader. I was in heaven to have these products that I could afford. As time went on I realized that to raise a family, buy property, cars and later college and help outfit the kids and GrKids, that, that alone will mean hard work. But even harder work, determination, discipline and high standards if I wanted a lot better guns for my collection. I quickly saw beyond most custom gunsmiths at the time and wanted my guns perfect to suit me. Some would say that I am particular about my guns.
Fast forward to my recent Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt Model 00459. This gun was discontinued in 2015. Note, that it is NOT the convertible model but a dedicated .45 Colt Caliber. As you can see by the target below, it is extremely accurate right out of the box. Please understand that I am not a commissioned author. I am not paid for my reviews. I can tell it how I see it without worry of loosing my job.
The .45 Colt comes from a birthday in 1872 when our US Army wanted a caliber that neutralized targets. They were not interested in mammy pammy kindler gentler cartridges that did a good job of scaring the enemy. These big heavy bullets did their job. On occasion, I love carrying a 45 Colt. However, when I do carry a 45 Colt revolver, SA or DA, it is with the ballistically modern Winchester Elite Defender PDX1 https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/Defender/S45CPDB with a muzzle energy of 361 ft lbs. Tame enough to control and more responsible lead dispatching in closed rooms like restaurants etc.
The first thing I do after cleaning and looking over a new gun is to shoot it with my proven loads to verify the need for any warranty work to be done. I check that the barrel is true with the front sight and the rear sight is down closer to the frame. Being a piece work assembly in production, it is not uncommon for the rear sight to be all the way elevated with just a thread or two hold it in place. If the gun shoots as good as this one does, I am saved the hassle of sending it in for barrel turning or repairing problems.
Since the headspace, barrel/cylinder gap, and action are all in place on this gun, it is good to go. Now we can break it down and tune the gritty action. Wolff springs https://www.gunsprings.com/ and some stoning/polishing and we are good to go. I also fit a new Super Blackhawk hammer to the gun, replacing the standard skinny spur. The action is now creep free and breaks crisp at 3.5 pounds. Now the gun goes to ZRTS https://zrtacticalsolutions.com/ for a subtle dehorning of sharp edges. Again, factory production gun makers are allergic to proper finishing these days. Very little polishing and a lot of painting guns seems to be the shortcut today.
Also to replace, is the rear sight assembly. Thanks to Bowen http://bowenclassicarms.com/, I have replaced the cheesy rear sight assembly with a quality sight with better screws, detention, and a nice big black blade, all made out of tool steel by Bowen. I have used the factory Blackhawk sight for years with no problems, but with older eyeballs now I find the Ruger sight with it’s enclosed blade and small screws along with low cost material, that I prefer a big strong Black Blade with no interference. Bo-Mar new what he was doing back in '57 and I just got used to them. Also, since Ruger employs drunken grip fitters, I need to address the grips. Ruger’s laminate grips are pretty. I like the orangey red color of the rosewood grips. However, they fit like me trying to get into my senior cords. Kids will have to google that one. And life is too short to have a crappy fitting grip. Off to Chigs Grips http://chigsgrips.com/ it goes for some custom fitted Ironwood. They feel as well as they look. Chad fit this gun with Exhibition BookEnd IronWood. They feel Marvelous in your hand.
Now, I have many nice leather holsters for my guns but, this one deserves an old fashion Bianchi Lawman https://safariland.com/pages/bianchi to be reminiscent of my Skeeter Skelton days. The strap helps for Field work, hiking, horseback or other out of door activities. Now many of you know that I prefer Carbon Steel Guns over Stainless, but I have to admit, this piece is weather proof and is very low maintenance.
Please don’t think I am down on Ruger as they furnish great products and keep the price in check the best that they can. Consider this, in all the world, I know of not one manufacturer of a rugged Single Action Product like the Ruger Blackhawk series for the price and volume of manufacturing that Ruger puts out. Yes, the Italians make great replicas of the SAA, but they are far from being a Rough Country Gun. I own a few Italian Replicas and those that have been paying attention know that I am all about trying very hard to buy USA made stuff first. However, somethings just can’t be had here. Our standard of living is so good in this country that we can not get people to work for $20.00 an hour where I am sure the labor rates are somewhat lower in some foreign countries along with the many shortcuts that some take. The point is, there is nothing wrong with getting imported things, as long as we try harder to think of our brothers and sisters in the heartland first.
One can have a stock production Ruger Blackhawk and it will last him/her/whatever several generations without modifications. That’s value. These improvements are something that is worthwhile to my collection and help in the actual shooting the guns as well. As a late teenager, I shot the heck out of my 44 Magnum Ruger Super Blackhawk in 7 ½ inch barrel with the square trigger guard. It hurt my FU finger every time I shot it. The zinc grip frame and ejector rod housing turned a different color and lost it’s finish in 3 mos. The balance was terrible. But it shot and I could afford it the time.
Fast forward to the guns of a Modern Ruger Corporation. Thank you Team Ruger for making it possible for all Americans to enjoy shooting rugged, reliable Firearms.
See You on The Range
Trapper
Fast forward to my recent Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt Model 00459. This gun was discontinued in 2015. Note, that it is NOT the convertible model but a dedicated .45 Colt Caliber. As you can see by the target below, it is extremely accurate right out of the box. Please understand that I am not a commissioned author. I am not paid for my reviews. I can tell it how I see it without worry of loosing my job.
The .45 Colt comes from a birthday in 1872 when our US Army wanted a caliber that neutralized targets. They were not interested in mammy pammy kindler gentler cartridges that did a good job of scaring the enemy. These big heavy bullets did their job. On occasion, I love carrying a 45 Colt. However, when I do carry a 45 Colt revolver, SA or DA, it is with the ballistically modern Winchester Elite Defender PDX1 https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/Defender/S45CPDB with a muzzle energy of 361 ft lbs. Tame enough to control and more responsible lead dispatching in closed rooms like restaurants etc.
The first thing I do after cleaning and looking over a new gun is to shoot it with my proven loads to verify the need for any warranty work to be done. I check that the barrel is true with the front sight and the rear sight is down closer to the frame. Being a piece work assembly in production, it is not uncommon for the rear sight to be all the way elevated with just a thread or two hold it in place. If the gun shoots as good as this one does, I am saved the hassle of sending it in for barrel turning or repairing problems.
Since the headspace, barrel/cylinder gap, and action are all in place on this gun, it is good to go. Now we can break it down and tune the gritty action. Wolff springs https://www.gunsprings.com/ and some stoning/polishing and we are good to go. I also fit a new Super Blackhawk hammer to the gun, replacing the standard skinny spur. The action is now creep free and breaks crisp at 3.5 pounds. Now the gun goes to ZRTS https://zrtacticalsolutions.com/ for a subtle dehorning of sharp edges. Again, factory production gun makers are allergic to proper finishing these days. Very little polishing and a lot of painting guns seems to be the shortcut today.
Also to replace, is the rear sight assembly. Thanks to Bowen http://bowenclassicarms.com/, I have replaced the cheesy rear sight assembly with a quality sight with better screws, detention, and a nice big black blade, all made out of tool steel by Bowen. I have used the factory Blackhawk sight for years with no problems, but with older eyeballs now I find the Ruger sight with it’s enclosed blade and small screws along with low cost material, that I prefer a big strong Black Blade with no interference. Bo-Mar new what he was doing back in '57 and I just got used to them. Also, since Ruger employs drunken grip fitters, I need to address the grips. Ruger’s laminate grips are pretty. I like the orangey red color of the rosewood grips. However, they fit like me trying to get into my senior cords. Kids will have to google that one. And life is too short to have a crappy fitting grip. Off to Chigs Grips http://chigsgrips.com/ it goes for some custom fitted Ironwood. They feel as well as they look. Chad fit this gun with Exhibition BookEnd IronWood. They feel Marvelous in your hand.
Now, I have many nice leather holsters for my guns but, this one deserves an old fashion Bianchi Lawman https://safariland.com/pages/bianchi to be reminiscent of my Skeeter Skelton days. The strap helps for Field work, hiking, horseback or other out of door activities. Now many of you know that I prefer Carbon Steel Guns over Stainless, but I have to admit, this piece is weather proof and is very low maintenance.
Please don’t think I am down on Ruger as they furnish great products and keep the price in check the best that they can. Consider this, in all the world, I know of not one manufacturer of a rugged Single Action Product like the Ruger Blackhawk series for the price and volume of manufacturing that Ruger puts out. Yes, the Italians make great replicas of the SAA, but they are far from being a Rough Country Gun. I own a few Italian Replicas and those that have been paying attention know that I am all about trying very hard to buy USA made stuff first. However, somethings just can’t be had here. Our standard of living is so good in this country that we can not get people to work for $20.00 an hour where I am sure the labor rates are somewhat lower in some foreign countries along with the many shortcuts that some take. The point is, there is nothing wrong with getting imported things, as long as we try harder to think of our brothers and sisters in the heartland first.
One can have a stock production Ruger Blackhawk and it will last him/her/whatever several generations without modifications. That’s value. These improvements are something that is worthwhile to my collection and help in the actual shooting the guns as well. As a late teenager, I shot the heck out of my 44 Magnum Ruger Super Blackhawk in 7 ½ inch barrel with the square trigger guard. It hurt my FU finger every time I shot it. The zinc grip frame and ejector rod housing turned a different color and lost it’s finish in 3 mos. The balance was terrible. But it shot and I could afford it the time.
Fast forward to the guns of a Modern Ruger Corporation. Thank you Team Ruger for making it possible for all Americans to enjoy shooting rugged, reliable Firearms.
See You on The Range
Trapper
