Friday, June 1, 2007

Friday!

Hallelujah holy shit it's Friday! Which of course means it's time for... Friday Gun Pic!
Today's gun is something a little different:


Here's a Ruger Super BlackHawk .44 Magnum single action revolver. This gun is a beast. I've shot the Smith & Wesson .500 Magnum with the 4" barrel, and this Ruger kicks harder. As evidenced by the extra grips, I've been trying to find something, anything, to tame the recoil of this beast. Short of only shooting .44 Special through it, nothing's worked yet...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's an .88 Magnum . . . . it shoots through schools. [/Danny Vermin]

If this is the piece I think it is, I can heartily concur with Jay's statement about the recoil. One cylinder of "full house" .44 magnum rounds was quite enough.

BobG said...

I tried the Hogue grips, found that what worked better was slightly larger grips which spread the recoil more evenly. Also, most grips are too short for my hands. Mine may look a bit strange with these grips, but it is comfortable to shoot.

Anonymous said...

C'mon you wusses...
I've got the same beast in a 4.5" barrel & it isn't all that rough.
Well, I suppose if you put your handbag down, & drop those heels for some flats, it'll be easier to shoot.
:-]

Anonymous said...

Uh... Jay, you gotta stop sipping the cooking sherry. I shot both the Ruger .44 AND the S&W 500 at the NES shoot a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, after some of Mr Twigg's handloaded .500's, that .44 was a nice, pleasant handling gun with moderate recoil.

And we won't even discuss "Eddie Coyle's handloaded Nuclear artillery shells.

Short form: A .44 is in my future. A .500 is not.

Anonymous said...

The pachymeyer presentation grip work pretty well. If you want to load yoour own try a 300 grainer with a big ole dose of 2400 (a manual will provide the loading data). WOW! lots of bang and very accurate and a powerful hunting load.

madcow

BobG said...

I actually have a couple of 44's and they aren't that bad when you shoot them for a while; it's all in perception. Some of my 320grain loads have a respectable recoil, but it is nothing compared to a 454.

Jay G said...

brad,

Yup, this is the piece you think it is. Those "full house" rounds were factory hunting loads. Quite punishing indeed.

Bob,

The Hogue work best for me, but I think it's the design of the single action frame that works against me here - that design is made to handle slow, "pushing" loads like .45 LC or .44-40. Not barn-burning .44 Magnums...

doubletrouble,

That's because you "roll your own" and custom-tailor them. Or maybe I'm a big wuss. I'll bring the Smith & Wesson 360 PD with Remington hunting .357 Magnum rounds and see if you can handle more than two shots this time... :P

Ross,

Thing is, I've got (well, am babysitting) a Smith & Wesson model 629 with the Powerport barrel, and it's an absolute DREAM to shoot. Last time I took it out, I had to check to make sure I was using .44 Magnum and not .44 Special that's how well it tames the recoil.


Madcow,

No thanks, not until I get a bionic wrist... :)

Factory loads are powerful enough in the monster...