Gun Review: Ruger Redhawk

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 2/19/2019 | J Dickson

[w1n1]

Appreciating the 4-inch .45 Colt Ruger Redhawk, 'among the highest achievements in revolver design.'
The 4-inch-barrel Ruger Redhawk revolver in .45 Colt is among the highest achievements in revolver design and manufacture. This is an immensely strong gun, as testified by the fact that it is also made in .454 Casul. The strongest and most corrosion-resistant alloys are employed in its making. The cylinder wall thickness is .110 inch and it is made from Carpenter Steel's Custom 465 stainless steel. The barrels are made from Carpenter Steel’s Project 7000 15Cr-5Ni stainless steel.

Because they are intended to take maximum loads, the chambers are machined to close tolerances, so hand loads should be full length resized. The gun is made without a sideplate for extra frame strength. The parts are massive with large bearing surfaces to spread out the wear over a larger area, thus prolonging the parts’ life. Its designers, Harry Sefried and Roy Melcher, made it without screws, as screws are always backing out on revolvers as they fire. Always. If you are going to shoot a revolver much, you normally have to have the proper screwdrivers fitted to the gun and it is a very good idea to tighten them after every box of cartridges with many guns.

Colt and Smith & Wesson traditionally had cylinder latches that slid back and forth. Some men had the latch on the S&W Triple Lock cut into them, and having a latch that pushes forward to unlock like the S&W means some people will move it when the gun recoils against their thumb. The Redhawk’s cylinder latch is pushed in to pivot and unlock the cylinder, thus eliminating these problems.
The cylinder is securely bolted fore and aft with parts big enough to ensure long life in hard service. The mainspring operates two linkages, one to push the hammer forward and one to return the trigger. Pulling the trigger compresses the hammer spring. All this results in positive ignition with a lighter trigger pull than the older designs necessitate. For safety's sake, trigger pulls were kept in the normal range but they are a marked improvement over previous designs trigger pulls. Read the rest of Ruger Redhawk review.

[Chainmail]

A Ruger sales brochure. I have owned dozens of Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers and NEVER had the cylinder latch hit me or the screws back out on their own. One of my Colts is 153 years old and all of its screws are solidly in place.

Pure horsehockey.

[BigpapaBo]

I’ll be on the lookout for this one. I once owned a Taurus Raging Bull chambered in 45LC and sorely miss it. The cost of store bought cartridges was too much for me and decided to sell it. That was years before I started to reload what I shoot. Having said that and a fondness for Ruger wheel guns, I’d definitely give this one a thumbs up.

[JudgemAll]

Rugers are the only revolvers besides Colt able to handle hot loads as per Bufallo Bore.

[OKSooner]

Normally I don't post on these threads because they're written by whomever is the doofus of the day and then posted by a blogpimp, but OTOH I don't wish to see anyone get one of their firearms broken, or have something else happen.

The Colts won't handle those hot .45 loads either. That's why BB marks them RUGER ONLY. (And only some Rugers at that...)

Also as already mentioned, the claptrap about people getting hurt by Smith cylinder latches, and screws backing out of Smith, Colt, and Ruger revolvers on a regular basis is pure unadulterated horsehsit.

[Buffalo Head]

"....chambered in 45LC"

No, your pistol was chambered for .45 Colt. The other designation to which you refer is a figment of imagination commonly used be under-educated wannabe gun nuts.

Proper and official cartridge designations can be found at saami.org.

[Carriage Hill]

I have a 1975 Colt Trooper MKIII, chambered in .357 Magnum, a 6” barrel, and all its screws and fittings are tight. Maybe the cheap import crap does that, but American-made iron doesn’t, as far as I know.

[Clutch Martin]

Okay... with adjustable sights I could understand fiddling with loads. On fixed ramps... the factory usually sets and tests with commonly available SAMMI ammo. So the easiest and most reliable strategy would be matching that testing ammo to cycle through an out-of-the-box purchase.

[Snake Skin Sonny]

Hey, Bill...Bill Ruger?...izzat you?

Man, you scared the hell out of a lot of gun owners with that "loose screw" thingy, and undoubtedly drove a lot of idiots with more money than sense to your stuff, huh?

Good on ya, bro, you not only knew how to make 'em, you knew how to sell 'em!

I have many revolvers...which are fired regularly...and I have never had one with screws that "backed" out. Period.

Now them damned 1911's...the pins won't stop rotating on them.

I have to turn them back the right way after every round.

[Magnum44]

My Redhawk is in .44 Magnum (thus my handle). Its got the long barrel. Its way too big for carry use, but it comes out when I want to feel like Dirty Harry at the range. :)

[Seruzawa]

Jeez. Lighten up. This site is a joke.

[Disambiguator]

This is an immensely strong gun, as testified by the fact that it is also made in .454 Casul.

Wrong. The SUPER Redhawk is chambered in .454 Casull (note correct spelling with two Ls). The standard Redhawk is chambered in .45 Colt, .44 Magnum, .41 Magnum and .357 Magnum, but not .454 Casull.

[old curmudgeon]

Be careful making absolute statements.

I have quite a few handguns but my favorites are the Blackhawk .45 Colt and the Smith Model 28.

And the Model 28 trigger tension screw has backed out twice.

Also the screw that holds the cylinder crane assembly in place has backed out.

A small amount of locktight cured both problems.

I do look at the slot in the screws regularly to note their position.

The Model 28 is my favorite carry gun. Single action, it has a trigger equal to a good target rifle.

I do have a couple of other Smiths I have not fired in years that never had the problem.

I also have a Redhawk .45 Colt. From the factory, a terrible trigger as are most Ruger revolvers, but a little tuneup and they are good.

The article is over the top, much misinformation but nevertheless it is possible for screws to back out. I like pins.

[real saxophonist]

Pure horsehockey.

In other words, about average for 'Am Shooting Journal'.

[real saxophonist]

...pure unadulterated horsehsit.

In other words, about average for 'Am Shooting Journal'.

[real saxophonist]

under-educated wannabe gun nuts.

Perfect definition of 'Am Shooting Journal'.

[OKSooner]

"The article is over the top, much misinformation but nevertheless it is possible for screws to back out. I like pins."

Yes, of course it is possible for screws to back out of a "quality" brand revolver, which is why I qualified what would have otherwise been an absolute statement with the words "on a regular basis". The problem is that this article is so full of bad information that it should have been thrown back at somebody instead of posted on the internet.

Very much in character for "American Shooting Journal", frankly.

Then they also start making assertions about screws backing out like it happens all the time. It's not like the article was about Charter Pitbull revolvers, for example, which have a known tendency for screws backing out, in fact almost an expectation of it.

Not to throw shade on Charter revolvers, mind you; Charter owners expect this and deal with it by a couple of different methods.

[real saxophonist]

This site is a joke.

Of course it is.

[OKSooner]

Yes, that is a rather redundant statement, isn’t it? :)

[Chainmail]

Gorgeous! Always loved the Colt Trooper - beautifully made, accurate, solid.