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]

Makes you wonder where they get their writers - in this case, probably Ruger’s Sales Manager.

[BigpapaBo]

I stand corrected. It is 45Colt. Thanks for clearing that up, from a wanna be gun nut.....

[Deaf Smith]

My Redhawk in 44 has 12k+ rounds through it since the mid eighties.

All full house loads.

Front site gold bead, rear V notch.

Mostly load 210 gr KEAD hard cast. No leading problems.

[Carriage Hill]

I proudly own this one, and still have original Colt emblem grips:

[Chainmail]

Gorgeous! You’re a lucky man..