Bought a Redhawk insted of a SRH - will I be sorry?

[absolute0]

I just bought a nice clean Ruger Redhawk (.44 mag 7 1/2" barrel) with a Leupold 2x primarily for hunting whitetail.

The only experience I've had with a .44 handgun has been a friends nice old S&W model 29-2, which I really like, but I wanted a hunting gun. The price on the redhawk package was too good to pass up, but I'm still wondering if I should have held out for a SRH as I understand their triggers tend to be a little nicer and the grips soak up recoil a little better.

Those of you that hunt with your redhawks - tell me about 'em!

I guess I'll have my answer once I get it out to the range

 

[Bronco45]

Ron: You will love the RedHawk. Strong, superaccurate and a decent trigger can be obtained. Dry fire it a lot and shoot a lot of mid range loads double action. Work the entire action not just the single action mating surfaces.

Once you've fallen in love with the Redhawk then do yourself a favor and purchase a good holster set up. Check out Mernickles Custom Holsters and their gallery for hunting type holsters.

Good holsters enhance the carrying and using experience with heavy handguns.

 

[mec]

You probably won't be sorry but you might need to get some rubber grips. Those frame-fitters can really peck a hole in your shooting hand.

The single action trigger pull is pretty heavy-some times in the neighborhood of 6.5 lb. Mine settled in at 5 pounds after some cycling. The gun is heavy too though and actually turns in some good off-hand single action groups at 25 yards.

 

[Master Blaster]

I have a red hawk in .44 mag. The trigger is way too heavy especially in single action. get in touch with www.Gunsprings.com, wolf springs and order the redhawk spring kit. IIRC it comes with three springs 15lbs, 13lbs, and 11lbs.
I put the 13 lbs spring in my redhawk and it made a tremendous difference in the trigger, in both single and double action.

IMHO the redhawk is big enough, the Super Redhawk should have some wheels on it.

 

[Ed]

I have had my Redhawk for 10 years. I love it. You may want to put some rubber grips on it. My wife even shoots it with the rubber grips, the wood ones are pretty but with stout loads can hurt. Mine is pretty accurate. It is a Regular redhawk and I one time scoped it with a red dot. I quickly learned that I could shoot it better with irons.

 

[Cosmoline]

The only real advantage IMHO comes when you're taking them apart. The SRH uses the same basic elements as the SP-101 and GP-100 and I find it easier to strip down and put back together. The Redwawk uses an earlier Ruger design that's somewhat more complex and isn't known for its smooth triggers.

 

[black bear]

I have my redhawk 7 !/2 inches with 2x Leupold scope for 16 years, I love it, I got a black bear and a couple whitetails with it, keep the woods grips, they will slide a little in your hand in single action fashion and you will not feel recoil as much as when you use rubber grips.

When shooting with the scope on the barrel the gun go up even less than the Super Redhawks, this is due to the position of the scope on top of the barrel.

In my opinion recoil is NOT a problem.
Enjoy it
black bear

 

[gunfan]

In a word...

NO! Go with God, and enjoy!

Scott

 

[Jamie B]

I have both - you can't lose with either one.

The Redhawk is a 5.5" .44; the Super Redhawk is the 7.5" .480.
I would not want to choose between them, but I would take the Redhawk, if forced. It is a bull-strong handgun!

There is just something about a .44 mag.........

Jamie

 

[Freeze N]

Houge makes a nice rubber grip for the redhawk. It really makes shooting more enjoyable. They are around 18 bucks or so.

 

[sfhogman]

One of my best friends has a 7.5" Redhawk with over 20,000 rounds through it, trouble free. He uses the Pachmayr Presentation grips, and a spring kit from Wolff. This gun now has one very smooth trigger...

Liked it so much I bought one just like it.

You won't be sorry,

Jeff

 

[StrikeEagle]

You'll enjoy the RH. I have one in .44 Mag and it's a real piece of work, that's for sure... wicked-strong, plenty accurate, smooth enough and (IMO) uncommonly goodlooking.

The SRH is stronger, ok... but gimme a break... hehe. Ok, so the RH will last only 10 lifetimes instead of 15 like the SRH.

And to me, the SRH is kinda ugly.

Go with the Redhawk. And smile. I do!

StrikeEagle

 

[Jamie B]

OK, StrikeEagle, them's fightin' words!
Ten paces, bring your puny .44, I'll bring my .480 - oops, never mind, I've got a .44 also!

You are right, though, bull-strong and super bull-strong: both are overkill.
I have been eyeing the new Alaskan .480, but it would be a real handful!
Magnaport has a conversion where they cut the Super barrel length to about 5", and port it, but I can buy another gun for the price.

Best!

Jamie

 

[Majic]

Not to say anything bad about the Ruger, but why do you think the Model 29 would not be a hunting revolver?

 

[Matthew748]

I think you will like your Redhawk. I bought a blued 5 ½ Redhawk about 6 months ago and have come to really enjoy it. Master Blaster’s advice is good. I bought the exact spring set he mentioned, installed the 13 pound spring, and the improvement was dramatic.

I would try to get some more feedback about the Hogue monogrip rubber grips if I were you. I got a set of Hogue rubber grips and removed them after one range session. Maybe it was a defect, but the fit was very poor with regard to the backstrap portion of the gun. The main reason I got the Hogue grips is because I did not like the hole on the left hand side of the stock grips. Since the screw head is on the other side, I simply made a plug out of a small dowel rod to plug it up and it has been a comfortable gun to shoot ever since.

 

[Rich K]

I love my Redhawk.The only thing that has been done to it is a triger job at Mag-Na-Port.I have hunted with both it and my Mod 29,and both have been enjoyable,but the Ruger is hell for strong and will handle anything you care to feed it.Just my .02.

 

[Stainz]

According to Ruger, the 7.5" .44M SRH (KSRH-7) weighs 53 oz, while the 7.5" .44M RH (KRH-44R) weighs an ounce more! My choice for .44M, a 6" half lug 629 - SKU # 163606, weighs a svelt 45.5oz.

But - you wanted a SRH/RH comparison... I owned a scoped (Weaver H2 2x28mm) 7.5" .454 SRH for years - my DA trigger standard until I discovered S&W. It's ergonomics were super - recoil being well tamed by the grips. I bought a new SS 5.5" .45 Colt RH over a year and a half ago. It's trigger pull is l o n g in comparison to the SRH. A .454 ftf in the SRH after a spring change resulted in an immediate return to OEM springs there - my RH has remained stock. My wife even prefers the RH's standard stocks to any of my other .45 Colt firearms, 625MG included. The 5.5" RH proved more accurate with slower .45 Colts than the SRH, so I traded the cannon - and kept the RH. I am happier, too.

No, you made a rational decision - and should be quite happy. Hindsight what it is, you may just have to get a SRH - don't trade the RH, you would be sad if you were to do so,,,

Stainz

 

[absolute0]

Majic,

I know a model 29 would make an excellent hunting handgun. But if I had a nice old blued model 29 (and I will some day), it'll be a range gun & plinker only.

Safe the rough and tumble stuff for the stainless Ruger