Anything a new Redhawk owner should know?

About the only thing you need to know is that beauty is more than skin deep. I have do doubts that you will like her once you get your hands on it.

You may run into light primer hit misfires with some brands.
You might not.

If you do, and you don't want to live with being restricted to one or two soft primers, Hamilton Bowen sells extended firing pins for local gunsmith installation.
Denis

I am guessing mine was also cosmetically challenged. It came to me with a very nice bead blast finish and ported. Mine is 45 Colt for playing with the entire pressure range of that cartridge. The Redhawk has a long trigger reach, so unless you have pretty large hands, your grip choice should probably be open backstrap. Strong palm swell will handle the recoil. The rubber that Ruger uses on the 4+ version suits me well with my small hands.

Nice pick up! I would love to have one of those!

Shoot it first - then go about making changes. You will like this big gun.

Shoot it. Smile. Repeat.

Seriously, the Redhawk is one of my favorites. It is a great platform for a reloader. I only shoot .44 magnum cases in it, but load them light to heavy with different powders and bullets. You will like it!

... and we need PICTURES!

Don't put a lighter inspiring without changing to a longer firing pin ($$).

Nills Griffe grips are a very nice upgrade if you happen to like wood grips. The tend to really fill your hand so you want to be sure your mitts are on the large side of medium or bigger, however they do help distribute the recoil very well.

If you plan on shooting cast bullets I would look at bullets sized .431 or .432 to minimize/prevent leading
.430 and .429 cast bullets lead all of my Ruger 44M barrels like a SOB.

To tag on to the above posters, regarding the hammer spring and light hits. Stick with a standard weight spring.
Unlike the SRH or the GP series guns, the RH uses a single spring for both the hammer and trigger return. Many people lighten this spring to get a lighter trigger pull, but end up with light primer strikes as a result. This is why there are longer firing pins available, however they are costly to have installed, and it is definitely not a job for the home gunsmith.

The other thing you can do to help increase hammer energy is to install a set of hammer shims. These will keep the hammer aligned in the hammer slot and prevent it rubbing on the frame, thus scrubbing away energy. I also found they made the double action trigger pull much more consistent.

Other than that, post pics then go out and shoot the snot out of it. I have at least one of most flavors of Ruger revolvers and my 5 1/2" RH from the mid 80's is by far my favorite.

I think a lot of folks have bought into too much hype about spring power and the single spring Redhawk design.

I've tuned dozens on dozens of Redhawk's for customers over the years, and have NEVER found myself unable to produce reliable ignition with the lightest Wolff spring from their kit. Yes, you'll need to do a little polishing and truing, and yes, whoever does the work inside will need to fully understand, intimately, the design and operation, but given these criteria are satisfied, there's really no need for the Bowen extended pin. I've installed them, and they are a nice feature - especially so for the new rear-entry Redhawk's - but they really aren't a necessary item.

In 100% of cases I have seen firsthand, if you have ignition problems with the lightest mainspring, then there is one of a handful of OTHER fitment issues going on inside, which have nothing to do with the sping itself. But there's no reason to over-spring a revolver to make up for production fitment shortcomings - fix the actual fitment problem and you'll be fine.

Doesn't look too cosmetically challenged to me ... at least not on my cell phone. FYI, 1,000 grit wet/dry sand paper used wet can get you pretty close to the original satin stainless finish. Run with the visible "grain." Cleaned up a GP nicely that way.

Besides springs,I will tell you what you have there is arguably the strongest double action revolver EVER made, but that doesn't mean you go loading carelessly either. Get some good leather, my redhawk love 255 grain loads the best. Have fun and enjoy it.

Eh, it shows a bit of surface wear but nothing awful. I call it character built up from years of honest use.

The one immediate upgrade, if you don't intend to scope or red dot it from the git-go might be a regular set of post and notch sights. I have a set of those express sights (gold dot and rear "V") and while some love them, I found my accuracy with them was not nearly as good as a standard set.

If it has not had any trigger work on it from the factory - it needs one. Ruger DA revolvers are very well made but they come out of the factory with some of the worst triggers I have ever seen. I know because I have sold and tuned a whole bunch of them. If you decide to work on the action DO NOT touch the hammer hooks or the sear with anything. Just clean up the internal frame surfaces and bearing surfaces on the parts with a fine stone. Ruger leaves LOTS of burrs in their guns to keep the price down. If your Redhawk was built in '81 most of the big burrs will have worn off depending on how much actual use it has had over the years. Do not let anyone talk you into replacing the springs with much lighter ones - that will usually cause more problems than it solves. The factory weight springs are fine once you smooth up the rough parts.

I don't recall if they were a factory option. My gut says no and that the previous owner put them on.
I don't think the express sights are in huge demand, thus why Ruger stopped making them.
They are still available from places like Gary Reeder but other than posting them up on ebay or in a place like rugerforum I don't think people will be beating down your door for them.

If it's an '81 Redhawk there weren't any factory options at the time. They couldn't meet the demand for them as it was.

The front sight is easy to replace. It is held in with a spring loaded Pin that can be depressed with a punch. The front sight then lifts out and can be replaced. Midway USA sells different replacement front sights. On the link below scroll down and you can see the PIN with its dovetail recess.

http://www.midwayusa.com/s?userSearchQuery=ruger+redhawk+kfront+sight&userItemsPerPage=48

ABTOMAT said:

Got it today. I'm surprised--the gun looks much better in person. Usually it's the other way around. It's not even worn--just looks like the previous owner kept it in a bag with his keys or something. Lots of fine hairline scratches that'll come out in 30 seconds with some polish. Pics to follow. Also, what a cannon. This thing is huge.

LGS was really nice. Looking in their junk boxes while they were doing the transfer and I found an NOS of Pachmayrs like the ones on the gun. Asked the guy if they were for a Ruger, he said "let's find out" and swapped them out for the age-hardened grips the gun came with. Told me to keep them as long as I told my friends about the shop.

Click to expand...

That's a winner right there!

Nice! Take some before and after pics ...