Red hawk or Anaconda

I would keep the Ruger and save up another $450 (total $850) and buy a short barrel S&W 69 and have two great 44mag's one for carry and one for hunting/long range target.

Please note: I'm not a DA Colt fan. Don't see why they get a premium over a S&W or Ruger.

I would keep the Ruger. The new Colts just have too many spotty reviews.

castile said:

Red Hawk is SS 7.5 inch barrel. Its like new. I don't know what I could get for the Red Hawk. I am thinking around 1k and the Anaconda would be around 1400 give or take a bit. Thanks for the opinions.

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1k seems very optimistic in my opinion. But perhaps there's a demand in need of supply right now.

Keep the Ruger. I'm a Colt fan and say that. I owned a Redhawk that I actually traded a Python for. I shot a friend's Anaconda (.45 Colt), and while a good gun, really not worth the extra $$$. You could smooth up the trigger in the Redhawk for very little $ and be ahead on an Anaconda.

I have a 7.5" Redhawk as well, I bought the Redhawk for the simple reason I can shoot whatever load I can stuff into the cylinder. I also want a Anaconda but there is no way I am selling the Redhawk to finance it. I plan on saving my pennies (a whole lot of them) to get it....

As for getting the Anaconda for $1400....I guess that might be possible sometime but I have never seen it. The Sportsman's Warehouse near me had a 6" one in stock for about 5 minutes at its $1499.00 MSRP

My brother had a Redhawk when he lived in Alaska. Wanted a .44 Mag for when he went hiking. It had a 5.5" barrel and he carried it in a surplus British canvas flap holster, made for the larger caliber Webleys. It worked perfectly. I had the gun for awhile and even though I have no real use for a .44 Mag, I was still impressed with it's design, solid build quality, and overall fit and finish.

I would say keep the Redhawk and save up for the Anaconda.

I’ve never shot a Redhawk, so I can’t speak to it. The Anaconda is a better shooter than a 629, and I love my 629
(love my Anaconda more).

I have the Colt King Cobra and a Python, but when it comes to a revolver chambered in .44 Magnum, the RedHawk is hard to beat; especially when the favorable price difference between it and the Anaconda is taken into account.

Ginger or Mary Ann?

In all seriousness, which feels better in your hand? Both will do whatever you demand of them…slight edge to the Redhawk for low-level nuclear loads, but you couldn’t wear either out in your lifetime. It’s entirely a subjective decision, not so much mechanical.

The S&W 29/629 must be Mrs. Howell....

entropy said:

The S&W 29/629 must be Mrs. Howell....

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Lovey.

If it doesn't need to be a double action revolver, I vote for a freedom arms single action. They're a work of art and increase in value.

entropy said:

The S&W 29/629 must be Mrs. Howell....

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If the .44 Magnum 629 mountain gun or 6.5” power port doesn't do it… I am running for the hills.

In all honesty, hang on to the Redhawk and save up for an Anaconda. Once you have one of each you can do an apples to apples comparison and determine if one is really better than the other.

Personally my .41 Redhawk is off the table. So I cam see you ultimately keeping both.

When (if?) you make a decision, let us know which direction you went.

Stay safe.

Ruger, full house loads all day long and on Sunday. You can tune The Ruger very easily...

In 1990-91, when I owned my Redhawk, my Dad and I were preparing for a once in a lifetime Minnesota moose hunt. We both developed loads for our .44 Mags, dad's being an S&W 629 Mountain Gun. His load was stout, but he refused to fire the load I worked up for my Redhawk out of his Mountain Gun. (300 gr. XTP pushed by enough Blue Dot to get it to 1350.)
Not long after the moose hunt (my dad got a nice bull with his Sako .300 Win. Mag.) Dad found some rounds he'd loaded for his Ruger .44 carbine that he'd sold a few years before. He sure wasn't even going to try them in the Mountain Gun, so he gave them to me. The 240 gr. soft point stuck out of the cylinder when I tried it. I had to file the exposed lead off to make them fit.
They were loud as hell, and kicked like a mule, but the Redhawk digested them without a hiccup.

That's why you want to keep your Redhawk.

My Redhawk went down the road years ago and I've never missed it. The Colt is a better fitted and finished gun. Their footprint is similar to the New Service and those are big sixguns, so strength is somewhere between S&W and Ruger. I'm definitely picking up one of the new Anacondas at some point.

I've had more quality issues straight out of the box with Colt than any other make. ( 5 faults on 4 guns out of 6 needed work before they were fit to use.) I have both a vintage Anaconda and the re-intro Anaconda. I like the finish on the new Anaconda. The trigger in single action is very stiff, (I'll have to try and measure the pull.) it will need a trigger job, and I generally don't have trigger jobs done. I've heard others complain of a stiff trigger.

Walkalong said:

I liked my .45 Colt Anaconda, it was a fine revolver, but I love my two Redhawks.

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I like both, have both, and had to screw on an Anaconda pipe to one of my
RedHawks.

I'm not one to give an objective opinion because I tend to keep firearms that are not "run of the mill" and everyone has. So, I'd keep the Redhawk and save my pennies for an Anaconda.

I have a 45 Colt Redhawk and a new production Anaconda. I like them both.

I'm saving firing the first shots in the Anaconda for when my daughter and son-in-law, a Brit, visit from the UK. He does not get to fire handguns very much and might enjoy being to first to fire one.

Anchorite said:

I like both, have both, and had to screw on an Anaconda pipe to one of my RedHawks.

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I still don't understand why Ruger didn't create, let call it, New Redhawk, using frame and mechanism from Super Redhawk, but barrel from current Redhawk. That will simplified production, and such revolver will have the best of both; Redhawk and Super Redhawk. Bowen did just that, using as a basic revolver SRH Alaskan, he called it GP-44. Here are few examples:







IMO, GP-44 or GP-45 with 44 or 45 Anaconda barrels will be just awesome.

5.5” .44