Ruger New Model Super Blackhawk in 44 Magnum

Hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to read my post and hopefully reply, I hope for this thread to be about my decision to purchase my first revolver as well as the generalities of the Super Blackhawk/44 Magnum cartridge.

First off let me say that I'm relatively new to the hobby only having owned guns for about 3 years. I'm 26 years old and came from a household that never owned guns and was vocally anti-gun, I didn't really have much of an opinion myself but I probably would have told you "Guns are bad... I guess?" when I was 16. Between then and now I've learned a lot and seen how thin the veneer of civilization can be in a city.

After I got mugged at gunpoint I thought to myself I wanted a gun too. So, that was the way I got into guns, for the express purpose of defending my life after seeing how powerful the tool was. Because of that motivation, and my realizing after some research that I can conceal a duty pistol very effectively, my collection up until this point has been almost exclusively semiautomatic black 9mm handguns (the only exceptions thus far being longarms). Those guns are definitely good at what they do and are pretty fun for the range because of being full size, but they're all 9mm. I don't want to start ANY caliber debate whatsoever for self defense, I just want to mention that all my handguns are 9mm because I think we can all agree 9mm is a bit wimpy for a range cartridge if you want power, smoke, flash, and just head turning rock and roll range action.

So, I thought to myself, I thought... I need something bigger. I need something flashier. I need a gun that calls a cold range all by itself while everyone picks their jaws back up off the floor. So after thinking all those thoughts naturally my next was...

I need a revolver.

Now, I've had these thoughts before, but I've always talked myself out of it. Revolvers are expensive, and heavy, and just range toys. And back when I only had one handgun those were good reasons, but now I have several and a range toy is starting to sound darn appealing. My friend has a Chiappa Rhino in .357 Magnum and he lets me shoot it once in a while. I simply adore it, shoots so softly and is a LOT of fun. I've heard that their extremely innovative bottom cylinder barrel is the reason for the superior shootability, and that other .357 magnums are much harder to handle but I've only ever fired his. Also I have no idea what loads my friend chooses and perhaps I was shooting very soft loads the time I handled it. They would have been factory and my understanding is that factory "magnum" loads aren't the real thing, even if they weren't meant to be light.

For a long time I've thought I'd eventually just get my own Chiappa, but over time I've sort of changed my mind. I think I would prefer the old aesthetic even if it isn't as technologically innovative. I like the look of the Chiappa for it's own reasons, but it definitely doesn't look like a huge, traditionally styled American revolver which is what I've decided I want in this case, and by this point I'd already mentally bought whatever I ultimately decided was the best pick.

I narrowed it down to three main points for consideration,

Longer than 6"
Chambered for something more powerful than .357
Stainless steel and wood for the visual appeal.

So I went right on to Davidson's Gallery of Guns website and I chose to purchase the 7.5" Stainless Steel New Model Super Blackhawk with the dragoon trigger guard, right there on the spot, and I'm waiting for it to come in the mail now. I chose the Blackhawk over the Redhawk because I've heard lots of folks always saying that you have GOT to have a single action in your life and I exclusively plan to use this for the range. I've been reading other threads from the past on this and other sites and I've seen complaints about that trigger guard and a general preference for the rounded guard. However, I have a strong preference for the visual appeal of the dragoon style and my motivations are hugely influenced by style in this case. I figure I can just plan to wear gloves when shooting it. I've linked the ruger "Spec Sheet" aka marketing blurb for the gun so everyone can take a quick look if they aren't familiar.

http://www.ruger.com/products/newModelSuperBlackhawkStandard/specSheets/0804.html

I'm very, very excited for this gun to arrive. So excited that I've written this long thing to get it out of my system until it shows up and I can shoot the heck out of it. I've held several Ruger revolvers at gun shows, and I have found almost all to be comfortable besides the SP snub which was simply small rather than bad, although I've never seen how comfortable they are fired. My biggest concern is that I'll have gone for too powerful of a caliber but I am pretty sure I could handle twice to three times as much recoil as what I was getting from the Chiappa, and the SBH weighs sooo much more so I'm optimistic.

I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts, stories, pictures, customizations, or just general love for huge guns and powerful cartridges like the Ruger Super Blackhawk 44 magnum in particular.

Now, onto the subject of ammo. I have a question about which factory loads you'd recommend I try out for starters because I sure don't know a lot about .44 Magnum loads and I don't yet hand load. I'm pretty sure getting into revolvers will be my door into the hobby of reloading and I look forward to learning more, but at the moment I'm starting with the gun and factory loads. I was looking at the maximum powered loads from buffalo bore and thought it might be fun to try a cylinder of those just for kicks but, beyond a couple loads in particular that looked awfully hot and fun for a novelty I don't know what would make for actually enjoyable range time and target shooting.

As an aside, when I was checking out SGammo I noticed that on the website they have all the ammunitions listed normally with the exception of 44 MAGNUM which is shown in all caps, compared to say 357 Magnum or 41 Magnum on the same menu. Maybe they're trying to tell me something about how comfortable and easy to manage these loads will be in my new Ruger?

Thanks for the advice on ammunition, I'm going to grab a couple boxes of 240gr from each of the manufacturers. Any in manufacturers in particular known to be the "best" the way some brands are much more highly regarded than others for 9mm or I presume any ammo?

I'm going to save my brass so that's a consideration. I'm looking forward to clearing that first cylinder into my palm. This thread will get updated with loads of pictures as well as soon as she gets here.

Slamfire, those pictures are beautiful. There is just something very appealing about a large stainless steel revolver to me and those pictures just affirm how pleased I am with the decision to get this gun.

Does anyone else have a holster opinion? For the range I can just keep it in a soft case of course but I do go out to the woods often and might consider using it as a sidearm; And in general I prefer to have a holster or sling or what have you for each piece in my collection.

I see Galco makes both a shoulder and an owb holster, with the weight I agree it might be better in a shoulder but if anyone else who has done it wanted to weigh in it would be appreciated.

I'm picking it up tomorrow, and plan to shoot this weekend. I'm real excited and can't wait to fondle it. As soon as I can I'll be loading this post up with new pictures tomorrow!!

That vaquerro looks lovely by the way, and the sp101 is one I've considered as a carry gun if I ever stray from automatics. Nice collection!