Virginian
Member
I get home, and there is a message on the phone that my new gun is here. Too bad they didn't call my cell phone number, which I gave them, and save me 30 miles of driving. But, I am still excited !
Then the phone rings, and it's my doctor. The oncologist (shudder). With the rather good news that I do not have lung cancer. That was almost worth two biopsies to hear that. I still have to have one kidney out, but renal cell carcinoma (technical term that is not supposed to be as scary as cancer. Scared the S*** outta me the first time anyway !) has a much, much higher survivability rate than lung cancer. At this point I am positively looking forward to that. Everything in life is relative. I feel like someone lifted my Jeep off of me.
So I get home and start wiping down my brand new, gen-u-ine Ruger New Model Blackhawk 50th Anniversary 44 Magnum. Oh I love it. I like a 6-1/2" barrel so much, I had an Old Vaquero 44 cut down to that, too. Feels good, grips are a little skinny for me. Horrors !! Rust on the hammer ! No, wait, Ruger has just discovered a new imitation cosmoline that looks even more like rust, and is much harder to get off. Fortunately, soluable in Rem-Oil. The grips have been dinged !!.... no, just some of that jelled junk in the checkering. The nifty red case, with that oh so Flashy crest, does not have a hole for a lock (?), but there is a GIANT Master looking Lock with Ruger embossed in red on it inside the case. Maybe it is so those who do not have a safe can lock the whole house ?
Action feels pretty good. Don't have a spring kit yet so I cheat and drop one leg of the trigger spring off the peg. Not bad. The mainspring from end to end looks about 0.01" shorter than the old model. Looks like a regular Blackhawk spring kit will fit and just trim a coil and a half on the main. The hammer is smaller, so it might have to have a little more spring push for sure ignition. Looks more upswept, but the top profile matches, must be the smaller overall effect. The internal lock is unobtrusive, I'll definitely give them major points for that. Nobody's stupid law says it has to be in sight.
A regular Blackhawk grip frame will bolt right on. This is good. I also have a spare finished Super Blackhawk grip frame, complete with grips. Nah, I remember, with barnburner loads that Dragoon grip crushed my knuckle. I am one of the few I guess that actually likes the New Model Blackhawk frame as well as a Colt, and even better with heavy loads, and I already have several sets of grips. A pair of third generation Colt grips matches right up to the new Ruger grips. Screw hole and pin cavity are not in the right place, but the size is right on. Regular Blackhawk and Old Vaquero grips are exactly the same shape, but the top section where they run horizontal is approximately 0.108" longer than the new grips.
Next I am gonna shoot it until it... uh...until I hurt. With those grips I must admit I have some trepidation aboout just how long that will be.
Then I will probably fit some fatter regular Ruger grips to it and try that. And then I might purchase a Blackhawk grip frame, hammer strut, retainer pin, and mainspring seat and fit some Ivory (fake) grips with no screw showing on the right grip panel, and see how that combo shoots.
Oh, I need to polish the right upper edge of the cylinder bolt, too. For a minimal line on the cylinder.
I love a new gun. Keeps you out of trouble for awhile.
Then the phone rings, and it's my doctor. The oncologist (shudder). With the rather good news that I do not have lung cancer. That was almost worth two biopsies to hear that. I still have to have one kidney out, but renal cell carcinoma (technical term that is not supposed to be as scary as cancer. Scared the S*** outta me the first time anyway !) has a much, much higher survivability rate than lung cancer. At this point I am positively looking forward to that. Everything in life is relative. I feel like someone lifted my Jeep off of me.
So I get home and start wiping down my brand new, gen-u-ine Ruger New Model Blackhawk 50th Anniversary 44 Magnum. Oh I love it. I like a 6-1/2" barrel so much, I had an Old Vaquero 44 cut down to that, too. Feels good, grips are a little skinny for me. Horrors !! Rust on the hammer ! No, wait, Ruger has just discovered a new imitation cosmoline that looks even more like rust, and is much harder to get off. Fortunately, soluable in Rem-Oil. The grips have been dinged !!.... no, just some of that jelled junk in the checkering. The nifty red case, with that oh so Flashy crest, does not have a hole for a lock (?), but there is a GIANT Master looking Lock with Ruger embossed in red on it inside the case. Maybe it is so those who do not have a safe can lock the whole house ?
Action feels pretty good. Don't have a spring kit yet so I cheat and drop one leg of the trigger spring off the peg. Not bad. The mainspring from end to end looks about 0.01" shorter than the old model. Looks like a regular Blackhawk spring kit will fit and just trim a coil and a half on the main. The hammer is smaller, so it might have to have a little more spring push for sure ignition. Looks more upswept, but the top profile matches, must be the smaller overall effect. The internal lock is unobtrusive, I'll definitely give them major points for that. Nobody's stupid law says it has to be in sight.
A regular Blackhawk grip frame will bolt right on. This is good. I also have a spare finished Super Blackhawk grip frame, complete with grips. Nah, I remember, with barnburner loads that Dragoon grip crushed my knuckle. I am one of the few I guess that actually likes the New Model Blackhawk frame as well as a Colt, and even better with heavy loads, and I already have several sets of grips. A pair of third generation Colt grips matches right up to the new Ruger grips. Screw hole and pin cavity are not in the right place, but the size is right on. Regular Blackhawk and Old Vaquero grips are exactly the same shape, but the top section where they run horizontal is approximately 0.108" longer than the new grips.
Next I am gonna shoot it until it... uh...until I hurt. With those grips I must admit I have some trepidation aboout just how long that will be.
Then I will probably fit some fatter regular Ruger grips to it and try that. And then I might purchase a Blackhawk grip frame, hammer strut, retainer pin, and mainspring seat and fit some Ivory (fake) grips with no screw showing on the right grip panel, and see how that combo shoots.
Oh, I need to polish the right upper edge of the cylinder bolt, too. For a minimal line on the cylinder.
I love a new gun. Keeps you out of trouble for awhile.
