Redhawk vs Blackhawk

[QuarkMartial]

I bought myself a Ruger Redhawk in 44mag with a 5.5" barrel. I've tried to shoot it with the factory grips, hogue coco bolo grips(they came with it), and hogue bantam grips. Every time, it smacks my hand and is overall a pain to shoot. I'm thinking of getting some Pachmayr presentation grips for it. They look like they give it more of a plowhandle shaped grip and they cover the entire grip frame. My dilemme is this: a pawn shop nearby had a Blackhawk in 44 mag for $350. I'm thinking that I could easily trade my Redhawk for the Blackhawk. I had originally wanted a Blackhawk but went for the Redhawk for quicker reloads and the ability to shoot DA. Now that I've put about 200 rounds through te Redhawk, and none of it being a fun overall experience, I've got some serious buyer's remorse.

Can you all maybe give me some insight? I doubt the shop still has the Blackhawk, but I also wouldn't mind downsizing to a GP100 or Security Six because 38spl is so cheap. Help!

 

[psyshack]

Smacks your hand,,, Please explain.

 

[PO2Hammer]

Smacks your hand,,, Please explain.

Seems simple enough, recoil.

The DA revolvers do smack the hand a little more than SA's.
A good SA will roll up in the hand converting the straight back 'smack' into a rolling up action.
The standard Blackhawk grip frame is very good at that IMO.
The other alternative is shoot some .44 specials, or take up hand loading and brew up some softer shooting loads.

 

[22-rimfire]

Your experience mirrors mine with my 41 mag Redhawk although I wouldn't call it painful to shoot. Not my favorite 41 mag.

I'd get the Blackhawk.

 

[John C]

I had the same thing happen when firing my Redhawks, in comparison to my S&W 629s. The issue for me is that the Redhawk has a hump high on the backstrap, and it smacks the web of my hand when firing full house rounds, effectively putting all the recoil in one small part of the hand. It hurts.

I went to Pachmayr presentation grips, and it helped a lot. The Pachmayr completely covers the backstrap of the pistol, cushioning the steel.

The real issue is that full house .44 magnum loads are too much for a 5.5 inch pistol. I only shoot them in my 8 3/8th inch S&W and 7.5 inch Redhawk. I reload, so it's easy for me to whip up some 1100 fps 240 gr. loads. I shoot full magnum loads rarely, if ever, and typically only at longer ranges.

I prefer the .44 magnum over the .357, although I have both. Full .357 magnum loads aren't any better, and maybe worse, in a 4 inch revolver. These magnum rounds are simply tough to shoot.

Good luck!

-John

 

[rooster59]

I have both. use the presentation grips, they help a lot. they totally change the way your hand fits around the grip.

 

[towboat_er]

Keep the Redhawk. Buy the Blackhawk too.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The normal "smacks my hand" experience with revolvers involves the trigger guard smacking the middle finger. The cure for this is a grip that fills the space between the trigger guard and front strap.

A Blackhawk will have the same smack to the middle finger, and grips that fill the space are harder to find for Blackhawks.

 

[Smaug]

You have a lot of options:

I think you should stick with the Redhawk, and shoot lighter ammo through it. 44 Special cowboy loads, for instance.

Another option: Start reloading.

I have a Redhawk myself, and if I could only shoot magnums from it, I would have sold it a while ago, I think. Mine's the 7.5" model, and it has a scope. A lot heavier than yours, and still punishing with magnums.

I just finished rolling a box in magnum cases, but with light 180 gr. bullets and a light, 44 Special level load of powder. It is brilliant. Very accurate, and kicks about like a 38 Special or a 22 Magnum.

You have one more option, which I'll PM you about.

Don't sell it for a Blackhawk. Redhawks are more versatile.

 

[VA27]

Redhawk or Blackhawk, it's not going to make much difference. Full-house 44mags kick!

If you want a 44mag, the one possible solution would be to find a Bisley Blackhawk. The different grip shape of the Bisley is a plus with heavy loads.

 

[BCRider]

I find the Pachmayer grips are quite thin and don't fit my hand all that well. And as a result the back strap hits my hand all the moreso. Hogue grips tend to do a better job for me as they fill the hand better and because of that they spread out the energy to more of the hand instead of smacking a relatively small spot.

Also it IS a .44Mag. The round itself packs a lot of energy and the gun is going to kick. Changing the grips may help a little but it'll only be a little. In the end you will either have to get used to it or give it up and reload with a lighter recipe.

 

[dex58]

I've had 3 sets of grips on my Redhawk. The current set of grips is the Pachmayr Decelerator grips. These grips feel good and absorb recoil well, but they wear a blister on the palm of my hand. I ended up getting a set of padded shooting gloves. That solved my problem. As mentioned above the Blackhawk will roll in your hand, thus giving you less perceived recoil. I shoot my Blackhawk with the factory wood grips and no padded gloves and have zero problems. Both are great guns.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

Do you have long fingers? The reason ask is because I do have long fingers and have trouble shooting 44mag or 357 mag with the stock grips that come with Red/Blackhawks,and the problem was not recoil. For me the answer was a GP100,but,being new to revolvers, I don't know if Ruger makes a 44Mag with similar grip configuration.

 

[CraigC]

Double actions are inherently tougher on the palm. Recoil is more of a straight back affair. I find N-frames with proper grips to be fairly comfortable with full loads. Redhawks, not so much. My first .44 was a Redhawk 20yrs ago and it is long gone. If I want to shoot a .44Mag comfortably, it has to be a Ruger Bisley. I also need properly fitted grips that are slightly thicker than factory at the top, with little taper towards flat bottoms.

 

[Slamfire]

I bought myself a Ruger Redhawk in 44mag with a 5.5" barrel. I've tried to shoot it with the factory grips, hogue coco bolo grips(they came with it), and hogue bantam grips. Every time, it smacks my hand and is overall a pain to shoot. I'm thinking of getting some Pachmayr presentation grips for it.

I had a Super Blackhawk, then bought a Redhawk.

The Redhawk was built like a tank but the factory wood grips just hurt in recoil. Aftermarket grips were huge. It is as if the grips are sized to be proportional to the gun. Big gun, big grips. Human hand size, not a consideration!

Maybe only Mutants shoot magnums?

I traded that Redhawk off for a Vaquero.

 

[woad_yurt]

I have a 7.5" Redhawk with a Pachmayr Decelerator grip. It makes the most powerful Buffalo Bore or Double Tap ammo pretty reasonable to shoot. It's still not a cream puff to shoot but it's much, much better since I swapped out the grips, not painful at all.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

Human hand size, not a consideration!

Well,that's great news for me. I've been kicking around the idea of a 44mag but want to stay with Ruger. I had read about the long fingers thing and just assumed that neither a Blachawk nor a Redhawk was a good choice. The only 44mag I've fired is my son-in-law's older Blackhawk and I would not want to own one like his. I also did not care for his 357 Blackhawk. I'll look for a shop that rents and try out a Vaquero. As for the GP100,it fits my hand like it was tailor made for me.

 

[QuarkMartial]

I appreciate all the replies!

I got in last night and decided to go ahead and order the grips and my reloading equipment before trading the gun away. All my problem is is a case of buyer's remorse - I thought it'd be awesome and not that bad to shoot. Instead, it's kinda painful.

What hurts IS the Redhawk's hump. The gun rolls back and that hump is what stops the roll. What everyone here and elsehwere is telling me is to buy the grips and try those. So I will. I want to be able to shoot factory loads somewhat painlessly. Reloading is good, and I'll be working up some really light plinking loads for it if I keep it. I just don't want to be dependent on those to shoot my gun.

...and it helps when your not-so-gun-liking future wife tells you to keep it because it's a big, badass gun.

 

[This45Colt]

As a general rule, if you let a single action ride a little bit in your hands, it will be more comfortable to shoot than a double action (provided you exclude rubber grips)

 

[dagger dog]

Keep your Redhawk, shoot some .44 Specials, untill you get the grips you need to keep from battering yourself. You pick up a lot of bad shooting habit from using a firearm, revolver pistol rifle or shotgun that does not "fit". After you gain experiance with the Redhawk, you'll want to keep it it just takes a little time to get your body and the gun working to gether.

By the way those Pachmeyer Presentation grips are just about what you need ,they fill that gap at the rear of the trigger guard.

 

[Northrunner]

New Presentation Grips For Sale

I've got a brand new set of those Presentation grips in the box for sale if you're interested. I bought them for my Redhawk, but my hands are to small for them. $23.00, I'll pay the shipping.

 

[ClemY]

I like Pachmayr Presentation grips on my Redhawks. I like Eagle Gunfighter grips on my Blackhawks and Super Blackhawk.

 

[Fmjblack]

I have Hogue Tamer grips on my 7.5" Super Redhawk and they really take the punishment out of shooting .44 magnum loads and .44 special is laughably soft shooting. I am not a "mutant" by any means at 5'9" and the Hogue Tamer's fit my hands perfectly... I actually found the factory wood/rubber grips to be a bit too slim. If Hogue Tamer's are available for the standard Redhawk as well I would highly recommend giving them a "shot".

 

[awgrizzly]

+1 for the Hogue Tamers... they have gel at the back to soften the blow a bit. On the back of the box for mine it says it fits an Alaskan, Super Redhawk and a GP100. Worth checking if you can get them to fit the Redhawk.

 

[BCRider]

Look into reloading with slower powders. It enhances the fireball effect and reduces the snap to more of a huge push. As for the fireball if you're shooting for fun with a gun of this sort then there's no downside to a big fireball like there may be if you're hunting with the same gun. But then you can have some "clean and dark" shooting loads for hunting and still play with the massive flash rounds at the range. That's the great thing about .44Mag. You can tailor the loads to suit your needs.

You may also be surprised to find that you can still shoot magnum rounds if you lower the load to something less than full spec. I haven't reloaded for .44 yet but I've done some batches of .357Mag using some different powders. The full house H110 loads are easy to shoot in my big N frame Highway Patrolman but are a trifle too stout for my Model 19 in light of the fact that no more barrels are available. But going down from 14.2 to 12.8 gns of 2400 reduced the punch while still qualifying as a Magnum round and made it fun to shoot these loads from the 19.

The moral here is that you may find you can still shoot rounds that qualify as .44Magnum but by picking your powder and running loads that are just a touch on the light side of middle power you might find that they are fun and don't do any harm that results in aches that last through the evening.