Ruger revolver shooting high

[pbearperry]

I recently purchased a new Ruger 44 mag relolver.It is the new Model Super
Blackhawk with a 5 1/2" barrel in stainless.Today I attempted to sight it in at 50 yds for the upcoming deer season.I had several batches of 240 gr JHP reloads along with some 240 gr swc reloads.I also had some new 240 gr Winchester JHP's.Low and belold,each bullet shot 3 to 8 inches high with the rear sight screwed all the way down.
Has anyone else had this problem?The front sight is clearly too low.I am starting to get tired of shoddy workmanship.The last 2 Rugers I have bought have had some kind of issue with it.Three years ago I bought a Ruger Bisley Vaquero in 44 mag with a 4 5/8 " barrel and the cylinder base pin kept backing out after 3-4 shots.Is it just me or are the older guns better?

 

[IrvJr]

pbearperry - I bought a bunch of Ruger Revolvers in the past few years. The best finished, most accurate out of the box were the older ones. I had a Blackhawk .45 convertible that was made several years ago and it was beautifully finished, and shot point to aim right out of the box. Same thing with my single Six - it was made a few years ago and it is very nicely finished and shoots wonderfully.

My more recent Ruger revolvers (which I also brought brand new) had some quality defects and weren't finished as nicely. Ruger fixed them up right and even refinished one of my revolvers to remove all of the tool marks and scratches that were on the gun originally, but I had to wait several months for them to fix it.

I think you're probably right - the older Ruger revolvers were made better. I think quality slipped in recent years, although I think they are making changes to improve quality. Their customer service department really fixed my guns nicely, even though it took a while to wait (3 or more months IIRC). I read in some business journal a year or so ago that Ruger was stopping the practice of paying their assemblers on a piecemeal basis in an effort to improve quality.

Also, I've had very good experience with a recent production KP95R (very nicely finished, even for a polymer framed gun, accurate, super reliable) and with my recently produced Mini 14 Ranch Rifle (nicely finished, super reliable, good plinking accuracy).

 

[RecoilRob]

Shooting a magnum single-action revolver is quite a dynamic undertaking. The bullet is still travelling down the barrel when the pistol is beginning to move upwards in recoil. The SA plow handle grip makes this even more pronounced.

If I shot your pistol, it would likely throw the bullets into a different part of the target just because I hold it differently. Not a fault of the pistol at all.

Ruger chose the front sight height to try to allow most people shooting most loads to be able to adjust the rear sight to POI. Your loads and hold have it shooting over that.

Note that your different ammo goes from 3" to 8" high with the same sight setting. This is the difference in recoil having its' way with the pistol.

Three things you can do. Change to a lighter bullet load....that will bring the POI down. Hold the pistol with a firmer grip.....that will also bring the POI down. Or, if you must use the ammo that is shooting high for you and you cannot alter your hold, it isn't hard to find a taller front sight for your revolver.

 

[Gator]

What RecoilRob said. If it was the gun it would be consistently high. I'd try concentrating on your grip, or trying different grips first. Rubber Pachmayr's change the POI of my Super Blackhawk.

 

[IrvJr]

pbearperry - I agree with RecoilRob and Gator said, but if all else fails, it might be the gun.

When I first bought my Super Blackhawk (.44 mag., 4-5/8" barrel) it grouped like a shotgun for me at 10 yards. I sought advice and many people thought it might be my grip, or that I wasn't used to shooting the plowhandle style gun, or that I was resting my arms on a bench while I shot. However, I also had a Ruger Blackhawk (.45 Colt, 4-5/8" barrel) and I had no problems shooting that gun accurately at 10 yards or 25 yards.

I eventually had a friend at the range, who has the same gun (SBH, .44mag, 4-5/8" barrel) shoot the gun and he got big groups too.

My SBH shot poorly with .44 sp loads, .44 mag loads (factory loads). It shot poorly offhand and using a padded rest. Eventually I returned it to Ruger and they replaced the cylinder, did something to the barrel, replaced/repaired the rear sight, and refinished the gun. When it came back to me, I took it to the range and the thing shot like a laser beam. At 11 yards, the holes were cloverleafed on top of each other. They also did a nice job refinishing it, remove some tool marks that were in the frame (I had complained about them in my letter that I sent with the gun).

Good luck with your Ruger. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[JB696]

You should be very thankful that it is only shooting high. I bought a new Super Blackhawk a while back. When I went to the range for the first sight-in session, I set up a life sized human torso target at 50 yards. I shot off 12 rounds from a steady rest and then stopped to see where they were hitting. Not one shot on the paper. I shot off a few more and then I noticed a clump of dirt fly up way over by the 200 yard rifle backstop which is set up next to the pistol range. So I started cranking over the rear sight. And kept cranking it. When it was all the way over I finally got it to hit on the paper. About a foot from point of aim. You're lucky. Yours can be fixed with a flattened dob of JB weld on the tip of the front sight. My piece of crap had to either go back to the factory for a rebuild or get unloaded at a pawn shop for half of what I paid for it.

 

[O.S.O.K.]

shooting high

I agree that you should review your shooting technique as it absolutely does affect poi. In general, practice the way you will shoot in the field - put any support (shooting sticks, etc.) under your wrists and keep your hands free to recoil with the shot.

You can also do a couple of other things - 1) I think there are aftermarket front sight blades of different heights for the blackhawk - a taller one would obviously fix your problem 2) you could go to a 300 grain bullet which would lower our poi at 50 yards.

I personally believe in heavy, hard-cast, flat nosed bullets of gas check design for hangun hunting. 240 grains is plenty for the 44 but the 300 grainers land lower in trajectory. Oregon Train, Leadhead and others produce these type of bullets. Federal loads these factory too.

The 44 mag is a large enough caliber that it doesn't need any bullet expansion to be effective. The only thing aside from shot placement that can hurt the performance of the 44 is lack of penetration - which can happen with an angled shot and a fragile "defense" type 240 grain bullet. The hard cast bullets of the same weight will punch through and through a white tail deer from any angle of entry. The deer will then have a 44 caliber hole completely through it which will bleed out profusely.

One thing- if you do choose to go with a hard cast bullet, first clean your blackhawk's bore throroughly (remove all copper fouling) before going to the cast bullets - this will ensure best accuracy.

 

[sfhogman]

A lot of folks seem to have that problem with Ruger single-actions. Your might want to call Ruger. I've had the same problem with my last 2 Single-Sixes- no real recoil problems there- and they just sent taller front sights, free of charge.

 

[USBP 1969]

Ruger Rear Sight Heights

Howdy. Ruger catalogs two different rear sight blade heights for their adjustable rear sights in their parts catalog for the GP-100 and Redhawk. Those blades are interchangeable with the Blackhawk and Super Black Hawk rear sight blades.

As I recall, there's about 40/1000" difference between the two sights blades. If your rear blade is the high one, then the shorter one should be the answer.

Using the formula sights radius divided by the distance to the target in inches will give you an indication of how much actual sight height change is needed. Example: 7 3/4" sight radius divided by 1800" (50 yards) is about 4/1000" sight height change for 1 inch impact change at 50 yards. That means that if your sight blade is indeed the high one, the low one will drop the POI by about 10 inches with the same setting.

The parts catalogs are found at: http://www.ruger.com/Firearms/PS-PartsBooklets.html

Also, over the years I have sent two Rugers back to the factory for repairs and when they were returned they were well set up.

Hope this helps,
Kent

 

[wcwhitey]

I would say check your shooting first, good advice given. With that said
I had the same problem with my 7 1/2" SBH, had to handload and shoot 180 XTP's to shoot at 50 yards. It worked, but limited the gun. Called Ruger, they sent me a new front sight blade for free. Mine was pinned on and I could have changed it myself but still had a smith replace it for $10 bucks. I eventually put a Wiegand front sight on which gives me interchangeable blades. Now I can shoot any weight .44 mag with plenty adjustment on the rear sight left. LOL Bill