Ruger Super Blackhawk Sight Issues

[HiWayMan]

I recently purchased a Ruger Super Blackhawk with 7-1/2" barrel in .44 mag. With the rear sight cranked all the way down it still shoots 6"-8" high at 50 yds.

Are there any easy fixes?

All I can think of so far are to build up the front sight with a MIG welder, file the notch and ears of the rear sight, or throw a red dot on it.

Slightly miffed that Ruger has yet to address this as most every one I talk to at my club has also had this issue and most have simply moved onto the dot or scope solution to fix it.

 

[CraigC]

With what loads is it shooting high? My late model 7½" Bisley .44 shot high with anything heavier or slower than full-steam 240gr loads. Had to have David Clements install a taller front sight.

 

[HiWayMan]

Loads were 310gr at about 950fps and some 246gr .44 specials at 850fps. Same result with both......high.

So smoking 240gr may be a partial ticket huh?

 

[danjet500]

Typically the heavier bullets will tend to shoot higher. One solution, if your gun is stainless, is to get a front sight for a .45 Blackhawk. The front sight on a stainless SBH is pinned in place and is easy to replace. The .45 sight is taller.

 

[Kernel]

If it's a pinned in sight, call Ruger and ask for the tallest front sight they got and a new pin. Parts and shipping should be free. Otherwise, you can send it back to Ruger and have them install the new taller front sight. Ask for a prepaid shipping lable, should be zero costs to you, but more of a hassle. Blackhawks shooting high is a common complaint on THR.

 

[BCRider]

Yep, heavy or slower shoots higher. And heavy AND slow shoots higher still. The reason being that it spends longer in the barrel so it leaves the muzzle later in the lift due to the recoil which starts as soon as the bullet begins to move.

Given that the whole point behind a gun of this sort is to be able to shoot any load from mild "wadcutter target load" like soft plinkers to full bore magnums you'd think that Ruger would give us a set of sights that can adjust over the sort of range of options such as this.

There's lots of meat on the site base. Some enterprising young gunsmith could make a lot of cash by offering a front sight slotting service and oversize blade replacement. Even better would be if it were possible to arrange a blade that is easily replacable with a set screw or set screws so that different height blades can be swapped in and out to suit the different ranges of power levels so that the rear elevation becomes more of a fine tuning adjustment. After all if the rear sight can't compensate for shooting softer loads then it likely doesn't have the range of adjustment to deal with the full difference from light .44"wadcutter" loads to full house Magnum loads.

 

[murf]

not pretty, but i built up acraglas and filed to suite.

 

[ralph2]

I have a 10.5 in model and have found I need about 1100 fps to get on center of target. I have
thought of getting the barrel shortened so I could shoot some softer loads but I guess if 7.5 inches
doesn't do it, what would ?

 

[BCRider]

The length of the barrel hasn't got anything to do with where the gun hits. Well, actually it does by a little. But not in the way that you are implying.

The sights are tuned to a specific velocity and bullet weight combo. Different bullets weights will each have their own speed that results in the rounds hitting at POA for each barrel length. It's all about picking a bullet and then experimenting with the reload charge that produces the right duration of bullet in barrel to match the recoil strength so that the bullet leaves the barrel at the point where it's in line with the POA.

 

[HiWayMan]

Well... I ran the math last night and it looks like I can bring down my groups by 8" by lowering the rear sight ears and notch 0.042". If that proves unsatisfactory then it is either off to Ruger or a custom smith. Aggrivating to say the least.

 

[CraigC]

I have a 10.5 in model and have found I need about 1100 fps to get on center of target. I have
thought of getting the barrel shortened so I could shoot some softer loads but I guess if 7.5 inches
doesn't do it, what would ?

Well, if you have the barrel shortened, then you could have any height front sight installed you want.

 

[Old Fuff]

Ruger now offers owner-replaceable front sights on their GP-100 line of revolvers. There is no reason they couldn't do the same on Blackhawks. Maybe it's time to drop them a hint.

 

[CraigC]

Lord I hope not, that might mean the ugly Super Redhawk front sight base on single actions!!! It would be best if the blued guns simply used a pinned blade like their stainless counterparts.