I got one last week. I've taken it to the range a couple of times, & fired a lot of different rounds through it. The first time i fired some CAS 45 colt loads, & a few moon clips of 45acp. Everything was fine.. just the maiden voyage.
The next time, i had lubed it up, & shot more 45 acp through it, to compare with my s&w 625. I had a few light strikes, & was worried that i got a lemon. I did a search about the light strike problem with the redhawks, & it seems to be an issue.
I think the main problem with mine was the pin holding the trigger spring under the grip. I had put on some pachmayrs, & evidently the pin had slipped out. I pushed it back in, & applied a bit of white lithium grease on the pivot points. I cleaned out the firing pin, & took it out again today. No FTF's or light strikes AT ALL. I worked the trigger a bunch of times yesterday, & it probably helped smooth things out a bit.
I brought a taurus judge i had modified to take 45acp moon clips, & the smith 625, to compare distance & accuracy. I also loaded up some hotter test loads with 4227, 250 & 300 grain bullets. They were pretty mild, so i loaded up some more this afternoon, & will try them out next range trip.
The redhawk is not broken in, yet, so it is unfair to compare it to the smith, which i have put hundreds through. It is still the most accurate, but i'm sure the redhawk will improve with age & use. I was able to try out some 100+ yd shots, & the redhawk was comparable to the taurus, but not the smith. Of course, the smith will not shoot hot 45 colt loads.
My loads were pretty mild, for starters, & i've upped the powder a bit to get more power. The 300 grain has a nice kick to it, but not as much as a full 44 magnum. The next loads might get a bit closer.
I have an older redhawk in 44 magnum. It has been shot a lot, & is pretty loose.
No problems at all, going from 45 colt to 45 acp. Naturally, the smith moonclips won't work in the ruger, or vice versa. How hard would that be, to standardize on something like that? The ruger clips are pretty nice. They have a split spring clip grip, & can be unloaded by hand, while the smith ones need a tool. I got some aftermarket nylon ones, that work great in the smith, but need to be cut down to work in the ruger. I did one, to try it out, but it makes the hold weaker.. not a good solution.
Anyway, i haven't posted much here, but i'll try to keep up with this thread & update my impressions of the redhawk. I like it. The small wood grips did not work for me, so i put some pachmayr decelerators that i had on my other redhawk. Even though it was a square butt, it fit. Hopefully, hogue &/or pachmayr will make a tighter, round butt grip.