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What do you think of your 30 carbine Ruger Blackhawk?

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Fatelvis

Fatelvis

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Im asking anyone who has, or had a Blackhawk in 30 carbine caliber: is it accurate? Does it hit "hard" (compared to other handgun cartridges)? Would you advise someone to buy it, or move to another caliber? Im looking at one, and am thinking of getting it. Thanks-
 
Would you advise someone to buy it, or move to another caliber
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That depends on what you want it for. My knee-jerk reaction would be to say, "Go to another caliber". You probably don't want to use a large single-action revolver for home defense, and it's too large for concealed carry. Most experts say that a .30 Carbine (especially from a handgun) is too small to hunt deer-sized game, and if you're looking for a varmint handgun, you can probably find one in an easier-to-find, cheaper to shoot caliber. However, if you have another firearm chambered for .30 Carbine, go for it.

With that said, I have one and I like it - a lot. It is fun to shoot and it is quite accurate - at least I think it is - I can usually get sub-3", 6-shot groups out of it at about 40 yds with the factory sights from a rest. It shoots pretty flat too.

I bought mine used for just under $300 because I have an M1 Carbine and wanted a handgun in the same caliber. I don't know how hard it hits since I've never hunted with it but "they" say it has ballistics similar to (but slightly less powerful than) a .357 Magnum.

One thing I noticed: Factory ammo is designed for a carbine-length barrel. When fired from the Blackhawk, the muzzle flash is extreme. It's also very loud. When I take this gun to the range, I usually get at least one, "What the heck is that?" comment.

I've seen some published load data for .30 Carbine that are formulated for a handgun. I plan to start reloading in this winter; one of my projects is to try to find a load that works well in the Blackhawk. I've had good results with all brands of ammo except American Eagle. It was very hard to eject the spent American Eagle brass - I had to press a wooden dowel onto the extractor and tap the end with a screwdriver handle. For what it's worth, I consistently get the best groups with Magtech ammo.
 
My limited experience with it is it is "loud". What was that, I could not hear your question? Do you ask how loud? Eh????

YES IT IS VERY VERY LOUD!

Think muffs and plugs on this little beast! Quite a lot of fun to shoot though. I really enjoyed plinking with it. Reloads were slow though, hard to get the long cartridge into the cylinder.

Just remember it is very very loud!
 
I use a grain less powder in my pistol loads, just to get the point of impact to coincide with the point of aim at pistol distances. The pistol loads won't cycle the carbine. I don't know if its the gun, the caliber or me, but I shoot it more accurately and precise than any of my other pistols, except my Buckmark.

It's still a loud flamethrower.
 
Its a fun gun.ruger originally developed it because there was a surplus of 30 Carbine ammo back in the 60s.I like to shoot clay targets at 100 yds or so.Wear duoble hearing protection when shooting Muffs+plugs.
 
I can't say from experience. I have a New Model and find the action quite smooth although it is the only single-action revolver that I own, so I do not have anything to compare it to.

Silly question but since the Old models have been around longer (and by extension - shot more) wouldn't they have had more time to smooth out? Also, aren't the terms "smooth out faster" and "wear out faster" interchangeable?


EDIT: I just notice you said "smooth out better" and not "smooth out faster". I'm not sure there's a difference though.
 
Fatelvis said:
I like the way you think Eddie! :D It sounds logical. Although less moving parts is usually a plus.
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Thanks. I generally agree about the moving parts - unless one of the new moving parts keeps the gun from going off accidentally. You should be able to get a sense of the relative smoothness of the actions in the store though. My guess is that it'll be hard to tell the difference. I mean, it's a single action. The only important part of the feel is going to be the trigger pull.
 
I have one.

Everyone has their own opinion, but I don't see any good reason to buy one. If you want a Blackhawk, one in .357 will do everything the .30 Carbine will do and a lot more.
Of course if you just like weird stuff or feel like you have to own one of everything, then have at it. This is the group that best describes me. :eek:
 
Myself and others have found these guns have a sticky chambering and extraction issues. I like mine sort of but as mentioned, my 357mag blackhawk does just about everything my 30carbine one does and does it the same or better.

I bought it also partly to have a more reliable very good penetrating handgun as both my CZ52's and especially my Chinese Tokarev in 7.62x25 have reliability issues.
 
Don't buy it

Dear Fatelvis,

I bought one because I wanted a pistol to match my .30 carbine. My .30 cal Ruger Blackhawk with a 7.5" barrel is very accurate. While I am not an expert pistol shooter (I’m better and more comfortable with rifles), I collected on a bet by hitting a quarter with it at 25 feet (in two out of six attempts). When loading, not all rounds fit all chambers. I have to experiment, by switching the rounds around, to get them all to drop in nicely. Extraction, after firing, is a problem almost every time. After each set of six rounds have been discharged I often find myself disassembling it and reverting to using a hammer and center punch to get some stuck brass out. I still can't find a reasonably priced holster for this behemoth. I don’t have any quantitave data, but I know it "hits hard" as it has ruined every pistol arcade type target I have used it on. The three different kinds/brands were attempted and they got beefier each time, but they still got bent to hell. I only use it with (boring) paper targets at outdoor ranges now. Of the five indoor shooting ranges I have visited, none will let me shoot it there. By default, it is my SD weapon. As already mentioned, it is obscenely loud and in low light a big flame can be seen. I hope the noise and flash scares any bad guys away as I only have 5 rounds to use at them (I keep one chamber empty) before I am at their mercy. The resale value isn't good and I wish that I had bought a double action .357 instead of this loud but accurate brass jammer.


Stuck with a lemon,

“Doc” G. Brown
 
I bought one becasue it was dirt cheap. Was a nifty revolver, but I sold it to fund something a little more practical. Besides that O model gets shot and carried ALOT more than the 30 carbine ruger ever did.
 
docgbrown said:
Stuck with a lemon,

“Doc” G. Brown
Click to expand...

Doc, FWIW I had the same extraction problems until I tried the Magtech ammo. It's the only stuff I use in it now. Well that and some old surplus military stuff I bought for the M1. It also extracts beautifully but the brass is noticably thicker. I bought 5000 rounds of it almost 20 years ago and misplaced it in my last move. I recently re-disovered it, tried it, and it works fine.
 
Indoor ranges that do not allow a 30 carbine handgun but allow a 357mag revolver are very ignorant as the velocities would be about the same as well as would be a 7.62x25Tok.

When I was involved with a range I welcomed 30 carbine HANDGUNS with open arms but never saw one:( A 30carbine from a rifle was a bit hard on the backstop especially with certain ammo so I disallowed it generally though I did shoot mine after hours on rare occasion with careful ammo selection, nothing too hot or with steel in the jacket.
 
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