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New old Redhawk

3K views 18 replies 15 participants last post by  jstanfield103 
#1 ·
My son and I attended the Eagle Gun Show in Oaks, PA last weekend. They claimed 2000 tables - I didn't count them, but there were a LOT of tables. We spend over 5 hours there.

I went hoping to find a nice CZ 75 (I'm not a fan of plastic pistols except for concealed carry) and possibly a Dan Wesson .44. I did find a nice unfired CZ 75 (the police version) for $480 after taxes and transfers.

The Dan Wesson large frames are, I admit, now getting too rich for my tastes. The lowest asking price I saw was $1500, though it was in nice shape.

Then I noticed, in the same case, a Ruger Redhawk .44 with a 7.5 in barrel, stainless steel, and Ruger wooden grips, in absolutely mint condition. Upon close inspection it did appear to have been fired, but certainly not much at all. Turns out it was the personal firearm of one of the people working the tables, who had used it briefly for hunting. After a second visit to the table (can't appear too interested), some bartering, and the dealer throwing in a Bianchi 111 Cyclone holster and a set of Pachmayr Presentation grips, we settled on $610 for the package.

This is not my first .44, as I have a New Model Super Blackhawk in that caliber, but it is my first stainless steel firearm. I'm well experienced in caring for blued and parkerized guns, but would appreciate any suggestions on keeping the stainless steel clean and well preserved.

Also, per the serial number, this gun was produced in the summer of 1981, making it an early issue of the gun. Does this seem to predate the assembly problems that led to barrel failures back in the mid-eighties?
 

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#4 ·
Nice find! I have the same gun and love it, I think you will too.
 
#7 ·
Great looking find.
Congratulations.
 
#11 ·
Nice. I've got the same Redhawk but mine's from 1984. Taking care of stainless is a lot easier than blued. Just clean after sessions and oil it up. With stainless you don't have to be picky about solvents either. And if you want to polish it up, Flitz or Mothers will make it look like new.
 
#13 ·
Nice find. I do think yours is from that early era where barrel breakage was known to occur but the actual instances of such are pretty uncommon. It seemed to take a combination of the thread lube used and rough handling/usage. Another theory is the guns that were partially assembled on a Friday and then sat over the weekend were more prone to the problem. If so then you can see how the number of guns affected would be low. You could contact Ruger CS to discuss it if you feel it's needed but if it were mine I wouldn't worry about it and just shoot it and see what happens. I'm sure if you ever had any problems Ruger would take care of it.
 
#14 ·
Congratulations on the Redhawk. You will find out that they are a lot more comfortable to shoot than the Blackhawks.
Raise that rear sight up a little bit and step back and expand her wings, I bet she will impress you.
I would say if you had one with thread problems that it would have already reared it's head. I bet you have one that the Lube did not sit over the weekend. Keep us up todate on how she shoots and what you think of her on the range.
 
#15 ·
We plan to be off to the range tomorrow morning with .380, 9mm, and .44mag on the menu. Most of the shooting will be with our carry pieces, but the big Redhawk will be the highlight. Ought to be fun.
 
#17 ·
I had a SS security six that I found at a gunshow about 1985 something.
A few weeks later I noticed "red swarming" marks.
Seems a previous owner "polished" it with steel wool....and left
some in the metal.
sold it after some clean up shortly thereafter.
should have kept it and beadblasted it.
 
#18 ·
Well, we went to the range this morning and had a blast. We shot all three of our carry pieces, the new CZ 75 B Police, our older NMSB, and the Redhawk. Lots of lead went downrange.

jstanfield: we did find the Redhawk more comfortable to shoot than the Super Blackhawk but not by much. We had the Pachmayr Presentation grips on the Redhawk, and Uncle Mike's 50001 rubber grips on the SB. The Uncle Mike grips are a bit softer and thicker than the Pachmayr's, so that may have a lot to do with it. More twist but less impact with the SB/50001 combo.

While only a bit more comfortable to shoot, the Redhawk, for me, is more accurate right away than the NMSB. Sights were spot on. Best groups were about 2 inches at 15 yards offhand. Double action shooting is very nice, thought the weight is a bit much for my son. He much preferred the new CZ 75 we shot. Shooting the .44 mag indoors inevitably gets a lot of comments and we had fun showing off our new revolver and chatting with the other shooters.

Cleanup is more of a chore on the RH than the BH, of course.

After shooting the Redhawk, I couldn't be more pleased with the acquisition!
 
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