Ruger .45 Colt Single-Actions

Bill Ruger redefines a category
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Ruger’s New Vaquero, center, is slightly smaller than the original Vaqueros.

In 1955 Bill Ruger modernized the centerfire single action with the introduction of his .357 Magnum Blackhawk. Using the virtually unbreakable coil spring action of his 1953 Single-Six .22, Ruger enlarged the frame to the size of the Colt Single Action and chambered it for the most powerful cartridge of the time, the .357 Magnum. He didn’t stop there! He also flat-topped the frame and incorporated a fully adjustable Micro rear sight matched up with a ramp front sight. Barrel length of the original Ruger .357 was an easy packin’ 4-5/8″ and the grip frame was identical to the Colt Single Action. Bill Ruger had virtually given sixgunners the perfect outdoorsman’s revolver.

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Target shot with Ruger’s 7-1/2" New Vaquero .45 Colt.

Thick as a Brick

Writing in 1955 Elmer Keith said: “We would have preferred a slightly larger frame and a cylinder a bit larger in diameter, especially for the .45 Colt cartridge, but this .357 Ruger is one honey of a gun and amply heavy for the .357 and .44 Special and will give the standard chamber wall thickness if Bill ever chambers it for the .45 Colt.” Perhaps, the .44 Special would have followed on the heels of the .357, however, in late 1955 the .44 Magnum arrived. Ruger tried to chamber the Blackhawk for the new .44 but when one blew while proof testing, he wisely increased the size of the frame and the diameter of the cylinder. Keith did not have the .45 Colt but he now had the basic platform for building one.

Both the .357 and .44 Magnum Blackhawks are now known to collectors as Flat-Tops. They would be in production until 1963 when what is now known as the Old Models emerged. Since Ruger had brought forth the .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk in 1959, the Flat-Top .44 Magnum was dropped with the advent of the Old Models. The Three-Screw Old Models had two “improvements.” The same protective ears found on both sides of the rear sight of the Super Blackhawk were now incorporated into all Ruger single actions and the grip frame was changed from the XR3 “Colt-style” to the XR3-RED, allowing more room between the back of the trigger guard and the front strap. To me this change was totally ill conceived and whenever possible I have fitted the original XR3 to my working Old Model Blackhawks.

The .44 Magnum Flat-Top was now gone, however, the .357 Magnum was joined by the .41 Magnum in 1965, a .30 Carbine in 1968 and finally, the .45 Colt in 1970. At the time, I was attending graduate school in Missoula, Mont. and trying to find any way to keep my sanity while being away from the family. I wandered into the local gun shop and there it was — a Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk with a 7-1/2″ barrel. I didn’t even notice the extra .45 ACP cylinder as I made arrangements for it to be shipped to my FFL dealer back in Idaho. The Old Model Blackhawk would only be in production for three years, with both 7-1/2″ and 4-5/8″ versions. Both barrel lengths were offered as Convertibles with the extra ACP cylinder. A few were even made with the Super Blackhawk brass grip frame.

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Super ’Hawk

Just as Keith had suggested, Ruger did not use the Colt-sized .357 Blackhawk frame and cylinder but wisely went with the .44 Flat-Top/Super Blackhawk platform. This opened whole new vistas for the ancient .45 Colt. For the first time since 1873, we now had a sixgun capable of using the large capacity of the black powder .45 Colt cartridge case. With the coming of smokeless powder in the 1890s the large volume of the .45 Colt case could not be utilized with higher pressures resulting from smokeless powder in the available sixguns of the time. The larger .45 Blackhawk allowed us to shoot 250-grain cast bullets at .44 Magnum muzzle velocities, but more importantly for the handgun hunter we could now very safely drive 300-grain .45 bullets at 1,200 fps.

The original .45 Colt Blackhawk Old Model was only in production from 1970 to 1973 with a total output of just over 23,000 units. In 1973 all Ruger Blackhawks were changed to the New Model. Gone were the three screws in the side of the frame and the half cock-notch on the hammer.
Up to this point, to load any traditional single-action, the loading gate was opened, the hammer was placed on half cock and the time-honored method of “load one-skip one-load four” was employed. If done correctly the hammer could then be brought to the full cock notch and then lowered carefully on an empty chamber. The only safe way to carry any traditional single actions is with an empty chamber under the hammer. If six rounds were loaded and the hammer rested on the firing pin, which rested on the primer or depended upon the so-called “safety,” which was anything but, a sharp blow on the hammer could result in the cartridge firing with sometimes disastrous results.

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