Ruger's New Model Blackhawk Part 1

02/14/2021

Evolution is in our nature. Evolution is a part of nature and quite necessary. If not for evolution, as suggested by the illustration of modern horses (left) versus early horses (right), we would have tall cowboys and short horses, with boots dragging across the prairie. It is God’s way of adapting, adjusting and perfecting all of his creations. Engineers shepherd evolution also, but through the mystical powers of the Engineering Change Order. Both God and Engineers have had significant successes.

On God’s score card, crocodiles have been with us for over two hundred million years. Sure, he flogged the design heavily during the initial one hundred fifteen years, but it has been pretty much smooth sailing for the past eighty five million. Success is noted as the crocodile still being with us, while its early dinosaur contemporaries have gone extinct or have morphed into birds and crocs have been the subject of an endless stream of low budget movies.

On the engineers score card, the Ruger Blackhawk evolved at a near mutation rate between 1955 until 1973. At that point, the Blackhawk had grown a transfer bar and became the New Model. Since that phase, the Blackhawk has essentially remained unchanged, with the exception of more subtle refinements. Proof of the Blackhawk’s success can be found in its ballistic performance, utility, reliability, and continued market demand for this sixty-six year old design. Movies credits? Only Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man as a feature film, however, it has appeared in a multitude of YouTube videos featuring old duffers who can’t get out from in front of a camera.

Joe, did you just compared the work of the Almighty to the output of an engineering department? Never, I was just reciting what engineers have told me. By my count, super firearm designs… defined as those that last for a century or more, are far and few between. Filtering out the trends, sales spikes and curiosity pieces, I figure about one out of every 1,000 fresh designs have staying power, but the Ruger Single Action, ignoring political intervention, has a solid shot at that hundred year mark.

Boomer or bigger boomer?

Ruger New Model Blackhawk
Manufacturer	Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.
Model	0465
Type	Single Action Revolver
Caliber	45 Colt
Capacity	6
Barrel Length	5.50“
Twist Rate	1:16″
Weight	*38 oz.
Overall Length	11.38″
Grips	Black Checkered Hard Rubber
Cylinder Frame	Blued Steel
Grip Frame	Hard Anodized Aluminum
Sights	Ramp – Front / Adjustable – Rear
Trigger Pull	*3 lbs. 12 oz. Average
Safety	Transfer Bar
MSRP	$669
* Actual

There are two sizes of Blackhawks, large frame and medium frame. Big bore cartridges typically end up on the large frame, but not always. The subject Blackhawk is built on a large frame, however, there have retro “flat tops” in 45 Colt built on the medium frame, as have all 45 Colt Vaqueros since 2005.

The easiest way to identity large and small frame Ruger single action revolvers is to measure the gun’s cylinder diameter; 1.732″ +/- for the large frame and 1.680″ +/- for the medium frame. Why is this of consequence?

 

45 Colt Duality – AKA Jekyll and Hyde

The 45 Colt is not an old cartridge. It is as new as any other cartridge on a retail shelf or one recently popped off of a reloading press. However, the original design is old; 1873 Colt Peacemaker introduction, balloon head case, black powder, 255 grain lead cast bullet moving in the vicinity of 900 fps.

Today, those limiting design aspects minimally apply. Stronger firearms, solid casehead cartridges, modern smokeless propellants, reliable ignition have combine to give the right firearm far greater performance potential. In short… although I guess the good ship U.S.S. Short has already sailed, the only thing old about toady’s 45 Colt is its name.

For folks who like to keep a period history flavor, particularly those who participate in Cowboy Action Shooting, they may select medium frame Blackhawks and Vaqueros, load them with SAAMI standard pressure cartridges and keep to 255 grain @ 900 fps levels of performance.

For people who want to extend the utility of the 45 Colt cartridge to medium and big game hunting as a primary or secondary firearm, a large frame Ruger Blackhawk with +P factory ammunition will get it done. Handloading ammunition under the guidance of the “Ruger and other strong actions only” section of any mainstream reloading manual will accomplish the same . Of course, the option of shooting SAAMI standard pressure 45 Colt ammunition in these stout firearms is not relinquished and may be used as circumstances dictate.  For context, of the fifty six widely distributed 45 Colt factory loads, fourteen are labeled +P (25%).

The degree of difference…

The work that has benefited me the most, related to experimental handloading for rifles and handguns, was authored by John Linebaugh. In fact, it was this material that motivated me to invest in a universal receiver and test barrels, transducers and to stay up late at night playing with charge amplifiers and computer based oscilloscopes. You know, the kind of technology a modern twelve year old middle school student could master in a week. That is how it is for people born before the invention of the wheel.

The SAAMI spec 45 Colt Cartridge has a Maximum Average Pressure reading of 14,000 psi and 14,000 CUP. Linebaugh’s assessment of the Blackhawk, based on frame and cylinder strength and supporting test data from H.P White Labs, is that the large frame Blackhawk is safe to 32,000 CUP. Unfortunately, my equipment does not measure CUP, only PSI and 14,000 CUP and 14,000 PSI are not the same standards of measurement, so I I could not just load to 32,000 PSI.

I have had good results with Garret 45 Colt +P ammo. Garret Cartridges loads their +P 45 Colt ammunition to 36,000 PSI and that is the pressure ceiling I observe. Buffalo Bore loads to a somewhat higher level, as does Grizzly. Why not just follow the SAAMI +P spec? There is none, as the SAAMI standard is set for safe use in the original 1873 Colt revolver and similar designs. What constitutes +P Colt pressure levels is determined and policed by the producing company.

The subject Blackhawk’s cylinder measured 1.736″ in diameter and 1.710″ long across the cylinder body, discounting the indexer at the rear and the bushing at the front. The SAAMI maximum overall cartridge length for the 45 Colt is only 1.610″ and that includes a 0.060″ rim thickness, so the Ruger offers handloaders plenty of room for long heavy bullets in the Ruger’s cylinder with proper clearance for cylinder rotation.

At the chamber end of the cylinder, where walls are at their thinnest, outside wall thickness is 0.080″ and adjacent cylinder wall thickness is 0.070″. Chamber diameter is 0.480″. At the throat end of the cylinder, outside wall thickness is 0.100″ and adjacent wall thickness is 0.098″.  Throat diameter measured 0.451″.

The frame’s top strap, forward of the sight protecting ears, is 0.250″ thick. The same frame, when used with a five shot cylinder for added chamber wall thickness, can withstand the 65,000 PSI MAP of the 454 Casull and 48,000 MAP of the even larger 480 Ruger.

The material difference between the large frame Blackhawk and Super Blackhawk are the grip frames. The Blackhawk grip frame is fashioned from hard anodized aluminum with a compact X3 grip. The Super Blackhawk grip frame is slightly longer and blued steel or stainless steel as consistent with the model.

Ruger Blackhawk standard and +P ammunition  comparisons