It is so old it’s almost new. Almost. Bought about 35 years ago, the Ruger Redhawk was my
only centerfire handgun at that time. As such I used it a lot, and for basically everything.
Primers in those days were affordable and readily available. In order to feed the beast
without starving my family I did invest in casting equipment, a move I’ve continued to benefit
from to this day. Lead also came cheap then from tire shops. No longer, they’ve all been
under some recycling contract for years. But I still have ingots from those better times.
That Redhawk was mine before joining HSC. In those days we plinked often. That was much fun
one time at Horseshoe Lake where the backstop was in line with all the driftwood near the
high-water mark. Almost every shot provided eye candy as the heavy lead slugs slammed through
the tangled debris and spewed splintered wood.
A few times I was invited to shoot bowling pins indoors. Great fun, also frustrating. For that
I practiced double action fire. By the way, wear safety glasses when shooting, especially at
those pins. One evening a guy standing behind me got hit in the leg by a 325-grainer (Lead Bullet
Technology mould) that had bounced back off a hardwood pin. My records indicate that was with 8
grains of AA#2, the bullet doing around 870 fps. Did not hurt his leg but an eyeball would have
been very unhappy. It is rare that I shoot jacketed bullets in this gun.
My Redhawk has been to Alaska, together with a box of 20 rounds, 325-grainers, easily doing 1200
fps, and primers sealed with nail polish. But without me. Friends from work had cashed in on a
caribou hunt cancelled by another party and offered at a discount. They had the revolver in hand
every time they travelled through thick alder bushes, most certainly when carrying game meat.
Luckily, they never had to fire a shot from that revolver.
When I did join HSC they held dueling tree contests. I did quite well then, drifting flags in
double action mode with lighter roundnose loads. Speed loading in that game is still a losing
situation.
Of course I also used the Redhawk for hunting. It was my javelina gun. Was. Soon after purchase
I optimized it with a quick-detachable scope. So equipped I thought I had both scenarios covered.
Longer shots would allow the few seconds to attach the scope. For the “kick em out scenario”
double action allowed for quick follow-up shots.
Such was my theory. Then reality arrived. Two pigs did come to bag, with the scope on top, the
last one in 2007. On another hunt I had a ‘shot through brush’. The pig fled, only to become
faster and faster as the double action shots roared out after it. None connected. With revolver
empty the pig got away.
But I was hunting with two guns by then already – the open-sighted Redhawk in a hip holster, and
a scoped Contender in a shoulder holster. The TC bagged a straggler.
About that time Kimber came out with a high-capacity 1911 in 45 ACP. It was the end of Redhawk
javelina hunts. My TC gave me at least another fifty yards of hunting range. The Kimber offered
more than twice the shots of the revolver and with a slightly better trigger. Shots also come
faster, plus it was lighter to carry.
To be clear, to this day I have not killed a pig on the move. But the Kimber has three notches
and remains my hunting backup weapon. Carried it on both deer and elk hunt in 2022 as well.
Back to the Redhawk. It still is my fishing gun, mainly because it is made from stainless steel,
which, by the way, due to its satin finish easily cleans up with stuff like lead-away cloth, also
good for removing what little lead might build up in its barrel. Yes, this rugged Ruger has gone
into the drink with me, twice, while slipping and tripping in mountain streams in pursuit of trout.
I strongly believe it prefers that over being almost forgotten back in the safe.
Aside from fishing duty, that poor Ruger only gets to go out for our recent Big Boar matches, a
far cry from what we did together three decades ago.
All that went through my mind on the way home after the fourth day of looking for javelina this
year. Never seen any. Could have easily just carried the neglected Ruger on the hip than
clutching in my hand the 30 Herrett Contender with bulky suppressor attached.
I made a commitment that evening to take my old/almost-new Ruger out again. As it turned out, for
much shooting. Besides, after the javelina season it appears customary for me to play, experiment,
test, etc, until early fall when, hopefully, the next hunting season draws nearer. Also, with my
own cast bullets the ammo costs are at a minimum.
Regarding primers, with Large Pistol I must have been a good little squirrel. So we went shooting.
However, with some purpose. One of them was to decide on some standard loads for this 44 Mag.
When it was my only CF handgun I had (too) many special purpose loads for it. Some of those
basically needed to just be shot up anyway. And as it turned out, two of those, loaded with AA#9,
failed to fire.
Recoil
Aside from shooting some of what I had already loaded years ago, and after studying load data, a
powder for a wider range of velocity for the 44 Magnum appears to be Winchester 231 (W231). I
loaded 10 rounds each for the 240 grain lead bullets, beginning with 6 grains, in 1-grain increments,
up to the listed maximum of 11 grains. Of course this is all subjective, all me, but by 10 grains
recoil began to matter. The best compromise was 9 grains, a load I plan to retain for plinking.
Shooting off a rest from my bench at paper, the fun ended when speeds reached around 1200 fps.
Recoil management ruled. For the 325-grainer, recoil was a factor from the beginning. That advanced
to outright displeasure for the maximum loads, stuff I would use only to down critters as big as elk
(I have no intention to hunt them with my Redhawk), or when in grizzly country.
Accuracy
Using a front rest specifically for my Redhawk, all paper punching involved firing 5 shots from each
load, recording CHRONO speed readouts, and at the end, the group size. Results are summarized in
the table near the end. At one time I also shot the Sig Sauer P322 with CCI RN Mini Mags, and my
Contender in .30 Herrett, just for comparison.
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During the first session the targets were at 25 yards. At my second morning they stood at 50 yards.
Maybe I attempted too much each morning because quite often I flinched! Definitely so with the hotter
ammo. As they say, ‘your results may vary’. Several times three shots ended up in a nice cluster,
only be joined by two other holes opening up the group. No matter, I recorded the groups as they
showed on the targets. Best 5-shots group at 50 yards was 1.3”. Below are some of the better
examples, including one blast from 3 steps away with a Speer factory shotshell load at a ‘snake’.
Note how the plastic shot cup broke up and made big holes. Pattern was clearly ‘useful’.
Hunting
On a morning of testing various Chronographs, I had the Redhawk along, with remnants of ammo.
When the chrono work was done there was time left to spend with the revolver. Instead of slaying
real bunnies for the kitchen, only a “first shot” simulation was next. I fired the .44 offhand,
with the target 25 steps away. Four different loads made their way down the barrel. I took a
shot, put the revolver down, then looked through the binoculars to determine where the shot went.
For the first 15 shots I hit the 5-5/8” diameter black. Dead critter every time. Shot #16, a hot
load, only scored white. I stopped there. Now that was fun, and no beasts needed skinning and
cleaning. This type of ‘hunting’ I repeated on a few other trips in the desert, and never matched
the result of the first “hunt”. Also, another ‘snake’ died, this time with a reloaded shotshell.
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Brush Blasting
I probably ran this type of test soon after that one javelina got away years ago, but can’t recall
the results. This time a javelina carboard waited for abuse behind some creosote bushes. I shot
at it from about 20 steps. First load contained 240 grain SWC going XXX fps. Out of 5 shots, only
one hit the pig. That was most likely me aiming wrong. Because after that I concentrated on a
piece of tape high on the javelina’s back, then aimed further right and down from there.
Up next was my P322, firing CCI Mini Mags. One shot, then check the ‘target’. Repeat. All five
shots had found the cardboard pig, but three came in sideways. See the results for all of this
unscientific stunt in the table. With the .30 Herrett I missed one. Yep, the faster and heavier
44s punched right through. But most hits were center of mass, in this case gut shots. I would
not take such obstructed shot on real fur.
Bottom line: maybe I’m down to 4 loads. Shotshells just because we do have snakes in Arizona.
240gr SWC with 9 grains of W231 for fun. Most of my cases will see these components. 240 SWC GC
with 22 grains of H110 (or W296) for hunting, should I ever again use this revolver for that. A
box or two should do. 325-grainers at painful speeds, for fishing in bear country. A partial box
will hopefully last for a long time.
Here is the summary table:
All the above shooting happened before the fatal attack on a man near Prescott by a black bear.
Maybe it was timely for me to become a little more familiar again with my .44 Magnum. Hopefully
I will never encounter such bear that apparently simply had an appetite for something two-legged.
Regardless, that revolver will come out with me more frequently from now on.
On a final note, it was the Oberst who had called my Ruger the Bloodhawk. Looks like it
indeed has what that takes.
