Ruger Redhawk - non CAS

[Beauregard Hooligan]

I know it's not about a revolver for CAS, but is about a great Ruger revolver. I have come to think of my SS Ruger Redhawk with the 5 1/2" barrel to be a great all around holster pistol. You can see it with a holster I made for it and a gun belt made from a linen firehose. The only thing I didn't like about it was the single spring that works as the mainspring and trigger return spring was too stiff. I bought a Wolfe set of springs; 12, 13 and 14 pounds each, and found that the 12 pound spring is perfect. I had already stoned the trigger group, and with the new spring the double action trigger pull is now like a N frame S&W; it's even, smooth and has no stacking. The single action trigger pull is light and breaks like an icicle. I can now pull the trigger double action, and feel the bolt drop into the cylinder notch, then have an almost single action pull to fire. Despite having the flu, I went out and fired 50 rounds of full house jacketed bullet loads, and another 50 rounds of Cowboy loads, and it is more accurate due but it is improved trigger, and the primer hit is solid and reliable. I think this makes a great pistol even greater.



Here is the Ruger Redhawk with my SS New Model .45 Colt Ruger Bisley Blackhawk with a 5 1/2" barrel and a spare cylinder for .45 ACP. These are my favorite holster guns, and if you find me camping in the Sierras, I'll have one of the two on my hip. I have good tastes in pistols.



In case you wonder, the big piece of laminated glass was, as I was told by a WWII Army pilot who gave it to me, one of the camera windows from a P-38 Lightning reconnaissance aircraft based on P-38F, also called the F-4A. I use it as my hard surface for tool stamping leather. It has six laminations, and is excellent for the tooling that I do. It's nice to use a piece of real history for something cool. 

[rickk]

One of the best ways to smooth out a Ruger is to simply shoot it a lot   

Also, polishing the sides of the hammer and the hammer slot to remove any roughness will help the trigger pull.

Brownells used to make a fine stone that fit inside the Ruger hammer slots... not sure if they still carry it though. The hammer sides can be polished on a sheet of glass with some fine valve lapping compound.

I forget what spring I wound up putting in mine (I got it many years ago), but if I'm not using Federal primers, its probably not going to go off.

Rick

[Trailrider]

Glad to see you have the trigger on that DA revolver covered! I've never understood how some folks dared leave the trigger of a DA exposed for a field holster.  All it takes is a branch or twig in the wrong place on one of those, and they are asking for an AD!
Good for you!

[One Tall Man]

Having too just bought a Redhawk in 44 mag, I am wondering whether I should get:
- Packmayr gripper
- Packmayr decelerator
- Hogue rubber
- Hogue nylon

The idea is to use HKS speedloaders and the factory walnut grips interfere with them. Trimming them is not something I am into, would like to keep the original grips intact.

Also I am in the process of manufacturing my own set of grips, will post pictures when complete.

Any advise welcome, thank you!

[rickk]

Mine have the Hougue grips with the finger grips in them. They are great for hanging onto the gun when it recoils

On the bad side, the grip frame is exposed in the back.