Ruger Blackhawk 357/38/9mm

[Rangda]

Anyone with experience with this revolver? A local seller is selling one at a reasonable price. It's 6" barrel model and very heavy. I most likely will only shoot 9mm out of it. It seems like a fun range gun.

Thanks,
Rangda.

[billybob_jcv]

Blackhawks are *great* guns. I've never shot the 9mm cylinder, but I can tell you they are really fun in 38, 357, 30 carbine & 45 Colt! Tough as nails - they just keep going and going...

[caldude]

I have one just like what you're looking at. I only shot with the 9mm cylinder once. Recoil is definitely snappier than when shooting 38Spl. If you're planning on mostly shooting 9mm then it's fine. If you mostly shoot 38/357 Mag, then I'd go with a double action revolver, like the GP100. Frankly, once I got my GP100, I haven't shot the Blackhawk.

[wellfedirishman]

The Ruger 357/9mm convertible is a very fun and accurate gun. I had best accuracy shooting 357 magnums and 38 specials out of it, but 9mm shot fine too.

If you can get a used one for a good price then it is a solid buy.

Whether you like single or double action is a matter of personal preference. I have fired both a GP100 (double action) and Blackhawk (single action) and both shoot equally well, and are each fun in their own way.

[Red Devil]

6-1/2 inch Ruger Blackhawk .357 was my first and only heavy pistol for over a decade. Shot it lots.

Still have it.

It is an outstanding pistol.

Great sights, long sight radius, smooth crisp trigger, heavy, very accurate, recoil-absorbing stock design, low maintenance... virtually indestructible.

38 Special for inexpensive practice, 125 gr. "gold dot" .357 magnums for city work, and 170-180 gr. thermonuclear hand-loads for the field.

Never owned a 9mm so I can't speak to that.

[1JimMarch]

It's built on the large frame, similar to the SuperBlackhawk except the grip frame and ejector rod housing are aluminum to save a bit of weight if it's a blued model.

Good guns.

One trick: look for the "lawyer's warning label" on the barrel ("read the manual" and the like). If it's under the barrel it marks an engineering change from about 2007 that increases accuracy - the cylinders were bored one chamber at a time with the same bit/reamer set on all six chambers as opposed to the old "all at once" setup that led to non-uniform chambers and throats too often. Get an "underbarrel warning gun" if at all possible.

Also...if you get into reloading and you have the dual-cylinder gun, take whichever cylinder you don't use and send it off to Gary Reader to get reamed into a 356GNR - which is the 41Magnum shell necked down to .357. The resulting wildcat will shoot out of an otherwise stock gun, stock barrel, the other cylinder will still work and you'll get 357Maximum-class ballistics .

[mnh2obuff]

I have the same gun and it shoots about as well with any of the three calibers. Often, when I get a dud in my 9mm due to hard primer or light strike, the Blackhawk will eat just fine.

[den888]

They are tough as nails and very reliable and accurate also. Sold mine in 2008 (bought in 1985) and regret now.

[Neptune]

After researching the Blackhawk convertible extensively, what I found is an almost universal agreement that it shoots .357 and .38 really well, but the 9mm shoots pretty sloppy out of the gun.

It shoots accurate enough for a fun plinking or mess around range day with the 9mm, but if the targets come out, you'd want to change cylinders and use the .357/.38 cartridges. There's a lot of good info out there on these great guns.



..

[1JimMarch]

After researching the Blackhawk convertible extensively, what I found is an almost universal agreement that it shoots .357 and .38 really well, but the 9mm shoots pretty sloppy out of the gun.

Not always - and the "underbarrel warning" newer variants are doing better in 9mm. Most reports you'll get are on older specimens.

Even if that's how it goes, you can have the 9mm cylinder reamed to your choice of 38Spl match chambers for more accuracy, 357Mag for "Clint Eastwood reloads" or any of a couple of wildcats, the 356GNR being probably the best.