Fair Price for a Ruger Blackhawk 44 Magnum 3 screw flat top

combatboy

New member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
London
A friend of mine is looking to sell me his Ruger Blackhawk 44 Magnum 3 screw flat top single action revolver manufactured in 1960 that is in very good condition but neither of us know what it is worth. What is a fair price to pay for this gun as I would really like to purchase it.
 
Looks like I may be a hair off.... :)

Maybe not too far off.
The important thing is no matter what it is supposed to be worth, it takes someone to step up and lay out the money.
A lot of guns that are supposed to be collector items just don't bring out the Canadian buyers willing to pay the price.
 
I must apologize for my last post.
I meant to say that I agree this gun is rare at only 14000 ever produced but I still don't know what it is worth.
Can-down I found your price at $500 to be fair but if billdick is right I just don't to ripp my friend off.
Still looking for feed back on the value.I plan to keep this gun to shoot and not looking at it as an investment.
The gun is in very good shape however it has been shot quite a bit.Any more feedback would be greatly
appreciated as I need the help and would like to do a clean honest deal with my friend.
Thank-you for all your feedback.
 
Offer him $500.00
If all you want is a shooter and don't care about the whole "3-screw" thing then Superblackhawks can be found used for between $350$-$550 depending on luck, model and condition.
 
Those old three screws were prone to stretching when used a lot with full magnum loads that is why they discontinued them and beefed them up. If you are going to shoot it thousands of times you should stick to 44 special or equivlent loads. If your friend is happy with $500 or less then that is all you should pay for it. A gun is only worth what you can get for it. I once bought a beautiful winchester for $50 because that is all the the guy wanted and you know what it is worth? Nothing, because it is not for sale. By the looks of the EE I could get $900 but its still worth nothing because I won't sell it. They are only worth what you get for them when you sell them.
 
Pics would be nice cause ....
rcraye.jpg
 
Offer him $500.00
If all you want is a shooter and don't care about the whole "3-screw" thing then Superblackhawks can be found used for between $350$-$550 depending on luck, model and condition.

AHHH! (me gasping and grabbing my chest) How can you not care about the whole 3-screw thing??!! The clickty clack when cocking it! The half #### releasing the cylinder. Loading the first chamber, skipping the second, then load the remaining 4, #### it, and let the hammer down on the empty chamber that magically appears under the hammer! The lack of graffiti that Ruger vandalizes their newer guns with.

There are down sides to this revolver, but only a couple come to mind:
The rear sight is frail and should be changed to Hamilton Bowen's Rough Country which uses opposing screws to adjust the windage rather than a screw and a spring.
I don't remember if the flat top has a dragoon trigger guard or a round one, but if its the dragoon, it might rap your knuckles in recoil, but this can be addressed when you have it dehorned.

Not a flat top, but . . .
 
Hey Boomer, does the .44mag 3 screw line up the cylinders to the loading port correctly with each click when it's half cocked and reloading?
I do like that about my older single six.... it makes it easier to reload with out looking down at the gun.
For a carry gun though I'd take the transfer bar and extra round.
 
Hey Boomer, does the .44mag 3 screw line up the cylinders to the loading port correctly with each click when it's half cocked and reloading?
I do like that about my older single six.... it makes it easier to reload with out looking down at the gun.
For a carry gun though I'd take the transfer bar and extra round.

I sold the SBH shortly after the custom work was completed, so its been a while since I've handled one. Thinking about it though, I believe the chambers do not line up with the loading gate, if the bolt cuts are over the chambers, as is the case with my current ATC gun, a Vaquero .44. The bolt cuts on this gun are between the cylinder flutes and on the center of each chamber. If I open the loading gate to release the cylinder, then turn it back against the bolt stop, the chamber does not line up with the loading gate, and the cylinder must be rotated slightly to eject the round. The Vaquero might be the better tool for the intended purpose, but from the standpoint of desirability, it comes in a distant second to the 3 screw gun.

This picture seems to suggest that the bolt cuts are directly over the chambers of the 3 screw gun, just as it is with my Vaquero.
 
Those old three screws were prone to stretching when used a lot with full magnum loads that is why they discontinued them and beefed them up. If you are going to shoot it thousands of times you should stick to 44 special or equivlent loads. If your friend is happy with $500 or less then that is all you should pay for it. A gun is only worth what you can get for it. I once bought a beautiful winchester for $50 because that is all the the guy wanted and you know what it is worth? Nothing, because it is not for sale. By the looks of the EE I could get $900 but its still worth nothing because I won't sell it. They are only worth what you get for them when you sell them.

Truer words were never spoken Billdick. Guns are worth what you can get for them at the time you are selling them or maybe what ever we fools are willing to pay.

Graydog
 
Boomer,
It sure is nice on the older 3 screw single six that when you are ejecting the empties the cylinder indexes to the right spot so that the ejector is centered on the case.
I'll have to take a look at it and see where the cylinder stops are machined but it could also be related to the difference between the newer style with the loading gate acting as the cylinder release compared to the older half #### method of freeing the cylinder for loading/unloading.
 
Back
Top Bottom