- Location
- On a resonably direct route in NS
Maybe too many words and pictures, but if you're interested in this revolver, one of Ruger's newest handgun offerings in Canada, here's my take on model designation 5032.
This is the Redhawk I've been waiting for. The lines with the short Canada-legal barrel and rounded wood grips, chambered in my favourite cartridge the .45 Long Colt, with the option of .45ACP on moon clips for fast shooting, it just screamed ‘###y’ to me.
I got great service and a great price from Clay at Prophet River, but I don't know if he has any left right now. For in-stock at other site sponsors, Kelly's Sporting Goods www.kellysonline.ca has one on their site at a very attractive price, Flaherty's significantly higher, and that might be it right now. Epps has had them come through (at a higher price), P&D, and a couple others; they're not in high abundance. Otherwise, order from Clay and wait, or import one (about $900 USD plus fees). It's not priced like a premium custom gun, but it ain't cheap either!
What you get in the package, below:
Here's my two brothers ready for a range trip.
If you're familiar with it, the size is very similar between the GP100 in .357 and Redhawk in .45 with 4,2" barrels. The frame is a little wider and a little longer. Barrel thicker. Different grips and grip frame. The cylinder is quite a bit larger. All this makes it heavier: 1.250g vs. 1.130g.
(If you count squares of foam I removed, they're practically identical.)
Measured 106mm barrel with half lug. I suppose it could be a good ATC woods carry gun if you're in that realm.
I much prefer the look of the barrel screwed directly into the frame, instead of the Super Redhawk with its frame extension. The hand loaders say new Redhawks should take pretty high pressures in .45LC if you want to “magnum” them up.
Left and right.
Laser engraving is subdued, compared to stampings on previous Rugers. You can see the only lawyer-script is hidden under the ejector shroud. Even the GP100 has it all over the other side of the barrel (don't know if new GPs have gone incognito as well).
OMG read the manual!!
Serial number on the butt, seems classy.
Cylinder with cut for moon clips.
Long Colt cartridges load individually.
ACP rounds drop in with a 6-round moon clip, slick as anything.
Round butt and slim wood grips that expose the front- and back- straps, a feature of this dual-calibre Redhawk, where other RHs have square butts. Fit my small-to-medium hands very comfortably, no issues with recoil (but I haven't loaded hot-rod .45LC rounds yet).
The gun comes with three moon clips, and Ruger sells more in 3-packs, packaged like a magazine (though they don't appear to have wide distribution yet). The unique design with the relief cuts between each position means that each round is held under the rim with its own spring pressure, rather than a continuous tension around the circle. Thus no moon tool is needed, as you can load and un-load easily with your fingers, even on the sixth round.
Ruger's new design requires a thinner 0,032" metal than the 0,040" standard in the S&W clips, so they aren't compatible. Being thinner and with those cuts might make them less resilient, so they probably won't last as long being dropped and stepped on in competition.
Forcing cone (I didn't clean after firing a dozen cylinders, because who likes spotless guns).
Top strap, pretty beefy.
You can see I replaced the sights with Williams Fire Sight fiber optic ones. Got them on my GP100 and I like them so much, I placed a Brownells order same time I ordered the gun ($60 USD, same model for GP or RH), as well as a spring adjustment pack from Wolff ($9 USD). Well gun came, sights came, springs still waiting. Original sights are red ramp front, white outline rear.
There's the sight picture.
Muzzle and the big hole. Pressing in the spring-loaded plunger below the red FO front sight is all you have to do to switch the sight.
So how does it shoot?
Not much to say about the trigger, especially since I'm still waiting for the Wolff springs. I mean most people who've fired a Ruger and S&W revolver can tell the difference and probably like one better – I'm in the Smith camp (but I've tuned all of mine further still). Double action is not terribly heavy for a DA revolver. Single breaks very clean, but is a little stiff; I shall give the sear surfaces a bit of polish.
Dialling in the new sights was very quick; I basically counted turns when removing the screw and installed to the same depth, then a little adjustment live. Targets are two-handed at 18 metres (20 yards), slow single action.
ACP, what is that, almost a four inch group? Could be better, but it's about where I was expecting: the difference in size between the two cartridges means the chambers are quite over-long for the Auto round.
LC, any improvement? Oh yes. Different impact point, but that is a much more respectable grouping at about 1,5" with a nice cloverleaf. Here the bullets don't have a jump to the chamber throat to be swaged down through the forcing cone.
Now I'm sure I could find a load that performed better in the ACP, a different charge and powder, and especially projectile, using a hollow-base lead target bullet rather than the 230gn jacketed ball I had which is really a 1911 load. At the same time, the 255gn LFN Colt cartridges I used weren't tuned for this gun. I should eventually hope to get two loads that group well, with the same point of impact. A man can dream…
In the end, it won't supplant a Model 14 as a pure target revolver, or a 625 PC with short ACP chambers in the action competition sports. But it' a gun that looks and feels right to me, and which I will have a long time to enjoy. It's got a bit of a bulldog look, dual chambering you can play with, works well and should be solid and reliable. Next step, I bring it across for a hand cannon on a States-side hunting trip.
This is the Redhawk I've been waiting for. The lines with the short Canada-legal barrel and rounded wood grips, chambered in my favourite cartridge the .45 Long Colt, with the option of .45ACP on moon clips for fast shooting, it just screamed ‘###y’ to me.
I got great service and a great price from Clay at Prophet River, but I don't know if he has any left right now. For in-stock at other site sponsors, Kelly's Sporting Goods www.kellysonline.ca has one on their site at a very attractive price, Flaherty's significantly higher, and that might be it right now. Epps has had them come through (at a higher price), P&D, and a couple others; they're not in high abundance. Otherwise, order from Clay and wait, or import one (about $900 USD plus fees). It's not priced like a premium custom gun, but it ain't cheap either!
What you get in the package, below:
Here's my two brothers ready for a range trip.
If you're familiar with it, the size is very similar between the GP100 in .357 and Redhawk in .45 with 4,2" barrels. The frame is a little wider and a little longer. Barrel thicker. Different grips and grip frame. The cylinder is quite a bit larger. All this makes it heavier: 1.250g vs. 1.130g.
(If you count squares of foam I removed, they're practically identical.)
Measured 106mm barrel with half lug. I suppose it could be a good ATC woods carry gun if you're in that realm.
I much prefer the look of the barrel screwed directly into the frame, instead of the Super Redhawk with its frame extension. The hand loaders say new Redhawks should take pretty high pressures in .45LC if you want to “magnum” them up.
Left and right.
Laser engraving is subdued, compared to stampings on previous Rugers. You can see the only lawyer-script is hidden under the ejector shroud. Even the GP100 has it all over the other side of the barrel (don't know if new GPs have gone incognito as well).
OMG read the manual!!
Serial number on the butt, seems classy.
Cylinder with cut for moon clips.
Long Colt cartridges load individually.
ACP rounds drop in with a 6-round moon clip, slick as anything.
Round butt and slim wood grips that expose the front- and back- straps, a feature of this dual-calibre Redhawk, where other RHs have square butts. Fit my small-to-medium hands very comfortably, no issues with recoil (but I haven't loaded hot-rod .45LC rounds yet).
The gun comes with three moon clips, and Ruger sells more in 3-packs, packaged like a magazine (though they don't appear to have wide distribution yet). The unique design with the relief cuts between each position means that each round is held under the rim with its own spring pressure, rather than a continuous tension around the circle. Thus no moon tool is needed, as you can load and un-load easily with your fingers, even on the sixth round.
Ruger's new design requires a thinner 0,032" metal than the 0,040" standard in the S&W clips, so they aren't compatible. Being thinner and with those cuts might make them less resilient, so they probably won't last as long being dropped and stepped on in competition.
Forcing cone (I didn't clean after firing a dozen cylinders, because who likes spotless guns).
Top strap, pretty beefy.
You can see I replaced the sights with Williams Fire Sight fiber optic ones. Got them on my GP100 and I like them so much, I placed a Brownells order same time I ordered the gun ($60 USD, same model for GP or RH), as well as a spring adjustment pack from Wolff ($9 USD). Well gun came, sights came, springs still waiting. Original sights are red ramp front, white outline rear.
There's the sight picture.
Muzzle and the big hole. Pressing in the spring-loaded plunger below the red FO front sight is all you have to do to switch the sight.
So how does it shoot?
Not much to say about the trigger, especially since I'm still waiting for the Wolff springs. I mean most people who've fired a Ruger and S&W revolver can tell the difference and probably like one better – I'm in the Smith camp (but I've tuned all of mine further still). Double action is not terribly heavy for a DA revolver. Single breaks very clean, but is a little stiff; I shall give the sear surfaces a bit of polish.
Dialling in the new sights was very quick; I basically counted turns when removing the screw and installed to the same depth, then a little adjustment live. Targets are two-handed at 18 metres (20 yards), slow single action.
ACP, what is that, almost a four inch group? Could be better, but it's about where I was expecting: the difference in size between the two cartridges means the chambers are quite over-long for the Auto round.
LC, any improvement? Oh yes. Different impact point, but that is a much more respectable grouping at about 1,5" with a nice cloverleaf. Here the bullets don't have a jump to the chamber throat to be swaged down through the forcing cone.
Now I'm sure I could find a load that performed better in the ACP, a different charge and powder, and especially projectile, using a hollow-base lead target bullet rather than the 230gn jacketed ball I had which is really a 1911 load. At the same time, the 255gn LFN Colt cartridges I used weren't tuned for this gun. I should eventually hope to get two loads that group well, with the same point of impact. A man can dream…
In the end, it won't supplant a Model 14 as a pure target revolver, or a 625 PC with short ACP chambers in the action competition sports. But it' a gun that looks and feels right to me, and which I will have a long time to enjoy. It's got a bit of a bulldog look, dual chambering you can play with, works well and should be solid and reliable. Next step, I bring it across for a hand cannon on a States-side hunting trip.
