Shooting the Ruger Blackhawk

Just tough to shoot well

biggdogg said:

Not much more you can add. The grip on the single action takes a lot of practice to get used to. The SBH wants to roll in your palm from the recoil.

Click to expand...

My blackhawk as a hogue monogrip which helps a lot in the accuracy department.

If I shot 500 rounds a year I would be better but with my hot 45lc handloads 25 yards in is fine but after that i frankly stink

Big bore is tough to shoot well - for those that do my hats off to you

I have various wood Hogue mongrips on 3 Ruger SAs. Much better than stock and available in endless exotic and laminated wood varieties including base cap accents etc.

Most 'shootable' is probably the laminated checkered monogrip on my 6.5" .357 BH.

Or the $20 rubber version will help too.

biggdogg said:

Not much more you can add. The grip on the single action takes a lot of practice to get used to. The SBH wants to roll in your palm from the recoil.

Click to expand...

Come to think of it that is probably what it boils down to, the SBH's are top heavy, and the design of the grip in relation to the barrel makes it roll back in your palm more than some other single actions, combined with the recoil from magnum or hot loads, I would think the pistol starts its recoil movement before the bullet leaves the barrel.

Bobby Linton said:

I like the gun. I feel like the 4 5/8" has good ballance. I have found the frame screws loosen up quickly. Can't help accuracy. Really want to be proficient with the gun. I purchased it to hunt with, but haven't gotten the confidence to use it yet. I haven't become a better shot with age but I am more confident about when I will miss.

Click to expand...

Much respect for holding off until you get that good confident feeling.

I do better with single actions when I relax a slight bit and allow the gun's grip to roll in my hand.

It's certainly a much different feel than shooting, say....a 1911 or other semi-auto.

I had Blackhawks that I let go so to fund my current 5" Redhawk. It simply handles better for me personally.

One of the Blackhawks had the integral Vaquero sights and I struggle shooting tight groups with it (.45LC). The other was a Super Blackhawk (.44RemMag) with nice adjustable sights and a great sight picture. It was the Bisley grip style. Gun shot pretty good but was still not as comfortable for me as a Redhawk. Hoping my Redhawk's trigger will smooth out and get close to the feel of that Super Blackhawk I know it'll never be as good.....just hoping for "close". That single action SB had a sweet trigger for sure.


Good luck man. I hope you are able to get it dialed in to your liking. Sure would make a handy stand gun for some close in deer & hogs.

I had the same problem with Blackhawk and Redhawk. A friend of mine suggested I was saddling too high on the backstrap of the grip. Sure enough, I gripped it much lower (it looks weirdly high and feels strange at first) and started realizing a better shot. Then I was able to adjust and work back into where I needed to be on the heel of the gun.

champ said:

I had the same problem with Blackhawk and Redhawk. A friend of mine suggested I was saddling too high on the backstrap of the grip. Sure enough, I gripped it much lower (it looks weirdly high and feels strange at first) and started realizing a better shot. Then I was able to adjust and work back into where I needed to be on the heel of the gun.

Click to expand...

Ding ding ding and a winner.
I’ve owned them since I was knee high to a grasshopper.
I’ll grip it low with just enough not to drop it. Let the barrel fall in 12 inches below bullseye and let the expected hot load recoil bring the barrel back up in a controlled motion then grip it more after the shot so to say. Pop a can at 30 yards nearly everytime. My dad and uncle could both pop a can up out of water, hit the can again before it hit the water and again at least once more till in sank all day long.
I can’t imagine how many cans and plates are at the bottom of that little pond from shooting cowboy style.
Y’all be careful and lighten your grip little by little and not too light or the gun goes flying out of your hand.

Grip helped some

Tried a hogue grip. Felt more like a double action and helped with the recoil. Like my groups better, but it's still a work in progress. It's a flinch more than anything else I believe. Shot better groups with low power loads I made with some W231 I was given. I had been shooting close to full power loads with 2400. No leading or smoke. Really like the Winchester 231. Only negative I see is the case would be easy to double charge compared to the 2400.

I read in another thread not to support any part of the gun when shooting from a rest. I put my forearms only on the bench for support and it did help with the flyers.

Recoil has a huge impact on accuracy in handguns. Muzzle flip must be consistent to be accurate. I have found that a higher velocity load will shoot lower than a lighter load. With a faster bullet, the bullet leaves the barrel sooner in the muzzle flip cycle and therefore shoots lower. With a slower bullet, the bullet leaves the barrel higher in the muzzle flip cycle. Is counter intuitive for sure. The biggest issue is being consistent in how you hold the firearm and you muzzle flip cycle remains the same.

Ok, I just made up "muzzle flip cycle", but that was the best way I knew to describe it.

Rosewood

From watching a few slow motion pistol videos it appears that the bullet is out of the barrel before the pistol ever moves from recoil.

j_seph said:

From watching a few slow motion pistol videos it appears that the bullet is out of the barrel before the pistol ever moves from recoil.

Click to expand...

May depend on the caliber.

I can say for fact, that in my .44mag contender, the same bullet traveling at 1500 fps shoots lower at 100 yards than 1400 fps. It through me for a loop the first time I realized it. Took me a while and some reading before I figured out why.

Rosewood

rosewood said:

Recoil has a huge impact on accuracy in handguns. Muzzle flip must be consistent to be accurate. I have found that a higher velocity load will shoot lower than a lighter load. With a faster bullet, the bullet leaves the barrel sooner in the muzzle flip cycle and therefore shoots lower. With a slower bullet, the bullet leaves the barrel higher in the muzzle flip cycle. Is counter intuitive for sure. The biggest issue is being consistent in how you hold the firearm and you muzzle flip cycle remains the same.

Ok, I just made up "muzzle flip cycle", but that was the best way I knew to describe it.

Rosewood

Click to expand...

From my experience Rosewood has the right of it. For instance, in my .40 S&W the 165 grain loads hit low. While the 180 grain loads hit dead center. So all I shoot are 180 grain loads.
I went through this back around 1980 when trying to shoot 180 gr., 220 gr. and 240 grain loads out of my SBH. I settled on 240 grain bullets in the SBH and the Ruger Carbines.
I just resighted elevation with 240 grain bullets and the old .44 mag. shoots dead center.
It doesn't matter if the bullet has exited the barrel or not. By then the gun has already reacted to the ignition of the heavier bullet. The pistol begins to set back and roll grips down in your hands, this in itself will result in higher impact plus a rise in the muzzle. It only takes a small amount to cause rounds to impact high.

If you can find someone with a Ruger Bisley to let you shoot you might find it as a great solution especially with the heavy recoiling guns. I love my .480 Bisley