44 caliber that was likely much more powerful than the. What was deduced from the casing was that someone - Smith and Wesson as it happened - was cooking up a new cartridge in. By complete chance, a Ruger employee discovered a fired shell casing in a scrapyard. Ruger also got a stroke of some serious luck. The Blackhawk had all the pleasant attributes of the Colt SAA (feels good in the hand, points naturally) but was offered in a modern chambering and wasn't too hard on the pocketbook. Their new creation, the Ruger Blackhawk, first hit store shelves in 1955 and proved mighty popular. 357 Magnum by beefing up the top strap and other areas of the frame and adding adjustable rear leaf sights in lieu of the classic top strap trench. They set about revising their Colt-derived frame for. The screws in the frame were changed to pins, and Ruger added a transfer bar safety, allowing the user to carry the gun with the hammer down over a live cartridge.Īfter the Single-Six, Ruger set their sights on getting into the Magnum market.
Ruger blackhawk 41 mag holster update#
The Single-Six got an update in the 1970s, revised as the New Model Single-Six which is still in production. A transfer bar was added in 1973, but the model was discontinued until production resumed in 1993. The first production run lasted from 1958 to 1971, replaced by a second run from 1971 to 1975 with a steel frame. The Bearcat was intended for use as a packing gun for hikers and campers, so it was made a little smaller and lighter - by virtue of its alloy frame - than the Single-Six. Combined with excellent build quality and appreciable accuracy, it's a heck of a lot of good fun.Ī companion model, the Bearcat, was released in 1958. The Single-Six has the outstanding ergonomics and easy pointing characteristics of the Colt SAA. It was first released in 1953, and became a top seller for Ruger. The Single-Six is a ¾-size clone of the Colt Peacemaker for rimfire cartridges. Ruger was basically the only game in town if you wanted a cowboy gun, until Colt resumed production years later. At the time, Westerns were incredibly popular both on the large and small screen with shows such as "The Rifleman," "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke" and "Rawhide." This led to renewed interest in single-action revolvers and also the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting.Īt the time, Colt had discontinued the Single Action Army in favor of producing M1911A1 pistols for the military. The first Ruger revolvers emerged in 1953, which was the Ruger Single-Six.