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Ruger Redhawk Questions


Pat Riot

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Pards, I have a question for those of you who own or have shot Ruger Redhawks and Smith & Wesson revolvers.

 

Without going into  a long story about S&W and their customer service, let's just say that I am pretty miffed at them right now.

I am considering buying a new 8 shot 357 Magnum revolver as well as  a .45 Colt / .45 ACP DA revolver - No, I do not want a convertible Blackhawk. I want double action revolvers.

 

My questions are;

1. Is  the trigger pull on Ruger Redhawks as bad as some folks make it out to be? 

2. How do you like Redhawks overall as compared to S&Ws?

3. How has your customer experience been with Ruger in regards to Redhawks? (I have had excellent experience with Ruger Customer Service in regards to Vaqueros, so I am fairly sure with Redhawks it wouldn't be much different.)

4. What is your overall opinion of Redhawk revolvers? 

Your opinions of Redhawks do not have to be in comparison to S&Ws. It's  just that I have lots of experience with S&Ws  so that is what I am most familiar with.

 

 

The two guns  I am considering are the Redhawk 5059 .357 and the Redhawk 5050 .45 Colt / .45 ACP.

https://ruger.com/products/redhawk/specSheets/5059.html

 

https://ruger.com/products/redhawk/specSheets/5050.html

 

Thank you

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I got the second .44 Redhawk to hit Athens County.
Solid, accurate, reliable, not the first minute's trouble.
DA and SA pulls were smooth and consistent.
Ruger customer service has always been top notch, never had to send in the Redhawk, but the Security Six I carried as a duty sidearm had to go in -- endshake was out of spec -- they fixed it fast, properly and got it back to me in jig time.  (I haven't packed a badge for many years so that's anecdotal and can't attest to Ruger's current customer service ... but I have to believe it's still just as good!)

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I’ve had two and the trigger pulls are great.  I also have a blues 29-2 . To me , the Ruger is  the workhorse and is more comfortable to shoot stout loads. I like both for different reasons and never considered factory service as an issue!  Truth be known I love the the Redhawks 5.5 in barrel .

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Redhawks are great, solid revolvers.  One of mine was a real 'Friday afternoon' lemon.  Ruger replaced it promptly.

For me, the Redhawk crosses an invisible line between 'big' and 'too big'.  Ya got it.  Its great.  What do you do with it now?

But, hell fer stout!

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I have owned two Redhawks, both .44 Magnums.  The first one had a great trigger, the current one has a stiff trigger.  It does not bother me enough to take it to a smith for lightening.  They are robust,  solid revolvers, and I expect them to be more durable than the Smiths, which I also own.  

 

Duffield

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My dad owned two RedHawks. The guns are solid and dependable. 

 

Trigger pulls are good enough out of the box, but like any they could use some tweaking. 

 

Never had to send one for service, but Ruger did a great job on the Vaquero I sent in. 

 

For me, the big issue with RedHawks is that they feel too big. My Vaqueros are 44 mag and fit like a glove.  So does my Super Blackhawk.  I don’t know why the DA action would require a bigger frame. 

 

I shot a box through my brother in law’s SW 29. Call me a contrarian, but that’s the gun I prefer for pure shootability and pleasure. But at the price rice he paid, I’d still go with the Redhawk. 

 

 

 

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Never had to send any Redhawks back to Ruger, they are solid and very reliable.  I have one in 44 and another in 41 magnum.  The only Ruger that I ever had a problem was a Super Blackhawk that broke a loading gate spring.  The customer service at Ruger has always been spot on.  Hope that helps.

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Pat,

Chuck Hawks did a review of the Redhawk vs Super Blackhawk.
He also mentions the Redhawk being superior to the Smith 629.
He also makes a point about 5.5" and shorter barrels being less than ideal due to blast and flash.

The short article is worth the read.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/compared_ruger_super_blackhawk_redhawk.htm

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Thank you all very much. I am going to  plan to buy the 45 model first, unless  that  model isn't available then I  will get the other. I know that manufacturers are behind and there are none at distributors but I am going to tell my LGS  to start searching.

 

Thank you all again. :D

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1. No, overall not as good as a Smith but useable and probably varies from gun to gun as Smiths do.  Takes a little more effort to get the trigger pull you want, notice the little.

2. I personally don't care for the grips but then I don't like the grips that come with a Smith either.  The Redhawks size also causes it to be left at home in favor of more compact ballisticly similar sidearms.

3. Rugers customer service has always been at least good most of the time better than good.

4. The Redhawk will handle hotter loads than the Smith.  I shoot a number of 45LC's including Rugers and Smiths my favorite a Smith model 25 with a 5 inch barrel.  I had one with a 4 inch barrel wish I would have kept it.  

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1)  Not awful but it is different than a S&W.  Redhawks can be cleaned up and have and okay trigger, but then again a S&W can be cleaned up and have an amazing trigger. 

 

2)  Compared to the new line of S&W revolvers I like the Redhawk more because they do not have a silly internal lock like the S&Ws (which have failed on me BTW).  Compared to an older no/pre lock model S&W with forged internals the Ruger is utilitarian and not as nice as the fit and finish found on the older Smiths.  When it comes to accuracy I find S&Ws both new and old to be more accurate than Rugers, but YMMV depending on what you want to do and what level of accuracy you expect. 

 

3)  No experience with Redhawks personally on this but in general have had better CS from S&W.  Since about 2008 I have noticed QC issues with both S&Ws and Ruger.  S&W has always satisfied me in the end with their CS vs Ruger that will just say "it's within tolerance" and send it back as is, so again YMMV.

 

4)  Tough utilitarian guns that might just be the best current production option for a large bore double action wheel gun

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Thanks Pards.

 

I should justify my comments about being miffed at Smith & Wesson:

The term "miffed" is misleading. The term I should use is "P***ed" but anyway...moving on...

 

In 2012 I bought a 327 Night Guard.

In 2016 it  started shooting odd. Out of 8 rounds fired I would have a flyer. I would have a nice group with 7 rounds but then one round would be 3 or 4 inches away from the 7 round group. This happened over and over. I could not figure it out. One day when cleaning the gun I noticed a metal spur near the crown. I couldn't knock it off so I called S&W and sent the gun in. It came back a month  later with  "No trouble found"  on the repair ticket. The metal  spur was gone. I thought it odd that they  would fix it but say "No trouble  found".

Around this  same time in 2016 I bought a S&W model 60 Pro at Cabela's. I paid nearly $800 for this gun.

It shot very well. It was accurate as hell and I was very impressed with the gun. But one day I fired 5 rounds and could not get the cylinder open no matter what I did.

I called S&W . They told me to send the gun in. I did. It came back a month later and the repair ticket said "Repaired" with no other explanation. This irked me so I called  them and was  told that the Performance Center didn't thread the extractor rod far enough. I thought this  was odd that the "PERFORMANCE CENTER" didn't QC their parts but accepted their response as "I guess one is bound to get through on occasion" kind of thing. I disassembled the gun and the extractor rod looked just like it did before being sent out. My photos confirmed this. I take photos of my guns during disassembly for reference  later on. I decided not to make a fuss. I  had my gun back.

In the couple years after that I noticed the gun was starting to shoot to the right but chocked it up to my bad right wrist and relearning to shoot two handed again.

A few months ago I had the 60 Pro  at the range and happened to notice that the barrel  was  angled (twisted) a few degrees to the left. THAT WOULD EXPLAIN the POI being 3 -4 inches to the right. I contacted S&W and sent it in.

It came back with the statement 'No trouble found" on the repair ticket. The barrel was still the  same. I verified this by shooting it.

I called S&W again. Sent the gun in again  with  photos to show why I was sending it in.

It came back a  month later. Nothing was done yet again.

I tossed  the gun into the safe really  PO'd about it and decided to let it sit  while I cooled off a bit.

 

In the meantime I had bought a S&W model 63. I was very excited about this gun. The accuracy was pretty  poor but I hadn't tried every .22.  cartridge out there yet, only 10 so I figured I needed to just find  the right ammo for it. Then one day  I  was cleaning it and something didn''t look right about the barrel to cylinder gap. I got out my super cool Snap-On feeler gauge set and did some measuring. The left side gap was 0.015".  The right side was 0.005" Grrrrrrr :angry:

I called S&W and sent that gun in.

 

In the mean time I decided to raise  some hell and get my 60 Pro "fixed" AGAIN and I called S&W. This time I insisted they do something and I spoke to a Supervisor. I explained in detail the problem. I also explained that I thought that the Warranty tech didn't rethread  the extractor rod at all and that I think that the tech just turned  the damned barrel to get the extractor to work and that was how he or she left it. I also told  them that I thought their Performance Center should fix it but was told  that the PC didn't do warranty work. 

Anyway, the gun went back. It was returned a month later with a snotty repair notice telling me that it shoots within spec and a target that there is no freakin way was shot with any integrity showing a perfect 3 round group centered in a target.  The holes  look like 32 caliber holes. The repair notice stated that the issue has been addressed to S&W's satisfaction. :angry:

That gun is sitting at my LGS on consignment sale. They did move the barrel but it is still not centered to my liking. It's good enough for me to sell it in good conscience  though.

 

My model 63 came back repaired and it shoots well so I am happy about that. The cylinder gap on both sides is 0.005", which is in spec.

 

The kicker is I was going to buy a S&W TRR8 and  a model 625. After thinking about it a while S&W can kiss my butt. They don't need my money right now.  I will throw Ruger a  bone.

 

I love my Smith & Wessons, but if they don't get their QC act together they will have lost me as  a customer.

 

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I have read too much scuttle butt about S&W cutting corners, QC problems, etc, to consider owning one.
Same as Rugers and shotguns.. pre-2005 seems to be better quality and less problems.
The new release of the Colt Python is testimony to new-product quality problems.

I see S&W the same as I see Chevy pickups and Stoeger shotguns... by far the most "handsome" of the bunch, but nothing I would ever own again.

 

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On 8/4/2020 at 7:22 AM, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Pards, I have a question for those of you who own or have shot Ruger Redhawks and Smith & Wesson revolvers.

 

Without going into  a long story about S&W and their customer service, let's just say that I am pretty miffed at them right now.

I am considering buying a new 8 shot 357 Magnum revolver as well as  a .45 Colt / .45 ACP DA revolver - No, I do not want a convertible Blackhawk. I want double action revolvers.

 

My questions are;

1. Is  the trigger pull on Ruger Redhawks as bad as some folks make it out to be? 

2. How do you like Redhawks overall as compared to S&Ws?

3. How has your customer experience been with Ruger in regards to Redhawks? (I have had excellent experience with Ruger Customer Service in regards to Vaqueros, so I am fairly sure with Redhawks it wouldn't be much different.)

4. What is your overall opinion of Redhawk revolvers? 

Your opinions of Redhawks do not have to be in comparison to S&Ws. It's  just that I have lots of experience with S&Ws  so that is what I am most familiar with.

 

 

The two guns  I am considering are the Redhawk 5059 .357 and the Redhawk 5050 .45 Colt / .45 ACP.

https://ruger.com/products/redhawk/specSheets/5059.html

 

https://ruger.com/products/redhawk/specSheets/5050.html

 

Thank you

 I spent a lot of time over the years retiming S&W K-frames. N frames, not so much. I can count on one hand the number of Ruger revolvers, Speed six, Security six, Blackhawks, Vaqueros, Redhawks I hadda time. Beefier holds up better. Many of these were police service guns, mostly.

 

S&W revolvers balance much nicer than Redhawks IMO. Some of this can be "adjusted" with grips and choice of barrel. Ruger security six/GP-100's have great triggers but they're not S&W. Redhawks tend to be long and heavy. Wolff springs will tame this somewhat along with attention by a good gunsmith.

 

The square butt is easier to find grips for than the round butt on the 5050. I have that same gun and love the dang thing except for one eency-weency thing.....them RB grips is too small and most of the others are too big LOL. I have a set of Eagles on it and though it shoots beautifully, those big grips are too much for concealing LOL. The RB with a tyler T though.....

 

I like the ruger moon clips. You can also load single rounds but gotta pick'em out. Not too hard but slow. I have a Charter PitBull in 45ACP, a 1911 mag works as a "speed strip" and it doesn't use moons. Has an ejector star for the rimless.

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3 hours ago, Dubious Don #56333 said:

The square butt is easier to find grips for than the round butt on the 5050. I have that same gun and love the dang thing except for one eency-weency thing.....them RB grips is too small and most of the others are too big LOL. I have a set of Eagles on it and though it shoots beautifully, those big grips are too much for concealing LOL. The RB with a tyler T though.....


Thank you for your post. Great info. 
 

Yep, there aren’t a lot of grip choices out there but that’s okay. A T-Grip is a great idea. Hadn’t thought of that for a Ruger. 
 

I wouldn’t be carrying either Ruger concealed. At least not here in CA. Heck, the waiting list for CCW in my County is over 2 years now and growing. I “transport” legally. I don’t carry ;)

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I Have shot the TRR8 in a couple USPSA matches, and shot both S&W Performance Center's TRR8 and 327 in GADPA matches (TRR8 open carry, 327 concealed carry, shooting .38 Short Colt in both). I love both. I have the Ruger Redhawk .45 LC/.45 ACP (I like multiple bullet/ammo options), and like it a bunch. Have shot the GP100 10 shot .22 in Steel Challenge matches. I'm not fast, but enjoy the variety, target arrays, and fun. Overall, I prefer Rugers.

 

RRR

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4 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:


Thank you for your post. Great info. 
 

Yep, there aren’t a lot of grip choices out there but that’s okay. A T-Grip is a great idea. Hadn’t thought of that for a Ruger. 
 

I wouldn’t be carrying either Ruger concealed. At least not here in CA. Heck, the waiting list for CCW in my County is over 2 years now and growing. I “transport” legally. I don’t carry ;)

Fergot you're across the river, LOL. Its a good "field" pistol, but I wouldn't CCW it either. For some reason, I'm partial to my light-N-airy plastico crunchentickers with 17rd mags....:D

 

Eagle said they would make me a "boot grip" type but I still don't see me carrying it in the AZ heat, LOL.

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6 minutes ago, Dubious Don #56333 said:

Fergot you're across the river, LOL. Its a good "field" pistol, but I wouldn't CCW it either. For some reason, I'm partial to my light-N-airy plastico crunchentickers with 17rd mags....:D

 

Eagle said they would make me a "boot grip" type but I still don't see me carrying it in the AZ heat, LOL.

I like my “plastico crunchentickers” as well. ;) To be legal mine are limited to 10 rounds, but I still like them. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I finally sold that S&W model 60 Pro. 
Interesting tidbit about Caleepornia gun laws and selling guns on consignment. 
When you turn a gun over to an FFL or consignment sale by law they must hold onto it for 21 days. They must submit info regarding the gun to DOJ and then the DOJ releases the gun to be sold after 21 days or when the DOJ gets Damn good and ready to allow it to sell using CoVid backlogs as an excuse. 
Then when the gun sells the FFL holds funding until the buyer’s purchase requests clears the DOJ after 10 days or when the DOJ gets around to releasing it blaming the delay on CoVid...

So, it has been nearly a month and a half and the buyer as of yesterday was supposed to pick his gun up. Once the LGS calls me to pick up my money I plan to order the Ruger Redhawk 5050 .45Colt / .45 ACP revolver with a 4.2” Barrel. 
 

God knows when one will be available. 

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Hay Pard I have both a Ruger Red Hawk and a Smith & Wesson 29.

I can tell you I love them both for several reasons. 

They are similar guns from the exterior looks .

Very different guns internally. 

I have fed a steady diet of 44 mag hot load rounds threw my First Edition Ruger Red Hawk for the last 25 years that would have Wore out Ten S&W 29's .

If you want Hell for stout .

You cant beat a Ruger Red Hawk.

So saith the Rooster. 

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7 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

When you turn a gun over to an FFL or consignment sale by law they must hold onto it for 21 days.


I am unclear on the understanding of this.
For example, a widow in our lodge wants to sell me her hubby's Redhawk.
It is papered, etc in CA.

I thought we would go to FFL, start the paper work, and 10 days later it changed hands.
This is not a consignment sale.

Q: is this subject to the 21 days, bleh, bleh, bleh you mentioned above?

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6 minutes ago, bgavin said:


I am unclear on the understanding of this.
For example, a widow in our lodge wants to sell me her hubby's Redhawk.
It is papered, etc in CA.

I thought we would go to FFL, start the paper work, and 10 days later it changed hands.
This is not a consignment sale.

Q: is this subject to the 21 days, bleh, bleh, bleh you mentioned above?

No, a transfer is a transfer. Money changes hands, paperwork is done then 10 days later the new owner takes possession. 
 

On a consignment the gun is not going directly to anyone so I guess the state mandates a 21 day period. Probably to verify the owner and the gun aren’t wanted for a crime...I guess. This is California. They can’t even figure out that a gun that is “registered” to you is actually yours. It’s just another dumbass way to mess with people. 

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