.30 Carbine Revolver.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

I know that the cartridge is not SASS Legal today, but I have heard that the very first shot at the very first SASS match was a .30 Carbine cartridge fired from a Ruger single action revolver.  I believe I heard that it was a Super Blackhawk.

Can anyone answer the following question?

1.  Is this a true story?
2.  The Super Blackhawk is an adjustable sight revolver.  Did Ruger, or anyone, ever make a single action revolver in the caliber with fixed sights?

Pretty simple questions, really.

[Sedalia Dave]

Only available in the Super Blackhawk.

 

Edited August 5 by Sedalia Dave

[Boggus Deal #64218]

3 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Only available in the Super Blackhawk.

Just Blackhawk. Not Super Blackhawk.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

@H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 I have heard the same story. In fact, I think it was written in the Chronicle a few years ago.

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

@Griff do you have recollection of this?

[Dapper Dave]

I did hear that myself, don't recollect rightly where, but that was what I heard. 

[PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L]

 

[Bullett Sass 19707]

If you are standing near when the .30 cal blackhawk went it goes off you will remember it.  One of the loudest hand guns I have ever shot.  Bullett

[Widder, SASS #59054]

20 minutes ago, Bullett Sass 19707 said:

If you are standing near when the .30 cal blackhawk went it goes off you will remember it.  One of the loudest hand guns I have ever shot.  Bullett

 

YES, indeed.

And its the 'Blackhawk', not a Super Blackhawk.

Loud..... dang loud.    I owned one a few years back.

 

Did I say it was LOUD!

 

..........Widder

 

[Griff]

2 hours ago, Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L said:

@Griff do you have recollection of this?

Not directly.  But, in talking to Flint Westwood at the 40th EOT in Indiana, he confirmed for me that, indeed, he was the winner of the 1st EOT with a .30 Carbine Blackhawk in 1982.  Tex recalled that his alias that year was Gutz Gosnell, also winning in 1983.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

I have toyed with the idea of getting a Blackhawk in .30 Carbine off and on for years.   I'm not a Ruger guy, but having a revolver in the caliber is intriguing to me.  As far as it being loud and having lotsa recoil goes, I was planning to just use Trailboss.  Even a max load with that powder will not cycle an M1 Carbine, and it is noticeably quieter then GI ammo, and has no recoil to speak of.   Not that the Carbine had much to begin with, but what little there was, was gone.

Of course, if I can find any Trailboss, it'll be going to my  Cowboy guns...

The thing that has held me back from getting the Blackhawk more than anything is that I don't care for the look of the sights.   I wonder if it would be possible to replace the front sight with a more traditional looking blade sight, and if maybe the rear sight could be replaced with something like the rear sight like we have on our main match rifles.   It would still technically be "adjustable" but I think it would look wicked cool.   Besides, the gun's not SASS legal anyway, so no harm done.

[Nickle]

There is a cool picture I saw a while back on Facebook of I think he was a helicopter gunner in Vietnam.  In the pic he had a M1, 30 carbine and a ruger 30 carbine Blackhawk on his hip.

 

[Shooting Bull]

13 hours ago, Widder, SASS #59054 said:

 

YES, indeed.

And its the 'Blackhawk', not a Super Blackhawk.

Loud..... dang loud.    I owned one a few years back.

 

Did I say it was LOUD!

 

..........Widder

 

Huh? What? 😵‍💫

[Vail Vigilante]

I like pretty much all things Ruger.

Not the man too much, but the brand.

RPRs, 'Hawks, single sixes, love them.

I might get said revolver one day.

 

(I actually want to trade out my Italian Colt clones for 45 LC/45 ACP Blackhawks at some point, or maybe a 357 Mag/9mm version....or maybe one each....the possibilities are endless......)

 

I think they shoot a little more accurately and in my experience are easier to manipulate......

I stay in the age categories anyway so sights are not a factor.....

 

But I digress.....

 

It would seem like a marriage made in heaven, a 30 caliber Blackhawk.

Just think if you worked up a fast stepping load featuring the Hornady 110 Vmax.  

And you should wear quality hearing protection anyway.......I recently saw a thing where a 22 magnum went over the OSHA limit for hearing damage.

 

[Cypress Sun]

When I started to shoot SASS, I only had one SA revolver, a .30 Carbine Blackhawk. My Dad loaned me his .30 Carbine Blackhawk, made up some (severely) downloaded rounds with lead bullets and off I went. Shot those for about six months before buying some .357 Blackhawks. I know .32 was the minimum but no one cared as it was, as they say, "only club matches".

 

BTW, the .30 Carbine Blackhawk only come with 7.5" barrels and still retain a substantial muzzle blast and are VERY loud. Can you imagine if they made one with a 4.75 barrel?

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

17 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

When I started to shoot SASS, I only had one SA revolver, a .30 Carbine Blackhawk. My Dad loaned me his .30 Carbine Blackhawk, made up some (severely) downloaded rounds with lead bullets and off I went. Shot those for about six months before buying some .357 Blackhawks. I know .32 was the minimum but no one cared as it was, as they say, "only club matches".

 

BTW, the .30 Carbine Blackhawk only come with 7.5" barrels and still retain a substantial muzzle blast and are VERY loud. Can you imagine if they made one with a 4.75 barrel?

 

Hmmm....

Interesting question.   It would certainly have an impressive muzzle blast.   But I can tell you that .32-20 is louder out of a 7.5" Colt than it is from a 5.5" one.

 

 

[Cypress Sun]

1 hour ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

 

Hmmm....

Interesting question.   It would certainly have an impressive muzzle blast.   But I can tell you that .32-20 is louder out of a 7.5" Colt than it is from a 5.5" one.

 

 

 

While he .30 Carbine Blackhawk muzzle blast is impressive, the AMT Automag III in .30 Carbine is even more so and even louder. 

 

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Can you imagine a Super Blackhawk in .300 Blackout?  GJ

[Boggus Deal #64218]

3 minutes ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

Can you imagine a Super Blackhawk in .300 Blackout?  GJ

The Ruger Maximum frame would be long enough.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

This was never my intention, but various things said on this thread have got me thinking about doing the following....

1.  Keep my eyes out for a used Blackhawk in .30 Carbine for a reasonable price at local gunshops.

2,  Take it to my gunsmith to bob the barrel back to the same length as the ejector rod.

3.  Install a new simple blade front sight.

4.  Slide out the factory sight and replace it with something that'll slide into the slot to create a simple, non adjustable rear notch sight. 
5.  (Optional)  Determine if a .32-20 cylinder, or a .32 H&R Magnum cylinder is available.   Obtain and experiment with loading those  cartridges with .309" bullets for use in this pistol.  Not sure if that would make it SASS Legal or not, but it might still be fun to try it just for the novelty.  

It should all be doable.   It'll give me something "unique" and fun to shoot every now and again.

The odds of me actually DOING this are remote, but it is an idea in my mind.   I have lotsa weird ideas.

Edited August 6 by H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

[Boggus Deal #64218]

29 minutes ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

This was never my intention, but various things said on this thread have got me thinking about doing the following....

1.  Keep my eyes out for a used Blackhawk in .30 Carbine for a reasonable price at local gunshops.

2,  Take it to my gunsmith to bob the barrel back to the same length as the ejector rod.

3.  Install a new simple blade front sight.

4.  Slide out the factory sight and replace it with something that'll slide into the slot to create a simple, non adjustable rear notch sight. 
5.  (Optional)  Determine if a .32-20 cylinder, or a .32 H&R Magnum cylinder is available.   Obtain and experiment with loading those  cartridges with .309" bullets for use in this pistol.  Not sure if that would make it SASS Legal or not, but it might still be fun to try it just for the novelty.  

It should all be doable.   It'll give me something "unique" and fun to shoot every now and again.

The odds of me actually DOING this are remote, but it is an idea in my mind.   I have lotsa weird ideas.

I do not think that would be SASS legal. Ruger made a .32-20/.32 Mag convertible in a New Model Blackhawk sized frame. Made for a distributor. It was called the Buckeye Special.

[Three Foot Johnson]

On 8/4/2025 at 5:51 PM, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

2.  The Super Blackhawk is an adjustable sight revolver.  Did Ruger, or anyone, ever make a single action revolver in the caliber with fixed sights?

USFA chambered the .30 Carbine.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

1 hour ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

USFA chambered the .30 Carbine.

 

Say what?   That's cool!   

To bad I probably get obtain one.