If I had to select one handgun above all others, my choice would be easy. It’s Ruger’s .357 Magnum Blackhawk. I don’t have one, but that’s something I aim to fix in the near term. I’m watching two .357 Blackhawks on the auction block right now. One is that drop dead gorgeous brass frame Old Model you see in the big photo above. That one is not just any Blackhawk, either. It was previously owned by Hank Williams, Junior.
The Hank Williams Blackhawk has a lot going for it. It’s the Old Model Blackhawk, which has a feel when cocked similar to a Colt Single Action Army. There’s the provenance (this one has a letter attesting to its prior ownership and its factory brass grip frame). And, there’s that rare (and highly desirable) brass grip frame. Ruger only made a few of those.
Winning the auction for the Hank Williams Blackhawk is a long shot. My backup is to buy a new Blackhawk, and I have my eye on the one shown in the photo below.
I guess I need to go tangential for a minute and explain this business about Old Model and New Model Blackhawks. The basic difference between the Old Model and the New Model is that the Old Model can fire if you drop it on a hard surface. The New Model incorporates a transfer bar to prevent that from happening. You should carry an Old Model with the hammer resting on an empty chamber; you can safely carry a New Model with all six chambers loaded. Naturally, geezers like me prefer the look and feel of the Old Model (and we tend not to drop our guns), but the new Model Model is every bit as good and every bit as accurate. Geezers just like old stuff.
I found a used 200th year stainless steel one on Gunbroker about a dozen years ago, I won the auction for it, and I ran the equivalent of a lead mine’s annual output down the bore (including some ultra-heavy 200-grain loads). I am the only guy I know who wore out a .357 Blackhawk. The loading latch wouldn’t stay open, and when I returned it for repair to Ruger, they were as amazed as I was that I wore it out. It was beyond repair, they told me, but as a good will gesture they paid me what I paid for it. Nobody, but nobody, has better customer service than Ruger.
Part of the reason the .357 Blackhawk I describe above went south, I think, is that it was stainless steel. I have it in my mind that stainless steel is softer than blued carbon steel, and I think they just don’t hold up as well under a steady diet of heavy loads. That’s why my next .357 Blackhawk will be blue steel.
To me, the Blackhawk is a “do anything” .357 Magnum. It’s a good buy in today’s inflated world, it’s a solid defense round, you can hunt with it, and it is accurate. I like the longer barrel for the sight radius. You can believe this or not, but I can easily hit targets at 100 yards with a .357 Blackhawk and the right load.
It’s been at least a couple of years now that I’ve been without a .357 Blackhawk, and like I said, I aim to fix that problem. I’ll let you know which of the above two guns (a brand new blue steel Blackhawk, or the Hank Williams Old Model) I pick up. Most likely it won’t be the Hank Williams revolver (competition and bidding will be intense on that one and it will probably be too rich for my blood), but the New Model will make me just as happy. Good times lie ahead. Stay tuned.
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I’ve had both old models and new models. I would not own a new model as long as there are still unconverted old models available, even at the cost of carrying just 5 rounds and the hammer on an empty cylinder. I’m not being an elitist, they just have better weight, balance, actions, and triggers. Hope you win the Hank gun!
Thanks for commenting Michael, and thanks for your good wishes. I hope I win it, too.
It sold. Any luck? I see they have a never fired one for $2650. 7 1/2 inch barrel.
Neither one has sold yet, Marcus. Please send me the link for the never fired one listed at $2650.
Now I have to get one. Thanks a lot Joe. I guess I have to get the cowboy holster also. I am sure it will be difficult for the conceal carry.
You won’t regret it. Who gets to be the Lone Ranger and who gets to be Tonto?
I’ve owned both and liked them. I sold the old model to my brother who sent it in to Ruger for the safety upgrade (3 screw vs 1 screw). It never shot well after that. He sent it back and they tried, but…
I’ve never felt the need to have one converted. And I had a bad experience sending a gun in for a recall to Henry. Your brother’s experience supports my bias.
Thanks for posting, Larry.
Years ago a guy who worked at a machine shop with me was in financial distress, and he had a mint with box and papers .357 OM in original configuration, unmodified.
It had belonged to his deceased Father, who had paid just under $90 for it brand new in 1974
I wanted it, and offered to buy it, I even gave him a 6 month buy-back offer, however after 6 months it was mine forever, that was the deal. He commanded a high but reasonable price, and Tammy bought it for me for my birthday.
The six months came and went, and I had it for a dozen or so years, but never fired it.
After a time his financial troubles had cleared, and he was in a great place, so I offered it back to him, at 10% over what I paid.
I easily could have almost doubled or more the price on Gunbroker, but I knew how he felt about his Dad, and I knew he would never again part with it.
Joe I hope you find one just as nice, with a story….
Good Shooting, Lance
That’s a great story, Lance. You did a good thing. I’m proud to know you.
I think you are correct about the blued steel guns (carbon steel) being tougher given their respective ultimate strength vs stainless steel guns, but I do hear that most all of the manufacturers have got it figured out re: Stainless guns by now. The biggest knock on Ruger is that they are big heavy cast frame guns that are the modern equivalent of a Russian T34. Tough as hell, that’s for sure. Colt handguns are kinda finicky, or the new ones can be downright finicky. Most of mine are .357 Smith & Wesson, and I’ve been very happy.
I think they’ve all become better guns today. The new Colt Python is vastly more durable than the previous ones (I’ve owned both). In the ’70s, Smiths would shake loose and go out of time under a steady diet of magnum loads; I’m told the newer ones are much better. I was surprised to see a Blackhawk slip into a “beyond economic repair” state.
Thanks for commenting, Norm.
Great writeup and wish you much luck on the Hank Williams Jr. action, the old three screw models definately have the better trigger *IF* they were not sent in to the Ruger for the very scratchy lawyer-approved sand bar. What that after thought contraption did to triggers was a tragedy. Anyhow a handful of years ago I found an old 3-screw at the Ventura Crissroads show that was totally frozen up. I could tell by it’s stepped hammer that the factory had butchered it up with their ‘free’ transfer bar conversion. We settled on less than 200 clams. During the 10-day cool off period I was busy locating all the parts to restore it back to original. Hammers are scarce as hen’s teeth. Screws from Ruger, pin from Numerich, hammer, springs and other stuff from eBay, at a cost of twice what was paid for gun. But man was it worth the effort! It is the finest 357 Blackhawk I ever handled. Super sweet trigger, incredible accurate out to 100+ yards as you say, no exaggeration! Thanks for bringing back good memorias. Check your email for pics of my de-attorneyized Blackhawk
Awesome. Thanks for commenting, Jose.
I love Blackhawk revolvers, was even about to finally buy one when we here in the Communist utopia of Canada were denied further access to such potentially ‘revolutionary’ weapons. For the good of all, I have been told. Ah, well, if I HAD purchased this fine firearm, the RCMP would have had an excuse to perform a no knock warrant, knock down my door at 3am, shoot my dogs and attack gerbils and otherwise make an enemy of the state of me. So good thing I DIDN’T buy one. But I wish I had one and would also make it my ‘one and only’ if I had to make such a choice. Either new or old is ok, though I do enjoy the original four click action of colt clones. Something about that I can’t quite explain.
You and me both, Eric. I feel your pain up there in Canada. Someday, the politicians will realize that making guns illegal doesn’t stop criminals.
I have one Old Model Blackhawk and an old Single Six. The Blackhawk is a .30 Carbine that has a 3-digit serial number and is unfired. I have the original box and all the papers that go with it. I had another Old Model .30 Carbine that I ruined (there’s a blog somewhere on here about that). The Single Six is the very early one (it has a four-digit sernial number). I’ll do a blog on it someday.
I lost the auction for the Hank Williams .357 Blackhawk. I bid what I thought was an insane amount and I still lost. I don’t whether to feel good or bad about that.
Oh, I think the politicians up here know very well that outlawing firearms makes no bit of difference with crime, except to create a whole new class of criminal. The push to ban them is about something else and I won’t get into it, I’m sure you have some ideas of your own.
I’m sorry you missed out on that Hank Williams blaster, but you could always buy one, make it your own and someday far in the future IT will be up for auction and someone will be banging his/her fists on the keyboard as somebody outbids them.