Redhawk Stocks

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’m working on getting a Ruger Redhawk to shoot.

I have great ammo that shoots well in all my guns, and the dimensions of this gun are right with a very smooth barrel.

The rubber stocks feel great in my hand for dry firing but I noticed that my hand would hurt after shooting any quantity of .44 Magnum ammo.

This was about as good as I could get it to group

[GunnyMack]

Barrel cylinder gap tight? Timing is good? Re cut the crown?
I know stainless steel barrels can be accurate but sometimes I think stainless barrels just don't have 'it'
How many rounds through it? Maybe just needs to be broken in?
Just spitballing here Scott.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I changed out the stocks to the laminated wood versions.

No other changes.

I tried five different loads and they all shot better.

[AJMD429]

.
Wow.

In my hands I'll bet there wouldn't be much difference, as I'm not that good a shot. Pretty cool you're good enough to discern a difference...!

[Scott Tschirhart]

I don’t know about that. Some shooters put me to shame.

You should watch videos of Lynn Thompson shooting sometime. That man has mastered the .454 Casull, and that’s something that I will never be able to do.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I also shot over 50 .44 Special and over 50 .44 Magnum loads and my hand doesn’t hurt. So something is working better.

[GunnyMack]

Looking much better groups now.
Those rubber are pachmeyers? Got a set of those on my 629.
Strange how you shoot the wood stocks better, probably fill your hand more.

[Scott Tschirhart]

They are a Hogue Bantam grip. I think the issue is how much space they take up under the trigger guard. They feel good but I think my hand goes into an unusual angle.

But even with full house magnum loads, the trigger guard doesn’t thump my second finger with the wood grips.

With similar Magna style grips on a Smith N Frame I get thumped pretty hard with heavy loads.

[2ndovc]

I like those.

I just got my 4" Redhawk. The factory grips were damaged so i put on a set of Pach. Presentation style grips.
They fit my hand better, but I've only had it out once with a cast load with a new bullet. It didn't seem to like that load much.
I'll have it back out again with some different combinations to see what it prefers. I may order a set of those in the mean time. They definitely look better than the rubber ones.

jb

[samsi]

I can live with the factory stocks on a 7 1/2" RH but with the barrel shorter than that I've got to use the Pachmayr's that cover the backstrap. I did run a round-butted 5.5" with modified factory stocks and a Tyler grip shoe that worked alright but I wasn't confident about the little metal tang staying put after having a similar setup fail on an N frame.

If you can find a set of the old Butler Creek RH grips I think they're a close second to the Pachs, some people prefer them.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I ran everything from a light 240 gr cast Special up to a 240 gr Winchester white box.44 magnum load.

Everything shot better.

[6pt-sika]

I’ve had two RedHawks both 7 1/2 scoped 44’s and three Super RedHawks two 480’s and a 44 all scoped . Amazingly they all shot very well . The 489’s did their best with my home cast bullets . Always wanted to kill a deer with one but I’d get them shoot them some loose intrest sell them and six months later pick up another lightly used one . The last I had was an early blued Redhawk with factory rings etc , wish I had that one back . If memory serves I shot nothing but cast in the gun .

[stretch]

Nice improvement!

I've got to do the same thing to mine - I've got the same issue,
and have read that a change of grips makes all the difference.

Thanks for the pics and info.

-Stretch

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’ve always thought that pistol stocks really didn’t matter except on heavy kicking handguns.

After all, every hoe, ax, and hammer handle fits my hand well enough.

But this has me re-thinking my position on this.

[GunnyMack]

Whether it's in your head or the change actually made a difference the change made a visual difference in your groups.
Put the other set back on and shoot a group, then swap em and shoot a group- you'll know right off!

[Bill in Oregon]

Scott, that Redhawk looks like a dainty little K-frame Smith in your hands.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Scott, that Redhawk looks like a dainty little K-frame Smith in your hands.

You crack me up buddy! You should see how dainty a K frame looks in my hand.