44 flat top

Did they make the old model flat top 44 in a 4 5/8 barrel

Production was limited to 6-1/2", 7-1/2" & 10"

Nitro is correct.

There were a couple of pre-production prototypes made, and a 4-3/4" gun was made for Elmer Keith.

I feel Lucky to own a 6 1/2". If you get a chance to buy one , go for it.

The 6-1/2" ones were the predominant issue, nearly 28,000 of them.

There were 750 of the 7-1/2" guns, and 1500 of the 10" variety.

Info from Dougan's book Ruger Pistols and Revolvers, the Vintage Years 1949-1973.

:mrgreen:

I have 2) 10" and 1) 6-1/2"...sadly I am short a 7-1/2" FlatTop...I keep looking...it will come.

Need a little help. What to going rate for a shooter 44 flat top 6.5in. Saw a low four digit recently and was curious

here is one, also a 4 digit number, offered to me for just under $900 if I go and pick it up..........





around here at here shows, I've seen them , so-so condition around $700-750, nice ones at $1250 and mint, in the box ,pushing $2000............


and as for short barreled ones, I recall back in 1990 at the I-X Shotgun News display show in Cleveland , Bob Campbell and I were approached by an old guy, had a 4 5/8 inch barreled ,claimed he got it NEW that way, was offering to sell it to either of us for $250 and Bob C. said ,"nope, never heard or saw of a 4 5/8 inch version" guy walked out still carrying it, found out from his friend, who had sent the guy over to the Ruger displays, he even had the box and receipt , out in the car...........duh, go figure, if Mr Ruger made ONE for someone at any given time, my bet is there are MORE......find it, and then "prove it" 8) :roll:

. . . and finding, while difficult, is not likely as difficult as proving.


;-)

IF, I would have worked at Ruger back then, I Would have had a .44, 4-5/8" Flat Top...just saying.

No--but I had a 6 1/2" cut to 4 5/8" around 45 years ago. It made it a very handy gun. Unfortunately it had a habit of losing the ejector rod housing due to the small, shallow screw hole. Some years ago I sent it to Ruger and they replaced that original barrel with a factory 4 5/8" with a better anchoring stud. They also claimed they had to refinish it and install the transfer bar action (which I promptly removed and reinstalled the old parts).

It doesn't get used much anymore as I like my circa 1996 NM Blackhawk short barreled .45 Convertible--but I always thought they should have made the short .44s in the first place...

sp45 said:

Did they make the old model flat top 44 in a 4 5/8 barrel

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Ruger is only known to have made two...serial number 2331 was made special for Elmer Keith.
The second gun is serial number 7498 and was factory engraved by Charles Jerred on special order from a friend of WBR.
Most of the 4-5/8" barreled .44 flattops beyond that seem to fall in the 9xxx to 11xxx range with most in the 11xxx. The problem is, most also have a variety of different barrel crowns on them. I also remember at least one 5" in the same 11xxx range.
Chet15

sp45 said:

Did they make the old model flat top 44 in a 4 5/8 barrel

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Easy enough to find a take-off New Model Flat Top 44 Spl Blackhawk barrel and screw it in; same thread.

Much cheaper than shortening your barrel, don't have to have a new front sight welded on, and you still have the original barrel for the gun.

Hondo44 said:

sp45 said:

Did they make the old model flat top 44 in a 4 5/8 barrel

Click to expand...

Easy enough to find a take-off New Model Flat Top 44 Spl Blackhawk barrel and screw it in; same thread.

Much cheaper than shortening your barrel, don't have to have a new front sight welded on, and you still have the original barrel for the gun.

Click to expand...

Mostly true, but ya gotta hope the front sight "times out" right when the barrel comes up "tight" and that the barrel/cylinder gap is OK. That said, it's still a good alternative, as these potential problems can be solved with work on the barrel, and possibly on the ejector rod housing.

Cheaper? Dunno, depends on who's doing the work.

JMHO
:mrgreen:

I think it would be easier to find a 4 5/8" Super Blackhawk barrel than one from a .44Spl. I don't see many of those getting pulled. However, either one would have a warning label and that's not something I'd want on an original flat-top. Between buying the barrel and paying to have it installed, I don't see it saving much money either. Were it me, I'd have the original shortened to keep a proper barrel address or replace it with a premium barrel and a custom front sight. Gunsmithing and shipping costs too much to try and save a few bucks on the work, penny-wise and dollar-foolish.

Methinks this business of saving barrels for future posterity is a little silly. You've already spent enough on the work done to negate anything you'd make on the sale and are you really going to pay again to have it undone?

Everybody wants a short barreled 44 Magnum until they have blood dripping from their ears and blind as a bat from the muzzle flash. If you ever let one go in a dark enclosed area without hearing protection you wont' soon forget it. Sunfish

Hmmm, I've never had that problem. I actually find the shorter barrels easier to shoot.

Nice are those Bowen custom's? The blued one is almost to pretty to shoot. 44's are controllable and pleasant compared to 454's 460 and 500's. It's the noise of the short ones that bothers me in daylight. Short barrels can be accurate for sure

The blued one is a .500JRH, stainless a .44Mag but with an oversized six-shot cylinder. Both are by Jack Huntington. I use mostly cast bullets and that seems to keep the muzzle flash to a minimum. I don't notice a difference in noise, they're all loud.

I have a 4 5/8" flattop - but it didn't come that way. It was a very cosmetically challenged but mechanically sound gunshow find, which John Gallagher shortened and worked over, with a color-case job on the cylinder frame by Doug Turnbull. I think it's very nice, and Ruger should have made such. I also am blessed to own a 7 1/2" flattop .44, which I used to take a decent 8 point Saturday morning. I also like short-barreled .44s and don't find them objectionable to shoot at all. Not going to shoot any of them, short or long, without ear protection, nor indoors.