Ruger OM Blackhawk

My first 'bought with my own money' revolver was a Ruger .44 flat top in 1959. It was as new with a box of original Winchester Lubaloy cartridges with only 5 gone. If you've ever fired these you'll know why he sold the gun.
Since then I've owned many of these but, and here is the subject of my query, in the '70s I bought SN 2368 with a 4 3/4" bbl. Since Ruger never cataloged this bbl length I assumed it to be cut down. I have only just learned that Ruger gifted Elmer Keith with such a gun and bbl length SN 2331. Could there have been more than one? Any chance anyone has info for me. After all, I paid $55 for this piece... hope I didn't get ripped off.

SORRY but you've been steamed, reamed, and drycleaned.
You might double your money if you find a true sucker....

And so it goes...

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, welcome to the Forum, and NO at $55 you did not get snookered, even took or hoodwinked....
as for the barrel length,without a factory letter telling you just "how" ( configuration) the gun was shipped, you will not know for certain, lots of speculations, have to see the barrel and how it was finished ,maybe tell better if it was indeed "cut down" after the fact...coincidence the number is "close" to one of Elmers "noted" guns, may never know..yes, stories and tales of others that have been spotted, seen them myself, many looked good, proper,but would NOT letter as to the 'shorter' barrel. On the other hand MOST of the so called "shorties" were indeed "made up",,,,cut to order. We did them ourselves in our shops over the years, customer request. You get what you pay for.
Take some GOOD pictures, close up, and send them for evaluation, opinion...........and opinions, everyone has one........ 8) :roll: :wink:

Welcome to the Forum!

A factory letter would just about be mandatory,,, unless you could find other verifiable documentation that it was done for a specific person, and done so at the factory.

But at $55,,,,,,,,,, you have a SWEET deal in that one!

Somehow, I suspect a huge bit of tongue-in-cheek in the OP.

:mrgreen: :wink: :wink: :twisted: :mrgreen:

Perhaps a little, at least around the price... but I do really wonder about the coincidence of the bbl length and SN. I admit just assuming someone cut down a 6 1/2" since short bbls were uncataloged at the time. Bought it at Lindholms in Rutland, VT about 1970. Back then it was just a gun... there were no 'old models'.

Still a good buy back then. I paid about $80 for my new 6.5" BH .357 in 1968.

Yeah . . . $86 for my .41 mag in 1966, as I recall.

:mrgreen:

My OM Blackhawk, 4 5/8" in .45 Colt, was $96 in 1973

Muley Gil said:

My OM Blackhawk, 4 5/8" in .45 Colt, was $96 in 1973

Click to expand...

That was a LOT of money back then.

Want to double your money?

ditto1958 said:

Muley Gil said:

My OM Blackhawk, 4 5/8" in .45 Colt, was $96 in 1973

Click to expand...

That was a LOT of money back then.

Click to expand...

Yeah, close to $550 in today's "dollars".
https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=1&year=1973

DGW

Psb1911 said:

Want to double your money?

Click to expand...

That's quite a generous offer considering that you'd have to pay him almost $1,100 in today's dollars in order for that to happen.
https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=1&year=1973

Inflation never sleeps, eh?

DGW

VT Viking said:

My first 'bought with my own money' revolver was a Ruger .44 flat top in 1959. It was as new with a box of original Winchester Lubaloy cartridges with only 5 gone. If you've ever fired these you'll know why he sold the gun.
Since then I've owned many of these but, and here is the subject of my query, in the '70s I bought SN 2368 with a 4 3/4" bbl. Since Ruger never cataloged this bbl length I assumed it to be cut down. I have only just learned that Ruger gifted Elmer Keith with such a gun and bbl length SN 2331. Could there have been more than one? Any chance anyone has info for me. After all, I paid $55 for this piece... hope I didn't get ripped off.

Click to expand...

I was sorta pulling your leg with my first response. I'd love to see an answer to your inquirery !
There is NO reason they could not have made two of those sixguns and BLR did like to do things in an expeditious manner in which he killed a few birds with one stone.
And now I wonder what exactly happened to Elmer's short 44Mag OM FT sixgun.

And so it goes...

Wil,,, Bill H has Elmers 4-5/8" 44 mag. It was a feature gun in his display at the ROCS show this past July in Ohio at the OGCA show. It,,,,,, along with the only remaining 15" 44 mag,,,,,,! A STUNNING pair of guns!

I appreciate all the leg pulling. I need to correct one thing... everyone is talking about 4 5/8" bbls... this (as was Elmer's) was 4 3/4" (mimicking the Colt). Anyone know if Ruger keeps serial number info?

Ruger does keep it's info.
BUT,,,, BUT,,,,, getting what you may need may not be available. Some records were damaged in a flood many years ago.

It's a bit odd that your gun has a 4-3/4" bbl. While we often say; "Never say never" with Ruger,,, I'd say that if your gun has a true 4-3/4" bbl,,, 99.9% chance it's a custom cut job. A LOT of that has been done over the years.
Bill Ruger developed a math formula for cutting barrel stock to reduce the waste as much as possible. That's the reason for the odd measurements. Barrel stock was purchased in 20 ft lengths if I recall correctly. Bill hated waste,, and that's the reason for many of our barrel lengths.

But,,, your gun,,, & Ruger records. Ruger will not disclose who or where a specific gun was shipped to. IF,,, IF,,, it was a special done gun,,, you MAY only get a model designation for it. But in 1959,,, with one gun already in 4-5/8" (Elmer's gun,) a 4-3/4" would be an oddity,,,,, and information would have likely been published about it. Why? Look at Elmer,,, he was a gun writer,,, and he wrote about his gun. Other such guns got mentioned often as well. Yes,,, Bill had friends & all he built stuff for,,, but I'd say your gun is just a nice gunsmith modified one.

What caught my attention wasn't JUST the bbl length but the serial number proximity to Elmer's gun... 38 numbers off.

Mine is 1188xx and 4 5/8" It looks original, but I'm sure it is just a good "nose-job". I am glad to have it.