Buckeye Specials

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Green Frog

Single-Sixer
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When Ruger made their run of specials for Buckeye Sports, did they ever release the promised third (44-40/44 Mag) version or were there only two? It dawned on me as I was discussing them, I've never seen one of the 44s. :?

Froggie
 
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John ( Buckeye Sporting Goods) did just the two offerings and when talk of the 3 rd came about we were told he said "no"....and I guess the 44/44-44 mag convertible was actually ended up going Williams GunSight Company??? Maybe Chad knows more details, this is just what we were told back in the early 90s...as we sold the BUckeyes through our shop as well as the holsters thaat were also offered...wish I had held onto the 'black leather' Buckeye marked holsters as there were so few of them made for the Buckeye guns....I still have one "set" left over but never was one for "matching up: the serial numbers even though they were offered to us...oh well

5sLIbISm.jpg


gMz7G6wm.jpg
 

Hondo44

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Hi Froggie,

5202 32s and 6199 .38-40s were made. Their catalog #s, S32X and S3840 were in error because neither were Super Blackhawks and should have been # 32X and # 3840.

Only 1198 .44s made and were shipped to Jerry's Sports Ctr in 1990-91 as catalog # S4440. So rarer than the above versions.

Ruger ran out of 44-40 cylinders while they still had 50 frames left marked "Convertible". Those 50 frames were shipped only with the 44 Mag cyl and the standard catalog # S47N. Only two have surfaced.
 

Green Frog

Single-Sixer
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Thanks for those quick responses. If I understand it correctly, there WERE supposed to be 44 cal Buckeye convertibles built, but they didn't actually make it as Buckeye Specials. The 32 combo came first, IIRC and the next year you had first dibs on a 38-40/10 mm (or was it 40 S&W?) with the same serial number, right?

Of course the question also arises, since they ran out of 44-40 cylinders before they even completed the proposed run of combo guns, were there ever any non-convertible 44-40 Blackhawks ever released on their own? The subject of a 44-40 combo came up in a discussion I started on another board concerning my Uberti Henry in that caliber and I thought to myself what a great partner a Blackhawk in the same caliber could be.

Thanks again!
Froggie
 
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Good follow -up info Hondo,,,was wondering as I had never seen but 1 or 2 of the 44 convertibles, and was told the same story by them it came through Williams??? so thought they be the one...I do know that John in Canton ,Ohio had said NO to the 3rd version or issue and NO "Buckeye" to be done that way.....wondering if Ruger would ever supply any replacement 44-40 cylinders??? ha ha
Heck the factory did not even get it right with the end labels for the first .32 cal Buckeyes, they called it a Single Six............. :roll: :wink:


bhwmsXFm.jpg



wish I still had that one it was a 2 digit number I recall.....oh well 8)
 

Sugar River

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Perhaps my memory is faulty, but didn't the poor sales of these guns, the 32s and 10mms, cause Buckeye to go out of business?
I bought one of the 32s at a small shop in Flemington, NJ circa '94 for $189. And he had about 10 more in stock.
Couldn't give them away.
Ironic that they now bring a premium.
 
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sorry but the Rugers were NOT the cause of John closing up Buckeye Sports, I think he was getting old and tired, and sadly much like Ashland Shooters Supply, our friend Big Joe, back then, things just kinda phased out, Outdoor Sports lasted about the longest around here,,,,,and now there is Baumlers Supply over in Lorain area....we had closed our shop back in 1986 and after the fall of High Standard,(East Hartford) we just kinda let things go.Gave up the 'FFL' ( had three of them over the years) 1995 moved to Chardon, just tinker a bit here and there, staying and playing more with the Rugers and been hanging in there ever since, enjoy retirement all too much....... 8) :roll: :wink:
 

Green Frog

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rugerguy said:
sorry but the Rugers were NOT the cause of John closing up Buckeye Sports, I think he was getting old and tired, and sadly much like Ashland Shooters Supply, our friend Big Joe, back then, things just kinda phased out, Outdoor Sports lasted about the longest around here,,,,,and now there is Baumlers Supply over in Lorain area....we had closed our shop back in 1986 and after the fall of High Standard,(East Hartford) we just kinda let things go.Gave up the 'FFL' ( had three of them over the years) 1995 moved to Chardon, just tinker a bit here and there, staying and playing more with the Rugers and been hanging in there ever since, enjoy retirement all too much....... 8) :roll: :wink:

There also used to be an outfit called Southern Ohio Gunworks, IIRC. Is that one still in business? I think they were real big in police trade-ins and other revolvers, but I don't think I ever had occasion to buy anything from them.

Froggie
 
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Yes I remember Southern OHio Gun,,they used to get a lot of imports like British Enfileds and NICE stuff,,though we never dealt with them,,,and our PD trade ins would come through Abele -Davis or Standard Law...now a lot goes through Atwells in Painesville..........ah those were the days,,,,CHEAP prices on LE revolver trade ins.Seemed like every department was going to semi autos..........
 

T.A. WORKMAN

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cedarcreek said:
What's a fair price for the 44/44-40, with box and shipper?

Sir, IMHO,
"Crisp" NIB & LNIB =$1,000.00 - $1,500.00
Shooters = $750.00 & up.

Not to Hi-jack your post but here is an old post of mine on these revolvers that you can check out.

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=165379&hilit=Buckeye+Specials

Terry
 

T.A. WORKMAN

Hunter
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rugerguy said:
Terry, nice to be reminded of that gun back then....sorry we missed you at the Cuyahoga Falls show, we set up Saturday only...your buddy bought one of them new Wranglers..... 8) :wink:

I told him he should have bought both of them :wink: ,,,I have all three on order.
Terry
 

Hondo44

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Terry,

WOW, that's an amazing story of perseverance and success!

I hate to think if it had wound up being one of the left over frames that were shipped with only one cylinder !!!!! :roll: :roll: :(
 

Green Frog

Single-Sixer
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Dec 6, 2011
Messages
200
It would appear that wherever I go on the Inter Web I have a talent for kicking over hornets' nests! Here we are on our second page for this topic in less than a week! :shock:

To review what I think we know here, in the late '80s Buckeye Sports announced that they would bring out a series of combo (two cylinder) Blackhawks in the less available calibers; with one cylinder for each to be one of the old Nineteenth Century hyphenated calibers (the 32-20, 38-40, and 44-40.) They would come out one a year and buyers of the first would have the option of reserving the same serial number in the second and so on. The first year's release had a production count of 5202 and the second about a thousand more, but the market response was somewhat tepid with slow overall sales, leading to cancelation of plans to produce the third, 44 caliber variant. There was a small run of 44 combo guns made and sold through another vendor (Williams??) but Ruger didn't even make enough of the 44-40 cylinders to use up the frames that had been made and marked for that run. :?

Historically Ruger had made (and done reasonably well with) combo Blackhawks in 45 ACP and 45 Colt as well as 357Mag and 9 mm issues in smaller numbers, but the less well loved (as in "only by real enthusiasts") 32, 40, and 44 combinations just didn't seem to spark the market like their more well established siblings and their productions sort of "died on the vine," leaving them to become rare enough to be sought after by collectors and shooters of such arcane calibers later. :roll:

It is worth noting again that each of these three "unsuccessful" combos included one of the archaic hyphenated calibers from the previous century. With Bill Ruger's long established skill at tapping into the nostalgia of things old and classical, it should have been a safe bet that these would have been a roaring success. I guess there really is no predicting the fickle nature of the gun buying public. :mrgreen:

Thanks to all who contributed to this examination of one small aspect of the history of the Ruger Blackhawk. :D

Froggie
 

Green Frog

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Messages
200
Hondo44 said:
Terry,

WOW, that's an amazing story of perseverance and success!

I hate to think if it had wound up being one of the left over frames that were shipped with only one cylinder !!!!! :roll: :roll: :(

Terry,

With that grey box and the envelope with fired cases, I would suggest that what happened was that your revolver somehow got stuck back on a shelf somewhere and forgotten for about a decade or so. Then during "Spring Cleaning" it came to light and was summarily run through the then-current market packaging process and slipped out the door to one of their distributors with no fanfare and probably at a bargain price. The fact that its path and yours finally crossed is a tribute both to your extreme perseverance and sheer serendipity. Congratulations and I would assert that your story caps off this little study nicely.

Regards,
Froggie
 

Hondo44

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Green Frog said:
Terry,
Then during "Spring Cleaning" it came to light and was summarily run through the then-current market packaging process and slipped out the door to one of their distributors with no fanfare and probably at a bargain price.

Regards,
Froggie

Froggie,

Terry indicated in his story that he found it in the Ruger auction. But didn't say anything about what he had to bid for it.
 

T.A. WORKMAN

Hunter
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Froggie,
No you didn't stir up a hornets nest you were just seeking information on a very scarce & collectible revolver, that's the name of the game here, :D. So feel free to ask your questions, we enjoy sharing the correct information with those who are interested.

Jim is correct, I bought the revolver from the Ruger auction site and the hammer fell at $1,550.00, and as I said in my original post money well spent because it was used to benefit our Veterans.

I think I have figured out why the gun remained at Ruger for so long. It appears that the front sight of the revolver was damaged (slightly) during packaging and set back in the rack and not shipped with the 1st batch, it was never repaired and then shipped with the second shipment as it should have.

Best,
Terry
 

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