RugerForum.com

I know we've been through all of this before, but I'm just dense. Today I was down at the local revolver store, and there was a nice shiny stainless New Model Blackhawk .357 Magnum. It had the black hard rubber grips. It of course, felt skinny in my hand and I told the fellow so. He said I should order the rosewood grips and it would be fine. With that, he stuck a .44 Magnum with rosewood grips, in my hand. Those grips fit the way I believe a single action should feel.

Although I have a number of DA's and a .44 Magnum Vaquero, I've never seriously looked at a Blackhawk.

The barrel appeared to be 5.5" and the price $550 or thereabouts.

I noted that the rosewood grips were thicker on the .44 Magnum.

I realize there is a significant overall diference in size of the two shooters, but that said, would the rosewood grips for the .357 fatten it up as much as on the .44 Magnum?

I note, also, on the Ruger site the stainless only comes with rosewood grips; barrel 4.62 or 6.5, and the blue comes with black hard rubber grips. The stainless one suggested retail price $681 and the blue one suggested retail price $557.

I guess my real question here is two parts. Will the rosewood grips for the .357 fatten it up as much as the .44. And, were the barrels previously 5.5? Or, did I just misjudge the length, because I was mainly interested in how it felt in my hand?

_________________
Hugh
U. S. Navy, 1959 - 1987, Retired
NRA Life Member

I really don't know if the new rosewood grips that Ruger sells are as thick as when they were being installed from the factory. I don't think older MN grips will fit because of the need for the lock cut-out. Maybe some of the real experts will chime in.

With the NM Blackhawks, the lock does not protrude beyond the grip frame. Any grips made to fit the XR3-RED grip frame will fit ALL NEW NM BLACKHAWKS WITH LOCK. Suprisingly, if you called Ruger, they would say otherwise. The last 50 or so customers that I've had didn't have any problems with it.

Only the "New XR3" grips need cutouts because the Vaquero grip frame is 1/16" thinner than the XR3-RED grip frame.

If the 357 is a Flattop model, then it will have the "NEW XR3" grip frame and the Rosewood grips will not fit.

_________________
Carl R. Schultz
www.privatescustomgrips.com

Ecclesiastes 10:2 - "A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but the fool's heart to the left."

If the .357 BH was of the mid-frame flattop variety, it likely has the "new" mid-size grips (XR3 ? - I can never keep the grip nomenclature correct). These are both smaller and thinner than the standard BH grip used on the large frame guns.

That said, you can do all sorts of magic with different grips. I have a set of "41 Magnum"'s "extended" grip panels on my mid-frame .44 Special. Makes it feel almost the size of a Bisley.

-- Sam

_________________
I hear banjos. Paddle faster!
Sarchasm - (n.) The gulf that exists between the creator of subtle witticisms and those who don't get them.

I bought a 50th Anniversary .357 Blackhawk about a year ago. I didn't mind the black plastic grips that much but wanted wood grips anyway.
For Christmas, I got a set of the smooth Rosewood laminate grips from the Ruger website (for the NV sized XR3 gripframe). It gave the gun a very different feel as they were much thicker and "fuller" feeling than the cheese-graters that came with my gun.

I think the chances are quite good that the grip would feel about the same as the .44 you handled if you changed over to the Rosewood. I notice you said it was a stainless .357; I don't think that there are any mid-frame stainless .357s so the gun should feel very similar to the .44, just a bit heavier.

Just my opinion, Your mileage may vary, and all that...

Good Luck!
Stephen

He who hesitates is lost. Today I went back with serial number history, a reminder to check for internal lock, and measuring tape. The stainless .357 Blackhawk was gone.

_________________
Hugh
U. S. Navy, 1959 - 1987, Retired
NRA Life Member

Story of my life.

To echo others' statements, if your gun is "just" a NM Blackhawk of the same (large) frame as the old Vaquero, then yes the Rosewoods designed for that (XR3-Red) should thicken up the grip feel just like the .44 Mag since, again, same overall frame size. Different ejector housing and gripframe materials on blued models aside, the original "old" Vaquero is simply a smoothed topstrap/fixed- sight version of the adjustable sight NM Blackhawk.

Hugh,

If you were looking at a stainless single action with black checkered hard rubber grips, and a 5.5" barrel, I would guess that it is a New Vaquero. It would include the internal lock and thinner grip frame.


Charlie

Leucoandro is probably correct. The stainless Blackhawks have not been equipped with the internal lock as of yet and as such, they've been fitted with the Rosewood grips.

From Ruger's site:
http://www.ruger.com/products/newModelB ... s/0353.jpg

_________________
Carl R. Schultz
www.privatescustomgrips.com

Ecclesiastes 10:2 - "A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but the fool's heart to the left."

Hi,

Nope, it was truly a Blackhawk .357, had adjustable sights, and on the left side said Blackhawk. I just didn't note the length of the barrel, other than it wasn't 7-1/2 or 4-5/8. After putting the question here, I went back the next day with serial numbr history for the .357 Blackhawks as well as my tape measure, and a reminder to check on internal lock. My intent was to buy it if there was no internal lock. But, alas, it was gone. The stainless ones come with rosewood grips but this one had the black hard rubber grips.

_________________
Hugh
U. S. Navy, 1959 - 1987, Retired
NRA Life Member

OK, one simple question will answer this mystery. Was it a flattop or not?

Like someone already said, the stainless XR3-RED type grip frames on the regular Blackhawks do not have locks in them yet. That is why they have wood grips.

The stainless flattops (also marked the same as the regular Blackhawks) will have the stainless XR3 grip frames with locks, hence the black grips.

I really don't think there is any mystery here. You just need to be a little more observant of what you're looking at when contemplating a gun purchase.

_________________
Cary Chapman

Hi Cary,

Your question was pretty much answered by your statement; "The stainless flattops (also marked the same as the regular Blackhawks) will have the stainless XR3 grip frames with locks, hence the black grips."

And, it answered my question about the internal lock. You have provided a piece of the puzzle I did not know. Thanks for the info.

_________________
Hugh
U. S. Navy, 1959 - 1987, Retired
NRA Life Member