Ruger N.M. Blackhawk Magnaport

Friend of mine (dealer) picked this up at an auction and is looking for information. Any info would be helpful. Apparently came out in 1979.

You'll have a wide variety of opinions on this one.
There was just recently a conversation on here about Magna Ported Rugers.

For me, this one falls into the custom / commemorative / collector type gun. They hold no interest for me.

For some Ruger "purists" …. It's ruined.

But, that's what makes a hobby fun; all the different samples, examples, features, etc.

Contact Magnaport,, and ask them what they have on record for that gun. Best way to get good info.

yessir, so many shops and gunsmiths back in the day ,customized, promoted the work that they do, and wanted to come up with a "seller" a "niche item" advertizing their stuff, their work...in this case the "Metalife finish" or was it even "Armaloy" ? out of texas back then? I don't recall now, , then their "porting", EDM slots in the front top of the barrel to reduce muzzle jump, their trigger jobs, lockwork, and yes even engraving the top strap with their "logo",,,I had one long ago it was called a Tomahawk?? too nice and flashy to take out in the woods hunting so sold it to some "BBQ cowboy."...as I often say this shows a "sum of the total of the parts" or in this case the "work" done to a basic Ruger Single action revolver....add it up, like noted above they took a GOOD work gun, and "pimped their ride", so to speak....... a LOT of old timers I Know will say that between Mag-Na-Port, and Poly Choke, they screwed up the values of all too many guns............

Magnaport does excellent work. Their action jobs are pretty decent and the porting is effective. I like the high polish; the gold accents not so much. To each, their own.

This is Super Blackhawk, which means it is a .44 Mag. I own a Ruger .357 Mag Blackhawk, from 1965. This is called a 3-screw gun, and it looks like this one is also a 3-screw gun. This means that the gun may fire if dropped or banged, and so you should not carry a live round in the active chamber. There is a chance that the gun was improved/updated by Ruger, and if the transbar was perhaps installed, so you may want to ask if this has been done. I had mine 'fixed' about 10 years ago, so now I can safely carry a full loaded gun (all 6 rounds(.

no Sir, not an "old model Super" pictured above, it says "new model " on the left side of the receiver , as well as all the "warning notice" along the left side of the barrel so has to be after Jan 1 1979, or close to that date...nice gun if you like that sort of thing...

I bet it's a helluva shooter and I love that grip frame.

Mag Na Port did/ does first rate 'smithing . Yes , in that era they did lots of " prepackaged mods on new guns " , and they were popular as such things go .

In the early eighties, I had Mag Na Port Port, shorten the barrel, remove the warning, and reblue a SBH, they did such a fine job that I haven't needed another .44 Mag.

For a while I owned a Tomahawk, I think it was number 8 of 200. It was unfired with the Mag-Na-Port strap still on the hammer. After a lot of research that included conversation with a couple of very helpful members of the Ruger Collector's Assn., I cut that strap off and fired that bugger.

Man what a sweet revolver! For those perhaps unfamiliar it was from 1980. The barrel shortened to the extractor housing. An industrial hard chrome finish. Mag-Na-Ported (surprise), and a 2 1/2 pound glass-rod trigger.

My cousin drooled on it for years before I relented and sold it to him.

At one point all the planets aligned and I shot the head off a ground squirrel at forty feet.....and yes that is actually what I was trying to do.

One of the first things I did after I got out of the army, was to buy a SBH, and send it off to magnaport... I had it ported, a trigger job, and the "see-more"?? sight blades installed.....
Excellent shooting revolver....
I wanted to use it for whitetail, after Minnesota made handgun hunting legal.. I would have used it too, but I already had the rifle in my hand.....
I never really considered it for anything other than a hunting arm.... collector value never entered my mind....