Information on Ruger Blackhawk .44 Flattop

I recently acquired this .44 Blackhawk Flattop and I am looking for thoughts or information on a couple of odd issues with this revolver. The first is that there is a small hole in the left side of the frame right next to the rear sight. It doesn't appear to have been threaded and I'm wondering what it's purpose could be. Has anyone ever seen this before?



Next is the stud that the ejector rod screws into. I could see a line on the barrel right above the ejector rod housing screw. I didn't think too much of it, but when I removed the ejector rod, I could see all four sides of the dovetail that the stud attaches too. I have two other Flattop .357's, another Old Model .357, an early .41 Magnum Old Model, and a .45 Colt and .30 Carbine Old Model, and I can't see any trace of the dovetail. It makes me wonder if there was some work done to this barrel??? When I first received the revolver and was looking it over, I wondered if the barrel had been re-blued because it seemed some of the lettering on the left side of the barrel wasn't quite as sharp as it should be. Then when I saw the dovetail, it kind of re-affirmed my feelings of work being done and a re-finished barrel. I have since looked it over again a little closer, and am just not sure if that is the case or not. Again, does anyone have one of these where the dovetail is so apparent?



Thanks for any thoughts on either issue.

Wow, some interesting things going on here.

First, the hole is where the firing pin retaining pin is pressed in.. The pin is usually flush with the frame an finished along with the contour of the frame. Finished so well that many folks don't realized it's there. This pin seems to be a bit short, & has likely been removed at one time or another. Two reasons for that, a broken firing pin, or the gun has been refinished, the firing pin spring needing to be removed before this process.

The dovetail? About 99% sure is not factory, & a really different approach for a repair of pulled loose or stripped out retaining screw bushing.

And, I would agree that there has been a re-blue.

gunzo is spot on.

The hole is the firing pin retaining pin hole. Take a light & look into the hole to make sure there is a pin in there. If not,, you'll want to get a gunsmith to PROPERLY install one.
Next,, that dovetail is NOT factory. Ruger never dovetailed a ERH stud. Most likely, someone had a sheared off screw, or a stud fell out & a gunsmith dovetailed a piece into the barrel.

Dang, well that's not good news. I don't know that there is any pin in this hole. I'm not home right now, but it looked like the hole is fairly deep. You say to have a gunsmith properly replace it. Is there a trick to it? Is this pin available? Is it also called a 'recoil plate cross pin'? That's the only pin in that area on the parts diagram.

The "Pin" is on a diagonal, starting where you can see the hole (in your example) and ending in the loading area, if you look hard, under good light on your other guns you can see it.
Most of the time the pin it flush and finished,,, but sometimes it's a little short or an edge will show.
FWIW; I have never seen one left proud. They can be left short,,, usually in the loading area, quite common.

Recoil plate cross pin is exactly what it does. As for ordering one, I have pulled many, but have always just used the same pin. Sorry no help there.

The dovetailed ERH Screw Hole is an interesting fix, I'm thinking the screw broke off, and extraction didn't go so well.

TIP: Check your firing pin length and make sure your spring is good, before you go to re-doing, especially where it appears a little bubba kitchen table gun smithing has taken place.

Don't get discouraged about the the few things that are "bubba'd"…Consider fixing it up the way you want it.
Some Ideas; The dovetail fix just needs a little massage with a TIG weld. Pull the barrel and cut it to 4.6", and while the barrel is off, carefully flatten out the over buffed lettering etc. Could go back with a dovetail front sight, and then….

Acquired the top gun, OM 44 flattop 4 digit SN#, it had been bubbafied. Plan was to cut the barrel, because the front sight got a interesting brass bead installed.
I have always wanted a 4.6" OM Flattop.
Then set out to get all of the problems fixed,,,,
Brass Grip Frame, Super Hammer, Rear blade was missing, added a peep rear blade, then went and shot it.
It Shoots !!! Very accurate.
Most of the bluing worn down & out. The Action is like butter, Trigger breaks like glass, found the vintage moose grips. It has turned into one of my favorites, just the way it is. No plans to go any further,,,
well still thinking on the 4.6" barrel.


Bottom gun is a NM 4 digit SN# w/ a Brass Hunter GF, Super Hammer.
50 years apart…

Bottom line to the OP, that is a BAD repair job as well as a lousy reblue, hope you did NOT pay a lot of money for this gun...........JMHO

rugerguy said:

Bottom line to the OP, that is a BAD repair job as well as a lousy reblue, hope you did NOT pay a lot of money for this gun...........JMHO

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The seller is making it right, and I will have into it about what it would cost for a shooter and not a collector revolver.

I'm glad to hear the seller is making this right for you. Looks like a solid "shooter" grade now,, so enjoy it. (After you get the firing pin cross pin fixed or are sure it's there. )

contender said:

I'm glad to hear the seller is making this right for you. Looks like a solid "shooter" grade now,, so enjoy it. (After you get the firing pin cross pin fixed or are sure it's there. )

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Yes, there is a cross pin there, but I believe it is not a correct pin. Looks like it was cut on one end, and it is not blued. I also found the trigger plunger spring and the loading gate spring seem to have had one end cut to make them the right length. The ejector spring was also two separate springs put together to the correct length. Not sure what exactly happened to this revolver in the past, but it seems to have had its share of issues along the way. I have located the cross pin and correct springs online, so I will replace them and have an early 44 Blackhawk shooter until I can find a 4-digit .44 to go in my collection.

Wow,, the more you get into this gun, the more you find "wrong." Get the correct parts,, and restore that old girl to it's better glory.

When I read all this,, it reminded me of an old friend who used to "customize" his guns. When he got very old, and prior to his death, I helped him sell a lot of his stuff. Several guns were modified to where their potential value was long gone. He had a nice Colt 1911 Gold Cup that was ruined like that. Oh it still shot & all, but his irreversible custom work was it's downfall. He gave me a Ruger NM Blackhawk in .45 Colt. The plastic grips on it were glued to the grip frame.
While I thought a lot of this gentleman,, and they were his guns to do as he wanted with them, I always felt it was a crime to see what he did to some guns.

Sounds like somebody who didn't know or didn't care much threw together some parts.

hey goes to show us that my old friend Rube Goldberg was into firearms, not just home repairs, bet he was the one who taught 'Bubba' and the other backyard gun plumbers....could have been worse could have given it to a 'machinist' then you'd really have "overkill"............

The only difference was that Rube Goldberg's contraptions actually worked LOL

Sorry to see such a wonderful old Flattop hacked like that! Many years ago (many), I bought an Old Model 44 Flattop (one of the very last ones made) with a bit of damage to the front of the barrel. I had always wanted a 4 3/4" 44 Mag Flattop, so I had Al Capone (RIP) from the old Kings Gunworks (long gone) cut the barrel and recrown the barrel plus reinstall the front sight and he did a very professional job! Actually looks like it came from the Ruger factory. Today it rides in an original Ruger flap holster and we've been on many adventures together over the decades...

Kinda makes me wonder what's happened on the inside.

I would say that the revolver is a blessing in disguise, You can make it anything that You want and not worry about collector value[ if there is such a thing] and practice your talents. That is what I did to an old sidexside shotgun and when I look at the finished product it seems 'just right'. Firearms are meant for shooting, not put on a pedestal and looked at. Good Luck and Good shooting Chris

dwayne said:

Kinda makes me wonder what's happened on the inside.

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Yeah, me too. I didn't go any further than removing the parts mentioned in my other posts. It seems to function fine, but maybe when I replace the springs and pins, I'll go a little further. This is my first experience taking one apart, so I don't want to do something I may regret. Is there anything I need to know about dis-assembling any further than I already have, which is pretty much just removing the cylinder and the grip frame.

Sometimes guns get used as tools with no regard to it's collectability 50 years away. The ejector housing retaining stud repair? Could've been performed with a couple of hand files in a remote cabin.
The springs? same. Heck, I've got decent rifles that include springs from ink pens in lou of the factory ones for reduced trigger pulls.
The re-blue on this one? likely someone trying to cover all the homestead repairs by a flipper.

Just a thought.