Ruger 4-digit 44 Blackhawk Flattop Barrel

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BorderGuard

Bearcat
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
54
Location
North Central North Dakota
I posted a month or so back about a 4-digit 44 Blackhawk I had purchased that had been mucked up, including a dovetail cut into the barrel for the ejector housing.
20230217_181611.jpg

I'm thinking I would maybe like to replace the original barrel. Are there any differences between the early 4-digit 44 Blackhawk barrels and the early Super Blackhawk barrels? Any differences in what stampings are on the barrels as I would like the barrel to match the timeframe of the frame itself. Anything else I should know about replacing this barrel?

Thanks...
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2002
Messages
8,966
Location
Ohio , U.S.A.
yes, the main difference is the length 6 1/2 versus 7 1/2inch ....best to try and find an "era" ( vintage) correct but I know of many out there that are taken off other models newer, removed all the "rollmarkings" of any "warning type" or the later barrels after the early 1960s will have "Inc." on them, reblue them, hellwe've even put on Douglas barrels of various lengths for customers over the years what ever floats YOUR boat or you can come across, I do know there are LOTS of barrels out there in the hands of various gunsmiths around the country, find one near you,,,,go through the 'American Pistolsmiths Guild'.....I retired years ago and most all the guys I worked with are GONE.
So I do look once in a while at the local gun shows and do know of 22 cal and 357 but sorry no 41,44 or 45cals ......... :cool: :rolleyes:;)
 

Johnnu2

Hunter
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Messages
2,846
Location
NYS
Place a "want to buy" (WTB) ad here in our Classifieds section; there are a lot of good people here that have a lot of spare parts.

IMHO,

J.
 

Hondo44

Hawkeye
Joined
Apr 3, 2009
Messages
8,041
Location
People's Republik of California
Your barrel should have the eagle logo following the barrel address. So a replacement barrel should as well.

Another option would be to have the dovetail micro welded and the barrel re-blued if you can't find a vintage correct barrel. It clearly had to be replied once already.
 
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Johnnu2

Hunter
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Messages
2,846
Location
NYS
BG, just FYI: mine is the same as yours and is a documented 1959 mfg, (7 1/2") 44 FT ser. 20515; no "inc" and no eagle.



J.
 

1chessiefan

Bearcat
Joined
Jun 3, 2022
Messages
15
Location
Ohio
Borderguard,
I second the idea of welding it up. However, I would further add that you go with laser welding. I had Microprecision Welding build up a front sight on a vintage S&W for me. The owner, Tony South, worked on it for about an hour while I waited. When he handed it back to me it was barely warm to the touch. He does not do any finishing work. You will have to turn it over to your gunsmith to file/sand the additional material to match the proper profile and then reblue. The benefit I see is that you keep the original barrel. Good luck!

1chessiefan
 

eveled

Hawkeye
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Messages
5,606
Call me crazy if you want. It is not a terrible repair, its part of the guns story, it's functional. I'd leave it as is.

No harm in keeping an eye out for a correct barrel, but don't go crazy.
 

chet15

Hawkeye
Joined
Jan 22, 2001
Messages
5,993
Location
Dawson, Iowa
Johnnu2, thanks for the info. Mine is the 6 1/2" barrel. I wonder what year they started stamping the eagles on the barrel? And the 'Inc.' on the barrel.
There is only one 6-1/2 .44 flattop barrel known that came out of the factory with an eagle logo on the barrel, and that was a cleanup/late production gun. A 4xxx range gun will not have the eagle logo.
Only the 7-1/2 may be found with an eagle logo... seems there was some confusion when rollmarking those as to whether the guns they were working on were Super Blackhawks or the original Blackhawk (flattop). The same happened with early Super Blackhawks... guns up to 11000 can be found with or without the eagle logo.
The INC address didn't come into use until after production of the 44 flattop ended.
Chet15
 
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