1957 44 blackhawk info

[Nealisrd]

Hi I am looking for more info on my fathers 44 S#21254
Ruger told me it is from 1957 but that is all the info they have, I'm wond

ering if the grips are stock and any other info on the gun anyone might have, I know he did buy it out of Outdoor Life Mag

Thanks for any info

 

[hittman]

Grips are not original but the correct ones are not hard to find or expensive.
Welcome to the forum.
For a whopping $10 you can order from Ruger a Letter of Authenticity that may tell you more. Look under Customer Service on Rugers web site.

 

[weaselmeatgravy]

Grips are not factory. It is a model BKH40, fairly rare 10" flattop. Would have shipped with smooth walnut grips. Stag grips with Ruger medallions were offered for $8.50.

There is more info to be found in the Collecting forum, including a list of all reported serial numbers for the BKH40.

 

[hittman]

And this serial number is already on the list in that thread.

 

[Nealisrd]

You all r amazing THANKS

 

[eveled]

It’s a really nice gun to have. Don’t drop the hammer from 1/2 cock, always go to full cock, then put the hammer down. That will prevent a turn ring on the cylinder.

 

[Johnnu2]

I LOVE THAT GUN...........

J.

 

[contender]

As mentioned,, that's a fairly rare version of the original FT .44 magnums. But Ruger may have misinformed you on the date. (Unless you are getting the letter,, they can make mistakes.) #21254 was made in 1959 according to our collector guide, the Red Eagle News Exchange Reference Guide.
And only about 1500 of the models known as "BKH-40" were built.
And those grips are not factory. All factory stags had medallions in them.

If you get the $10 factory letter,, it will give you the month & year of shipping, (unless it happens to be part of the group of papers damaged in a flood,) the correct model (BKH-40 most likely) and even the place it was shipped to.

Even in it's rough condition,, those are desirable guns to many of us. And if you decide to try & get a set of factory grips for it,, you want to original "XR3" grips. The newer XR3 grips will be slightly "off" in the location of the hole known as the grip locator pin hole.

 

[tbird1960]

One more thing is if you have the original box and papers they sell for 1000.00 at the Tulsa gun show.