help identifying super blackhawk

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357Max

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 31, 2018
Messages
5
I'm hoping there may be someone here that can help me identify my old super blackhawk. I think this may have been a very limited edition. The Gun itself probably isn't, but the factory configuration seems to be. I cant find anything similar or even mention of it on the web??

I bought it unfired from the original owner 20 plus years ago when he was getting a divorce. He was an avid Ruger collector. He told me this was a factory package from Ruger.

The serial #85-82794 appears to place it 1987-1988
It is a new model super blackhawk 44 mag, 7 1/2" barrel, with Weaver mounts and Simmons scope. The entire gun, mounts, and scope are camo finish from Ruger. The original owner told me this was some kind of special coating called Z coat & there is a large Z printed on the bottom of the grip.

Anyone heard of this???

If I can get my stupid phone to forward pics I will try to add them.

Any info would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Jamie
https://imgur.com/a/pkRqt
VHLDTlH.jpg

jgqVdAZ.png

iE3TXK1.png
 

hittman

Moderator
Staff member
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Messages
17,260
Location
Illinois
Most of these NM Supers were "modified" by distributors or others AFTER they left the factory. You really need a subscription to RENE. Load pics using Imgur.com.

Welcome.
 

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,438
Location
Lake Lure NC USA
The only way to verify a factory gun like that is to get a letter from Ruger. A $10 letter will give you model info, that can point to anything special, IF THE FACTORY DID IT.!
If you got the complete package, you should have a box, and a shipping carton. Model info will be on it as well. The box will be a one piece, hinged lid, yellow & black one. Brown cardboard shipper.

And according to the RENE,,, nothing was listed there about such a configuration. As noted above, likely an aftermarket company special.
 
Joined
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Messages
9,012
Location
Ohio , U.S.A.
sounds unlikely, but you say you have th e "package" ? what is marked on the end of the box and or the shipping sleeve, BUT doubt it again, if the scope is mounted on the gun, it would NOT 'fit' in the normal shipping containers, would "need" special packaging........I know some of the companies made what they called "hunter" set ups, like the Python Hunter or the Whitetail Hunter, they came in special cases, like the Halliburton Camera cases......made in aluminum
and yes Ruger made their Hunter, fit in the regular box and came with its own set of rings............
 

357Max

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 31, 2018
Messages
5
I wasn't very clear on what I meant by package. I don not have the original box. The original owner told me this came as a matched set with the Z coat including scope, rings, and gun. It did not come with scope and mount attached. The gun still has rear iron sight under the mount.

Sorry for newb question, but what is RENE??
I think the imgur link finally attached to the original post so you can see a picture. I added 2 more pictures.



11YY93y.png

xgrvjKx.png

Jdw4ZAm.png

hEBjQqM.png


Thank you for the replies.
 

cas6969

Buckeye
Joined
Oct 11, 1999
Messages
1,215
Weaver rings.... but I believe it's a B-Square mount.


RENE is Red Eagle News Exchange.
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=30544
 

357Max

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 31, 2018
Messages
5
Moderator

Thank you for the reply and link. I wish I could track down the guy I bought it from to get more info. I first saw the gun in 1994 in a safe jammed full of Ruger's many of them were hard to find models back then. I remember he had 2 x 357 maximum Black Hawks along with about 10 boxes of the strap cutting 125gr rem loads, he also had a 30 carbine Black Hawk + 15 - 20 more. That's just what I remember.

This is a great gun I've taken with me dear hunting several times (whenever it was raining).

BTW the Corbon ammo in the photo's I just added was the most expensive and least accurate I ever shot out of it.
 

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,438
Location
Lake Lure NC USA
Now that I see pictures,, I'm almost certain it was not a Ruger Factory issue. It is a nice gun, and I can see it as an excellent hunting handgun.
As for Cor-Bon ammo, some guns like it, some do not, as with any & all ammo.

And cas has given you the info on RENE. It's a wealth of info for those of us interested in our Rugers.
 

Salmoneye

Single-Sixer
Joined
Mar 19, 2012
Messages
479
Location
Vermont
I have never heard of Z-Cote being used on a Ruger, but there it is...

Z-Cote is normally thought to only have been factory applied to Colts, and then only on HBAR, AR, and 1911 in VERY limited quantities...

Weird...
 

daveg.inkc

Hunter
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Messages
2,503
Location
Kansas City, MO
Isn't that a Weaver 301 scope mount? Looks like what I have. I have seen an article about this camo covered Ruger somewhere few years ago.
 

357Max

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 31, 2018
Messages
5
Thanks Buckeye,

Let me know if you ever come across that article again.
 

David Bradshaw

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
933
357Max said:
I'm hoping there may be someone here that can help me identify my old super blackhawk. I think this may have been a very limited edition. The Gun itself probably isn't, but the factory configuration seems to be. I cant find anything similar or even mention of it on the web??

I bought it unfired from the original owner 20 plus years ago when he was getting a divorce. He was an avid Ruger collector. He told me this was a factory package from Ruger.

The serial #85-82794 appears to place it 1987-1988
It is a new model super blackhawk 44 mag, 7 1/2" barrel, with Weaver mounts and Simmons scope. The entire gun, mounts, and scope are camo finish from Ruger. The original owner told me this was some kind of special coating called Z coat & there is a large Z printed on the bottom of the grip.

Anyone heard of this???

If I can get my stupid phone to forward pics I will try to add them.

Any info would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Jamie

https://imgur.com/a/pkRqt
VHLDTlH.jpg

jgqVdAZ.png

iE3TXK1.png

*****

Jamie.... while I am no authority on collecting Rugers, or any other firearms, this beast certainly appears to have been worked on after it left the factory.

For durability, efficiency, and elegance, Bill Ruger, and Bill Ruger, Jr., were devotees of Leupold scopes. when Bill Ruger mounted a scope on prototype .357 Maximum SRM-2, it was a Leupold 4x28mm LER in Leupold Dual Dovetail rings on Leupold base. I never saw a monkey-grip base on a Ruger. While what I saw cannot be definitive, I had a bit of acquaintance with Ruger thinking. The camo coating also contradicts Bill Ruger's thinking as I experienced it.

Contender is versed in Ruger history in a way I am not, and I suggest his coulee will help sort things out. Along with the letter from Ruger. In the mean time, I wouldn't bet a plugged nickel your Super Blackhawk left Southport looking like it does now.

David Bradshaw
 

357Max

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 31, 2018
Messages
5
Blackhawk,

The only info I can find on the Z-cote teflon coating is that it was used on a very limited number of Colts made around the same time as my Blackhawk. The numbers I've seen say anwhere from 25-250 mostly in sets including 2 rifles and a 1911 Camo companion. 1987-1988
Apparently Colt has no record of them either even though one gentelman said he'd purchased the set new.

If this link works here is a picture of the Z-cote 1911 Camo companion. Looks like the exact same camo pattern on my Blackhawk?

tGpr2qM.png
 
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