This question got my wheels turning about gun cost vs. ammo cost for some reason. How about this....if a person went to a big box store and bought 8 boxes (400 rounds) of factory loaded 45 LC then it would cost about the same as a NIB Blackhawk. Looking at things from this agle kind of makes the price of a Blackhawk seem fairly low-cost by contrast.
400 rounds of factory ammo should cost less than half of the NIB cost of the gun....no matter which caliber or gun you look at. It seems like the big, rare and powerful rounds don't follow this "rule", however.
400 rounds of 357 = $200......most NIB 357 revolvers cost $500+
400 rounds of .223 = $160......most NIB AR-15's cost $900+
400 rounds of 22lr = $32.....most NIB .22's cost $250+
If the low initial cost of a 45 Blackhawk is an issue then you are REALLY going to hate paying for factory ammo (if you can even find it in the stores). I just did the math on buying 400 rounds of 460 S&W and came up with a cost of around $1000. The guns that shoot this round costs over a grand too. The initial cost/ammo feeding, of a 460 S&W, is over twice as much as the intial cost/ammo feeding of a NIB 45 Blackhawk. A 460 gun and 400 rounds, for it, will set a person back $2000+. While a 45 BH and 400 rounds, for it, will only set you back around $800. I would rather have a new gun and a pile of ammo rather than not even coming up with enough for a gun with no ammo.
If you could find a 95% or better Blackhawk in the used market and reloaded for it then you would be shooting one of the best values on planet earth next to old military surplus stuff and 22lr's. I know that I kind of went way out there with this one. The cost of ammo is driving me cazy. It pays to reload these days. Anyway, just food for thought.