Driftwood Johnson
Blackhawk
Howdy
Well, the title just about says it all. Although I bought my first Ruger way back in 1975 I am pretty new to Three Screws. I have a 3 screw Single Six that I have had for a number of years, and I recently picked up another one, but other than that I don't have a lot of experience with Three Screws.
I attended a big, fancy auction on Saturday. There were lots of really high end guns, including an original 1860 Henry rifle that went for $19,000, but my sights were set a bit lower. I went to the inspection and there were quite a few Three Screws up for auction. A couple of Single Sixes, a 45 Convertible, a 41 Mag, and SIX Three Screw 44 Mags. Yes, Six.
I could only afford one, so I handled all six of them to see which one I would go for. Three of them were early Super Blackhawks. The other three were Flat Tops. The three Flat Tops had 10", 7 1/2", and 6 1/2" barrels. It was really an amazing selection, but I had to go for just one. It was also a great opportunity to compare the different guns. I was running back and forth from one table to the other, comparing grips, hammers, and frames. The one I liked best was the 6 1/2" barrel. It was also the oldest, made in 1958. I really liked the smaller grip frame as opposed to the bigger Supers. I also did not like the hammers on a couple of the Supers. I picked it up and brought it over to the table where all the others were and handled everything, making sure that it was the one I wanted. It was a little bit more beat up, it had a few nicks and dings in the finish, and the sides of the hammer were stained. But I decided it was the one I wanted. Unfortunately, it was also farther back in the catalog, so if I decided not to bid on any of the others and I missed this one, I would go home empty handed.
When they came on the auction block, I was tempted to bid on the 10 incher. But it rose up higher than I wanted to pay, so I stayed out of the bidding. Same with the 7 1/2 incher. About a half hour later the one I wanted came up. The bidding was fast and furious, all the Flat Tops were hot. The bids were going up and getting close to what I had decided was my limit. The bids were just below my limit. The auctioneer asked for my limit and I held my card up and held my breath. Silence. It was mine.
Here it is. There is some beautiful plum on the loading gate, but it does not show up in these photos. The other two Flat Tops had wood grips, but I decided I actually liked these plastic grips better. They have a very slight reddish tinge to them. You can see the stains on the hammer in these photos. The SN is 65XX. Just four digits.
The next day I took it to the range. I had a bunch of 44 Special reloads, but I only had ten rounds of 44 Mags, a box of reloads that I had never completely shot up. I shot some of the 44 Specials first. From sandbags the groups were beautiful. Nice and tight. Then I lit off 5 of the Mags from the sandbags. The group was great, just a bit higher than the 44 Sp groups. Then I stood and fired it off hand with one hand with the remaining 5 44 Mags. And yes, I curled my pinky under the grip like I always do. No problem. Plenty of recoil but no pain. And the group was still nice and tight. I fired off the rest of my box of 44 Specials and took it home.
Tonight I decided to take it apart. I have been inside of plenty of New Model Rugers, and plenty of Colts and Clones, so I wanted to see how different it was inside than either of them. I also wanted to degunk it a bit because I suspected there was plenty of crud down inside. I took a few photos of the parts for future reference.
Here is everything laid out:
Here is the grip frame. It says XR3 on it.
Here is the Bolt. Yeah, I know Ruger likes to call it a Cylinder Latch, but Sam Colt called it a Bolt and that's what I call it. I was very interested to see how the Three Screw Bolt worked. The Colt part is a very intricate and difficult to manufacture part. It is also expensive. I am familiar with the bolt on a New Model Ruger and how it works, but I had never seen a Three Screw Bolt before. Leave it to Bill Ruger to come up with an inexpensive alternative. The part shares the same general shape with a Colt bolt, but it is a simple, inexpensive stamped part. It functions the same as a Colt bolt, but since a separate spring plunger on the hammer helps it operate it can be made much cheaper. Really cool.
I also took a couple of shots of the hammer, so I would remember how it is different than a New Model hammer and a Colt hammer. You can see the staining in these photos.
It's all back together now and sitting on the desk as I am typing this.
I do have a couple of questions. The ejector rod housing appears to be steel, not aluminum. It really draws a magnet. Is this typical of these guns? I kind of assumed they had aluminum ejector rod housings.
And does anybody know if the Bolt (Cylinder Latch) was a straight drop in part, or if they required any fitting at the factory?
Thanks, that's all for now.
Well, the title just about says it all. Although I bought my first Ruger way back in 1975 I am pretty new to Three Screws. I have a 3 screw Single Six that I have had for a number of years, and I recently picked up another one, but other than that I don't have a lot of experience with Three Screws.
I attended a big, fancy auction on Saturday. There were lots of really high end guns, including an original 1860 Henry rifle that went for $19,000, but my sights were set a bit lower. I went to the inspection and there were quite a few Three Screws up for auction. A couple of Single Sixes, a 45 Convertible, a 41 Mag, and SIX Three Screw 44 Mags. Yes, Six.
I could only afford one, so I handled all six of them to see which one I would go for. Three of them were early Super Blackhawks. The other three were Flat Tops. The three Flat Tops had 10", 7 1/2", and 6 1/2" barrels. It was really an amazing selection, but I had to go for just one. It was also a great opportunity to compare the different guns. I was running back and forth from one table to the other, comparing grips, hammers, and frames. The one I liked best was the 6 1/2" barrel. It was also the oldest, made in 1958. I really liked the smaller grip frame as opposed to the bigger Supers. I also did not like the hammers on a couple of the Supers. I picked it up and brought it over to the table where all the others were and handled everything, making sure that it was the one I wanted. It was a little bit more beat up, it had a few nicks and dings in the finish, and the sides of the hammer were stained. But I decided it was the one I wanted. Unfortunately, it was also farther back in the catalog, so if I decided not to bid on any of the others and I missed this one, I would go home empty handed.
When they came on the auction block, I was tempted to bid on the 10 incher. But it rose up higher than I wanted to pay, so I stayed out of the bidding. Same with the 7 1/2 incher. About a half hour later the one I wanted came up. The bidding was fast and furious, all the Flat Tops were hot. The bids were going up and getting close to what I had decided was my limit. The bids were just below my limit. The auctioneer asked for my limit and I held my card up and held my breath. Silence. It was mine.
Here it is. There is some beautiful plum on the loading gate, but it does not show up in these photos. The other two Flat Tops had wood grips, but I decided I actually liked these plastic grips better. They have a very slight reddish tinge to them. You can see the stains on the hammer in these photos. The SN is 65XX. Just four digits.
The next day I took it to the range. I had a bunch of 44 Special reloads, but I only had ten rounds of 44 Mags, a box of reloads that I had never completely shot up. I shot some of the 44 Specials first. From sandbags the groups were beautiful. Nice and tight. Then I lit off 5 of the Mags from the sandbags. The group was great, just a bit higher than the 44 Sp groups. Then I stood and fired it off hand with one hand with the remaining 5 44 Mags. And yes, I curled my pinky under the grip like I always do. No problem. Plenty of recoil but no pain. And the group was still nice and tight. I fired off the rest of my box of 44 Specials and took it home.
Tonight I decided to take it apart. I have been inside of plenty of New Model Rugers, and plenty of Colts and Clones, so I wanted to see how different it was inside than either of them. I also wanted to degunk it a bit because I suspected there was plenty of crud down inside. I took a few photos of the parts for future reference.
Here is everything laid out:
Here is the grip frame. It says XR3 on it.
Here is the Bolt. Yeah, I know Ruger likes to call it a Cylinder Latch, but Sam Colt called it a Bolt and that's what I call it. I was very interested to see how the Three Screw Bolt worked. The Colt part is a very intricate and difficult to manufacture part. It is also expensive. I am familiar with the bolt on a New Model Ruger and how it works, but I had never seen a Three Screw Bolt before. Leave it to Bill Ruger to come up with an inexpensive alternative. The part shares the same general shape with a Colt bolt, but it is a simple, inexpensive stamped part. It functions the same as a Colt bolt, but since a separate spring plunger on the hammer helps it operate it can be made much cheaper. Really cool.
I also took a couple of shots of the hammer, so I would remember how it is different than a New Model hammer and a Colt hammer. You can see the staining in these photos.
It's all back together now and sitting on the desk as I am typing this.
I do have a couple of questions. The ejector rod housing appears to be steel, not aluminum. It really draws a magnet. Is this typical of these guns? I kind of assumed they had aluminum ejector rod housings.
And does anybody know if the Bolt (Cylinder Latch) was a straight drop in part, or if they required any fitting at the factory?
Thanks, that's all for now.
Not to many days a guy would get a chance to bid on those 3 flattops--- 8) :shock:
