Additional weight on the barrel from length, thickness or both on any handgun with a good grip will attenuate felt recoil and muzzle rise. How do they shoot? I like them enough to have threeBack to the original thread topic, namely the centerfire Hunters. How are the .44 SBH Hunters to shoot? Does the extra weight of the rib help with recoil? I originally came here because of the rimfires, but now I am looking at the centerfires.
About the Hunter rib. I've wondered what motivates Ruger Blackhawk owners to want to customize them and have Smith and Wesson barrels installed. Is it appearance? Help with recoil? Both? It seems like a Hunter barrel pretty much does the same thing as the S&W barrel (but with "unappealing" scope ring cuts) without the expense of customizing the gun?
On the down side for target shooters, the extra weight may be taxing on the muscles if you shoot a lot but the days of dumping a couple of boxes of stout .44's at the range are long gone for me.
Anyway, I'd like to see Ruger Hunter variations with a different scope mounting scheme, porting and different barrel lengths.