Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns hunting handgun for shooting Whitetails 40 yds max range?

I am going to take a drive tomorrow and get My hands on some big bore revolvers, I want to lay hands on a Bisley Blackhawk a Redhawk 5.5" and a Smith 629 with a 6.5" and a 5" barrel....I want to get a feel for each side by side then order My gun of choice off Gunbroker on Monday...Ha!.............Hb

If you get to feeling the love for a 5.5" stainless Redhawk shoot me a PM. I've got an unfired one that's fixin' to hit GB soon.

Best looking Redhawk IMHO

http://www.bowenclassicarms.com/image/workshop/DA_Barrel_Install_45_Redhawk.jpg

Anyone have a bisley 45 convertible they wanna part with. No one in these parts can get em since they are a williams exclusive

Today I had a chance to handle every revolver I was considering and I have decided I need a Ruger Redhawk with 5.5" barrel and some Hogue rubber grips......My second choice would be the Blackhawk, the Smith 629 had some good features like the very smooth action and trigger pull but it seemed almost dainty when I compared it to the Rugers with their beefy top strap's and frames, also the cylinder walls on the Rugers was noticably thicker, I would equate the Smith 629 vs Ruger Redhawk to a Corvette vs a Hummer..... ........Ha!...........Hb

Yup. Redhawk is thicker.

Did they do that only to increase strength (over standard designs) or was it needed due to their manufacturing methods?

Lighter/trimmer.........is nicer on the hip IMHO.

They built the revolver to scale, to withstand the .44 Magnum from the outset, unlike Smith & Wesson who adapted a revolver designed around the .44 Special.

They built the revolver to scale, to withstand the .44 Magnum from the outset, unlike Smith & Wesson who adapted a revolver designed around the .44 Special. [/quote] ........................This makes sense in My observation of these revolvers............Hb

I got My Redhawk today and the trigger in single action is awfully hard and even has a little creep, The Redhawk I handled at My Not so LGS had a much better single action trigger with zero creep so all Redhawk triggers are not created equal, My question is where can I send this revolver to get the terrible 8.5lb single action trigger pull fixed?......I cant live with this.....Should I send it back to Ruger maybe?...........Thanks Hb

My current Redhawk Hunter was purchased from a friend, who was unable to make the revolver work. He complained of poor accuracy, and bad trigger. I have another long time friend, who is a guild smith, and he has always performed any needed trigger work on my guns. This particular Redhawk was new, and I do not believe the original owner fired more than a hundred rounds. All I did was to detail strip the weapon, which he never did, give it a proper cleaning, which he also neglected, I knocked off a few burrs, and I applied oil and lube. I then ran my normal hunting loads through the gun, with intent to establish a bench mark for a hunting load, determine needed sights via Bowen, and to determine what I wanted to do with the trigger. With the factory trigger, this particular Redhawk ended up being the single most accurate factory Redhawk I have ever owned. My favorite 240xtp hunting load worked like a charm, and Bowen made me up a set of sights that work well. The trigger ended up being one of the better factory units that I have used, without any work from my Guild friend. I ended up leaving it as it was, and the guy I bought it from now thinks that it has a great trigger, both single and double.

So, I would not pass judgement on a Redhawk trigger, prior to proper cleaning, lubrication, and some break-in. If at that point it needs work, then I'd look toward a professional smith, having expertise and experience on said trigger. Likely, for shooting whitetails inside 40 yards, the factory trigger should clean up fine. But, if somehow it is a factory defect, then Ruger should likely make a correction.

Best

Thanks for the advice Gary, I did strip the Redhawk down last night and thoroughly clean every part then I polished with Flitz as well as I could every contact point I then lubricated with Rem oil and reassembled, I then dry fired the Revolver in single action 400 times followed by 200 times in double action, after this I retested the trigger pull with My Lyman guage and it had improved from a 8.5lb single action trigger pull to a 6.75lb single action trigger pull that has very little creep ( but it still has creep)......an improvement but still not quite what im looking for..........Hb

The Redhawk I handled at the gunshop the other day had quite a nice trigger, my guess is 5lb with a very clean break and no perceptable creep so all Redhawk triggers are not created equally..........Hb

Why didn't you buy that one?

A very good question, I couldn't have bought it if I'd wanted to, It was in a Tennessee gun shop and I am a Virginia resident, I can buy a long gun in Tennessee but not a handgun, also My local guy could order me a brand new one that has never been on display for $824.00 out the door, The Tennessee Redhawk was $869.00 before their notorious 10% sales tax, it would cost $956.00 out the door..............Hb

Good answer.

Now, how much is a trigger job gonna run you?

About the price of a set of Wolff reduced power springs. They make a big difference in the Redhawk.

$125 plus $35 shipping......said the action would be butter smooth and trigger would break at a crisp 3lbs............Hb

How about a nice 10mm? This doe was popped at 34 yds.
Bob

Speaking of the 10mm...

That was 50 yards, offhand, so I'd feel fairly confident at 40 with a rest, for sure.

It's just money. You'll make more. Send it off, and when it comes back, you'll have what you were looking for.