Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns BlackHawk 30 carbine

vbs..,

The only Rugers(and 'project guns')I own were inherited from dad. The 30 Blackhawk has been a nitemare to reload. The Speer manual says they are tight chambered...believe them. Half my reloads wouldn't chamber in the Blackhawk but ran thru an M1 Carbine just fine. The cyclinder was bored with one extra tight chamber but no two seemed the same. I had to have the cyclinder rebored.

My gun is a '70's era gun so you'd think Ruger would have figgered it out. Not so. A buddy liked mine (dunno why) so bought a 90's era Blackhawk---same problem. I'm guessing they've used the same reamer from day one.

Round nosed ammo seems to work OK, but anything else like Speer hollowpoints may or may not chamber. I've spent several years trying to get all reloads to function properly.

No, I'm not a novice to reloading. I've loaded thousands of rounds for other handguns and NEVER had the problems this 30 Blackhawk presents.

When it works, it is a cool long range plinker. But the muzzel blast isn't just LOUD as some have said IT'S FRIGGEN HORRIBLE even in a hunting situation when you nornally don't notice such things.

When I die I'm gonna will it to a son-in-law I despise.

O

Can't do nothing about the loud stuff,..but a C&H taper crimp die might go a long ways towards solving your chambering problems.

Have one, a NM here. Not a frequent use one but it's a fun one none the less. It's certainly loud as others said. Might find itself getting Bisley-ized.

Thanks for all the info. guys!

This sounds interesting to me!

Good to find out about reloading problems in advance.

Should be a fun gun when "running" right.

Virgil B.

I�ve had a .30 Carbine Blackhawk (3 screw) since 1971. It is indeed very LOUD and using hearing protection is an absolute must. You will definitely attract attention to yourself, if it is fired at an indoor range. Other than the sharp report it is a very pleasant gun to shoot. Recoil is not at all vigorous (a subjective assessment) compared to the .357, .41 or .44 Magnums, or a heavy load (Ruger or TC only) in the .45 Colt. It�s just plain fun to shoot.

I am an inveterate plinker and It is a great choice for long range plinking, out to 100 yards or so.

Reloading for this cartridge is straight forward, and getting rounds to chamber in the cylinder has never been an issue. I use a RCBS die set, which has a taper crimp bullet seating die. Using a Carbide Sizer (I have a Lee die) doesn�t eliminate the need to lubricate the cases, but it does limit the need to apply lube to every third to fifth case. Now days I prefer to seat bullets in one stage and then crimp in a separate operation, so I do so with a Redding Taper Crimp Die.

Bris..,

Started out using Lyman dies then switched to Redding. Also am using a Lee factory crimp die which is also supposed to resized the case. Roundnose bullets now work OK but anything else...nope.

thanx
O