Found this one in a local pawn shop in the Ft Lauderdale area. Decent price, good condition. No box, but that's not unusual in a pawn shop deal. .44 Magnum, 6 inch barrel. I always wanted this barrel length in a blued revolver.

I liked that Target Grey finish....

Nice. I didn't know there was a 6".

5 1/2" is a standard length with the Redhawk.

Great find !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A big Congrats on that for sure.

MM

and it may be 5.5 inches I'll have to get a rod and a ruler.

Correct

Very nice find

Beautiful gun. Can't wait to see how that one shoots.

Nice Sam. You don't see many blued ones.

I really regret selling my blued Redhawk.

Very nice. Congrats.

I could hardly believe my eyes when I spotted this one in the case. It was love at first sight. According to the serial number, it was made in 1995

Nice grab , that may be a keeper .

Ruger makes great revolvers ,good find congrats,Pete53

Congrats buddy!

That's what I have in stainless and 45 Colt.

Congratulations on a good find. I’ve owned several over the years, and still own three. All mine have been and are stainless steel. Never owned a blued one. I don’t think you’ll regret buying a Redhawk. You might have to do a little trigger work, but once I figured out how to work them I was and am happy with mine. And it will last damn near forever. I had a five and a half inch that I put over 50,000 rounds thru and had no issues. And that was before I learned that I didn’t have to shoot full house loads all the time! I traded it on a rifle and wish I hadn’t.

50K rds and sorry you traded it.

That's saying something.

Local Dirt,
Yes I really do regret getting rid of that Redhawk. As you can imagine, the action was as smooth as silk and it was still very accurate, timing and lockup was still good. Most of the shooting done with that gun was done loading a 250 gr Keith bullet over 21.0 gr of 2400. Probably not over 5% off the bullets that went thru it were jacketed.

Some may not agree. But, IMHO, that's a heckuva chunk of information there.

I wonder if that strong diet would have worked in a M 29-x over such a long period.

That is one handsome iron. Would take my breath away seeing that within arms reach.

It is purdy.

Elmer,
I think a lot of folks would be surprised how the 29/629’s hold up to a lot of shooting. I think a lot of that myth is way overblown. I like the Smith 44’s too, but prefer the Redhawk for full strength loads due to its weight and bank vault build. I know what they will take over the long haul. But, no flies on the big N-frame Smith’s. I doubt that very many shooters will ever wear out either revolver shooting normal loads.

I can guarantee you it was not a myth. In the late 70's shooting IHMSA I saw quite a few M29's shot loose
Shoot a lot of 240 grain at close to 1400 FPS in a M29 and they will get loose, including skipping

JWP,
If there is anyone here who would know about such things, you would be one. I appreciate your comments. Didn’t the Smiths become more durable with the changes made in the late eighties? Late 629-3’s and 629-4’s? Sorry, I’m not familiar enough with blued 29’s to know which dash numbers correspond with the enhancement changes.

All -4 and above guns have all the necessary enhancements. Some -3's may have everything you need, but you'd have to look at serial numbers and look for the specific improvements on individual guns. IOW, even the serial number method may not work. Stay with -4 and up and you'll be good to go.

Mostly. But, even with that in mind, there are some odd balls.

The enhancements do not make the gun stronger, that is determined by the material used. Heat treating can harden a few points, but tensile strength isn't increased.
The larger bolt stops can prevent skipping, but few factory loads are over 1240 FPS today for 240 grain bullets. Back in the day 1400 plus FPS was common place

I do think that very few folks shoot enough to wear a Smith out, but I definitely think the Redhawk will outlast one.

No one knew the M29 short comings until IHMSA. The M29 was a favorite in the beginning but, as issues arose the Rugat SB begin to replace M29's on the line.

Just shooting enough to stay proficient and hunting will not weat out a M29 in my experience

I've shot a lot of 50,000 PSI loads in a 44 mag Redhawk with zero issues.

I have gone back and checked some records on the above mentioned 5.5 inch Redhawk. It was one of the early 5.5” guns to hit a local gun shop, probably 1984 or 1985. As it was the only 44 magnum that I owned at the time, I shot it a lot. Soon after it’s purchase, I started casting my own bullets with a Lyman 429421 mold and that bullet became the bulk of my shooting. I generally shot three to four hundred rounds a week whenever the weather allowed. I traded the gun for a Ruger M77 MkII rifle in 1994. My rounds fired count is an estimate over that period of time but seems to be realistic to me considering how much I shot. I may be off a little, but not by much. I also soon bought another Redhawk, a 7.5 inch, which I have shot a lot, and still own. I like my Redhawks.

I have killed three firearms through over use in my life. In all cases, I didn't blame the gun. In point of fact, I had a lot of pride in the fact that I actually wore out a firearm beyond reasonable economic repair. What did I do about it? I just went out and bought a new gun. I sure the hell didn't buy a gun I liked less because I perceived it might last a little longer.

I've chambered 2 Redhawks t I 454 and shot full power factory 454 ammo in them. Redhawks are very strong

Buy a 45 Colt Redhawk in your preferred barrel length and the cheapest 454 Super Redhawk you can locate. Disassemble both and swap the cylinders and viola! You have yourself a 454 Redhawk.

Yes I’ve done it and yes it works. If a guy is lacking scruples the Super can be sent back to Ruger for a replacement cylinder, I never did but know someone who did.

found a 7.5 inch stainless with 2 Mag-na-port 'ports in it and Wilson Combat engraved on barrel. Fantastic trigger! Anyone know specifically what Wilson did to it?

Love those blue revolvers! Ruger has a few blue sp101’s out but only in the 2.25” barrel. If they made those with the 3” Barrel, I would have to get one.
Les

My first new revolver was a 7½" blued Redhawk in 44 Magnum. I had been wanting a 6" stainless GP100 in .357, but the owner of the LGS offered me the Redhawk at a price I couldn't refuse,...$340 plus tax, including rings. That was in around 1994 and I still have it. I always liked the looks of the 5½" model a little better.

new pants showed up today. Galco leather.

Very nice holster.