Why single actions?

[Lost River]

If i just spent my life woods bumming my .45 colt 4 5/8s blackhawk could do everything i needed.

A 4 & 5/8ths" .45 Blackhawk, particularly the convertible model, is probably the single most versatile single action I can think of. An amazing and under rated gun.



You can literally hunt everything that walks the earth with that gun, and plink tin cans with it. Elephants to rats. While I love my .44s, I have great respect for a properly throated .45.

A good friend (the gentleman who owns that incredible .38 Special I posted about and am safekeeping until I can rendezvous with him) just recently picked one up that used to reside on a Nevada ranch. It will now reside on his farm and accompany him on his hunts as well. They will take a ton of abuse and just keep going. While not totally indestructible, they are pretty solid guns.

In years past when the topic would come up, my suggestion for a minimalist person who is also an outdoorsman, but not a big time gun nut, would be an RBH .45 Colt/ACP revolver and a Glock 21. Both are simple, have proven to work in extreme conditions, and maintenance is not difficult on either, even in the field.

[JonInWA]

There's just something essentially "right" about a well architected and executed single-action revolver; in my case it's my Ruger stainless Blackhawk .357/9mm Convertible. It's exceptionally accurate, and once you master the manual of arms, actually quite ergonomic. It teaches you ammunition management and trigger control, particularly if practice, train and you test yourself (I use it annually in an IDPA match, and for hunting and hiking). Realistically, they can probably be quite effectively used for most situations most of us will encounter for/with a revolver. Mine, and seemingly with most Ruger SAs in general, is durable, reliable and accurate.

It's fun, effective and quintessentially 'Murrican-what more could you ask for??

Best, Jon

[Rick R]

A 4 & 5/8ths" .45 Blackhawk, particularly the convertible model, is probably the single most versatile single action I can think of. An amazing and under rated gun.

It is photos like this that are going to cost me money. That and the fact I have a .45 270SAA mold that drops beautiful bullets AND a .45 350gr mold that I have yet to heat up. I regret trading off my .45 Redhawk and not replacing it with a Blackhawk (yet).

Interesting grip frame on that gun, can you tell us about it?

[03RN]

It is photos like this that are going to cost me money. That and the fact I have a .45 270SAA mold that drops beautiful bullets AND a .45 350gr mold that I have yet to heat up. I regret trading off my .45 Redhawk and not replacing it with a Blackhawk (yet).

Interesting grip frame on that gun, can you tell us about it?

Looks like the aluminum grip frame was cleaned off. I do the same thing

[Trooper224]

Why single actions?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE3mHhpGV2A

[Crow Hunter]

A 4 & 5/8ths" .45 Blackhawk, particularly the convertible model, is probably the single most versatile single action I can think of. An amazing and under rated gun.



You can literally hunt everything that walks the earth with that gun, and plink tin cans with it. Elephants to rats. While I love my .44s, I have great respect for a properly throated .45.

A good friend (the gentleman who owns that incredible .38 Special I posted about and am safekeeping until I can rendezvous with him) just recently picked one up that used to reside on a Nevada ranch. It will now reside on his farm and accompany him on his hunts as well. They will take a ton of abuse and just keep going. While not totally indestructible, they are pretty solid guns.

In years past when the topic would come up, my suggestion for a minimalist person who is also an outdoorsman, but not a big time gun nut, would be an RBH .45 Colt/ACP revolver and a Glock 21. Both are simple, have proven to work in extreme conditions, and maintenance is not difficult on either, even in the field.

You aren't helping me.

Enabling isn't help.

Sigh....

[Corse]

I shoot a SAA style more accurately, in-spite of the slow hammer fall. My problem with most powerful revolvers is the trigger guard whacks the knuckle of my middle finger. I need a grip that fills in the area behind the guard, that’s why most of my revolvers wear some variation of Hogue grip.

I wouldn’t feel unarmed carrying my 4 5/8” Super Blackhawk but it only goes to the range or hunting. Those .430” 270gr WFN bullets at 1,200fps would be comforting in a place where the predators wear claws instead of jailhouse tattoos.

Now the 8” Army Colt clone in .44 would require a Cavalry saber as a backup weapon. Sometimes it’s OK to own a gun just for the Fun Factor.

I have the same problem with my Super Blackhawk hitting my knuckle. Is there a source of old techniques on the best way to shoot these types of guns? Elmer Keith’s “six guns” maybe?

[Dov]

A 4 & 5/8ths" .45 Blackhawk, particularly the convertible model, is probably the single most versatile single action I can think of. An amazing and under rated gun.



You can literally hunt everything that walks the earth with that gun, and plink tin cans with it. Elephants to rats. While I love my .44s, I have great respect for a properly throated .45.

A good friend (the gentleman who owns that incredible .38 Special I posted about and am safekeeping until I can rendezvous with him) just recently picked one up that used to reside on a Nevada ranch. It will now reside on his farm and accompany him on his hunts as well. They will take a ton of abuse and just keep going. While not totally indestructible, they are pretty solid guns.

In years past when the topic would come up, my suggestion for a minimalist person who is also an outdoorsman, but not a big time gun nut, would be an RBH .45 Colt/ACP revolver and a Glock 21. Both are simple, have proven to work in extreme conditions, and maintenance is not difficult on either, even in the field.

I know this is a SA thread, but your comment reminded me of idea I've had for some time.

A Ruger Alaskan (the SRH Snub) in 454 moonclipped so could run ACP for normal self defense & most practice plus run Hardcast 45LC for woods running. I've no desire to shoot 454 in a snubby.

That setup would also allow for carrying some ACP in moonclip, 2 will stack in single HKS pouch, loaded with smallgame loads (full wadcutters perhaps or snakeshot) when in the great outdoors, with no possibly confusion with the big game 45 LC loads.

[Lost River]

I have the same problem with my Super Blackhawk hitting my knuckle. Is there a source of old techniques on the best way to shoot these types of guns? Elmer Keith’s “six guns” maybe?

First is find a set of grips that fit your hands. This can be a bit of a challenge, as most single action grips are built for decoration rather than for shooting performance.

Second is how you actually grip a gun. This sounds silly and a lot of people just gloss this over but it is critical. For recoil control (especially with hard kicking guns), accuracy beyond typical short ranges, is very much dependent upon a consistent grip. If you grip it in a consistent manner you can avoid hitting your knuckles and you will find that your accuracy will improve greatly.

As odd as it sounds, a vast majority of my long range shooting (150 yards-400 yards as an example) is done double action. The reason is that when you grab a DA revolver and cock the hammer back for SA shooting, you can have a grip that varies greatly. Those variations will show downrange. However, when you grip a gun for DA shooting, due to the extended reach of the DA trigger, you are forced to have a more consistent grip. This consistency ends up correlating to more consistent accuracy at extended ranges.

I will post some pics if I can after a bit, in reference to this.

Also @Malamute He is really a great resource for such things.

[Lost River]

Looks like the aluminum grip frame was cleaned off. I do the same thing

O3RN is correct. The aluminum GF was stripped of the black finish, as I preferred the silver look.