Bucking 'broncos'

Big revolvers excellent for intended purposes with right ammo

Scope positioning is different on the Smith & Wesson 657-5 and the Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter, which makes them require different shooting techniques. Though chambered in .41 Remington Magnum like the others, the shorter, smaller framed Ruger Blackhawk is an entirely different shooting experience than the others and demands milder loads.
Scope positioning is different on the Smith & Wesson 657-5 and the Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter, which makes them require different shooting techniques. Though chambered in .41 Remington Magnum like the others, the shorter, smaller framed Ruger Blackhawk is an entirely different shooting experience than the others and demands milder loads.

Size definitely matters when shooting handguns.

I don't mean cartridge size, but the size of the weapon itself. If you shoot powerful big-bore cartridges like .44 Remington Mag., or .45 Colt, a bigger, heavier gun is not only more comfortable to shoot, but also more accurate.

Our target application is deer and hog hunting, for which large-frame revolvers are best suited. Some, like the Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter, Ruger Super Redhawk, the Smith & Wesson Model 629 and the Taurus Raging Bull, are designed expressly for hunting. Their long barrels are more accurate and discharge projectiles faster than pistols with shorter barrels. They can also be easily fitted with scopes or electronic sights.

A scope or an electronic reticle allows you to shoot a pistol more accurately than you can through iron sights. By extension, it also allows you to effectively shoot a pistol longer distances than with open sights. Even with the best scope you probably won't shoot groups as small as you can with a scoped rifle, but you can group three to five shots within 2-4 inches at 50-75 yards. That's tight enough to kill a deer.

Dedicated hunting revolvers have very long barrels, generally ranging from 71/4 to 81/2 inches. The longer sighting plane of such a barrel increases accuracy by reducing muzzle movement. The additional weight dampens recoil.

Even so, a dedicated hunting revolver is very heavy and too unwieldy to shoot accurately without a rest. One reason a rifle is accurate is because its three-point hold forms a stability triangle. You have one hand on the forearm, another hand around the grip, and the butt against your shoulder.

You hold a pistol with both hands on the grip. That's a muzzle-heavy, single-point support that contributes to a lot of muzzle movement. It might not seem to move much when you look through open sights, but you'll sure notice it looking through a scope.

Consistent accuracy in the field requires resting the barrel on a shooting rail, a window sill of a box stand, or on a monopod or bipod if you're hunting on the ground or in a popup blind.

A shorter barrel exacerbates muzzle movement, which means accuracy decreases with a corresponding decrease in barrel length.

This phenomenon was evident during a range test last week with two similar revolvers chambered for the same cartridge. One was a Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter in .41 Remington Magnum. The other was a regular Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Mag. I compared these to older sessions with a Smith & Wesson 657-5.

Unlike the single-action Rugers, the Smith is a double-action revolver, but its dimensions and physical characteristics are very similar to the Super Blackhawk Hunter.

The Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter and the Smith & Wesson 657-5 have 71/2-inch barrels. They both wore the same Nikon Encore 2.5-8x32 scope.

The scoped Smith is eminently more shootable than the scoped Ruger. That's because mounting a scope on the Smith requires removing the rear sight and installing a base that contains multiple slots that allow you to mount a scope in multiple positions.

The Ruger has slots milled into the barrel rib. The slots allow mounting the proprietary Ruger rings in only one position, and it's an inconvenient position.

The rail on the Smith positions the scope's eyepiece well behind the trigger. It is intuitive, and it allows the eye to easily engage and maintain contact with the target.

The Ruger limits positioning a scope so that the eyepiece is flush with the trigger. That requires you to press your face toward the scope, and thus toward the arc of the gun when it recoils. It's not intuitive, and it is more than slightly unnerving.

Fortunately, the Ruger's Bisley grips mitigate that factor.

A Bisley handle curves downward at a much sharper angle than a standard revolver handle. It looks disproportional to the massive size of the Super Blackhawk Hunter, so I was skeptical about all the testimonials that claim a Bisley frame tames recoil.

It really does. Most of the loads I tested were 210-grain Nosler hollow points powered by 20 grains of Winchester 296 and 20.5 grains of Hodgdon 110 powders. Those are very hot loads that a friend dubbed, "Hendricks's Welding Loads." They kick so hard that my friend says they kill at both ends.

So, with my head pressed forward, I just knew my scope was about to clash with my forehead. The Ruger bucked hard, but its Bisley grip acted like a brake. It stops abruptly about one-fourth of the way through the arc and diffuses the shock into the fleshy part of the palm.

The Smith, with its molded Pachmayr grips, flies upward and rolls backward. It's not a problem, though, because the extreme aft position of the scope eyepiece keeps your head well out of harm's way.

They are equally accurate at 50 yards, but the Ruger is more comfortable to shoot once you convince yourself the scope won't clock you between the eyes.

The regular Blackhawk is a different animal. It has a 4 10/16-inch barrel, adjustable sights and a traditional style grip. Using the same loads and a tactical stance, I could scarcely hit a paper target at 50 yards. It abused my hands and arm, and the muzzle blast was thunderous despite wearing excellent ear protection.

Of course, that gun is not configured to be accurate at that distance. It's a self-defense weapon, and most self-defense situations, be it against bear, boar or worse, usually occur within seven feet.

At 15 feet, the short Blackhawk was as accurate as it would ever need to be, but a total of 12 welding rounds was about all I could stand.

I am very fond of that gun, and it's well suited as a trail sidearm, but not with hot loads. A 170-gr. Sierra hollow point in front of 14.1 grains of Alliant Blue Dot or 15.2 grains of Accurate No. 7 should be "Baby Bear" loads.

You know, just right.

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Scope positioning is different on the Smith & Wesson 657-5 and the Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter, which makes them require different shooting techniques. Though chambered in .41 Remington Magnum like the others, the shorter, smaller framed Ruger Blackhawk is an entirely different shooting experience than the others and demands milder loads.

photo

Scope positioning is different on the Smith & Wesson 657-5 and the Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter, which makes them require different shooting techniques. Though chambered in .41 Remington Magnum like the others, the shorter, smaller framed Ruger Blackhawk is an entirely different shooting experience than the others and demands milder loads

Sports on 01/07/2018

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