.41 Magnum Old Model Ruger Blackhawk Review

Classics Never Die

As much as I can appreciate the safety/liability considerations driving the change from Old Model to New, I’d grown up with an Old Model Single Six Convertible so when I decided it was time to acquire a centerfire Blackhawk, I bought a used Old Model with a 4 ⅝” barrel in .41 Magnum. The gun was of 1971 vintage, which made it roughly 7 years older than the cartridge it was chambered for. I wanted a powerful single-action field gun short-barreled enough to be reasonably handy. Even with a relatively short barrel, it was and remains the most potent handgun I own — and I intend for it to remain so. Why? I can’t handle anything stouter, nor do I want to. I figure that’s why they invented .30-30 and .45-70 rifles.

What prevented me from seeking out a New Model was purely subjective with no small amount of traditionalist nostalgia thrown in. I simply balked at the ideal of putting the cylinder into “free wheel” by simply popping open the loading gate instead of setting the hammer at half cock. The time-honored loading drill of “load one chamber, skip one, load one, load one, load one, load one” was a familiar one to me. Besides, five shots seemed plenty for a field/hunting gun in which high volume shooting and speed reloads really aren’t usually an issue.

Although the .41 Magnum has never achieved the popularity its adherents may have wished for, it does currently boast a fairly comprehensive array of power levels in factory ammo. The stuff I had on hand included Winchester Super-X 175-grain Silvertip, Hornady 190-grain FTX, Winchester Supreme 240-grain Platinum Tip and Federal 250-grain CastCore. On the more civilized side of things, I also have some HSM Cowboy Action 210-grain Lead SWC, which is nearly a dead ringer for the late, lamented, original Police Load at a comparatively sedate 950 fps.

If you’re braver than I and are truly interested in the outer limits of factory .41 Magnum potential — and have the cylinder length to accommodate it — I can suggest Buffalo Bore’s Heavy Outdoorsman, which features a 265-grain HC at 1,350 fps. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll seriously question the well-aged and somewhat dubious claim about the .41 Magnum being a less strenuous option to the .44 Mag.

I’ll confess that most of my shooting has been with the 175-grain Winchester Silvertip, which is slightly faster than the company’s 175-grain 10mm Silvertip. It’s energetic enough for my needs and doesn’t try to pry the Blackhawk out of my hands. As regards the heavier stuff, for me it embodies the “carry a lot, shoot a little” philosophy. Power has a price, one which I’d prefer to pay in small, infrequent installments.