Ruger .45 Colt Single-Actions

Thick as a Brick

Writing in 1955 Elmer Keith said: “We would have preferred a slightly larger frame and a cylinder a bit larger in diameter, especially for the .45 Colt cartridge, but this .357 Ruger is one honey of a gun and amply heavy for the .357 and .44 Special and will give the standard chamber wall thickness if Bill ever chambers it for the .45 Colt.” Perhaps, the .44 Special would have followed on the heels of the .357, however, in late 1955 the .44 Magnum arrived. Ruger tried to chamber the Blackhawk for the new .44 but when one blew while proof testing, he wisely increased the size of the frame and the diameter of the cylinder. Keith did not have the .45 Colt but he now had the basic platform for building one.

Both the .357 and .44 Magnum Blackhawks are now known to collectors as Flat-Tops. They would be in production until 1963 when what is now known as the Old Models emerged. Since Ruger had brought forth the .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk in 1959, the Flat-Top .44 Magnum was dropped with the advent of the Old Models. The Three-Screw Old Models had two “improvements.” The same protective ears found on both sides of the rear sight of the Super Blackhawk were now incorporated into all Ruger single actions and the grip frame was changed from the XR3 “Colt-style” to the XR3-RED, allowing more room between the back of the trigger guard and the front strap. To me this change was totally ill conceived and whenever possible I have fitted the original XR3 to my working Old Model Blackhawks.

The .44 Magnum Flat-Top was now gone, however, the .357 Magnum was joined by the .41 Magnum in 1965, a .30 Carbine in 1968 and finally, the .45 Colt in 1970. At the time, I was attending graduate school in Missoula, Mont. and trying to find any way to keep my sanity while being away from the family. I wandered into the local gun shop and there it was — a Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk with a 7-1/2″ barrel. I didn’t even notice the extra .45 ACP cylinder as I made arrangements for it to be shipped to my FFL dealer back in Idaho. The Old Model Blackhawk would only be in production for three years, with both 7-1/2″ and 4-5/8″ versions. Both barrel lengths were offered as Convertibles with the extra ACP cylinder. A few were even made with the Super Blackhawk brass grip frame.