Hey all,

Got a question for anyone please. I just picked up my brand new .44Mag Super Redhawk. I ordered the gun and paid for it before it arrived. It has a 552 beginning ser. #. I bought this exact same gun back in 1993 or 94 and it had a 550 ser. #. Anyway I see now they include a fired shell with the gun. Ruger now attempts to explain why that is in the manual but I really don't understand why. Anyway, at first unwrapping I noticed the gun to my standards was not very clean. Still unburnt powder in the barrel. Powder burn marks on the cylinder and in the cylinders. A descent amount of powder up under the top strap. How many times do they shoot the new guns at the factory to prove them out? Don't they bother cleaning them before they pack them for sale? When I first dry fired the gun in double-action mode I couldn't believe the trigger. You start to pull, the hammer comes back a little ways, while feeling a certain spring tension, pull a little further and the cylinder completely rotates to the shell to be fired under a completely different spring feel, complete the trigger pull to fire and then the hammer drops, still another spring tension feel. I do NOT remember my Super Redhawk of the early 90's feeling anywhere near like this. This is borderline terrible in my humble judgement. I broke out my Python elite, and my other two Taurus revolvers and all three of them are a consistent feel all the way from beginning to hammer drop. Parts all seem to move at the same time smoothly. NOT 3 different motions with three differnt feels of spring tension. In single action mode, not a problem. Trigger feels "squishy" but its tolerable. But, the double action thing has got me worried. Also I noticed that the cylinder moves quite a bit front to back on the crane. I wonder what that does to my accuracy. After waiting 12 years to replace my favorite lost gun, I am almost disappointed. Any suggestions or experience with these new Rugers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sid

The only thing I can address is the spent shell casing. Some states require that a spent shell casing be sent to the state for logging into a data base. Most states do not so the shell casing is left with the pistol. Rather than trying to only include shell casings with guns going to those states (how would Ruger know where their distributors are going to sell the guns) they include the casing with all handguns sold. If you live in a state that requires the casing, the dealer removes the case and sends it to the state along with information about the gun (serial number and such) and who bought it. Hello big brother. :( Just another form of back-door registration.

I don't think any of the major manufacturers clean the guns after they test fire. I've gotten brand new, direct from the factory Rugers, S&W's, and Weatherbys that had not been cleaned after being fired at the factory. Both rifles and handguns.

As for the trigger, there are some shops that do trigger jobs on Ruger Redhawks and Supers. In another thread, a poster from Va wanted someone nearby to work his over and I recommended contacting Hamilton Bowen in Louisville, TN. I don't know if he will accept a gun to just do a trigger job on it, but I have a conversion he built on a Redhawk and the trigger is very nice. Ask around at your local gunshops, I'm sure they know someone that can handle the job well.

As bad as I hate to say it, when buying a new firearm anymore, at least a rifle or handgun, I know there is going to have to be some work done to the trigger. As bad as the Redhawk is, I don't think I've ever picked up a handgun that has a worse trigger than my S&W 317 Airlite. Easily enough remedied, but still requires work after receiving it. I don't see things getting better anytime soon (unless you pick up a Savage rifle with the Accu-Trigger).

My new SRH was about the same way. Triggers on the Redhawk and SRH are awful compaired to the Python - especially one worked over by a master pistol smith. This is partly due to the Ruger design. I disassembled mine (the lockwork), cleaned everything, replaced the factory springs with a set of reduced tension Wolff springs, relubed and assembled.

Wolff Stock Number 17109 - Revolver Shooter's Pak Reduced Power - Ruger Super Redhawk Series Revolvers. www.gunsprings.com

The lightest tension mainspring caused misfires in my SRH, so I used the mid-range spring with no problems. The light trigger spring worked okay. If you are handy, a little polishing on the trigger parts helps, but just to smooth roughness, don't reduce overall size or change angles.

If you want to have an action job done send it to Larry Kelly at Mag-na-port, www.magnaport.com, an action job goes for $140.00. If you return it to Ruger, they will only bring it to standard factory specifications. There are other smiths out there, like Hamilton Bowen mentioned above, or SSK, but these premium guys are really backlogged.

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