My grandpa gave it to me. The gun is estimated at 15-20 years old. I haven't gotten the chance to shoot it yet but it's already become my favorite gun. It has some "swirling" (what is it actually called?) on the trigger and on the hammer. It is half blued and half stainless. The blueing on the cylinder appears a little more purplish than the blueing on the frame. Any idea why this might be? Overall it seems to be in really great condition. I don't think it has been shot much.

I am in the process of giving it a full break down and cleaning the internals. Is hoppes safe to use on blued guns? I have been using breakfree clp so far so I will continue to do so because I have come to trust the rust protection qualities of breakfree clp. What is the best way to deal with it if I encounter any small rust spots on the blued frame?

When disassembling the gun, the rod that holds the cylinder in place sort of became jammed against the barrel, as though it was coming out of its hole crooked. I was eventually able to free it using finger strength. The rod slides freely in its correct orientation now, but I could probably recreate the issue by pulling it out at a minor angle.  Is this normal?

There is what appears to be some carbon buildup on the hammer. Any idea how I can remove it without hurting the nice finish that the previous owner put on the hammer and trigger?

Can older super blackhawks like this handle the really hot loads from time to time such as BB or would you recommend taking it easy on it. I do plan to shoot it.

You should consider replacing the cylinder pin with a Belt Mountain fail-safe base pin.

It is also common for the screws to vibrate out.  Degrease the threads with alcohol and apply blue Loctite.

Hoppes was designed for guns in the early 20th Century.  It is safe to use on bluing.  Nice gun.

Does it have the full lawyer warning billboard on the barrel?  Or a simpler roll mark like the one below?  The rollmark below would indicate that it's an early new model , dating to the mid 70s.

It has the full lawyer warning. If it is rust on the hammer, how would you recommend removing it without ruining the jeweling? A little mothers mag perhaps? Also, the basepin does have the cutout, which is what caused it to lock up on removal. It was not properly aligned.

Any gun that my grandfather gave me would be priceless to me.  I wouldn't try anything that might damage the finish.  Just give a good clean and call it "character marks".

Also, is the grip frame and ejector rod stainless?  or aluminum with the anodizing removed?  You can check with a magnet.

Yeah. It is priceless to me. They appear to be stainless .The magnet was attracted to them.

Very cool OP. Do you reload? If not look for a box of 44 special to try first.

I don't shoot my Blackhawks nearly enough.

Yep. Mine was much happier with their pin.

 

What does the pin do?

they are strong, and fun to shoot.


they hold up to 300+gr magnum loads a lot better than a S&W....a lot better.

my 315gr Flatpoint Gaschecks...









with a 41.magnum....



Keep those grips, and wear work gloves when you shoot hot loads, just let the gun roll up in your hand.

I find that works a lot better than rubber pacmeyr grips.

Very cool guns! I won't be switching grips out. I won't change anything on it. It's a very special gun to me. It has a lot of history and I was overjoyed to receive it. I am equally excited to shoot it.

Nice, love me a Blackhawk!

The pin to latch fit can be a problem allowing the pin to move a bit. One of mine had that problem. I'm down to one Blackhawk and it wears that pin

For all you young whipper snappers in arfcom land - any revolver built after the atomic bomb ended World War Two can not even begin to be called old.
Yes the ruger  super Blackhawks is one of the strongest actions out there
All guns will run and be rather durable with ammo loaded within pressure specifications I hate when people say " can it handle hot loads?" Because often this means loads at or above listed max in manuals that can cause damage or decreased durability over time. Hot should never be more than a few tenths below max and even then there is no reason to abuse your handle gun with this type load more than from time to time.

That is a custom Super Blackhawk.    The barrel was shortened to what looks like 6 inches.   The grip frame from a standard Blackhawk in stainless was added.   The ejector rod housing was also replaced with a stainless one.    Probably had a trigger job done as it is common to jewel the trigger and hammer like that.  

Is the revolver ported?   If so, it might have been done by Mag-Na-Port.   I had a six incher by them that was about the ideal SBH IMHO.    Mine had a longer plated grip frame.  

Some people prefer the shorter grip frame but it will be a bit harder on your hands.   Full loads can be a bear.

The Super Blackhawk will be fine with any standard 44 Magnum load.   There are some +P 44 Magnums loads that are not meant for the SBH, so check the ammo box.  

You have a fine revolver.

If the recoil bothers you, having it Mag-Na-Ported will make it recoil like a 357 Magnum.   The above 240 gr with 10.0 gr Unique will make a good load for this SBH.

Flitz will remove the rust but the pits will remain.   I would have the hammer re-jewled to remove the rust and then keep it oiled.  When firing, the sweat from you thumb builds up right there which is why it rusts.   A lot of Rugers and Colts have this problem.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I am just going to strip it down, oil and clean it and put it back together. No major changes will be made at this time but I am considering the pin we discussed.

for the rust, use an old copper penny.   Transition was done in 1982, so 1981 and earlier are good to go, use that to scrap the rust and see how it goes.  Anything more aggressive will impact the finish to some degree.

1973

The SBH only for standard loads? Since when?
The SBH is the strongest .44 mag revolver made.

 
It is a cylinder length issue. The Garrett +p are just too long to fit in a SBH.

I never tried Garrett ammo, but I have some stout Black Hills 300gr JHP ammo that really lets you know when it lights off.
I think every single load manual lists Ruger only loads.

When I wrote "Standard Loads",  I meant any factory 44 Magnum loads.   There are only a few that wont fit the SBH cylinder.   I wanted to let the OP know there may be some factory stuff that may not work.

#0000 steel wool, oil, and very light massaging will take care of light rust without harming the bluing.

I took it out the range today and holy crap is it accurate. It's the only blackhawk I have shot so I don't know if they are all this nice but the trigger was awesome and I was consistently able to put all 6 rounds in a 1.5 inch cluster at 7 yards. If I took my time I could have done better, no doubt. This was just messing around. For me, that is pretty good shooting. Never had something I could be so accurate with before and I have shot a lot of handguns. First single action revolver for me.

try shooting it at 50 yards


...you'll love it