Blackhawk 45 Custom Build

[whbonney26]

I have had this old Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt for a long time now. Its been a great companion on many hunting trips and just out doing things on our family land.

I decided that I wanted to refresh the old workhorse.

At first I was just going to give it a good cleaning. Once I got it down I thought I would just go ahead and redo the whole gun.

I have had this revolver in the works since November. It is finally nearing completion.

Not sure how many photos I can get in one post so I will make this thread in several posts.

First, the gun how it was right before I took it apart. There was lots of pitting and some finish wear from years of use in many different conditions.

 

[whbonney26]

In this post you can see the gun taken apart. As I looked it over trying to figure out which way I wanted to go with this one I finally settled on new bluing and color case hardening the frame, hammer and trigger.

I found a guy I thought would give it the look I wanted so boxed it up and sent it off to him.

 

[whbonney26]

While the main parts of the gun was in Wyoming awaiting its new finish I decided to source myself a steel grip frame. The ones that come on this New Model Blackhawk are aluminum.

I found a new grip frame that was steel and a pretty blued finish and stuck it back. I thought eventually I would get it CCH also but was not sure at this point.

I decided with help from my wife that it should have my name engraved in the back strap. It was sent to a somewhat local engraver (whom I will not name here) and we waited for my name to be put on the back.

After a couple week wait I went to pick up the engraved backstrap. This was the first engraved item that I ever had done. I was very excited to pick it up even thought it was just my name.

He told me that he tried to put some bluing in the engraved part so it would not rust and that it discolored the engraving some which was unexpected. No real biggie there as I thought I would just go ahead and CCH the grip frame now in the future.

Well, when I got the grip frame back, I won't lie......I was shocked.

The whole area around the engraving was discolored. He told me that so at least I was somewhat prepared for that. It definitely needed refinishing now.

What shocked me the most though was that the engraving was horrible. Several places I could see where the graver slipped and made unwanted marks. The engraving was uneven on its depths and overall it looked like a toddler done it.
I was very unhappy but I paid the man and left. What was done was done.

 

[whbonney26]

After that I contacted Smoke Wagon Engraving in Lake Charles and showed him the back strap and asked him if there was anything he could do to salvage the back strap.

He told me to sent it his way and he would see what he could do.

When I got it back I was much happier with the way it turned out. We had to change how the name read though and instead of being side ways and in cursive we went with a western font and reading top to bottom. He also decided to put a few extra engravings on the back strap to dress it up some and I am more than happy with how it turned out. Especially since he was having to fix someone else's mistakes.

 

[whbonney26]

Once I got the engraved back strap back from Smoke Wagon I decided I would need some custom grips. I really wanted to go with a Stag grip but none of the makers I contacted could help.

Some only wanted to sell grips they had made up. One well known custom maker just didn't even want to take on the project for some reason.

So, since stag grips seemed to be out of the question for now I decided I would look at different wood grips.

I thought I wanted Snakewood at first, then a couple different woods. I wanted something with a lot of figure but wasn't sure what I wanted (since I really wanted stag).

After talking with a grip maker from Instagram he told me he had a nice Maple Burl wood that he thought would look good.

He showed me some photos of the wood and I thought it would be nice. He is a relatively unknown grip maker but I saw enough of his work that I thought I would give him a try.

I shipped the grip frame to him and he prob had it less than a week. I am more than pleased with the way the grips turned out.

The fitment is perfect. The profile is very nice and the slight swell in the top make it very comfortable to hold.

 

[whbonney26]

Once I got the grip frame back from him I took the grips off and laid them aside. I shipped out the back strap to GTScustomizing to be color case hardened with the frame.

As the grip frame was in route to GTScustomizing he sent me some photos of my frame and barrel.

 

[whbonney26]

Now, I just had to wait on the back strap to get there and get its own Color Case Hardening.

A little while longer he was done with it and the gun was on its way home.

 

[whbonney26]

Now it brings me to the revolver's current state.

Being impatient and building a custom gun don't always go together well. Sending parts here and waiting, sending parts there and waiting, ordering new parts and waiting. It's not a fast process but I guess it teaches a person to have at least some ability to be patient.

That said, I could not wait to see it together so I put it together in a sort of mock up.

While I was waiting for all of that to be completed I ordered a Keith Style #5 Base Pin. Well, I ordered the wrong length base pin so I either will need to cut this one to fit or order a new one in the correct size.

I will eventually be getting a new Fermin Garza rear sight once I get my new 45 Colt load developed for this one.

The nitre blue pins and screws are not as bright as I would have liked but they look better in natural light.

 

[whbonney26]

Here is a YouTube preview video of the gun mocked up.

I will update the process in the future when I do more to it.

 

[hdfinder47]

Stunning heirloom. Hope your descendants will be able to enjoy shooting it as much as you have.

 

[mickey]

Very nice!

 

[whbonney26]

Stunning heirloom. Hope your descendants will be able to enjoy shooting it as much as you have.

Thank you. I hope they enjoy it also .......but not anytime soon.

 

[whbonney26]

Very nice!

Thanks.

 

[whbonney26]

Question to the group.

Top grips or bottom grips?

 

[T-boy]

top

 

[Richard Michael]

Question to the group.

Top grips or bottom grips?

top, beautiful!!!

 

[NAHMINT]

What can I say !!!! looks perfect .
have had several super blackhawks in .44 mag. usually shot 44 special......
my Ruger old army has a KIRST conversion cyl.in .45 long colt.......it gets to shoot LOTS. I'm a large boy, the .44 just was not that much fun to shoot a box of hot 110 or 296 hand loaded rounds ,but the .45 was.
For me, the .45long colt in a R BLACK HAWK just makes a top rig.
(Yes, I know the was never an officially named .45 long colt )

 

[whbonney26]

What can I say !!!! looks perfect .
have had several super blackhawks in .44 mag. usually shot 44 special......
my Ruger old army has a KIRST conversion cyl.in .45 long colt.......it gets to shoot LOTS. I'm a large boy, the .44 just was not that much fun to shoot a box of hot 110 or 296 hand loaded rounds ,but the .45 was.
For me, the .45long colt in a R BLACK HAWK just makes a top rig.
(Yes, I know the was never an officially named .45 long colt )

I enjoy the 45 also. In the Ruger they can be loaded so hot to pass 44mag or loaded down to a cowboy load.

 

[whbonney26]

Ended up staying with the Giraffe Bone grips........ for now at least.

 

[sksshooter]

think i prefer the lighter grips as it doesn't pull attention away from the CCH and engraving. However i'd love to see it with a set of nice black grips on it. i kinda think that would make the frame really pop.