"All New" (?) Ruger Redhawk (.45 Colt/ACP)

[BarryinIN]

The only thing new I see is its now available in .45 Colt/.45ACP.  Definitely different, and sort of a head scratcher, but I wouldn't say "all new".

• http://www.ruger.com/news/2015-06-15.html

Edited June 15, 2015 by BarryinIN

[BarryinIN]

I just caught the barrel length- 4.2".     It might have made a nice IDPA gun except the barrel is .2" too long.  

Because we all know you can conceal a 4" large frame revolver with ease, but another .2" of barrel makes that an impossibility.   

[Pablo]

http://www.ruger.com/products/redhawk/models.html

How hot of .45Colt will it handle. Nice to plink with .45ACP but go hot with .45Colt.

 

[BarryinIN]

How hot can it go in .45 ACP?  T/C has made some .45 ACP Contender barrels over the years.  I'm told they can be loaded to interesting velocities.  While you couldn't get as much from the Ruger with the b/c gap and under half the barrel length, I bet it could reach the interesting point also.  

 

That would be a case where ammunition segregation would be an absolute necessity.   Getting an ACP Ruger bomb in another handgun could be nasty.  

I doubt we will see ".45 ACP For Ruger Only" pages in reloading manuals.  

[Pablo]

I was actually thinking hot with .45Colt. Reread my post.

[BarryinIN]

Oh, I know.  But that's been done!  

Knowing it can chamber 460 Rowland and 451 Detonics got me thinking.  

[Pablo]

460 Rowland and 451 Detonics I assume can be loaded hotter than 45 Colt. Do tell us more about these cartridges.

 

[BarryinIN]

They aren't.   They're just hotter than .45 ACP, which got me wondering how far it could be taken in the Redhawk.  No good reason other than because. 

[Pablo]

So the gun. It should have no problem with these hot loads?

[BarryinIN]

In the last couple of days since this announcement, I read someone quote John Linebaugh as saying the Redhawk was 14% stronger than the Blackhawk.   I couldn't find this on Linebaugh's website to substantiate the numbers, but it does ring a bell that he said the Redhawk was stronger as they come from the factory.   The Redhawk cylinder walls are thicker.

 

If if that's the case that the Redhawk is at least equal to the Blackhawk, I'd think it should be good to go.   People have been loading .45 Colt Blackhawks hot for 40 years.

 

The Redhawk has been made in .45 Colt before, and people were loading them up to "Ruger and Contender" loads from the manuals. Those are usually 30,000 psi or a little more.  

I don't see why it shouldn't take it in .45 ACP.   I'd be curious about that, just to see how much less powder it takes to get to something like a 250 at 1200.