In the late 1970s, Ruger hired Harry Sefried (formerly of High Standard Manufacturing) to design the company's first big bore double-action revolver. Taking many of its cues from the successful Security-Six, the Redhawk debuted in 1979 and has been in production ever since. Built to withstand the pressures generated by full power .44 Mag. loads, the Redhawk has been a favorite with handloaders who like to shoot extra hot ammunition. Various configurations include blued and stainless-steel models with barrel lengths ranging from 4.20” to 7.50". This year Ruger released a new dual-caliber model chambered to fire .45 Colt and .45 ACP.
The Ruger Redhawk is Ruger’s flagship revolver, providing the user with the cannon-like firepower of the .44 Magnum since its introduction in 1979. The Redhawk is offered in several configurations; mine is the Hunter model, with a 7.5-inch barrel, ready to accept a scope, should you want to meddle with the beauty of the beast
Fans of the .44 Remington Magnum owe a debt to Elmer Keith. Keith was a cigar-smoking, Stetson-wearing westerner who first wrote the “Gun Notes” column for this magazine. He was a proponent of bigbore sixguns and liked to load the antique .44 Special with lots of gunpowder. Keith convinced Remington and Smith & Wesson to collaborate, and in 1956 the .44 Magnum and the S&W Model 29 were born. Twenty-four years later, Ruger introduced the Redhawk double-action revolver, and it would come to be regarded as one of the strongest-built .44 Magnum sixguns you could buy.