Quick Review: Redhawk .45 ACP / .45 Colt

[Smith& W]

Excellent review and great looking gun. thankls

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I just got a call and Ruger is replacing the Redhawk for me. On another forum a dealer said they got two in and they had evaluated one with 17 different commercial ammos of .45 Auto and .45 Colt with no failures to fire (but accuracy issues with some of the .45 Auto loads), so hopefully I got a dud and there is no underlying design flaw. We'll see what happens.

 

[88E30M50]

Thanks for the update BBI. Hope the next one works out for you.

 

[oldpink]

Yay!
Thanks for the updates, but please keep them coming once you get the replacement.

 

[EthanR9]

I have very seriously thought about this gun! When they released it I couldn't even believe what I was looking at! The trigger on my SP101 was pretty terrible when I first received it. After taking it to the range a few times I was slightly surprised at how stiff it still was. I ended up stripping it down to find that a lot of the parts had pretty rough finishes. I tried to smooth it up a bit (no dremels were used in the process) and put it back together and it feels quite a bit better now. Quite a few people have told me to put a trigger kit in it, but she's doing pretty good without.

 

[dsol]

I did a trigger job on my SP101. Did the spring kit, smoothed all the contacting parts very lightly on Arkansas stones, put it back together full of toothpaste and dry fired it over 1000 times. Cleaned it out with hot soapy water, lubed lightly with turbine engine lube (I work for an airline, so I have access to some pretty good stuff that has stupid short shelf life for aircraft use). Feels almost as smooth as my worked S&W 586. Not quite that good, my 586 has the perfect trigger, but pretty damn close.

I have very seriously thought about this gun! When they released it I couldn't even believe what I was looking at! The trigger on my SP101 was pretty terrible when I first received it. After taking it to the range a few times I was slightly surprised at how stiff it still was. I ended up stripping it down to find that a lot of the parts had pretty rough finishes. I tried to smooth it up a bit (no dremels were used in the process) and put it back together and it feels quite a bit better now. Quite a few people have told me to put a trigger kit in it, but she's doing pretty good without.

 

[Leadeye]

I'll wait and see how BBI's replacement works before putting one back on my list.

 

[Hawkeye]

I just got a call and Ruger is replacing the Redhawk for me. On another forum a dealer said they got two in and they had evaluated one with 17 different commercial ammos of .45 Auto and .45 Colt with no failures to fire (but accuracy issues with some of the .45 Auto loads), so hopefully I got a dud and there is no underlying design flaw. We'll see what happens.

Please post an updated review here once you have a chance to run it through its paces!

 

[EthanR9]

I did a trigger job on my SP101. Did the spring kit, smoothed all the contacting parts very lightly on Arkansas stones, put it back together full of toothpaste and dry fired it over 1000 times. Cleaned it out with hot soapy water, lubed lightly with turbine engine lube (I work for an airline, so I have access to some pretty good stuff that has stupid short shelf life for aircraft use). Feels almost as smooth as my worked S&W 586. Not quite that good, my 586 has the perfect trigger, but pretty damn close.

I've heard about the toothpaste tricks before! Never looked into it. Doesn't hurt anything?? And may sound crazy because of all of the crap that Taurus gets on their quality but I took a model 608 on trade for a savage 110 and you wouldn't believe how smooth that gun is. Puts the SP101 to complete shame!

 

[dsol]

I've heard about the toothpaste tricks before! Never looked into it. Doesn't hurt anything?? And may sound crazy because of all of the crap that Taurus gets on their quality but I took a model 608 on trade for a savage 110 and you wouldn't believe how smooth that gun is. Puts the SP101 to complete shame!

Worked really well. I could have used some sort of rubbing compound but was a bit tentative on something too gritty at first. At least the only stuff I had on hand was a bit more abrasive than I preferred and I didn't feel like going out and getting something else when I had plenty of toothpaste in the cabinets. Put some snap caps in and dry fired it until my fingers were tired. Washed out easily with hot soapy water, can't hurt stainless steel with that. Dried it out good with a hair dryer and lubed it with a few drops of oil and hit all the contact points with that turbine engine grease. Worked out really well for me.

 

[EthanR9]

Worked really well. I could have used some sort of rubbing compound but was a bit tentative on something too gritty at first. At least the only stuff I had on hand was a bit more abrasive than I preferred and I didn't feel like going out and getting something else when I had plenty of toothpaste in the cabinets. Put some snap caps in and dry fired it until my fingers were tired. Washed out easily with hot soapy water, can't hurt stainless steel with that. Dried it out good with a hair dryer and lubed it with a few drops of oil and hit all the contact points with that turbine engine grease. Worked out really well for me.

I decided to try the toothpaste! I'll let you know how it turns out!

 

[hopper68]

Yay!
Thanks for the updates, but please keep them coming once you get the replacement.

Banning him would be the only way to stop the updates.

 

[oldpink]

Banning him would be the only way to stop the updates.

heh
Yep, definitely one of the more prolific and opinionated posters...not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Banning him would be the only way to stop the updates.

Pfft, I'd just tell Indiucky the news and he'd post it for me.

 

[indiucky]

Pfft, I'd just tell Indiucky the news and he'd post it for me.

True Dat......

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Ruger didn't bother to tell me that they sent the revolver out. So much for "we'll notify you and give you a tracking number." Another CS fail. Luckily ITP has my telephone number and knew it was for me, so they called me.

I will say this time it works. The DA trigger is a bit lighter and smoother. More importantly, it goes bang. It was 100% with American Eagle .45 Auto, although not terribly accurate with it. It was 76/80 with my .45 Colt reloads with the S&B primers. It hit them much harder, but still didn't set them all off. This is greatly improved over the 2/6 and 3/6 with the last gun, though. I think Winchester primers it will be 100%. It was much more accurate with the .45 Colt loads. I still heeled it some times, pushing it up, as the round butt feels funny in my hand (heh), but it shot pretty well.

That's 60 rounds in the one chewed out circle target, all shot at 7y.

I'm less accurate with this gun than I am my .357s at 15y....but I bought it as a fun gun, not a carry gun. If I were going to carry it, it would certainly need a bigger grip. The Redhawk trigger isn't on par with the GP100 trigger, either. Both are serviceable, but combined they don't make for quick follow up shots compared to the GP100s, even though the felt recoil is less.

 

[rhino]

How does it headspace the .45ACP? Is it a separate cylinder that headspaces on the case mouth?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

How does it headspace the .45ACP? Is it a separate cylinder that headspaces on the case mouth?

moon clips

 

[rhino]

moon clips

Ahh ...

So essentially it's headspacing on the rim. I know nothing about revolvers, but in self-loaders, some cartridges were crappy performers in the accuracy department when the gun headspaced on the rim, but got a lot better when it headspaced on the case mouth (e.g. .38 Super).

 

[indiucky]

I know nothing about revolvers.

And I thought you were a good guy.....Wait until snapdragon hears about this...You are doomed....DOOMED I SAY!!!!!!!