Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter vs S&W PC 629

[SicSTi]

So I currently handload for a Henry .44mag Big Boy which is my primary hunting weapon of choice. I'm looking at picking up a .44mag revolver now. However with it being hard to find the S&W to atleast hold one, I'm looking for some opinions from people who have owned or shot these revolvers.

I've kinda had my heart set on the PC M629 8 3/8" (170334) or the "modern" looking M629 Hunter (170318). I've always been a S&W guy and own 4 S&W pistols as it is. However for either of these pistols you are looking to pay around $1150-1300 depending on which one you find and where you find it online.

Ruger Blackhawk hunter or the Bisley you can pick up anywhere from $625-675 and have been around forever as well as have a great rep among hunters.

What I'm getting at:

1) For those of you that have shot a BH Hunter or the Bisley, which grip do you prefer and why? Is the Bisley more comfortable. Personally I think the look of the gun is "cleaner" than the BH Hunter base grip. Was there anything negative about the pistols? The price is almost too good for what these revolvers are able to do.

2) Is the S&W worth the extra money (basically twice the price of the Ruger) and why? I own a performance center gun now however most the internals have been replaced for competitive shooting and i would assume the difference in a PC gun would be more noticable in a revolver.

Any help is appreciated, at this point I'm just looking for educated opinions on these firearms to aid in my decision. I just don't have enough experience which these particular revolvers to just guess and by one hoping for the best

Thanks

P.S. The loading style differences between these 2 revolvers is not going to play into my decision of which revolver I choose.

 

[MtnBiker6510]

I've shot the Super Blackhawk in both standard and bisley grip with buffalo bore 44 mag loads and I definitely prefer the bisley, much, much better for me. Just more comfortable. Not sure as to why it is, but it is.
As for the 629 vs the ruger, I would go Ruger. The S&W is a fine revolver and having held one, it is very nice. I have read the Ruger is a much stronger revolver for heavy loads. I personally think the Super Redhawk is a better comparison to the 629 as it is DA vs SA. I'd take the Ruger over the S&W if it were me. Just for the benefit of what I believe to be a stronger frame for very stout loads. If I remember correctly, Buffalo Bore even goes so far as to recommend not shooting their heavy loads in S&W revolvers.

 

[Spyco]

I have the Super Blackhawk Hunter with the traditional plow grip. I chose that over a Bisley or any double action 44 since it is my first 44 mag and I was intimidated by the perceived power of the 44. It's a little unnerving at first when the gun shifts in your hands with the plow grip, but you get used to it. The plow grip is not meant for aiming the gun for a long time. Just practicing with it leaves my hand tired from just aiming for more than 15 seconds. It also limits follow up shots because you readjust your hand.

It may be just me, but I have a hard time shooting 44Spl. The guns shifts before the round exits the 7.5" barrel and ends up shooting way high for me. With the factory 44 mags, it's a laser.

Now that I have a few hundred rounds under my belt, I can say it's more enjoyable to than my 1911 and the recoil is actually not that bad.

 

[SicSTi]

See the plow grip is probably what I will steer away from then. I've heard the Bisley is better for putting the recoil more into your hand than up over your hand like the plow.

What gets me about the Rugers is the price just almost seems to good to be true for the quality.

MtnBiker, do you own the Bisley? you ever shoot out at Hillside or Roush? If possible I would like to hold one before I buy it just to see how the grip feels in my hand.

 

[seedubs1]

You're talking $650 for a blackhawk vs. $1150 for a S&W 629. That's a $500 difference.

For that $500, you can afford a trigger job, action tuning, whatever custom grips and sights you want on the blackhawk, and a bucket of ammo. And it'll be as nice or nicer than the stock non-performance center S&W.

Between those two, I'd buy the blackhawk every single time. It's not as pretty, but for the price, you really can't beat it. It's already been said upthread, the blackhawk is a brick **** house. Throw in some tuning work, and it's awesome.

 

[jimbo-indy]

I have the standard grip SBH Hunter. Shoots nice tight groups but would recommend some trigger work. There's a sticky on the Ruger Forum on how to do it yourself. Not hard, just removing burrs and polishing rubbing surfaces. One on my friends says the Bisley Grip helps the recoil for him. I never thought it was so bad. Over the years I did add a Badger finger-grove grip which is very comfortable and does tame the muzzle flip some.
Another plus for the SBH Hunter: the scope mount system permits removing and remounting the scope without changing zero. The Hunter comes with the special Ruger rings. They work great.
Like you, I like S&W. Went to the range a couple of weeks ago with the Ruger and my 19-3 (6"). Both were trouble free and accurate. If you use a steady diet of heavy loads, the Ruger is the way to go. I've pushed the high end with a 3 screw Blackhawk in 45 Colt (back in the early '70s when I was young and stupid) and it always performed. Max loads with the SBH just drop out of the chambers.
Wish you were closer, you could try mine out.

 

[SicSTi]

You're talking $650 for a blackhawk vs. $1150 for a S&W 629. That's a $500 difference.

For that $500, you can afford a trigger job, action tuning, whatever custom grips and sights you want on the blackhawk, and a bucket of ammo. And it'll be as nice or nicer than the stock non-performance center S&W.

Between those two, I'd buy the blackhawk every single time. It's not as pretty, but for the price, you really can't beat it. It's already been said upthread, the blackhawk is a brick **** house. Throw in some tuning work, and it's awesome.

The S&W 629 I'm talking about is the performance center one. I wouldn't even consider paying $1150 for a non-PC revolver.

 

[SSGSAD]

JMHO, (S&W guy also), you will do well, with either.... just personal preference.....

S/A, D/A, single load, swing out, etc..... $1100, is all right for a P C S&W......

Or, like mentioned above, put the $500.00 into the Ruger, and get what YOU want.....

 

[seedubs1]

In that case, toss a coin. They'll both be great. You just have to figure out if the PC upgrades are exactly what you want, or if you'd rather get the blackhawk and have it modified as you see fit.

The S&W 629 I'm talking about is the performance center one. I wouldn't even consider paying $1150 for a non-PC revolver.

 

[WebHobbit]

I have small (hobbit sized!) hands so the N-Frame just doesn't work for me. The Bisley grip version of the Ruger SA is just fine though (at least with a two-handed grip). My fingers are too short to one hand an SA like a TV cowboy but I can use two hands and cock the hammer with the left while triggering with the right. Works well with the big Ruger Blackhawk. I wish I would have kept my Accusport .44 Bisley!

 

[oldpink]

The fit and finish on the 629PC will be just a bit nicer, but the Super Blackhawk or Bisley will probably be just a bit more manageable, especially with max loads.
You can stick with the factory stocks, or replace them with Pachmayr's or Hogue's aftermarket products.
I've never had the privilege of shooting a model 29 variant, but I found the Super Blackhawk very enjoyable, even with stout hard cast loads.
My own standard Blackhawk chambered in .45 Colt is no problem at all for me, even on the several occasions when I've fired over fifty of my own maximum power handloads that are right on the heels of .44 Magnum for power from the bench, which maximizes felt recoil.
The Bisley version is designed to help control felt recoil a bit more, and in fact Hamilton Bowen and John Linebaugh both favor the Bisley version as the base for their monster custom revolvers chambered in .475 Linebaugh and .500 Linebaugh.

 

[hammer24]

Bisley grip frame fan here as well. I've shot both, and for a dedicated hunting pistol, it will be hard to beat the Bisley Hunter.

 

[Contender]

Had a bisley 41 mag at one time. Only gun I ever had that required wearing a glove when shooting to keep from hurting my hand. Accuracy was nothing to brag about. Owned 6 rugers over the years from 22 to 44 calibers. They are all gone now and I now own 3 s&w, that tells my biased opinion. No more rugers for me.....well that charger looks pretty interesting!

 

[Drail]

I also have been shooting a .41 Mag Bisley (7.5 in.) since about 1990 with handloads that are just stupid (to put it mildly). I would never fire those loads in a S&W. The Bisley grip allows me to shoot all of those loads I want ( with no gloves). Before I bought the Bisley I was running hot .41 loads in a standard Blackhawk frame (with gloves) and it was simply too much cowbell. The Blackhawk frame's grip rolls in your hand and will take skin off of your palm with heavy loads (even with a leather glove). In a modern DA revolver frame you would shoot the gun loose pretty quickly with those type of loads (and many guys have). The Bisley grip directs the recoil straight back with no roll. As far as accuracy it will place rounds on a steel ram at 200 meters all day long. If you're going to run hot handloads the Bisley absolutely is the best choice out there IMO. I will never sell that .41 Bisley. But if you want to shoot standard loads either gun would work just fine.

 

[Bigtanker]

IIRC, the Super Blackhawk has a bit longer cylinder that can accommodate a heavier bullet (330 gr maybe). I owned a Super Redhawk in 44 and remember reading reloading manuals with SRH/SBH specific loads. I can't say wether or not the S&W can do that. Since you reload, this might be something to consider.

 

[Drail]

Even if you could stuff a 300 grainer into a .44 Mag. S&W cylinder - it wouldn't take that kind of abuse for very long. While it probably wouldn't grenade the cylinder (though it just might with a little "enthusiastic handloading") - the timing would go and the ratchets would peen so badly it would be pretty difficult to cycle the gun. Silhouette shooters destroyed nice S&Ws for years before they finally learned that S&Ws just weren't up to the task. Ruger SAs are.

 

[SicSTi]

Ya I don't typically load really hot .44 mag rounds. My Henry is currently eating 240gr XTP on top of 21.5gr of N110. About 1/2 a grain below recommended max and I have no need to go higher.

For a PC S&W I just want to know I can tell there is $500 extra in the gun, that make sense? I know the PC does alot to them, I just have to decide if it is worth it for me to go that route.

If not, then I will probably be going with the RBH even though I will feel like a traitor, LMAO.

Another gun I like is the the RedHawk Hunter, but it isn't built as well as the Super Blackhawk and I can't stand the look of the Super Redhawk.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[SicSTi]

The worst part about all this deciding and having to wait, I got a 500 count box of new starline .44mag brass sitting on my table just waiting for me to buy this thing. There is nothing worst that brand new unloaded brass!!!

 

[Drail]

Having worked on S&W revolvers since the 80s I am of the opinion that, no, it's not worth what they are asking. Especially the PC stuff. Their PC guns are one of the biggest ripoffs I have ever seen. There really is no point in buying a DA revolver unless you plan on shooting a lot of DA. If you want to shoot DA then S&W IS the gun of choice - maybe not out of the box but it will have the greatest potential. A tuned trigger on a S&W DA is a thing of beauty in SA or DA. The SA pull will generally need nothing done to it. No one else even comes close. A Ruger SA trigger will always need some work to take out all of the creep that Ruger builds into it but it can be made very usable. But you better know what you're doing when you start stoning on a Ruger. Go just a little too far on a trigger or hammer and Ruger will not sell you any trigger group parts. They will require you to send it back to them - and they will rebuild it just like it left the factory. Mushy and full of creep. But they usually do it at no charge to you. But if you want heavy duty - then Ruger is the way to go. Oh, be sure to de-burr and lightly chamfer that new brass. It will be a little rough around the edges.

 

[SicSTi]

TBH, if I got the Ruger I probably would just do some polishing and spring kit. Not too worried about a little creep, I'm pretty sure I've shot guns fine with way worse triggers than a BH could have, lol.