Grips on Super Blackhawk

[SuperstitionCoues]

What are the thoughts on swapping out the factory grips on the Super Blackhawk for the Pachmayr Presentation grips?  Is the fit and finish of the Pachmayr suitable?  Does changing the grips help to moderate the recoil for the 44 Mag?

[Chuck White]

I never fired my SBH with the factory grips on it!

Before I left the gun shop where I got my SBH, I had the owner put a set of Pachmayr Presentation grips on it!
No regrets, very nice addition to the gun.  I also feel that with the Pachmayr grip installed I have more control of the gun.
CAUTION:  When you go to install the grip, only open it up as far as you need to or the bottom can tear!

I still have the factory grips and I also still have the grips from the SBH I owned when I was in Alaska, back in the 80's!
Never could figure out why those grips sell for $30-$40 a set now!  If I could get even close to that for mine, they'd be gone now!

[Rickk]

I have 3 security six's, a redhawk, a super redhawk, and an old army.

They all have aftermarket rubber grips.

Some do have Pachmayr grips, but the ones that I use the most (the redhawk the super redhawk, and one of the security six's) have Hogue grips on them.
See http://www.ajaxgrips.com/ajax/hogue?set=03



The Hogue grips do not cover the backstrap on either redhawk, so the felt recoil reduction is not all that significant. There is some, as both metal and rubber are in the palm of your hand. What I like best about them is that they allow you to get a better grip on the gun and it will not shift around in your hand. I shoot bowling pins alot, and the game is pretty much over in under 3 seconds. You want a good grip for recoil recovery. You don't want the gun sliding around as you don't have time to readjust your grip. One a hot day your hand gets really sweaty and the Hogue finger-grove grips work really well for hanging on.

A "PAST" shooting glove (which I use alot) will help reduce pain if you are shooting hot loads alot. The redhawk and super redhawk are both magnaported barrels. Magnaporting a pistol barrel reduces muzzle climb to get back on target quicker. Magnaporting DOES NOT reduce readrward recoil. In fact, it increases it. You will feel the recoil in your sholder increase significantly if you Magnaport. Having said that, with either Magnaported 44, with Hogue grips, and with PAST gloves (at least one in the strong hand), recoil hasn't really bothered me much. Both guns have mounts with Pro-point sights on them... that adds to the weight and helps absorb recoil a bit.

Compaired to the gun, grips are cheap... buy a couple different ones and try them out. Everyone's hand is a bit different sized, so what works for one person may not work for another person. If you have a local dealer who believes in good customer relations that has several styles in stock, see if he will let you check them all out. I am pretty sure that Ruger puts the cheapest grips on their non-rubber-gripped guns so that you don't pay extra for something that you are going to trash and replace anyway.