Early Ruger Redhawk in 44mag???

[1911crazy]

What was the longest barrel on the early redhawks in 44mag???  I know they came in 4",  5 1/2", 7 1/2"  and

[Tom C.]

As I recall, the only barrel originally available on the Redhawk was the 7 ½”. Mine was made in 1981 and came with a 7 ½”, but when I wore it out with overly enthusiastic cleaning with abrasives, I had it replaced with a 5 ½”.

[1911crazy]

Was it a stainless barrel??  No one knows this but some stainless steels are softer than steel.  Everyone thinks stainless is so much tougher and better its not.  I've seen body sweat mark the surface of the stainless.  Even though it can be repolished with no damage to like new again it can get marked. I don't recommend an in the pants holster with a snubbie stainless during the summer heat.

Now I have a 5 1/2" and a 7 1/2" barreled redhawks in 44mag in stainless.  I was wondering if they offered the 9 1/2" barreled redhawk too?

[DDZ]

When Ruger came out with the RH they offered a 4, 5.5, and 7.5 inch barrel. I don't believe they ever offered it in a 9.5. Not until they came out with the SRH.

[Rutin2tin]

Wayback 1979 in the American Rifleman magazine, I believe it was CE Harris who wrote that Bill Ruger Sr was considering building a blued version of the Redhawk with a 10" barrel, and in .41 magnum.

Welp, .41 magnums they did build, but it was with the same barrel lengths as the .44 maggie.

Would have been a great Metallic Silhouette revolver had Ruger built some .41 & .44 magnums with 10" barrels.

FWIW: Ruger built a Super Blackhawk SA .44 mag with a 10.5" barrel for a very short while.

[gcrank1]

I had an earlish one, had a SBH and 29 so I was VERY interested in the RH and got one ASAP. All I ever heard or read about was the 7 1/2; they didnt come out with the shorter 5 1/2 until later, and I wish that I would have had that instead (for my uses). I almost cut mine down but finally sold it when I found a 624, 44Spl, 4" (its gone now too). That RH was a fine revolver, though in the horse pistol class.