Ruger Blackhawk: Difference between revisions

In the early 1950s, [[Western (genre)|Westerns]] were popular in movies and television. [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt]] had discontinued the iconic [[Colt Single Action Army|Single Action Army]] prior to [[World War II]], and few single-action revolvers were available to meet market demand for cowboy-style revolvers. In 1953, the new firm of Sturm, Ruger & Company introduced the [[Ruger Single-Six|Single-Six]], a [[.22 Long Rifle|.22 LR]] [[Rimfire ammunition|rimfire]] single-action revolver. The Single-Six proved to be a popular seller, leading Ruger to develop and market a [[centerfire]] revolver similar to the Single Action Army: the Ruger Blackhawk. The Ruger Blackhawk was named after the Stutz Blackhawk automobile. <ref name="Taffin1">{{cite book|last=Taffin|first=John|author-link=John Taffin|title=Single Action Sixguns|publisher=Krause Publications|date=2005|pages=336|isbn=978-0-87349-953-8}}</ref><ref name="Taffin2">{{cite book| last=Taffin|first=John|author-link=John Taffin|title=Big Bore Sixguns|publisher=Krause Publications|date=1997|pages=336|isbn=978-0-87341-502-6}}</ref>

Ruger introduced the Blackhawk in 1955. Chambered for the [[.357 Magnum]], the Blackhawk was a simple and strong design, and it sold well. In 1956, as [[Smith & Wesson]] was introducing the new [[.44 Magnum]], Ruger quickly developed a variant of the Blackhawk in the new cartridge. Ruger achieved wide popularity with this firearm. inThe a hotly anticipated new cartridge, whichBlackhawk was both cheaper and more readily available than the [[Smith & Wesson Model 29]] revolver. According to popular legend, Ruger was able to field a .44 Magnum revolver at nearly the same time as Smith & Wesson due to a Ruger employee finding expended .44 Magnum cartridge cases at a scrapyard and deducing that Smith & Wesson was about to launch a new cartridge.<ref>Sturm Ruger booklet "Fifty Years of .44 Magnums"</ref><ref>[http://www.sixguns.com Sixguns.com]</ref>

== In Popularpopular Cultureculture ==

In[[James Bond (literary character)|James Bond]] illegally owns a Ruger .44 Super Blackhawk in the N641981 novel ''[[Licence Renewed]]'' by [[John Gardner (British writer)|John Gardner]]. Additionally, in the 1997 video game ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 Gamevideo game)|Goldeneye 007]]'', one of the weapons, the Cougar Magnum, is based on the Ruger Blackhawk.