And Ruger definitely should have made a 3" Redhawk instead of the .44 Magnum Alaskan.

Gary Reeder does a 3" Redhawk conversion called the Alaskan Survivalist, and it's a fine looking gun.

This. If my memory serves me right, you posted a while back about how customization is something you usually do with revolvers. Go with the Ruger. At the least you have a work horse added to your stable. It will work and it will be a good knockaround gun. We have had some S&W .44's in the shop with similar problems. For every one that works, we have one that has some issues. I like the Rugers more and more. Just got a Ruger .44 Special Vaquero. I love it.

Gary Reeder just made a new custom called the Skorpion.  His old Skorpion was like the old Medusa revolver.

His new one is a 5 shot GP-100 in .41 Magnum or .44 Special (or .356 GNR - a necked down to .357 .41 or .44 case - I forget which).

It was featured in American Handgunner. 

http://www.reedercustomguns.com/revolvers/skorpion.htm



note: Oh fluff!  .357 round on a .41 Magnum case, 125 grains doing 2200 fps.   

Now you're talking Boyo!

  Yep, that is a modern, more efficient take on the old .357/44 Bain & Davis. It gains about 300fps on the old B&D, thanks to newer powders, etc. The only down side necked-down to ctgs like this and the B&D in revolvers is case setback slamming against the frame, sometimes making the cylinder lock-up and very difficult to turn to the next round, or hard to open and sometimes, the used ctgs are hard to extract. This is one big reason the .357/44 Bain & Davis, .22Jet and.256Win. never really took-off.
Perhaps Mr.Reeder has found a way around that old problem.
  I'd really like to see this .356GNR chambered in a 16"-20" levergun, that would be a screamer!

You shouldn't have any problems with a S&W .41 Magnum.  Honestly, I wonder if the N-Frame isn't about the ideal platform for a .41 Mag revolver.  The Redhawk is too big to be a .41.

  Late on this thread (Don't know why  ). 

But yes, get both   

 Rugers are considered low-class...I dunno. Yes the triggers are often gritty, so what? that isn't too hard to fix, and they are durable.   

Completely agree Grant. All the Ruger's I've had had good triggers. Not the best but good. Their triggers on their single actions are the best out of the box you can get now a days IMHO. I've started to like Rugers more and more though. They are reliable and accurate for not a lot of many, at least when compared to new steel fram S&W's.

Go Ruger.
My next pistol will be a Ruger in .44 Mag as well.
I want the pistol to take the same ammo as my M92 Puma Lever Action.
Of course I can obtain a custom load if I desire to maximize the shorter barreled pistol and use it in both guns...

Note: About the Cylinder not closing...could is be heat warping of the cylinder arm or maybe a bent rod bushing?

I've been hunting for two days for these guns that Nightcrawler is wanting... 4 and 5" versions and have them on Stock Watch at two Distributors most likely to get them back in stock soonest.  If he wanted 27 of them in 10" - No problem.  4 and 5?  Zero available.

The Ruger revolvers really are solid guns.  At my Police Academy, we had one that was given to the Academy for training purposes.  The Academy Head Cheese hated Ruger and wanted to ruin it so it could be destroyed or something along those lines... This was a long time ago and I don't remember what the reason was.    But I remember the results.   We took that gun out to the range.  Threw it up in the air as high as we could... several Police Cadets did this.  We threw it against a wall.  Several times.  We kicked it across the range and drove a Police Cruiser on top of, parked a front tire on it and turned the wheel lock to lock.... grinding that pistol into the pavement.
The rear sight was busted off, the grips ruined.  But the gun still seemed to function.  So I loaded it.  Fired it.  Then shot a 60 round Qual Course with a passing score with it.  Gun had no mechanical issues.  I replace the Rear sight and a new/used set of grips installed and that old battered revolver was available to Cadets for Handgun Training if their own went South.... it was there for a couple years.
Don't know what happened to that gun though... and the Police Academy there lost their Colorado POST cert and shut down.  Evidently it's just a National Park Service Law Enforcement Ranger program.   When I graduated that school it was a Dual Program and I was Certed for both, which was cool.

If that top strap cutting can hurt a Ruger GP-100... then that is a sign not to use it.  Until then... me interested in deadly rocket revolver.

357 Maximum type ballistics in a revolver?

Can and will hurt it.  Dangerously so?  Jury's still out, but the lawyers are in session.-   Ruger recalled all super blackhawks chambered in 357 Max over the cutting issue.  Any that get sent in for repair get destroyed.  Dan Wesson used to supply an extra barrel in that clambering.   The concern comes from folks trying to make pistol rockets.  Lightweight slugs, wicked heavy powder charges =  heavy top strap and forcing cone erosion.

Are you willing to consider a 7.5 cut down conversion?  Or is this a factory only thing?

You are basically going to have to make a decision sounds like-  money vs. time.

Sportsman's is the only place I've seen a Redhawk at.  Cabela's might have one.  But I learned in the FBMG days that what Cabela's can get and what regular gun stores can get are two different things.  When you order guns by the pallet you get special preferences.

Which is why it's best to shop local shops that are members of a Buying Group that puts then toe-to-toe with the big stores.  That's how we compete. 

I called a few different gun stores to see if any had one in stock we could strong arm... no luck.

Eds in Tamaqua Pa has a 4.2" Redhawk. Not sure on the price.
http://www.edssportshop.com/


Jim

If you want I can stop in and get you a price on Monday. I Know they do layaway, but I'm not sure with shipping it would be worth your while. Just lemme know I ya want me to stop in.