Introduced in 1955, the Ruger Blackhawk “Flat Top” was Bill Ruger’s venture into centerfire revolvers. While the Blackhawk initially debuted in .357 Magnum. The shooting community— heavily influenced by the legendary Elmer Keith—was clamoring for a platform that could handle larger, heavier, bullets such as those fired from the .44 Special. Keith spent years pushing the .44 Special to its limits. Eventually developing his famous “No. 5 Special,” a custom revolver that combined a Colt SAA frame with a modified Bisley grip. Once released, Ruger’s Flat Top, with its robust investment-cast frame and adjustable rear sights, was an excellent host for Mr. Keith’s requirements and its excellent handling combined with bone crushing power from a small package has led to a profusion of excellent packin’ pistols which pay homage to the original Keith gun.
The Details
I was recently able to take an exceptional example of this lineage into the field in pursuit of whitetails, and for a shooter who appreciates fine equipment as much as the pursuit, carrying this six-gun brought a sense of profound connection with a vanishing era. Crafted by Larry Crow, owner and master gunsmith of Competitive Edge Gunworks in Bogard, MO, this old flat top started life as a .357 Magnum and features a long list of customizations carried out to the highest standards in the industry. Now chambered in .44 Special, this beautiful six gun features a Taylor throated (visit https://competitiveedgegunworks.net/articles for more information) 4 ¾” Douglas barrel, Colt New Frontier front sight and ejector, Bisley grip frame from RW Grip Frames, and desert iron wood grips from Chig’s grips (https://chigsgrips.com/). These hand-fitted components are finished off with exceptional high polish bluing accentuated by a color case hardened frame.
44 Special
Though I’d read volumes on the history and development of the venerated .44 Special. I’d never actually owned a gun chambered in this fine cartridge and lacked the means to stoke the numbered cylinders of this gun. To remedy this, I reached out to the fine folks at Starline who supplied me with some of their excellent brass and after some research contacted Matt’s Bullet’s.
(https://www.mattsbullets.com/250-Grain-Round-Flat-Hollow-Point-430_p_179.html)
They supplied the projectiles, cast out of 20:1 alloy, which should work well at what I’d consider the “traditional” 44 Special velocities chosen for this project.
Admittedly, I never shoot iron sights for hunting and needed a lot of practice, but after a quick load workup, I settled on an easy-going load which sent the 250 gr. Round Flat Hollow Point at around 880 F.P.S. and was easily grouping shots within “minute of deer heart” at 50 yards. This combination being more than sufficient for the 40-yard shots generally taken in the hazel brush of my hunting grounds.
The Hunt
My plan after load development was to pursue whitetail doe’s during the MN early antlerless season which is combined with the State’s youth only firearm season. Opening day arrived and my 12-year-old and I were in the stand. A steady breeze blew from the east toward the neighboring corn field. The ground was damp from rain and high humidity making for silence in the woods and hours passed with several deer passing through the brush but not giving any shots before we got out of the ladder stand for lunch.
Youth Success
Back on stand for the evening sit, the wind had died, and the ghostly silence continued. No deer came to the shooting lanes in front of the stand, but it seemed that every time I turned for a look behind us, I’d catch glimpses of legs in the brush.
As the sun descended behind the trees and the hues of evening faded to grey a lone crunch was heard directly behind us followed by the sound of a couple of large jumps. I whispered to my daughter, “that had to be a deer”, and we braced for action. Though I had the pistol in hand, she was up first to shoot and as I turned to my right, I saw a large body moving through the shadows, the deer circled left and came directly toward a shooting lane as the sun rapidly faded.
I tapped her leg to get ready and checked my watch to confirm we were still legal as the deer paused behind some trees. She was behind the scope and lined up for a shot as I whispered to take the shot if she had it, as I could no longer see the vitals. Her trusty CZ 527 Carbine barked, delivering a fatal shot behind the shoulder and her second ever deer was on the ground within seconds. I holstered my revolver as the shakes of excitement spread over my daughter and we climbed down to examine her trophy.
Size does Matter
After filling my daughter’s tag, my next close call came a day later. After sitting in a stand on the adjacent corner of my property the day before, I moved back to the stand from opening day and as the light began lifting the shadows, a lone deer fed my way through the undergrowth, coming straight to me.
I readied for the shot with my wrists resting on my shooting bag. However, as the deer worked closer, I realized it was a button buck as it continued to feed. After several minutes, a second, much larger, doe came from a different direction though also feeding toward me. I maintained my shooting position as the button buck fed its way directly under my stand to the right, the large doe slowly, painfully, fed to my left closing the distance.
I slowly pivoted to a clearing the doe would walk into keeping an eye on the small buck just a few yards from the base of my tree. As the doe’s shoulder was about to clear the last tree before entering my shooting lane, up came the bucks head looking directly at me. I was frozen still but it was too late, a couple jumps and both deer retreated to the brush which obscured a shot, and they fed back the way they came.
Concluding
Though I logged many days in field with this fine Blackhawk at my side, the remainder of the early season and regular firearms season passed in much the same way. Rotating between stands, seeing deer, but only as glimpses through the brush or in fading light and heavy cover. This, combined with my lack of skill with iron sights, led to tag soup being on the menu when our firearm season closed in mid-November. It’s not every day I get to carry a wheel gun with history and craftsmanship like this one and admiring the excellent finish and balance of this beautiful revolver sure added some nice seasoning to that soup. If you’d be interested in speaking with Mr. Larry Crow in further detail about his fine handguns, you can find his contact info at https://competitiveedgegunworks.net/.