There’s no double action revolver on the market at stout as the Redhawk (except for the Super Redhawk). That said, when it comes to the .44 Magnum, both the Colt and the Ruger will shoot any commercial round on the market, or anything you’ll find in the reloading manuals. That Can Not be said for the .45 Colt, where the Redhawk has an edge.

Thanks

Geoff PR,

I can tell you that everyone seems to universally agree that Ruger’s large frame revolvers are “built like tanks” (as in the armored vehicle, not a large container for liquids) which is a fun way of saying that Ruger’s large frame revolvers are overengineered from a mechanical perspective.

I have no idea if Colt’s revolvers have a super robust mechanical design. Even if they are not “overengineered”, they will be fine if you shoot them occasionally and only shoot them once or twice at bears. In my opinion the reason that Colt’s revolvers may be the optimum woods defense revolver is their incredibly smooth and light-feeling double-action triggers. Their triggers are phenomenal and I believe they would enable the fastest and most accurate shots at a charging bear (in terms of revolvers).

I have a Ruger New Model Super Blackhawk single-action revolver chambered in .44 Magnum. I also have a Taurus Model 44 double-action revolver chambered in .44 Magnum. When I get some spare time in the next year or two, I seriously want to try and sell them for a decent price and use that money to buy a newly manufactured Colt revolver chambered in .44 Magnum. My only decision is deciding which specific model.

In case you are wondering about my impetus for wanting to basically trade two very nice .44 Magnum revolvers for just one Colt revolver? Colt’s revolver triggers really are THAT phenomenal.

Jon, is it fair to consider this Colt a competitor to the Ruger Alaskan?

I was so smitten with the .44mag Super Redhawk I had 25 years back I’m inclined to go with the Ruger again if I was in the market for a bear gun again (and I just might).

The ‘Built like a Brick Sh!thouse’ construction of that Ruger really, *really* impressed me…

Absolutely 1000% agree.

I experienced this first hand with large-frame .44 Magnum revolvers. Two of them had rubber grips. One of them had aftermarket wood grips. The revolver with the aftermarket wood grips fits my hand like a glove and recoil is a absolutely a non-factor. I shoot 240 grain bullets with medium-level magnum propellant loads and it is downright fun to shoot. Most importantly, I don’t perceive recoil to be any less comfortable with those wood grips compared to rubber grips.

I repeated the same process with .357 Magnum revolvers with the same results.

Yes. It IS an anaconda, just with a beefier cylinder.