The legend of big red: Ruger's Super Redhawk is awesomely powerful and exceptionally strong. Here is the story of how the biggest production revolver came into existence

American Handgunner, May, 2002 by John Taffin

By providing a distinctive profile on the Super Redhawk, The Old Man took a big chance with the shooting public's acceptance of a radical new look. No other revolver-- not even the Redhawk-- looks anything like a Super Redhawk. The frame has been extended beyond the forward face of the cylinder about 2.5" enshrouding the barrel in the frame. This results in a much heavier and stronger frame than any other double-action revolver in existence.

This design also allows for the use of an integral scope-mounting system utilizing the cutouts on both sides of the top of the frame. Each Super Redhawk comes from the factory not only scope-ready, but also supplied with steel scope rings that mount solidly on the frame using one large screw each and semi-circular recesses on each side the frame.

To add further strength and stability, a lug on the bottom of each ring mates up with a cutout on the top of the frame. Scope mounting is easy with this setup, and once the scope is zeroed, it will hold zero closely even when the scope is removed and then replaced again. All of this adds greatly to the versatility of the Super Redhawk; one has almost instantaneous use of either scope or iron sights as a situation demands.

Hunters' Favorite

The .44 Magnum Super Redhawk has proven to be very popular with handgun hunters. With the proper load-- and there are now several excellent factory loads available-- the .44 Magnum is capable of taking all types of big game.

For nearly 30 years, the .44 Magnum reigned as the most powerful factory load available in a sixgun. This changed in 1983 with the coming of the .454 Casull from Freedom Arms. In 1999, The Old Man decided enough was enough and he would retake the lead as the maker of the strongest revolver on the planet. Ruger took a major step forward and chambered the Super Redhawk in .454 Casull.

Most of us were surprised when this happened. We were not so shocked that The Old Man added the .454 Casull chambering to his lineup, but rather because we had expected a five-shot Bisley singleaction, not a double-action sixshooter.

To be able to chamber the Super Redhawk in .454 Casull, two major changes had to be made. A higher grade of steel had to be smelted than that which is used in the .44 Magnum. The steel also had to be heat-treated differently. This means that a .44 Magnum Super Redhawk can neither be rechambered to .454 Casull nor to the new .480 Ruger.

The .454 and also the .480 Super Redhawks are the same size and shape as the .44 Magnum version. However, the latter boasts a typical stainless finish while the .454 and .480 versions are a sort of grayish green that The Old Man's marketing people decided to call "Target Grey." Why they misspelled "gray" is anyone's guess.

It turns out that "Target Grey" is simply the color that occurs when the steel parts of the Super Redhawk are tumbled in industrial tumblers. "Tumbled Gray" might have been more accurate.

The .480 Ruger is offered in two barrel lengths, both stainless, 7.5" and 9.5" barrel. The twist is 1:18 with six grooves and a right-hand twist. The weight of the two models is 53 and 58 ozs. The rear sight is the standard Ruger, adjustable for both windage and elevation while the front sight features interchangeable inserts.