Ruger Super Redhawk .44 Magnum

So I get a call from my buddy John.  He says something like "I'm going on a hog hunt would you like to....".  As soon as I heard that portion of the conversation, I said - HELL yes!

Then, I realized that I not only was getting to go to Oklahoma to hog hunt, but I also had an excuse to buy a new toy!  Living in Indiana - land of slug guns for deer - and no other big game to hunt, I was fairly limited in my arsenal for hog hunting.  Now, I'm sure my Garand or my M1A would work ok, but they are both set up for high power match, and they are HEAVY.  I'm told that .223 is really too small, so the M4 is out unless I put another upper on it, and that's not appealing to me right now simply because the M4's I have are set up for "farm defense" and I really don't want to change that.  I could pull out the muzzleloaders, but I'm not really feeling it.  Then I've got an old Winchester 94 in 30-30.  I pulled it out, looked at it, and put it back in the safe.  It's just too purty to put out in the woods and brush, and besides, she's old and belonged to a good friend's grandfather (he needed cash, and I am keeping it for him until he can buy it back from me).

So, I was in the relatively pleasant situation of "needing" a new gun.  I narrowed it down to either a revolver in .44 or .454, or a lever gun in 45-70.  Revolver, simply because I don't own a big bore revolver, and I've had a lot of fun with my black powder revolvers.  A lever gun, because isn't that what you are SUPPOSED to hunt with out west?  And, I don't own a 45-70 in anything and really like the under-appreciated round mostly from an historic standpoint.  Off shopping I go...

First stop, local Gander Mountain.  Not that I'm a huge fan of theirs, but they do have a large selection of used firearms, and most of the neat little gun shops around here don't have what I'm looking for in a used firearm.  Gander did have a 45-70 in a Marlin, but at $800 used, I thought I'd pass.  Next to the pistol counter.  They had a beautiful S&W M29, but it was even more money.  Nothing else besides the Taurus in .44 mag - and I've "been there, done that".  I won't get into it, but lets just say I wasn't particularly pleased and sold it within a week of owning that POS.

I took a venture onto gunbroker.com, and found a really nice looking Super Redhawk, still under auction, and at $500.  7 1/2" barrel, original box/papers/scope rings.  Then found the bonus - it was for sale at a gun shop within 30 miles.  Not being a huge fan of buying a firearm without personally inspecting it, I drove down to the shop that day, and came home with a SRH.

Now, this isn't to say that I'm NOT still in the market for a Guide Gun in 45-70, but the budget is gone - for now!

First impressions and set up on the SRH in the next blog entry...