The Ruger Redhawk .357

by
posted on October 13, 2014
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
rugerred357.jpg

My young friend was a tall and powerfully built man with good athletic ability. He was well-suited for police work, full of common sense and sympathy for the citizen, but unwilling to tolerate unlawful behavior. Let’s say he was “firm” in dealing with the inmates while serving his time in the jail division. Naturally, he was intent on getting out to patrol, where the rubber meets the road. We became friends and he barraged me with questions about guns and shooting. At the range one day, we shot several kinds of guns, most of them the various revolvers we were allowed to use. Inevitably the question came up—which gun do I buy? As always, I recommended as much gun as he could comfortably carry. In fast shooting sessions, weight soaks up recoil and you deliver more accurate rapid fire. A couple of days later, I saw what he had purchased.

It was a Ruger Redhawk in .357 Magnum with the shorter 5 ½-inch barrel. When Bill Ruger designed this gun, he wanted a big one for the American Sportsman. It was the company’s first large frame DA/SA revolver and needed a massive frame and cylinder to take the real magnum cartridges for which it was chambered—.44, .41 and .357 Magnum. I doubt if Mr. Ruger ever intended this brute to ride in a policeman’s holster. In .44 Magnum with 5½-inch barrel, the gun weighs 49 ounces. The .357 version has to be heavier, because far less metal is removed to make the barrel and cylinder. I am betting it was around 53 to 54 ounces. Now, that’s a heavy gun, but our hero strapped it on every day, when he went to work as a patrolman. And everybody giggled and pointed fingers at the young cop and his overgrown handgun.

Damned if it didn’t happen—the proverbial dark night and a long hallway with a man with a gun at the end. Reason and persuasion failed; the felon brought up his handgun and the deputy his (heavy) service revolver. He fired a pair that were as fast and accurate as any peace officer ever fired. Use enough gun.

Latest

Hearing Healthy
Hearing Healthy

Summer Suppressor Deals On Now

Whether it is a BOGO deal from SIG or free tax stamps from Guns.com and Silencer Central, there's plenty of hearing-safe savings to be had this summer.

Rifleman Report: Defending Freedom For 250 Years

"Anyone who claims not to understand the plain and simple intent of the Second Amendment—especially if that person happens to be a constitutional law professor, Supreme Court justice, congressman, senator or president—is likely hiding nefarious intent: to strip individual liberty from American citizens for the express purpose of making them susceptible to a tyrannical government."

Book Review: 2025 Traveler’s Guide To The Firearms Laws Of The Fifty States

Newly updated for 2025, the 29th edition of the Traveler’s Guide To The Firearm Laws Of The Fifty States is packed with all the need-to-know information for cross-country trekkers seeking to bring their arms along with them and remain legal in all localities.

Springfield Kuna: A PDW For The Masses

Small, yet fierce, the namesake of Springfield Armory’s latest large-format pistol is a revered forest dweller in the land of its Croatian manufacturing partner, HS Produkt. The new Kuna is poised to be just as welcome in America.

The Armed Citizen® June 30, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Book Review: Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers Of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler

The result of a decade of research, Clockwork Basilisk is a comprehensive, two-volume history of the rare revolvers that preceded the development of the well-known Colt guns of the 1830s.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.