If ever there was a handgun chambering that could be called “pointless”, it might be the venerable .30 Carbine. Originally designed for the M1 Carbine of WWII (itself a replacement for the Colt 1911 Government, and carried by support personnel and so on), the .30 Carbine cartridge itself is often derided as being inadequate as a manstopper — although from a carbine-length barrel, it has better ballistics than the .357 Mag fired from a revolver.
It makes even less sense in a handgun. AMT once made one of their Automag models thus chambered, to general derision, but Ruger takes the cake with its single-action Super Blackhawk model (7½” barrel).
Why, one may ask, would one choose a single-action revolver (with its signature clunky reloading mechanism) as a companion piece for a carbine?
I’ll tell you why.
Because pound for pound, there is no more shooting fun than touching off a few (okay, lots of) .30 Carbine rounds out of this bad boy. The 18″ jet of flame comes out the muzzle, the cylinder-gap flash a couple inches too, and the recoil is about the same as a .357 Mag out of a long-barreled gun weighing nearly four pounds (!), i.e. very manageable.
And then there’s the noise. At the range, few guns can cause a “prairie dog” scenario among the other shooters, as they quit shooting their own guns and crane their necks back from the partitions to ask “What the hell was that?” I once even had a Good Samaritan rush over to see whether I’d had a barrel blowup.
As you can tell, and if you are a Reader Of Long Standing, you will no doubt realize that I have owned such a gun before. The only change I made to the Blackhawk was to change the grips into some meatier stuff which a) made it fit better in my hand and b) attenuated the recoil still more.
But lo, there came a Time of Great Poverty, wherein your Humble Narrator was forced by the moneylenders into selling his beloved .30 Carbine Blackhawk, and many bitter tears did he weep in the doing thereof.
However, the buyer was a Longtime Friend and Loyal Reader, who agreed to my terms of not selling the gun in the future unless I go right of first refusal. He never sold it.
Anyway, many years passed by until a couple weeks back, when we were idly chatting about this and that, and we came to discover that I had a gun of particular interest to him, and yes, he would absolutely entertain the idea of a straight swap thereof for the Blackhawk.
Say hello to the Prodigal Gun:
And this, O My Readers, is the gun that I had intended to shoot at the range until the foul pestilence known as the Upper Bronchial Respiratory Infection laid me low.
Next week, I promise.
One additional note: along the way, I (and my buddy) had occasion to lay up an adequate supply (+/- 1,200 rounds) of .30 Carbine ammo to feed both the M1 Carbine and the Blackhawk. Both of us had purchased a couple hundred Remington soft-point rounds (which the M1 carbine doesn’t chamber very reliably) and for reasons of price, also about 500-odd rounds of the steel-cased Wolf ammo — which, according to Reader RHT447 who knows about these things, is not good to shoot out of the M1 carbine because the steel casing beats up the action fearfully (and may have been the cause of the extractor breaking, as chronicled earlier on these pages).
Of course, the Blackhawk pays no heed to such fripperies, and being a Ruger digests the steel casings as candy. So it’s the lovely Korean-surplus FMJ ammo for the carbine, and the Remington SP and Wolf ammo for the Blackhawk.
I wonder which one will run out first.
Congrats on being reunited with the Ruger. I do recall from Dayz of Olde when you had to part with the piece, and the angst it did cause amongst the people. Twas a sad day, indeed.
I myself would love to add an M1 carbine into My Paltry Collection, but, as I already have the 9mm Ruger PC Carbine, that rifle does mostly everything as the M1 carbine does, but without the aesthetic. And for my wallet, ~$1400 is a lot of scratch for aesthetic. Moreover, when Gov JB “Fatboi toilet-yanker tub-o-progressive-bovine-fecal-matter” Putzker Pritzker signed PICA in Jan of 2023, that put the kabosh on things like 15-, 20-, and 30-round rifle mags, limiting the utility of the M1. Ball-less cunt that he is. May darkness and pestilence rain down on his tabernacle for the remainder of his days.
Many years ago I had my own “what was that” event .. back during The Sad Times when I was married to Satan and lived under the iron thumb of the Peoples’ Commie Soviet Socialist slag-heap of Massachusetts. I was at local outdoor range with the Mosin Nagant M44 carbine, popping rounds of commie surplus ammo. A few lanes over from me was a fellow with a shorty AR or AK variant of some stripe. I setup, load up the M44, settle in and pull the trigger. KaBOOOM. Cycle the bolt. Wash. Rinse, Repeat. After finishing the first five rounds, said AR/AK shooter comes over and asks, “What the CHRIST was THAT???!!!” Dude thought I had lost my mind. When I shoot the M44, I double up on “ears”. My hearing is not what it used to be, and I want to protect what remains.
Even today when I take the M44 for a spin, I make sure to setup at least a few lanes away from the range house, as the muzzle blast and concussion rattle the glass and causes much Ear Pain for the RSOs. They appreciate the gesture. What about winter? Let’s just say the M44 is a summer gun. In spite of its heritage, it rests for the winter.
So Kim, congrats on getting back the Ruger. Happy shooting !!
My brother took a 4″ 22 mag revolver to an indoor range, RO came out and asked what kind of canon he was shooting. The flame out of the barrel was paper plate sized and was extremely loud inside.
Your description of shooting this fine revolver reminds me of a time about twenty years ago when I took my now-grown son shooting with 3 other boys from our church, ages ranged from about 12 to about 18. I brought a Ruger .22 Government model, a S&W 686 shooting .38 spl, a CZ 75 9mm, and, of courses, a 1911 in the Lord’s Caliber. They all shot all of them in turns.
Afterwards I asked them all what was their favorite gun. The smallest liked the Ruger .22, of course, one liked the revolver, my son liked the CZ 75. When I came to the 18-year-old, he immediately pointed to the .45 with a grin on his face that looked like he slept with a coat hanger in his mouth. When I asked why that one, his reply was, “It makes the most noise!”
I thought that was eminently reasonable. lol.
Delighted to hear your Blackhawk had come home.
+1 on the Korean-surplus FMJ ammo. Good stuff. I snagged a 50 cal ammo can’s worth from Widener’s back when they had it in stock.
Don’t recall if I mentioned, but had a bit of success not long ago. One of the carbines I built for myself shot way left. Swapped the Winchester barrel for one by Underwood and windage was spot on center.
For anyone having mag feeding issues, here’s a good video–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zhgukWs4Eo
*…has come home.
Glad to hear you got your revolver back. I think Skeeter Skelton wrote about the Blackhawk in 30 carbine. At the right range with the right bullets I’m sure it will take down a deer. the single action revolvers can be a lot of fun. they force the shooter to slow down and make each cartridge count which can promote good marksmanship.
I hope you’re feeling better soon and get to reacquaint yourself with your Blackhawk.
JQ
I had an uncle that had a M1 carbine and a 30 cal carbine revolver. They were a blast to shoot.
I am one of those people with an Automag III to go along with an M1 Carbine. Only have one magazine for the pistol. Works fine. Accurate.
I got on a … obsession?!?! of having a pistol and rifle in the same caliber. This was way before the PCC craze. My most unusual pairing is in .460 Roland- a pair of 1911, one with a Mech-Tech Carbine Conversion Unit.