Favorite Firearms: A Bear-Country Blackhawk

by
posted on March 7, 2022
Bear-Country Blackhawk

In the early 1990s, I packed everything that I owned into an old Toyota Celica and moved to Juneau, Alaska, where I had taken a job flying seaplanes for the summer. When I got there, I noticed that the standard sidearm for outdoor activities in bear country was a .44 Mag. revolver, and the stainless models from Ruger were especially popular in the rainy marine climate of southeast Alaska. I didn’t have much money at the time, but I was giving some flying lessons to a friend on the side, and he offered to settle that account with a stainless-steel, 101/2"-barreled Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 Mag., which I accepted.

After that first summer, I stayed in Alaska. For more than two decades now, I’ve carried that Super Blackhawk while hiking in the woods and while flying small aircraft throughout the state. At first, I found the long barrel to be awkward, but I’ve come to like the way it shoots and can’t imagine carrying anything else at this point. I’ve never had to use it for defense, but there have been a few times when I was glad to have it with me.

There’s nothing especially elegant about Ruger revolvers like the Super Blackhawk; they’re the kind of rugged and functional tool that you don’t usually get attached to. Yet this one has a lot of personal history. It brings back memories of those first days in Juneau and all of the good adventures that have come along since then.

—Burke Mees

Latest

NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, Atlanta
NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, Atlanta

The Rifleman Report: New Developments

Our official coverage of new products for the current year is set for next month, but we included two substantial new developments in this issue that have the potential to make significant ripples in the firearm business even before then.

Arkansas To Begin Mandatory Gun Safety Lessons In Schools

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law requiring public and open enrollment public charter schools to provide age-appropriate firearm safety instruction beginning during the 2025-2026 school year.

Adams Arms Set To Relaunch

Alexandria Pro-Fab, a contract machine shop based in Minnesota, announced that it has purchased the assets of Adams Arms, along with all of the company’s intellectual property, and it plans to relaunch the company in the second quarter of 2025.

I Have This Old Gun: Bayard Auto Pistol

The Herstal, Belgium, firm of Anciens Etablissements Pieper was apparently expecting big things when, in 1908, it named its new semi-automatic pocket pistol “Bayard.”

The Armed Citizen® March 31, 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.

New For 2025: Benelli USA Nova 3 Tactical

This latest update to Benelli’s pump-action shotgun gives users a few upgrades over previous generations, making the new NOVA 3 the most exciting pump-gun yet to come from the Italian maker.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.