Re: Ruger blackhawk 44, good idea?
Just see if you can find one with the Ruger Bisley grip or buy that grip frame and put it on. The Ruger Bisley grip frame is the best shape available on a single action revolver for taming recoil, period. I shoot "+P" 45 Colt loads from my Bisley Vaquero and they are quite pleasant, considering they're dishing out a little over 1,000 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle.
Oh, and as for the short barrel and recoil...a weird thing happens with short barreled magnums. Recoil does increase, due to the lighter gun, but the inertia is much less due to the lighter barrel. The recoil impulse is sharp, but it's over quickly. You don't have to work as hard at slowing down a heavy barrel that wants to continue upward after firing. One of the most objectionable things about the shorter barrels is muzzle blast. It is <span style="font-style: italic">much</span> worse, and I've found this to cause some folks to complain that snubbies are "almost uncontrollable". Put good plugs <span style="font-style: italic">and</span> muffs on these same shooters and all of a sudden, the short pipes are only a little worse than the long barreled version of the same gun.
