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I have been shooting quite a bit of target 38
Special rounds lately, mostly from K-frame S&W revolvers.
My weekly range session consists of mostly 38 special
shooting, as does my friendly steel games/matches as well.
Being a long time hard core Ruger single action revolver
collector, I decided that I needed an old model .357 magnum
Blackhawk in which to shoot 38s at my matches.
A good friend, and fellow Ruger collector, parted with
one of his and decided it would fit the bill for my 38 Ruger
Blackhawk. I
quickly realized that, being chambered for the 357 mag, the
sights were set up for that much faster round and there simply
wasn’t enough rear sight adjustment to bring my point of
impact down to point of aim. Along comes Fermin
Garza with one of his new custom dovetail front sights for
the Ruger revolvers. Based
on the 6.5” barrel length of my gun and the mild target loads
I was using, along with my described preference for sight
picture, Fermin was able to custom make a new, taller (0.350”)
front sight for my gun. He
sent it to me with a note recommending David
Fink, of Fink’s Custom Gunsmithing, for the install, which
required milling off the old ramp, cutting a dovetail in the
base, installing and fitting the Fermin front sight, and
rebluing the base.
I left my Ruger Blackhawk with David and, a
week or so later, he contacted me to let me know that the work
was complete. If I
didn’t know better, I’d say that the gun came from the
factory that way. There
is no flaw in the installation or finish.
The bluing matches the gun perfectly, and the dovetail
fits the base as if it had intended to be that way from way back
in 1956 when Bill Ruger introduced the 357
Magnum Blackhawk.
I got the gun back from David just a day or
two ahead of an industry event held at Gunsite
Academy, in Paulden, AZ.
After the install, the gun was instantly on paper at 10
yards, which was a huge improvement over the original sight,
which was shooting at least a foot above the paper with the rear
sight adjusted all the way down.
After a few minor sighting-in adjustments, the old Ruger
Blackhawk was shooting right on to point of aim and I was able
to use the gun quite successfully shooting competitive drills
such as El Presidente and the York drill. With this Fermin Garza sight, this gun just flat out shoots
now, with plenty of sight adjustment left should I need it.
This
speaks volumes for both of the gunsmiths involved…the
ingenuity of Fermin Garza in developing this reliable and
practical front sight, and the skill of David Fink for
installing it and finishing it masterfully.
Fermin
C Garza's Customized Shooter's Resources: www.fermincgarza.com.
Fink's
Custom Gunsmithing, Chino Valley, AZ - Phone (928)
756-8916
/ Web Site: www.finksguns.com.
Matt
Olivier
 
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