Question: Please help me identify the engraver of this Ruger Blackhawk

[Doc Nonverbal]

Hello all,

This revolver is a 70's Ruger Blackhawk with a SuperBlackhawk grip frame. I can't find any markings to indicate who did the engraving and unfortunately the seller wasn't the original owner and had no information to share. Any guidance you could offer on who did this work and the quality of the engraving (I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a complete novice) would be greatly appreciated!









There are three initials on the top of the backstrap that appear to be EAL. These look to be acid-etched rather than engraved are are quite large, so I'm assuming that these were the owner's initials rather than the engraver's.

I'm giving serious consideration to having some modifications made to this revolver (Bisley hammer, Bowen sights, Keith #5 base pin, crescent ejector, and steel ejector rod housing), then having the receiver and frame color-case hardened and barrel & cylinder charcoal blued by Doug Turnbull Restorations (the current finish is a deep black). Unless the "EAL" initials are the engraver's, I would have these removed during the refinishing. If you believe these modifications would be ill-advised and would reduce the value of the revolver, please let me know.

Thank you very much for your time and willingness to guide a novice!

David

 

[Doc Nonverbal]

Addendum: If more detailed photos are needed, please let me know. I have a decent macro lens and can probably get some good close-up shots of the engraving if this would help with identification.

Thanks!

 

[monk]

my spin on this goes thusly--i'm not a fan of doing anything such as you want to do here. this gun has a "history" that goes with it. why would you choose to destroy this history, however good or bad the work may be ? i don't say this with any regard whatsoever for devaluing whatever this my be worth to collectors. i've done a lot of engraving, oil painting, & sculpture in the past 40+ years. if someone obtained anything i did, i'd sooner have them put it in the trash, rather than change it. again, this is just humble old me.

 

[Brian Marshall]

Remove the grips and look for a "signature" underneath?


B.

 

[Doc Nonverbal]

Monk: You bring up an excellent point for keeping it as it is. My preferences in what I would like to see in a custom revolver would perhaps be better left to a new firearm rather than modifying this one.

Unfortunately, I can't find any markings to indicate the engraver. The grips are stamped Ajax custom, but nothing else.

I'll keep checking. Any and all suggestions for how I can go about this would be appreciated.

 

[Roger Bleile]

The scrollwork looks somewhat familiar to me but I'm not certain enough to state the name here. The high proportion of background to foreground indicates an engraver who was in the early stages of development, design wise.

The most common places to find an engraver's signature or mark on a single action is on the grip frame under the grips, under the ejector rod housing, near the front trigger guard screw, or the front of the frame near the axis pin. On a Ruger BH it may be under the flange of the pin.

 

[Doc Nonverbal]

Roger,

Thank you very much for the information on both the engraving and where to find the signature mark. Perhaps I am missing some subtlety, but I can't find any markings in any of the locations you specified (or any other, for that matter). I'll show the revolver to my gunsmith to see if a fresh set of eyes can detect anything.

I'm still on the fence regarding modifying this revolver. The grip frame to receiver fit isn't ideal, and the bluing wasn't done very well, as there are spots that look like they were missed or were subsequently worn (e.g., one of the pins is silver and the backstrap is browning). It looks like the grip frame was probably blued separately, as the bluing is quite different. This said, I don't want to do anything that will negatively impact the engraving, which I believe is very pretty. Then again, it has a certain charm, warts and all. I suppose I'll stew on this a while before making any kind of decision.