Home Reviews Tanaka Redhawk Tanaka Ruger Super Redhawk .454 Casull (Midnight Blue)

Tanaka Ruger Super Redhawk .454 Casull (Midnight Blue)

by Arnie

Tanaka
Ruger Super Redhawk .454 Casull (Midnight Blue)

Reviewed
by Spook


Stock
Specifications
FPS
330m/s
HFC134a/0.2g
Length:
340mm
Barrel
Length:
165mm
Weight: 930
g

Ammo
capacity:

15
rounds


Introduction
In the 1950s Dick Casull and Jack Fullmer designed a large-caliber
“ultimate magnum” handgun cartridge for big game hunting. They
used the .45 Colt as the base design, but extended the cartridge
casing and packed in more powder charge. This caliber would
eventually be named the .454 Casull.

Guns
that chamber the awesome .454 can also chamber the .45 Colt.
The .454 has twice the impact energy of the .44 Magnum and is
pretty close to that of a .300 Weatherby Magnum rifle cartridge!
This type of extreme power is ideal for hunting elephants, rhinos,
grizzly bears and even drugged-up extraterrestrials with superhuman
strength (see the film Alien Nation to understand). The cartridge
can achieve 1803 fps with a 260-grain bullet and produce a muzzle
energy of 1871 foot pounds — extraordinary numbers that would
render Dirty Harry speechless. With all this power comes the
most devastating recoil that you can ever imagine (about 75%
more kick than the .44 Magnum). Only the most experienced magnum
shooters can handle the ear-deafening, bone-jarring and wrist-damaging
jolt.

There’re
only a few handguns manufactured to fire the .454 cartridge,
among them are the 5-shot single action revolvers from Freedom
Arms and Magnum Research and double action revolvers such as
the Taurus Raging Bull and Ruger Super Redhawk. Due to the extremely
high pressures the .454 creates, the Raging Bull can chamber
only five rounds in order to expand the cylinder walls. The
Super Redhawk has a wider and unfluted cylinder, therefore it
can chamber six shots.

Speaking
of the Redhawk…

Appearance
Tanaka Works has produced a finely-made airsoft gas replica
of the Ruger Super Redhawk in .454 Casull and added a very nice
coating to the finish. The gun comes in an attractive cardboard/styrofoam
box with the manual, BB loading tool, gas loading tube, hop-up
wrench and small bag of BBs. The gun uses HFC134a gas and the
cylinder holds up to 15 BBs.

This
model has a 7.5-inch barrel and a gorgeous Midnight Blue finish
that resembles polished blued steel. The gun is constructed
of ABS with a good portion of it being metal. Metal parts include:
the cylinder and the attached assembly, hammer, trigger and
trigger guard assembly, rear sight, part of the front sight,
cylinder release button and some internal parts. The gun weighs
950g, and because the cylinder is made of sturdy heavy weight
metal, the balance is evenly distributed. The grips are also
ABS, but it has a semi-hard, rubber-like surface. In the center
of the black grips are the imitation wooden panels which look
very much like real wood.

On
the bottom of the grip is the safety lever. Sliding the lever
to the rear puts the gun on SAFE and the trigger can be pulled
only halfway; the hammer cannot travel all the way back to fire.
Trying to slide the lever with your fingers is difficult, as
it is recessed into the grip and is pretty stiff. You either
need long and strong fingernails or a key to move the safety
lever.

The
shape and construction of this replica is exact almost to the
last details. I personally like the look of the Super Redhawk;
it has a large and robust frame and heavy barrel, and the cylinder
is massive when compared to that on the Smith & Wesson M29.
The built is very solid right down to the grips. The contours
are very smooth and even and there are no seams down the center.
On top of the gun, just forward the rear sight, are recessed
“cutouts” that are scope mount “rails.” Special scope rings
are made for the Super Redhawk and can be attached to the rails.
After market scope rings are available for the Tanaka Ruger
model, though I’m not sure if real Ruger ring mounts will fit.

The
trigger is very smooth in both single and double action, though
in double action the pull is a little heavy. When the hammer
is cocked it makes a very metallic “clicking” sound, and the
same metallic-type sound can be heard when the hammer is dropped.
Rotating the cylinder while it is closed is smooth and it locks
solidly in place with each turn.

The
front and rear sights are very well constructed and can be aligned
easily in just about any lighting conditions. The rear has a
white outline and is adjustable for windage and elevation while
the front is fixed and has a small plastic red ramp insert.
The Ruger logos and trademarks also have been copied to exact
specs. Instead of describing them in details, you can see the
photos yourself.

The
Midnight Blue
Tanaka did an excellent job in trying to replicate
the look of blued steel. The surface is deep black with a very
shiny coating and has a slightly blurry reflection. It’s very
smooth and in fact looks very much like polished metal. And
polish is what you need to do in order to keep a mirror shine.
The finish tends to attract prints and marks when the gun is
handled, and every time I take it out for a shoot I have to
wipe it clean afterwards.

One
disadvantage of this beautiful finish — and this is a big one
— is that it scratches VERY easily. While writing this review
and handling the piece, I lightly bumped it (by accident) against
a metal surface and the result was a very small white mark on
the barrel. However, I believe it is more susceptible to metal.
I have a S&W M29 Midnight Blue (also from Tanaka) and was
able to slip on a very tight Hogue wood grips without laying
a scratch on the finish. As for attaching scope rings, I would
recommend using tape (preferably black to match the finish)
to cover the areas that come in contact with the metal rings.

The
Cylinder
Releasing the cylinder was a little difficult because
of the tight construction and stiffness. The cylinder movement
isn’t smooth and doesn’t swing out or spin freely, but in time
it can due to normal wear of the parts. When the cylinder is
open, there’re six dummy brass cartridges “loaded” into the
chambers. The cartridges are not whole bullets; Tanaka uses
only the base of the casings to look realistic. They are fixed
and are “linked” together. Five of the casings have the letters
“WIN 454 CASULL” stamped on them. The sixth one says “GAS” and
has a small hole cut out to accept the gas nozzle.

There’re
actually two parts to the cylinder: one is the internal which
is fixed and houses the gas and BBs. The other is the outer
which spins independently and is how the BBs are loaded into
each of the chambers.

In
the center of the cylinder is the gas release nipple. When the
trigger is pulled, the hammer strikes against the spring loaded
pin, which then gives the nipple a quick tap and a small burst
of gas spurts out on the opposite end of the cylinder. On the
front end of the cylinder there’re six slots or “chambers” where
the BBs can be hand-loaded individually. When the cylinder is
rotated, two holes are visible (thru the slots) where 1) the
BBs are loaded using the tool and 2) where the gas is released.

The
BBs are loaded using a loading tool which can hold 15 BBs. Now,
loading the BBs proves to be the second most frustrating task
you’ll face (the first is loading the gas, which I’ll explain
later).

The
spring inside the cylinder is tight, and it’s nearly impossible
to push all 15 shots in at once. I manage to get maybe 10 in
with one push, but this isn’t always the case. When a BB is
fired and the cylinder rotates, the internal spring pushes each
BB forward to fill in any empty slot. As long as there’re BBs
in the magazine, the slots will always be filled. Since the
gun can hold 15, I use the tool to load 10 first, then for the
remaining five I would hand-load the BBs individually into each
slot. This method is useful when playing in the field, as you
can “load as you go” by poping in the BBs thru the front without
using the tool or even opening the cylinder.

Loading
the gas into a Tanaka revolver isn’t as easy as that of a GBB
pistol. Because the frame of the gun blocks the gas can, the
nozzle can be inserted only at an angle, making it impossible
to load without the aid of the extended gas loading tube (included).
To load the gas, the larger end of the gas tube is inserted
into the gas can nozzle while the smaller end goes into the
gas valve in the cylinder. When the tube is attached to the
nozzle, the whole assembly is much longer and tends to wiggle
from side to side, making it difficult to maintain a straight,
vertical hold. This makes the whole setup very awkward and I
always end up wasting some gas when loading.

Performance
For the setup I used HFC134 gas and 0.2g BBs and fired it in
normal room temperature. I also let the cylinder warm up before
firing.

I
set up a 6-inch diameter target and stepped back 16 feet before
firing 10 shots in double action mode. If you’ve owned any Tanaka
gas revolvers then you’ll know that accuracy isn’t their main
attractions. I’ve managed to get only four rounds inside the
inner 3-inch ring, with the remainder shots scattered about
in the outer rings (see photo). I have five Tanaka revolvers
and all of them are consistently inaccurate. Anyway, the reason
I like them is because they are great replicas and are powerful.

The
FPS clocked in at an average of 330, with a high of 351. I found
that the gun has to fire about 20-25 shots before it can achieve
its average velocity level (first few shots were in the high
290s). I was able to get 60-65 shots with one charge.

Hop
up
Tanaka revolvers such as the Colt Python and S&W
M29 series have a fixed hop up, but the Redhawk series have
an adjustable hop up. To access the hop up, first open the cylinder
and then locate the small hex screw immediately above the barrel.
Use the included wrench to turn the screw clockwise to increase
the hop. Adjusting the hop is slow and difficult due to the
location of the screw. The rubber hop up piece is located just
inside the barrel.

Conclusion
Tanaka makes the finest airsoft gas revolvers in the world,
and the Ruger Super Redhawk is no exception. The Redhawk may
not be very accurate, but it makes up with great details and
solid quality, plenty of power and, with the Midnight Blue coating,
a gorgeous and realistic finish. Now you can own and shoot the
“most powerful handgun in the world” (or at least a replica
of it) without breaking your hand!

Pros
Superb details and appearance
High quality and construction
Awesome power
Great looking finish

Cons
Expensive

Low accuracy
Clumsy BB/gas loading
Finish scratches easily








Conclusion
???

Upgrade
Potential

 

Build
Quality

 

Value
for Money

 

Overall
Potential

 

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Last
modified:
Thursday, April 24, 2003 8:14 PM
Copyright 2003 ArniesAirsoft




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