Ruger Serial Number Reference

Ruger Redhawk Serial Number Lookup

Date a Redhawk from its frame serial and separate Redhawk, Super Redhawk, and Alaskan prefix families.

By Greg Cook · August 29, 2026 · Ruger Collector Reference

The Ruger Redhawk is Sturm, Ruger & Co.’s first large-bore double-action revolver: a solid-frame magnum built around extra steel rather than a stretched medium-frame. Announced at the 1979 NRA Meetings in San Antonio and first shipped in 1980, it was designed to take a diet of .44 Magnum that would batter lighter double-actions. The grip outline and the absence of a sideplate can fool a quick glance into thinking it is a scaled-up Security-Six. It is not.

This page is an independent collector reference for dating a Redhawk from the serial stamped on the frame, and for telling a Redhawk from a Super Redhawk when the two get mixed up in a listing. The lookup uses Ruger’s published first-serial-of-year tables. Those tables stop in 2015 for the Redhawk and in 2014 for the Super Redhawk. Ruger did not publish later breakpoints, and this page does not invent them.

1. What the Redhawk is

The Redhawk is a large-frame, no-sideplate double-action designed from a clean sheet for magnum cartridges that start at .44 Magnum and later include .41 Magnum, .357 Magnum, .45 Colt, and a dual .45 ACP / .45 Colt moon-clip cylinder. Current stainless production still includes the classic six-shot .44 in 5.5-inch and 7.5-inch barrels, plus shorter .44 and .45 guns and an eight-shot .357 Magnum family.

It is not a Super Redhawk, not a GP100, and not a stretched Security-Six. Prefix is the fastest filter: Redhawk 500–503; Super Redhawk 550–552; Super Redhawk Alaskan 530; GP100 170s; Security-Six family 150s. Barrel, grip, frame extension, and rollmarks finish the identification. Blued guns are now the scarcer finish; stainless was offered from the beginning. Extra metal sits in the top strap, sidewalls, and barrel boss. The cylinder locks at front, rear, and bottom. A transfer bar and a single coil spring for hammer and trigger complete the Redhawk idea. The GP100 and Super Redhawk use two springs.

2. How to find and read the serial

On a Redhawk the serial is a frame stamp, not a barrel stamp and not a catalog number. Look on the frame itself — typically the left side, below the cylinder, near the “RUGER Redhawk” rollmark. Record every digit and the hyphen exactly as struck. KRH-44 is the old stainless .44 Magnum catalog designation: K for stainless, RH for Redhawk, 44 for caliber. Current production uses four-digit SKUs — 5041 for the 7.5-inch .44 Magnum with hardwood grips, 5043 for the 5.5-inch .44, through 5060. Neither KRH-44 nor 5041 is the serial. If a listing quotes only the catalog number, you still need the frame stamp to estimate the year.

The published format is a three-digit prefix, a hyphen, and a five-digit suffix: 500-00001 for the first 1980 gun in Ruger’s table. Prefixes roll 500, 501, 502, 503. The lookup accepts the same digits without the hyphen, with a space, or in mixed case, then finds the latest published year whose first serial is less than or equal to that value. Prefix 550–552 or 530 means Super Redhawk or Alaskan; 170s are GP100; 150s are the Security-Six family. Otherwise use the Ruger Revolver Serial Number Hub. A factory letter from Ruger Service, 336-949-5200, is the right tool on a yearly boundary.

3. Origin: announced 1979, shipped 1980

The Security-Six family of the 1970s proved Ruger could build a double-action revolver, but those were medium-frame .357 Magnum designs, not a platform for a serious .44 Magnum DA. Ruger already had .44 Magnum in the single-action Super Blackhawk. What it did not have, until the Redhawk, was a large-bore double-action of its own.

The revolver was designed by Harry H. Sefried II and Roy Melcher. Sefried had come from High Standard, where he designed the Sentinel revolver, and helped translate Bill Ruger’s insistence on strength into a frame made without a sideplate. Melcher’s name belongs on the same drawing set. The result, shown in 1979 and shipped in 1980 as serial 500-00001, was the first large-bore Ruger double-action. Do not catalog a Redhawk as a 1979 production gun on the announcement year alone unless a factory letter says it shipped then.

The Redhawk is not a stretched Security-Six. It is larger, heavier, and internally different. Bill Ruger also offset the ejector rod from the frame centerline so the wall beside the rod could be nearly twice as thick as a coaxial rod would have allowed. First guns were .44 Magnum, dual-chambered for .44 Special, in 5.5-inch and 7.5-inch barrels, blued or stainless, with square-butt grips and adjustable sights. That is the classic Redhawk. Everything later is a branch of that 1980 tree.

4. Design: no sideplate, triple lock, one spring

The Redhawk frame is an investment casting with no sideplate. Extra metal is concentrated in the top strap, the sidewalls, and the barrel mounting area, which is where a heavy magnum tries to pry a revolver apart. Ruger’s 2026 catalog still describes that architecture because it has not been abandoned.

The cylinder locks in three places: front, rear, and bottom. The GP100 later used a related triple-lock idea on a medium frame; the Super Redhawk used it on an extended large frame. The Redhawk had it first among Ruger’s magnum double-actions. The hammer and trigger share a single coil spring; the GP100 and Super Redhawk use two. A “Redhawk” with a GP100-style peg grip and two-spring lockwork is a Super Redhawk. Do not interchange those parts and call the result original.

A transfer bar sits between hammer and firing pin so the gun is intended to fire only when the trigger is held fully to the rear. It is not a reason to skip a mechanical inspection. Sights on classic and current hunting configurations are a ramp front with interchangeable colored inserts and an adjustable rear with a white outline. The cylinder latch is a button, not a sliding Smith-style thumbpiece.

5. Calibers: from .44 Magnum to eight-shot .357

The Redhawk started as a .44 Magnum that also chambers .44 Special, and that pairing is still how the current .44 guns are sold. Early production is overwhelmingly .44. Ruger later added .41 Magnum and .357 Magnum, then .45 Colt. The .41 Magnum was never the volume caliber; it is the least common of the standard chamberings on the used market. The .45 Colt-only Redhawks are discontinued as a standalone catalog idea. Do not assume every .45-marked Redhawk is the later dual .45 ACP / .45 Colt moon-clip gun.

In 2015 Ruger shipped a dual-caliber gun that still confuses listings: .45 ACP and .45 Colt in the same revolver, moon clips for the rimless ACP rounds, on a round-butt grip frame rather than the classic square butt. Current model 5050 is listed as .45 Auto with a 4.2-inch barrel and lasered hardwood grips. The .41 Magnum and .45 Colt-only configurations were dropped. What remains in 2026, besides the .44 Magnum six-shots and that .45 Auto, is an eight-shot .357 Magnum Redhawk, dual-chambered for .38 Special, in 2.75-inch, 4.2-inch, and 5.5-inch barrels. Eight chambers is a late development. An eight-shot gun with a 500–503 prefix is still a Redhawk, not a GP100. Caliber and capacity come from the barrel stamp and the cylinder, never from the prefix.

6. Barrels: 7.5 and 5.5, then 4, 4.2, and 2.75

The classic Redhawk pair is 5.5 inches and 7.5 inches. Both remain in the 2026 .44 Magnum catalog as models 5041 and 5043, hardwood grips, stainless, six-shot. Shorter barrels came later. Ruger offered a 4-inch Redhawk, then settled on 4.2 inches. The extra two-tenths of an inch was driven by Canadian overall-length rules: a slightly longer barrel kept the revolver on the legal side of a minimum OAL that a true 4-inch gun could miss. Early 4-inch guns are the ones to inspect for a pinned front sight. If a listing says “4-inch,” ask whether it is a true early 4-inch or a 4.2-inch rounded down. Measure it.

The current eight-shot .357 adds a 2.75-inch barrel (model 5051, hardwood, 44 oz) alongside 4.2-inch and 5.5-inch eight-shots. That short .357 is not an Alaskan. The Alaskan is a Super Redhawk with a chopped barrel and an extended frame, serial prefix 530. Newer production uses sleeve-and-shroud barrel construction rather than the older one-piece barrel that threaded into the frame. Ruger’s 2026 catalog flags new models available with sleeve and shroud barrels. If the junction looks newly indexed or the caliber rollmark is a different typeface, assume a barrel change until proven otherwise.

7. Mid-1980s barrel separations, and why the Super Redhawk exists

In the mid-1980s Ruger took reports of Redhawk barrels separating at the junction with the frame. The failures were uncommon, but they were real, and at the time the cause was not understood. Ruger’s first structural answer was a new receiver that ran about two and a half inches farther forward past the cylinder face, giving the barrel more support and enough frame for integral scope bases. That revolver, shipped from 1987 as serial 550-00001, is the Super Redhawk. It also received a GP100-style peg grip instead of the Redhawk’s square-butt grip frame.

Engineers later traced the original separations to assembly, not to a too-weak frame. Barrels that had been pre-lubricated and then left sitting were overtorqued when they finally went into the frame. Standing lubricant raised friction; extra torque raised stress in the threads; cracks started. The fix was process: do not let pre-lubed barrels wait, and do not overtorque. Once that was understood, the original Redhawk did not need to be replaced. Ruger kept both in production.

The Super Redhawk is therefore both a product of a problem and a different hunting revolver: integral scope bases, a GP100-style peg grip, and two-spring lockwork. Unlike the standard Redhawk, it was later chambered in .454 Casull and .480 Ruger. Those cartridges are a Super Redhawk and Alaskan story. Do not fire them in a standard Redhawk. Owners of early 500-prefix guns who are worried about the barrel junction should call Ruger Service, 336-949-5200. Confirmed separations were few.

8. Redhawk versus Super Redhawk identification

Hold the two guns side by side and the frame tells the story. A Redhawk’s frame ends at a conventional barrel shoulder. A Super Redhawk’s frame continues forward about two and a half inches, wrapping the rear of the barrel and carrying integral scope bases on top. Classic Redhawks use a square-butt grip frame; some later .45 guns are round-butt. Super Redhawks use a GP100-style peg. A Hogue Monogrip on current model 5044 can confuse a photograph. Look at the frame extension first.

Serial prefixes settle arguments photographs start. Redhawk: 500, 501, 502, 503. Super Redhawk: 550, 551, 552. Super Redhawk Alaskan: 530, beginning in 2005 at 530-00001. An Alaskan is a short-barreled Super Redhawk, not a 2.75-inch Redhawk, and it can be a .454 Casull or .480 Ruger pack gun. Standard Redhawks do not take those cartridges. If a listing says “Redhawk .454,” it is mislabeled. When a gun has been rebarreled or restocked, trust the frame and the serial before the furniture.

9. Current 2026 catalog

As of the 2026 ruger.com Redhawk models list, every standard catalog Redhawk is stainless, uses the transfer bar, the triple-lock cylinder, and the single-spring mechanism, and carries an MSRP of $1,449. That is the only price this page will quote: the current factory figure on the public catalog page. Street prices and used “values” are not listed here.

Seven SKUs are the current line. Model 5041 is .44 Magnum, 7.5-inch barrel, hardwood grips, six-shot — the classic long Redhawk, still in production. Model 5043 is the same gun with a 5.5-inch barrel. Model 5044 is .44 Magnum, 4.2-inch barrel, Hogue Monogrip, six-shot, 47 oz. Model 5050 is listed as .45 Auto, 4.2-inch barrel, lasered hardwood grips, six-shot: the moon-clip .45 ACP / .45 Colt descendant. Models 5051, 5059, and 5060 are eight-shot .357 Magnum guns with hardwood grips, at 2.75 inches (44 oz), 4.2 inches (49 oz), and 5.5 inches. .44 Magnum models also chamber .44 Special; .357 Magnum models also chamber .38 Special. None of the seven is a Super Redhawk, blued, or .41 Magnum.

10. Official first-serial-of-year charts

The tables below are Ruger’s published beginning serial numbers, transcribed from the official product-history pages. Redhawk figures come from ruger.com/service/productHistory/RE-Redhawk.html (page copyright 2016). Super Redhawk and Alaskan figures come from RE-SRedhawk.html. The last Redhawk first serial Ruger printed is 503-74803 for 2015; the last Super Redhawk is 552-74600 for 2014; the last Alaskan is 530-33703 for 2014. Serials at or above those numbers, with the correct prefix, should be read as “2015 or later” (Redhawk) or “2014 or later” (Super Redhawk / Alaskan). This page does not invent 2016–2026 breakpoints.

11. Collecting notes

Originality is the whole game once the year is estimated. A Redhawk that still has its original barrel, grip panels, and finish is a different object from the same serial with a rebarrel and aftermarket Hogue. Factory replacement barrels should be disclosed. Classic guns wear wood on a square butt with a Ruger medallion. Current 5044 wears a factory Hogue; that rubber is not original on a 1984 KRH-44. GP100 peg stocks belong on a Super Redhawk. Blued Redhawks are the minority finish; honest blue with edge wear beats a refinish that has buried the rollmarks. .41 Magnum guns are scarce relative to .44, which is a reason not to assume a .41 is a relined .44.

Boundary serials, numbers within a few hundred of a published first-of-year, are where the chart is weakest, because Ruger did not ship in perfect order. If the year matters, write Ruger for a letter — also the right move for unusual calibers, short early 4-inch guns, and anything claimed as a special run.

One piece of historical color, because it is documented and because it shows what a 1980s .44 Redhawk was for: Sir Ranulph Fiennes’s Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982), the first pole-to-pole surface circumnavigation, carried .44 Magnum Redhawks. A Scott Polar Research Institute photograph, shot by Fiennes in 1982, shows Charles Burton in a fur parka putting a .44 Redhawk into a plastic sheath by lamplight on the Arctic ice. Polar bears worked the camps; the party used noise, warning shots, and, in at least one case Fiennes later described, a shot that struck a bear which then went to water. That is not a sales story and not a reason to overpay for a random 500-prefix gun. It is a reminder that the Redhawk was in the field almost as soon as it left the factory.

Original box and manual help only when they match the serial. Mechanical inspection is not optional on a magnum of unknown history: check timing, carry-up, endshake, crane alignment, forcing-cone condition, and the barrel-frame junction.

Disclaimer

Gun Collectors Club is an independent collector reference. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. Redhawk and Ruger are trademarks of Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. Catalog photographs and serial charts are used here as identification reference; they do not imply any commercial relationship.

Serial charts on this page are approximate first-shipped-year figures transcribed from Ruger’s published tables, not exact manufacture dates. Ruger does not necessarily produce or ship firearms in serial-number order. The lookup will not invent years after the last published first serial (Redhawk 2015 / 503-74803; Super Redhawk and Alaskan 2014). For an official letter, contact Ruger’s Service Department at 336-949-5200, or use Ruger’s official serial-history process.

Information here is for identification and historical reference, not a guarantee of safety, originality, or value. Have a qualified gunsmith inspect any revolver before firing, especially an older magnum or a 500-prefix Redhawk whose barrel-frame junction has never been checked. Follow safe firearms handling practices. Related research: Ruger Revolver Serial Number Hub.

About Greg Cook

Greg Cook writes about firearms collecting, personal history, and the stories behind interesting guns. His Army MOS was 76Y, Unit Armorer, and he brings that practical background to his collector articles.