I got my 44 special Blackhawk this past Monday. It has a 5.5" barrel. I shot 100 rounds (Mt. Baldy bullets 250 Keith over 8.0 grains of Power Pistol and CCI 300 primers for 970 fps) through it Thursday afternoon. Groups ran 1.5 to 2.5 inches for me from a rested position, although I am not the best shot. I get about the same from my Freedom Arms Model 1997. Before shooting, I took one leg of the hammer return spring off of the strut in order to reduce the trigger pull. Dry fireing about 100 times served to help smooth out things just a little. There is a little creep in the trigger, but it is predictable once you get used to it and doesn't bother me. Here are a few measurements: The cylinder measures 1.672" in diameter, and 1.612" in length. The 50th anniversary 357 and 357 new vaqueros are around 1.585" in length. What excites me about this is the fact that you can rechamber and barrel for 45 colt and have enough room at the end of the cylinder for the long nosed RCBS 270-SAA semi-wad-cutter. With the shorter cylinder you have to stay with short nosed cowboy bullets. Anyway, I will be on the hunt for another one of these babies this fall for use in a 45 colt poject (45 colt loads in this gun would need to be kept under 23,000psi, which is about what +p 45acp loads run at). The cylinder throats measured .431", the barrel to cylinder gap apears to be under .004" or so.
There are a couple finishing related shortcomings worth mentioning. If you look real close, you'll notice that the left side of the ears where the main frame and the cylinder frame come together at the base of the hammer is sanded or buffed so much as to make it noticeabley lower than the right side. It looks like someone dropped the grip frame before final bluing as there are some tiny dents running for about a half inch where the grip fram meets the main frame on the left side above the trigger. You have look real close to see them, and I am not really upset about it. I am very happy with my $501.00 purchase (Including tax!). Overall, this gun is much nicer than 98% of new model blackhawks that I have come across. Thus far, I really like it, and I believe it is a tremendous value. I hope they make a lot more than just 2000 units!