44 Special revolver

[Winelover]

I already have a 4” S&W 629 44 Mag. What are the pros and cons of shooting 44 Spl ammo in the mag.?

Given today's market and availability of 44 Special chambered revolvers, I don't see an issue of loading 44 Special in 44 Magnum chambered revolvers if a periodic cleaning of the cylinder is done. Barring that, just down load 44 Magnum brass to 44 Special velocities.

Currently, S&W doesn't chamber 44 Special in their DA line. Ruger, only does, in SA............personally I'm not a SA aficionado. That leaves Charter Arm's Bulldog as the main choice for DA revolvers chambered in 44 Special.

My first dedicated 44 Special was the CA Fit for Duty. Light weight at 21 ounces and hammerless for CC.



It is nice to carry but a handful when shooting Pierce's Category II loads. Range sessions are short (20-25 rounds) and a glove may be required. This dog has bite. BTW, CA's finish is less than desired..............stray machining marks are apparent. However, doesn't affect the accuracy one iota and are priced accordingly. DA trigger is better than the three S&W J-frames that I own.

S&W chambered the Model 24 (N frame) in 44 Special, but hasn't done so for years. So if your interested in one, it would have to be off the used gun market. They aren't inexpensive and are almost as heavy as the Model 29.............no real advantage over an N frame 44 Magnum. The other current S&W option is their five shot Model 696 (L-frame) in 44 Magnum. What I was about to pull the trigger on, until I happened on a used Model 24-3 (Lew Horton)............one of my bucket list guns.



Even with the 3" barrel and shorter cylinder, it weighs in at 38 ounces, unloaded. Great for taming the Category II and III loadings. However, requires a good holster and belt for woods carry.

Hope this helps with your decision.

 

[Jeff H]

I want to try the older Bulldog with the un-shrouded ejector rod.

I had a later model with the shrouded ejector rod and it never grew on me, so I sent it down the road. It was a wonderful light and handy revolver though. I found I could even shoot the Skeeter load in it from time to time.

The un-shrouded version reminds me of the old John Taffin magazine articles about what great guns they were. Plus they are probably plenty slicked up by now.

Those were the Stratford and Bridgeport production. The attention to detail on those was very good too. The tapered barrels were a lot more attractive than current models and were MUCH easier on holsters and pockets, as the were not sharp-edged and re-holstered so smoothly. I'm not a fan of the (cheaper to make) "full underlug" on anything myself, so I've often imagined going to work on one of the new ones to make it smoother on the holster and eye. The "exposed" ejector rod never caused me a problem. If someone wants to cut costs somewhere, why not there? Get rid of the ejector housing on them. Id even settle for no taper if they'd do that.

The Rossi 720 is a gem, but has the most blocky muzzle of anything I've owned. Had I kept either, I'd have expended some sweat and sore fingers filing, stoning, re-polishing the front end of it.

 

[Jeff H]

...Even with the 3" barrel and shorter cylinder, it weighs in at 38 ounces, unloaded. Great for taming the Category II and III loadings. However, requires a good holster and belt for woods carry.

Hope this helps with your decision.

The tapered-barrel N-Frames have always appealed to me as the epitome of the revolver aesthetic - they are beautiful. I've owned two; a 4" 624 and a blued, 4" 45 Colt. They just ended up being too large for me and I sort of resent that I wasn't made to fit them a bit more closely.

I'd go so far as to say they are the perfect platform for the 44 Special. I don't personally gravitate to the perfect platform for anything, preferring smaller/lighter in anything firearms-related, so my personal preferences don't coincide with the normal balance with nature.

 

[Thumbcocker]

Current production Ruger .44 special flat tops are some of the best revolvers they ever made. Cylinder mouths are correct, no thread choke, and shoot like they have eyes.

Keith boolit over 8.0 of powerpistol and the world is your oyster.

 

[MW65]

I've liked a plinking load of unique under a 240gr swc for the 629... mag cases... fun, and easy peasy to assemble

 

[Jeff H]

Current production Ruger .44 special flat tops are some of the best revolvers they ever made. Cylinder mouths are correct, no thread choke, and shoot like they have eyes.

Keith boolit over 8.0 of powerpistol and the world is your oyster.

Agreed.

My first was a stinker, with .433" throats and not bored evenly spaced, causing severe timing issues. Although I tried off and on for five years to get it to shoot right, Ruger took it back and replaced it very quickly. The replacement is a gem - mu all-time favorite 44 Special SA, and I have a OM custom conversion to compare it to. THIS is the gun I waited many decades for Ruger to make, and I believe, their crowning glory of SA Rugers. Well, this and the 45 Colt/ACP version.

I love shooting the 429421, with traditional lube and Unique out of this gun and getting it (and me) all dirty and greezy.

I suppose that a fella could do a lot worse than to have a 4" N-Frame, Flat Top Ruger and a stainless, 3" Stratford production Bulldog in 44 Special, which is where I SHOULD be with these. I suppose too that a New Vaquero on to of this combo would put a body in 44 Special Hog Heaven.

Not much a fan of Rossi or Taurus today, but the old 431(?) Taurus and the Rossi M720 were really nice guns too.

 

[hporter]

Another virtue of the Ruger Flattops, is that you can buy a 44-40 cylinder for it from Borchardt Rifle Company. I was impressed at how accurate the 44-40 cylinder was in my Flattop. That is, if you are already into 44-40's.

but the old 431(?) Taurus and the Rossi M720 were really nice guns too

I agree, my Taurus 441 has been a good gun.



Another option, if you like smaller and lighter, is the Ruger Sheriff Vaquero in 44 special. Mine is delightful to carry and shoot. Though I just happened to learn last week on a Ruger forum that they only made 500 or so of them.

 

[JustJim]

Twice now, I have declined the "gift" of a 44 WCF cylinder for my flattop. Nothing to be gained there unless you already shoot the 44 Winchester cartridge.

 

[hporter]

Twice now, I have declined the "gift" of a 44 WCF cylinder for my flattop

I sure wish I had friends like yours. That would have saved me $200!

 

[CZ93X62]

I am fond of the 44/40 WCF caliber. Both of my arms so chambered are not capable of safely running the High Velocity rendition of this caliber, and I hold the performance in my 19"-barreled Win '73 to about 1100 FPS with the 200-215 grain plain-based round flat-nose bullets, for the following reasons--

1) 1100 FPS is the speed imparted by R-R and W-W factory loads.

2) When I have loaded both the Lee 200 FN and the SAECO #446 past 1100 FPS, accuracy/grouping at 50 and 100 yards almost doubles from that produced at 1075-1100 FPS. Just a guess, but the slow twist given to most 44/40 barrels (1-38") in concert with the short squatty bullets aggravates whatever "trans-sonic effect" occurs as the bullets pass through deceleration as the speed of sound is reached while velocity decays. As a check, I ran these same bullets through my Miroku 44 Magnum (1-24" twist) from 1000 FPS to 1400 FPS, and accuracy remained more constant as the speeds increased, maybe a 10% grouping expansion from 1000-1400 FPS.

In my Uberti Cattleman x 4-3/4", this 1100 FPS load (13.5 x 2400) gives about 850-875 FPS. The hits land about 2" above point of aim at 25 yards, which is well-night perfect AFAIC. Recoil is not excessive, and I have comfortably run 200 of these through the Uberti in one day.

If there is a down-side to the 44/40, it has been the factory brass produced by R-P and W-W. That %^$# will bend, tweak, fold, and dent if gazed at strongly. Starline brass is much better and more stalwart brass in both 44/40 and 32/20 calibers IME.

 

[Edward R Southgate]

What do you intend to do with it ? I have several and they will all do all of the same things but some do certain things just a little bit better . Need to know your main intended use for this gun .

 

[Edward R Southgate]

Twice now, I have declined the "gift" of a 44 WCF cylinder for my flattop. Nothing to be gained there unless you already shoot the 44 Winchester cartridge.

That's twice too many . I'd have taken them up on the first offer . I would love to have both cylinders for my Flattop . Would have paid the extra if Ruger had offered them as an option .

 

[Petrol & Powder]

In the world of DA revolvers, the 44 Magnum has just about killed off the 44 Special. There are exceptions such as the GP-100 but DA revolvers chambered in 44 Special are few and far between and expensive when you find a good example. This is unfortunate because the 44 Special is an excellent cartridge when loaded to its full potential.

If Single actions are your game, you have a few more options.

A compromise is to acquire a gun chambered in 44 mag and simply load to the lower levels. You can do this with 44 mag casings or 44 special casings. I've never had the "crud ring" issue with any magnum revolver and short special casings, but I clean my guns after I shoot them. YMMV.

A 44 Special loaded to the "Skeeter" level is capable of handling about 90% + of what a 44-caliber handgun is called upon to perform. If you need that last 10% - that's what magnum revolver are for.

 

[Jeff H]

Not all-inclusive, but a neat collection of 44 Special revolvers here:

.44 Special Revolvers

The author is a very nice guy as well.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Currently 3x 44 SPC revolvers. Once had a Bulldog. Wouldn't frown on one again and reload accordingly.

624 - LOVE this one (even tho the N frame isn't my 'perfect' frame). It shoots GREAT! And the heavy tames recoil. Loves the Skeeter load!

21-4 TR - Recent acquisition/working into this one. N Round Butt. Put a Miculek grip on it and it made a huge diff (traded into it with incorrect grips)! I like it! It is NOT a gun for a heavy load! Will load it to traditional 44 SPC/basic 44-40 levels, with 250 grn cast. ~13.5/2400 and ~7.0/Unique. But do think the Mick grip will do well with the Skeeter load. Just gotta cast/load some more! Also need to get a good holster for it.

And then there is the Ruger NMBH Flattop 4 5/8" bbl. THIS one is my GO TO! I LOVE this gun! It has ridden many miles/season/walk-abouts on my hip. Skeeter load and Keith 250/16.0 2400 is awesome in it!

 

[Ian]

The tapered-barrel N-Frames have always appealed to me as the epitome of the revolver aesthetic - they are beautiful. I've owned two; a 4" 624 and a blued, 4" 45 Colt. They just ended up being too large for me and I sort of resent that I wasn't made to fit them a bit more closely.

They made a Model 10 ya know...

 

[hporter]

The author is a very nice guy as well.

Thanks Jeff.

I have read his site for years for the photographic film developing articles. I never knew he was a gun guy too.

Since those are my two main hobbies, I guess they aren't mutually exclusive things.

 

[Jeff H]

They made a Model 10 ya know...

But not in 44 Special.

 

[Jeff H]

But not in 44 Special.

EDIT: and, yeah those are beautiful revolvers too.

 

[CZ93X62]

I was an avid reader of Skeeter Skelton's gunrag articles in the 1970s, and recall his re-work of a S&W Model 28 "Highway Patrolman" revolver into a 44 Special. He combined this project with his previously-touted 44 Special load consisting of the Lyman #429421 (Keith SWC) atop 7.5 grains of then Hercules/now Alliant Unique powder and primed with CCI #300 primers in the modern solid-head 44 Special case. Depending on barrel length, these loads impart 900-1000 FPS to those 421s, and most of the duties a revolver is carried to complete can be handled capably by such a load. I have owned only one 44 Special arm, a later-series Model 624 x 6.5". It was a great revolver, wonderfully accurate and docile in recoil with Skeeter's Load. It got some Keith-esque R&D with some Rated-R weights of 2400 that prompted 1100-1125 FPS to those 421s, and those were a bit more pronounced in recoil, but still controllable. Yes, I was channeling Elmer Keith a bit, but stopped at Rated-R.......accurate as could be, those loads were. With 2-4 44 Mags always in residence, that 624 was surplus to my needs, so it went down the road with a couple 41 Magnums c. 2010. I got out of 41 Magnum and 44 Special reloading at that time, and I remain so.

That Skeeter's Load keeps close company ballistically with the old 41 Magnum "Police load", a 210 grain LSWC at about 950 FPS. Another act-alike of this genre is the 45 Colt (non-Ruger) loads, 250-255 grains at 800-900 FPS. Over the years, I've owned a half-dozen 45 Colts (Uberti and Ruger) and close to a dozen 44 Magnums. I've had 40+ years with the 44 Mags and 45 Colts, and will not be without at least one at all times. Good 44 Specials are scarce, for sure--for my money, and single-best 44 Special a reloader can own is a 4" Model 29 firing 44 Magnum-cased #429421 atop 8.3 grains of Unique or 9.0 grains of Herco. In my hoped-for Colt Anaconda later this year. those Skeeter's Loads will feel like wadcutters in a PPC revolver.