Wanted= A recoil that is not violent & not pleasant

Status
Not open for further replies.
ACES&8S

ACES&8S

Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2017
Messages
1,133
Location
Virginia
I have lots of revolvers in the 44mag / 45LC / 357 mag / 38spl so that is what I have to
work with.
I need advice on what bullet it is that comes from my long time memory of a round that
was powerful but not a cannon load, I know you can't tap into my memory but with
the experience here I am sure some of you have opinions on what a controllable round
would be in a revolver.
We would all love to have Matt Dillon's revolver that delivered death with the sound that
stuck in our minds back then, with no recoil at all & accurate & killed with one shot every
time. I am sure not all of you even know who that is.
It isn't my age that brings this up it is just missing something called good judgement in
reloading & accuracy, somewhere I lost that easy going shooting because reloading
makes us try everything.
I can remember it was either a 44 spl or something like that, but it may have been in
a different frame back then, now I have the N frames in almost all the Smiths, the Colts
are like Diamondback & Peacekeeper. Maybe it comes down to I just have the big N frames
& they could be the problem.
Any suggestions about recoil & don't worry about suggesting another revolver because I
am going to downsize my collection into a more reasonable group.
 
A .44 spl 240gr or .45 Colt 250 gr at about 800-850 fps is pleasant enough to shoot and still decently powerful for most tasks. .38 spl 158 gr hollow base wadcutters at the same velocity for the .38/.357s in your collection.
 
Maybe you just need to balance the recoil impulse with the gun's weight so you don't exceed a recoil velocity that's comfortable for you. The cartridge is only part of the equation. The heavier the revolver, the hotter the load you can shoot while maintaining a reasonable level of recoil velocity.

The .44 Magnum can be loaded to quite a high recoil impulse in relation to the weight of most revolvers chambered for it. Most .44's are only a little heavier at best than many .357's, but the hottest 44's generate much more recoil impulse.

Another tip is to load using a lower-mass powder. Shooting those high-mass magnum powders will always get the most extreme velocities, but you pay a price shooting those. You will feel quite a bit of recoil just accelerating the powder mass, which can be more than 20g and can be accelerated to much higher velocities than the bullet. Using a mid-range powder, you can often cut the mass of the powder that you're accelerating to half. Try powders like Longshot, CFE Pistol, or 572 instead of H110, 296, 4227, or Lil'Gun.
 
Port it. Taurus 44 mag 6.5 barrel comes ported. It recoils more straight back with little rise. I hated 44 mag till I shot the Taurus.
Ruger blackhawk 7", older 70s model is fair without porting.
357 is same when ported.
38 a pop gun.
Lighter bullet helps but sometimes it just depends on what you intend to shoot and what shoots accurate.
I like the 240 jsp 44 and 148 jsp 357. The accuracy is good and very clean on the bore.
 
The “Police load” for the .41 mag with 210 grain bullet around 1000 ft/sec qualifies. But if you want to shoot A LOT, consider a Smith 1955 (Model 25-2 most common) in .45 ACP.
 
Can confirm that a ~250gr lead boolit moving about 900fps out of a large revolver isn't too terrible on the senses. Out of a 44 or 45 Unique will get you there. Should be plenty of energy for bambi assuming the bullet is of a appropriate design.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
.41 Mag.?
Click to expand...
To be honest I have never seen one in the wild= outside a gun shop.
I have fired Many Many revolvers but the opt never came up with that caliber.
Seems there are a limited # of bullets for this in Hornady, & not below 1100 fps.
That is just a quick look.
 
John Joseph said:
Sounds like the long discontinued Remington mid-range .44 Mag 240gr LSWC.
Click to expand...
If I remember correctly that was the factory load I began with on the S&W#29 which I cut my teeth with.
I was much of a shooter in those days compared to today, 100 yards was a standard back then with open sights
& very tight groups. Later I went thru a Ruger spell which was even better results with that bullet.
I may still have some of them but reloading ruined any factory buys, except to prove new weapons or repairing them.
 
gotboostvr said:
Can confirm that a ~250gr lead boolit moving about 900fps out of a large revolver isn't too terrible on the senses. Out of a 44 or 45 Unique will get you there. Should be plenty of energy for bambi assuming the bullet is of a appropriate design.
Click to expand...
I have busted a few Bambi deer with the Hornady 240 grain XTP with the S&W 29-2 but at max ballistics it is like
a hellfire missile when one is fired from a ground blind even with the muzzle far out the window even with headset on it
shakes the earth.
But what I am looking for is like a combat load, controllable recoil & quick acquisition to return. Oh no I sound
like those fanatics that don't shoot at a target, they achieve a Ballistic Solution.
 
ACES&8S said:
To be honest I have never seen one in the wild= outside a gun shop.
I have fired Many Many revolvers but the opt never came up with that caliber.
Seems there are a limited # of bullets for this in Hornady, & not below 1100 fps.
That is just a quick look.
Click to expand...

I had a Blackhawk in 41 and still kick myself for not buying a 3" 657 with factory combats a few years ago for $650 with box. It's great if you want some oomp in a flat shooting lower recoil package AND you handload. As much as people claim 10mm, 44s and 45LC are handloader cartridges, the 41Mag REALLY is.

Im a little leary of 357mag for deer, but would still feel pretty comfortable with the 41 for that task.
 
robhof said:
#1buck said what I would say, also consider rubber grips, Pachys or equal, got them on most of my mag shooters, makes a BIG difference on a day at the range.
Click to expand...
I have those grips for the N frames but never could get the hang of the looks, it is just an appearance thing to me, I know
lots of you like them but I never got it. I won't shame them cause I know it's just a matter of what we like.
What I do is use Franklin Batting gloves with the trigger finger cut out, been a game changer for me.
 
gotboostvr said:
I had a Blackhawk in 41 and still kick myself for not buying a 3" 657 with factory combats a few years ago for $650 with box. It's great if you want some oomp in a flat shooting lower recoil package AND you handload. As much as people claim 10mm, 44s and 45LC are handloader cartridges, the 41Mag REALLY is.

Im a little leary of 357mag for deer, but would still feel pretty comfortable with the 41 for that task.
Click to expand...

I feel the same with you on the 41 caliber being good enough for deer, my Son is going to deer hunt this year with his 357 Dan Wesson &
I have encouraged him to practice & practice some more, just don't take long shots & moving shots.
I would feel comfortable with him using a 41 but that's how Dad's are, if he had a 41 I would probably want him to use a 45 LC.
I have mentioned here before I wore out a Blackhawk or two in my time. Especially the early -1976-44 mag was like fantastic.
 
Just been thinking about this:
I do remember I owned Charter Arms Bulldog in 44 Spl & I am sure it had a good recoil, THAT could
well be the revolver.
However, & I do mean a big HOWEVER, it wouldn't revolve very well in fact it never failed to FAIL so the
gun shop took it back for me & I let it stay gone because during this time my Dad had one. Either I had got
it for him or he traded for it with revolver I had bought him, anyhow it did the same thing mine had done
which turned me away from them without ever going back. I hear they are great guns now but the BURN still
lingers.
I think the Bulldogs with the big grips look much better & the ones with the ejector rod shrouded are a must.
Somebody with one talk me into trying a Bulldog unless they still can't turn.
 
To me, "normal" 45acp, 44 special, and 45colt all feel pretty good in a revolver. They have a nice "boom", and you know you didn't just shoot a mere 38 or 9mm, but they definitely won't hurt your hand.

I have 2.5" Charter Arms revolvers in both 44 special and 45acp. I enjoy shooting both of them. They have a pretty good thump without being at all painful.

I bought them both used. The 44 has never given me any trouble. The 45 was barely used and malfunctioned right away; I think that someone knew it was malfunctioning and dumped it on the owner of my LGS. It didn't matter. Charter Arms fixed it quickly and for free. It works just fine now.

Here is the 45acp. I like the clever springy things in the cylinders that hold the cartridges in place. A nice thing about 45acp is that it's inexpensive and easy to find.

Charter Arms Pit Bull 45acp

Charter Arms Pit Bull 45acp

 
Tallball said:
I have 2.5" Charter Arms revolvers in both 44 special and 45acp. I enjoy shooting both of them. They have a pretty good thump without being at all painfu
Click to expand...

Good looking weapon.
I didn't know they had them in 45acp.
I have everything to reload 45acp as well as 44mag 44spl 45LC 38spl 357mag on & on but the only one I can't stand reloading is 45acp.
Small & large primers, Glock swells the case & every other pistol fired here is a lifeless looking Glock.
But the 44SPL is more adjustable in reloading, for me anyhow.
WOW, it must be the medication I am on but I really unload on mfg these days.
Actually I would love to have a Bulldog but I feel like it has me jinxed or I am one.
My wife enjoys shooting the 44spl in my 29s but the grips bother her, maybe if she could try a -working- Bulldog she would
want one & the jinx wouldn't follow, but she is like me, if it doesn't have wood grips it doesn't have the looks of a real weapon.
Square butt, blue, 4" bbl, 44spl, might give it a chance. Might need to look at some on GB as a reference.
I haven't bought a NEW revolver in over 30 years, but I have bought several old ones in that time.
 
ACES&8S said:
I have lots of revolvers in the 44mag / 45LC / 357 mag / 38spl so that is what I have to
work with.
I need advice on what bullet it is that comes from my long time memory of a round that
was powerful but not a cannon load, I know you can't tap into my memory but with
the experience here I am sure some of you have opinions on what a controllable round
would be in a revolver.
We would all love to have Matt Dillon's revolver that delivered death with the sound that
stuck in our minds back then, with no recoil at all & accurate & killed with one shot every
time. I am sure not all of you even know who that is.
It isn't my age that brings this up it is just missing something called good judgement in
reloading & accuracy, somewhere I lost that easy going shooting because reloading
makes us try everything.
I can remember it was either a 44 spl or something like that, but it may have been in
a different frame back then, now I have the N frames in almost all the Smiths, the Colts
are like Diamondback & Peacekeeper. Maybe it comes down to I just have the big N frames
& they could be the problem.
Any suggestions about recoil & don't worry about suggesting another revolver because I
am going to downsize my collection into a more reasonable group.
Click to expand...


8 grains of 231 behind a 245 gr hard cast Keith type bullet in the .44 mag is my favorite plinking load. I shoot this in a 4" 629 and recoil is almost nil and it has a very low muzzle blast. Have never chrono'd this load but probably somewhere around 900 fps. It is very accurate as well.
 
gotboostvr said:
Im a little leary of 357mag for deer, but would still feel pretty comfortable with the 41 for that task.
Click to expand...
That depends largely on what kind of dear and where you are in the country.

Where I live, whitetail deer are small. A 170 lb buck here is an absolute monster but the average buck probably weighs 130 lbs. Does all look like they are about 100 lbs or less. Honestly I wouldn't hesitate to shoot one here with a 357 magnum at an appropriate distance, especially since getting within 50 yards of them is pretty easy here. Honestly I could hunt in my yard if I wanted. Walk within 50 feet, and they will watch you. Get within 30 feet and they will at least stand up. Get within 20 feet and they think pretty heavily about running. 15 or less, ok then they are done trusting you.

In Buckeye Country they get a whole heck of a lot bigger.

Mule deer on the other hand I would want a 40 caliber cartridge at the minimum. They are around 160 lbs on the small end and are usually over 200 lbs by the time anyone wants to shoot one. Something like a 180 gr 10mm bullet moving along at 1250 fps as a minimum. 41 mag would definitely be my preference though.
 
After I gave up my attempts to enjoy a magnum, I settled on the .45acp, .45Colt to get a civilized bigbore experience. Just plain Jane factory loads are enough oomph to put a smile on my face.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
tell me about 10mm in a revolver
Replies
12
Views
1K
NordicG3K
N
amprecon
  • Locked
Why Do I Feel I "Need" a SA .45lc?
2
Replies
47
Views
2K
420Stainless
4
C
  • Locked
Some thoughts on the .41mag
2 3
Replies
63
Views
3K
grendelbane
G
S
  • Locked
What is the next smallest after N-frame?
Replies
8
Views
661
GunNut
GunNut
P
  • Locked
How does everyone mount an Optic on S&W Revolver?
Replies
6
Views
3K
RealGun
RealGun
Back
Top