44 mag advice/suggestions

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sothoth

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I have decided to get a 44 magnum revolver and have generally narrowed it down to the two obvious manufacturers, Ruger and S&W.

I usually rent guns when I'm narrowing things down, but in this case I can't find local ranges with much selection in 44 mags.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Shooting comfort and accuracy are the top two deciding factors. I don't like wood grips so something that can accept a hogue grip would be preferable.

Thanks in advance!!
 
Depends greatly on what you want to do with it, but I would say you simply cannot go wrong with either a S&W 629 or Ruger Redhawk (hard to find right now). Super Redhawk is also an option. If you want single action then Ruger makes several models of those.

My personal favorite is the Redhawk 5.5" with a Pachmayr grip (because it is a classic, built like a tank, and has less felt recoil, for me, than the 629)
 
In my opinion, you are not going to go wrong with either. I have used S&W and Ruger 44s and have come to a few conclusions. To me, the S&W have smoother and lighter trigger pulls. The Rugers are built heavier and, in my opinion, are more durable.

Having said that, a trigger job on a Ruger will make it every bit as clean as a S&W and I have NEVER seen a worn out S&W.

There are other small issues that I like and dislike about both guns but they are personal, not performance related. I have always leaned towards the Rugers because they just look better and feel better to me. Several friends of mine think I am crazy and feel that S&W is the only way to go.

Bottom line... Hold them both and buy the one that feels the best. Either way, it is very likely that your grand kids will be using it someday.

I would add that I wouldn't use grips as a huge factor since I have found that I want several wood grips as show pieces and Hogue or Pachmayr grips for extended range shooting so I tend to own a couple of each.
 
As has already been stated and I'm sure you know, you can't go wrong with either the Redhark or 629. The Redhawk will handle heavier loads and heavier bullets as some heavy bullets require a bit longer cylinder which the Redhawk has. The Redhawk is more durable but I know few people who have ever worn out a 629. The Redhawk is a bit heavier to carry so that may be a consideration too but that extra weight helps reduce felt recoil juat in case that is an issue for you.
 
I have used both extensively and killed hundreds of bears with them.

The triggers when set up properly by an experienced gun smith are both great. The S&W is better in the double action trigger aspect by enough to notice.
The S&W is a bit easier pack around. It's slimmer and lighter.

The Ruger will Handel recoil and longer heavier loads better. It's a bit more bulky and a bit heavier. I could happily live with either in a 4"-5" barrel. However If I had to choose I would find a 629-4 as I think that's the best 44 mag over all ever made as a production 44 mag revolver all things considered.

Mine has trijicon night sights and crimson trace grips. When Alex Hamilton finished the action and chamber work..... Well it's stunning. 1" groups at 25 yards with 180 XTPs at 1400fps
1" groups at 25 yards with hunter specialties 240gr HPs at 1200fps

The most fun rounds are those same 240gr hunter specialties at 1000fps( both HP and flat nose) A perfect recoil match to the S&W 4" barrel with more then enough power to handle anything you're likely to need a gun for.

The 310gr Garrett sledgehammers fit just fine and chronograph at 1250fps!!!

Not a fun plinking load, but fishing along steams in Alaska this would be a perfect round. Same for hunting big male hogs, bison, moose, elk, etc.
 
I have an awful lot of respect for the Ruger. But I no longer own one. I do have a 3" and a 4" 629. The trim size, balance, and lighter weight are more important to me than the Ruger's advantages. And worth the extra cost to me.
 
What's the difference between the regular and the super blackhawk?

I also was advised by somebody to avoid the rubber grips on a 44 mAg. They said that the reason they use wood grips is so the gun can slide more smoothly in your hand upwards and so your wrist feels less recoil. Any thoughts?
 
I have never fired a S&W .44 magnum, but I have shot lots of .45 Colt +P that roughly duplicates .44 mag ballistics through three Ruger platforms:
-7.5" Ruger Bisley
-2.5" Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan
-5.5" Ruger Redhawk

Those are ordered most to least comfortable to fire with full-blown loads. I can easily shoot the Bisley for 100 rounds or more of full-tilt loads, even up to 360gr heavyweights. It is my favorite.

The Alaskan I can shoot around 50 rounds pretty comfortably, but prefer to keep it around the 250-260 gr weight with H110 loads. 300gr are very doable too, but start to wear out my wrist a bit more. What makes me stop at 50 is the rubber grip opening up a blister in the web of my hand right around that round count. I also usually start flinching from all the blast and concussion. It is remarkably accurate and comfortable for its size though. The challenge is more psychological than physical. I have ordered some Badger Boot Grips for it, and hope to try those some time this month. If I had to guess, a 7.5" Super Redhawk could probably be shot 100 rounds or more pretty easily.

And then there is the Ruger Redhawk....I tried several grips and never found it anything less than painful, even down to the 240gr loads (still full-tilt H-110). I never could grow to like it. It also has the worst trigger of any Ruger DA that I have ever owned, including the Super Redhawk, Super Redhawk Alaskan, GP100, and SP101. It does not share the same spring mechanism as the others listed. The Redhawk is also heavier than the Super Redhawk of equivalent barrel length.

I did shoot a Super Blackhawk 7.5" .44 magnum with a Hogue rubber grip one time. I was shooting 240gr loads as a rental to see if I wanted to step into the big bore game. I found it pretty comfortable for the 50 rds I put through it. Probably could have done another box no problem. I do not recall the same issues with web blisters for the Blackhawk Hogue as for the Super Redhawk Hogue.

Hope some of that helps.
 
Thanks, eldon, that does help. It argues for what I was told that for comfortable shooting the rubber grips may be a mixed bag... you might get a better grip and perhaps better recoil cushion but with greater risk of blistering on the rubber. A friend of mine and I tried shooting some pocketable revolvers in 357 mag and I had a bloody finger after 12 rounds due to the trigger guard cutting into my finger with every shot. So I enter my search for a 44 mag with a healthy respect for how grips and weight make a big difference.

I was not considering a redhawk although shooting one in 454 casull seems like it would be quite an experience, esp with a bear on top of you :)
 
sothoth,

Part of what makes the Alaskan Hogue grips give me blisters is that it had a sorbothane insert right where the web of the hand goes. It is really soft and gives great cushion, but when it deforms, the changing shape causes the rubber and the skin against it to move relative one another. I've used a Hogue with an SP101 that did not have the sorbothane, and it still gave me blisters in the same spot, just not as rapidly even though it is fairly lively in recoil as well.

I think the reason the Super Blackhawk Hogue didn't cause problems is because the Single Action grip doesn't really get up in the web of your hand like a Double Action does. Same goes for my Bisley even though it has wood grips.

Just out of curiosity, where are you located? You never know if another THR member could meet you to let you try his/her gun or might know of a range that rents what you are looking for.
 
I've shot 100 to 200 rounds of .44 mag in a day with rubber grips and had no problems with blisters.

On the flip side...the sharp checkering on the original wood grips on my Ruger .41 mag about chewed the skin off my hand in less than 18 rounds.

I'm a fan of the rubber grips on heavier recoiling guns.
 
I have a super red hawk 7.5 barrel 44 mag. I love it. It has a down side though, it is heavy, which is also an advantage. Soaks up some recoil, 44 spl's are like 22lr's out of it. I am considering a S&W airlite 44 ( the auto spell, wants it to read airline in stead of airline :) ) to compliment it for hunting/hiking sidearm at 26.5 oz its half the weight of the 53 oz SRH. Its all what you want to do with it. An Airlite I am guessing isn't as much fun to shoot but you may carry it more and visa versa.
 
I haven't owned a Redhawk or Super Redhawk, but I do have a 6" 629 that I am very pleased with. When I was choosing a revolver for hunting, the lower weight, slicker action, and (in my hand) better ergonomics of the 629 won me over. As it is, it's probably my favorite handgun to shoot, the double action is very smooth, and the single action is amazingly crisp.

For hunting I load 240 XTPs over H110 for a muzzle velocity in the mid to high 1300's. For nearly all of my recreational and practice purposes, though, I stick to 240 gr lead loads at around 1050. I suppose the Rugers would probably last longer on a steady diet of full power loads than the Smith, but honestly either one will out last the shooter (me). My practice loads on the other hand are a joy to shoot, and for someone like me who shoots mostly mid power loads,the difference in strength between the Rugers and the Smith is probably a moot point.

I will say, if you handload, the .44 mag can be an amazingly versatile and affordable round to play with. You can load anything from rip roaring magnums, all the way down to plinking loads that don't use much more powder than a .45 ACP.
 
I own a new ruger SS 4" RH in .44 mag and a new GP100 SS 4" in .357 and love both guns. I can see if you have small hands the RH may not fit your grips but I have no trouble at all with mine. I bought both pistols new about 5 years ago and never fired them until recently bought them as a matched set and I wouldn't trade them for anything. the GP100 is the nicest 357 or any pistol for that matter that I have ever owned, together both pistols cost me $1000 total but they were well worth the $$$$$$$$$$$$$. if I remember the RH was about $600 and the GP was about $450. not sure what the cost would be today?
 
I don't have a wide range of experience with .44 mag revolvers. My buddy had a 629 at the same time I had a Super Redhawk and we did a lot of shooting together. His Smith broke while we were blazing through a case of 300 gr Buffalo Bore as a tune up for a late season cow elk hunt.

As others have said - both are good guns. I had to have a smith go through my Ruger to get the trigger as good as my buddy's Smith was bone stock. That said, I think the Ruger is built better - plus I like the sights better. Good luck!
 
sothoth said:
What's the difference between the regular and the super blackhawk?

I also was advised by somebody to avoid the rubber grips on a 44 mAg. They said that the reason they use wood grips is so the gun can slide more smoothly in your hand upwards and so your wrist feels less recoil. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
The only difference is the grip is slightly larger on the super blackhawk. they are both built like tanks and can both safely shoot heavy loads.

As to the grip issue, I am kind of torn on this. I bounce back and forth between the original wood grips and hogue grips on my super blackhawk. To me, there is absolutely no comparison in comfort. The hogue grips are by far my comfortable on my hands and wrists. The wood grips just look so much better that it is hard to want to take them off.
 
Schwing, I have that same issue with my CZ 75b and my 1911. I prefer the wood grips except when shooting. :)
 
If you are serious about the Single Action, check out a Bisley. You get the benefit of wood grips AND comfort. If you look at the Hogue compared to the Blackhawk grip, the Hogue is shaped closer the Bisley by stretching the bottom of the grip (also required by the Monogrip design and its attachment mechanism). If you don't want to go Bisley or already have a Black hawk, Hogue makes wood monogrips with the exact same shape as the rubber ones.
 
The only difference is the grip is slightly larger on the super blackhawk. they are both built like tanks and can both safely shoot heavy loads.
Click to expand...

I am unaware of any current 'Blackhawks' in .44 Mag...

The only .44 Mag 'Blackhawks' are old models (3-screw), and have not been made since Ruger announced the Super with the larger frame and steel grip frame...
 
The stock grips on the SBH did not fit me worth a darn. This resulted in pain in the hand and wrist and also beaten up bruising to the back of the middle finger where it hit the trigger guard. I was getting ready to give up and go with rubber when I thought I'd try a set of fatter wood grips to see if that helped. The results were SO good that any thought of rubber grips or infill grips went out the window.

The only trouble is that you would need to find someone to make them for you. I don't know of anyone that sells such things.

Here's a link to one of the posts where I've put up the pictures of what I made. Compare the upper neck area of my grips to stock and you'll see that I left mine a lot more fat. But it works so well that I can now shoot bunches of full power rounds without any big issue other than developing a KILLER of a FLINCH! ! ! ! :D

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=7959297&postcount=30
 
BC, I felt the same as you. However the bisley grip was so good. I could not however find a 44mag with a bisley grip and a 4-5" barrel. During my long search to find one I stumbled upon a killer deal for a Freedom Arms 44 mag.

Well, that was a deal made in heaven for me. I'll never part with the Freedom Arms gun. It's not just a gun it's a work of art. I went a step further and had the unfluted cylinder engraved as well.
DSC00352.JPG



Also had the chambers numbered. With the rims being recessed you cannot see which chamber is empty. So being numbered I can load #1- Skip #2 then load 3-4-5 this puts the empty chamber in line with the barrel. In this configuration it also has the bears picture visible so at a glance I can see that the empty chamber is in line with the barrel. I went a step further and added tracks to to the other side of the cylinder as

DSC003602.JPG


Now I can see the gun is safe to pack at a glance. With the plain cylinder and recessed chambers you cannot see anything with the tight tolerances of this gun. Now it's just a quick glance and off I go.

The grip design was made for the really big guns. I can shoot all the maximum loads I want in complete comfort and this gun will NEVER shoot loose or feel any stress from anything you can possibly fit in the chambers
 
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