.44 Magnum

[Nightcrawler]

I've been thinking.

I tried to be a caliber loyalist. I shot my first revolver, a .45 Colt, and loved it. I decided that I wanted just .45 Colts.

Then I bought this .41 Magnum. Sold it, too expensive to feed.

Right, so we're back to .45 Colt. Good cartridge, but factory ammo variety sucks. All of the practice fodder is cowboy stuff. Good for target shooting, but not enough oomph to become a good revolver shooter with, not given the big difference in recoil between the cowboy loads and the SD loads. Not to mention the fact that all of the hunting loads are "Ruger Only", with one exception that I know of.

All the while, I've been overlooking the obvious. I want a big bore revolver with a wide variety of inexpensive factory ammo available.

.44 Magnum, right? Right.

Now, mind you, still being over here, all I can do is contemplate, I can't actually shoot anything to see if I like it. Still, there are enough .44 afficianados here that it must be a good round.

So tell me about your favorite .44 Magnums!

I think Ala Dan's recommendation, a 5" S&W 629 Classic, would be a good start, as would a 4" 629. I'd also probably want a 3" 629 and a Super Blackhawk to round out the bunch.

Man. I could get carried away with this. I'm not even getting into the .44 Snubbies out there. How do you like your Tarus/S&W .44 Special snubbies?

But yeah.

That looks good! Let's see some of your favorite .44s.

(Hmm...seems I've finally discovered the obvious. BluesBear would be proud.)

 

[tc300mag1]

Dont have pics handy but ive had a smith Model 29 didnt like it and now a super redhawk that i love.. not sure but i think the 454 casull has surpassed it as my fav wheelie right now but 44 mag is great espically if you handload.

 

[targetshootr]

Here's my five-click 44 flat top. It will eventually have a 5 1/2" octagon barrel and FA style grip frame.

 

[seeker_two]

What kind of .45 Colt do you have?

Most .45's--including SAA's---can handle a load of 250gr flat-nosed bullet at 850-950fps w/ no problems. And that load will usually take down any animal smaller than elk inside 100yds. (for elk, you need to get w/i 50yds.)

You may find it useful to look at the articles on Sixgunner.com . They've done a lot of work with the big bores, and they have some good loads for just about any .45Colt out there.

You may find some new life in your old Colt...


...not that I'm advocating that you NOT buy a new gun. Buying another gun is great. You should do so no matter what. That's what makes life FUN!!!

 

[standingbear]

no pics but.......

I have a 44 magnum.Its a stainless steel 7.5 inch barrel...redhawk.I didnt like the grip on the super b'hawk model as it wasnt big nuff for me..tried some different grips but still didnt like its fit but liked the caliber.tried a redhawk and the next weekend,went back and bought it.if I could afford another,I would get the same model in a 5 inch barrel..1 for hunting and 1 for plinking.

the only things that Ive had done to this pistol is have an action job and replaced the grips with some Packmeyer presentation grips on it to better suit my shooting comfort and style.the action job wasnt really needed but I hate breaking in a new pistol when deer season was in a month - so off it went and has been in my collection ever since.

 

[Kamicosmos]

.44s are fun! Any real gunner needs at least one. I have a Redhawk with 5.5 inch barrel...it's a joy. Also have a Contender and a Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag.

I'm really wanting a snubbie .44. Like a 3 inch non ported Mod 29. There is a 41 Mag snubbies at one of the stores...that's tempting too.

edited to add: Why did I spell snubby snubbie? Odd...

 

[Werewolf]

I'm quite fond of my Taurus Raging Bull in .44 Mag. It's blued with a 6.5" bbl.

Very accurate and has the tightest lockup of any revolver I've ever owned and that includes two Smiths. The trigger in SA is 98% as good as the SA triggers on my Smiths and way better than the SA triggers on my Rugers. I don't feel qualified to judge the DA trigger as I rarely shoot my revolvers using DA.

The Raging Bull has a double cylinder lock system which I am told by folks more knowledgeable than myself is very good.

If you're in the market for a .44 don't disqual Taurus - it's worth a look.

 

[jeff-10]

The 5.5 Redhawk would be my first choice for a 44 Magnum.

 

[Seventhsword]

I love my Ruger Bisley Vaquero with 4 5/8'' barrel.

 

[Preacherman]

I've used various barrel lengths of the S&W Model 29, but find it's a bit light for full-house .44 Magnum loads. I've also tried the Ruger Blackhawks in this caliber, but find that for my hands and shooting style, the SA grip just isn't comfortable.

I've settled on the Ruger Redhawk for my .44 Magnum shooting. It's a bit bulkier and heavier than the S&W Model 29, but it's built like a bank vault (in fact, Randy Garrett only certifies the Redhawk and Super Redhawk as being capable of firing his top-end stomper loads). It's easy to carry in the 5½" barrel length, and in the 7½" version, comes with integral scope rings mounting onto dovetails in the barrel. Highly recommended.

 

[kennedy]

Have both a colt anaconda with the rarier 4 in barrel and a S&W 29 with 6 in barrel, will eventuelly sell both. .44 mag is too much gun for me, will stick to .357.

 

[ruger357]

Have the Ruger SBH with the 4 and 5/8 barrel. That gun is fun to shoot.

 

[461]

My 5.5" Stainless Bisley Blackhawk is my only .44 handgun at the moment,but I have two Marlin leverguns in the magnum as well. Next up will be a 5.5" Redhawk so I have all bases covered.

I used to hate the .44 as I thought the recoil was too much for me, I shot a Blackhawk just after beginning to shoot and it wrenched my arm so bad it hurt for a month. Yes, I was holding it wrong Years later was given a contender barrel in .44 so I figured I'd give it a shot and wondered what the earlier fuss was all about as I loved it. When I bought that Bisley Blackhawk, there was no turning back and it's now my favorite round and revolver.

 

[Mikul]

I have a 5-1/2" Redhawk which, after some inital PITA problems, has turned out to be a pleasure to shoot. If she'll run another 1,000 rounds without a problem, I'm going to have it cut to 4". That 5-1/2" length is just too long for a quick holster draw. God help you if you're under 6-feet tall. You'll have to dislocate a shoulder or use a drop-leg holster.

 

[roo_ster]

wide variety of inexpensive factory ammo available.

...after cleaning beverage & sputum from monitor & keyboard...

Uh, I don't know where you've been shopping, but .44mag ammo is anything but cheap. Matter of fact, my wife's purchase of a Rossi 92 in .44mag just drove me to take up reloading.

I looked all over the 'net for inexpensive .44mag & .44spl, to no avail. Mucho dinero, senor pistolero.

There is a moderate variety of EXpensive .44mag about locally.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Here's the thing. You can buy .44 Magnum cheaper in bulk than you can .45 Colt. Very few places sell bulk .45 Colt. On the store shelf they cost about the same, though the .44 Magnums always have better ammo variety.

Here's what I'm thinking, though. I put one box of Cor-Bon's "S&W-Safe" hunting load (325grs@1050fps) through my 25-5, and that was it. I don't really have much need to be shooting the Buffalo Bore and Garrett mega-loads. I just want to be able to shoot something that does better than, you know, 225 grains at 920 feet per second (Winchester .45 Colt silvertips).

The .44 Mag "cowboy action" light loads are usually 240 grains at 1100 feet per second. I WISH somebody'd make a .45 Colt load like this, and yet it's available in bulk for the .44 Mag.

 

[LAH]

Nightcrawler I used a 4 inch M-29 for 8 years, hardly shooting anything else. I used 20 grs. of 2400 and the Lyman 429421 for 1201 fps. Great sixgun, great load. If I were to do it over I'd pick the same gun and load.

With that said have you considered loading your own 45's? With what you spend on a 44 you could get set up to load. You could make the 45 do exactly what you want, cheaper and probably better than off the shelf ammo.

I'd suggest to stay with the one gun, one load concept, and spend your money on loading equipment and supplies. Just my 2.

 

[Yooper]

I have a pair of 629s, 4" and 6 1/2", and a Super Blackhawk 5 1/2". I can recommend all as dependable and accurate. The difference in barrel lengths of the 629s produces a significant velocity difference, using an identical loading.

I like the 44 magnum revolvers over the 45 for two reasons. 1) The 44 revolvers are designed around a higher performance load, and 2) Factory ammunition is available in a good variety of bullet weights and performance levels. In addition, 44 specials further broaden the light end of the performance spectrum in factory loads. I also handload which further increases the possibilities, but your question addressed factory loads specifically.

 

[tulsamal]

Big bore revolvers just go with reloading! The factory ammo is always too expensive. And it never seems to be exactly what you want. Do your own reloading and customize your ammo to the gun. And a big revolver doesn't throw your brass all over the countryside. You open the cylinder and slide them right out into your hand. A revolver is what you would design if you were looking for the perfect handgun to reload for!

And, once you reload, no caliber is "too expensive" to shoot. I've got a couple of .41's and never even considered that as a reason "to get rid of them." Neither one of them has ever seen a round of factory ammo so what do I care? Of course you could say the same thing about my .44 Magnums. I've never bought a box of factory ammo for them either. Why would I want to do so?

And don't go looking at the full Dillon progressive setup and claiming reloading is too expensive. I started out with a <$20 Lee Loader. Sitting on the kitchen floor with that loader, brass, and a hammer. It worked and it's how I got started back in 1982 with my Ruger Security Six .357 Magnum.

As far as guns, I like the Ruger Redhawk in 5.5 inch barrel myself. And any N frame S&W with a pinned barrel gets a second look from me. Not every .41/.44 Magnum round has to be loaded to atomic levels! Something "mid-range" with a hard cast bullet works great out of a four inch M57/M29.

Gregg

 

[tulsamal]

And did you see the newest GunBlast article? It addresses the whole difference between .45 Colt and .44 Magnum. http://gunblast.com/Ruger-Hunters.htm

Gregg

 

[Fish Springs]

You must have a 44 Rem Mag. It is big enough, lots of types of ammo, legal to hunt with in most places and most game. You can get adequate ammo at nearly any place from Wal*Mart to the local gas station selling hunting and fishing supplies.

Yes I have a .41 or two and an excellent .45 Colt (rifle and pistol) but ended up with a .44 for the reasons above.

As which gun to shoot your 44 from--wow what a bunch of possibilities. My two handguns are a S&W 629 Mountain Gun--light 4" barrel and a 629 Classic Hunter 6.5" barrel. Both are fine guns.

 

[Ala Dan]

Hey Nightcrawler

How 'bout one of them'ter scandium S&W 329's? Keep in mind
that I wouldn't trade my 5" 629-5 for two of them things!

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[TK73]

Without owning a .44 Magnum revolver, a shooter's battery isn't complete.

The revolvers I have experience with are M29/629 (because of my job I know virtually all variants and barrel lengths), Ruger's New Model Bisley RB44W 7.5", Ruger KS411N 10 1/2" and Vaquero Bisley SS. The latter two are currently owned by my father. All are great.

The gun I personally own is a S&W M629 Classic DX 6 1/2" which has been accuracy tested by S&W. The test target is included and it shows a 6-shot group of .7 w/Federal 240 grs. SJSP. It's indeed a great shooter. A nice feature of the Classic-series is that you can quickly exchange the standard red ramp front sight with a gold-bead, white dot or just plain patridge front sight. The latter are available in different heights. The latest production M629 standard models (no underlug) have front sights pinned in place.

The one .44 Mag. I never particularly care for is the Ruger Redhawk, because of its heavy and difficult to control trigger pull. I owned one w/5.5" barrel a couple of years ago. Make no mistake, it was definitely a good revolver... and the Redhawk and Super Redhawk seem to be somewhat tougher than a S&W N-Frame overall. If I were to select a Ruger, I'd rather have one of their sturdy single-action models, though. I have always liked the looks of the NM Super Blackhawk featuring the square "Dragoon"-style grip frame. The new stainless-steel Ruger NM Bisley Hunter looks quite interesting as well. For pure recoil management of real heavy .44 loads the Ruger NM Bisley grip frame is superior to almost anything, in my experience.

You can't go wrong with almost any .44 Magnum out there. Good shootin'!

...oh, btw, I own a Ruger NM Blackhawk .45 Colt as well. I wouldn't trade it for anything !

 

[Buck Snort]

Buying an S&W .44 mag.

I'm in the process of buying a 4" 629 as a carry gun when I'm hunting or fishing. I'm not sure just how I'm gonna load it but a 336gr. cast/gc bullet over 19gr. of H110 is what I use in my Anaconda and I'm thinking it'll do just fine in the Smith as well. If it has too much recoil I'll use a 240gr. cast bullet and find a load I like.

 

[Brady]

I'm a new member this very minute.

I thought I would put in my 2 cents on the 44

I have been shooting them since 1972.My first was a SA Super Blackhawk
old model. Since then,I have added to my collection 3 more old models and 3 Smiths,4 inch,6 inch and an 8 and 3/8s.Also I might add a US ARMS Abilene which has never been fired.

I have several 357s but why shoot those if you reload. You can do anything a 357 can do as you can down load to that level i.e like 44 specials. Plus they are very accurate. I usually shoot 2400 or 296 powder and a 255 grainer.I like the 2400,but my guns get dirtier,but in the dim light they have quite a "light" show. Often I'll use the 240 grain if I find a good buy.

The handle on the single actions are great for taking up any so-called recoil
but the Smiths when shooting heavy loads don't do that as well. However some people have different hand sizes etc and don't find these grips comfortable.