44 spl

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40jjb

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I've been hearing a lot about 32 acp, 380 acp, 9mm, 45 acp, yes all great, Now lets talk about the Bull Dog 44spl., Ballistictly like the 45 acp, Who out there have there opinion on any 44spl. and there performances?. For those revolver lovers:evil: :) Don't mine my gramer errors, stay with the subject!!!!!:D :evil: Lets here test done with this cal... :)
 
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I have a Charter Arms 3" Bulldog - older, no lug and it is great. I bought it for a snake gun to shoot rat shot, but I was pleasently suprised with it. It is very accurate with 215 to 240 Gr. lead bullets and easy to shoot well. Recoil is stiff of course at 21 ounces. It could pass for a carry gun with 200 or 240 Gr. SP's or HP's. The .44 Spl. is no slouch for protection. I won't be getting rid of mine.
 
I've got a .44 special, a recent vintage Charter Arms Bulldog.

It's a great little pistol. I tried a set of Barami Hip-Grips on it. It carried well that way but practicing at the range was a no-go. I just could not manage it with those small, slick grips on it.

With the original grips, I really like the little Bulldog. If you're going to carry it for protection, you might want to get the Speer Gold Dot 200 grain loads for it. Most .44 bullets are designed for performance at .44 magnum velocities, but the Speer GD is reputed to expand reliably at the lower speeds a .44 special generates.
 
I have three 44's. A 2nd gen Colt. 7 1/2", A Ruger Bisley 44/44mag, and a Charter Target Bulldog. The Colt is very accurate. I used to load it with the Keith load, 250 grain lead bullet @ 1200 fps, and it handled that very well. The Charter I load down to the 250 gr bullet at about 800 fps and it is comfortable to shoot. Keith, in his book "Sixguns" said it (at that time) was his favorite cartridge. That was before the .44 Magnum was developed. He said it was the only caliber (for him) that would shoot to the same point of aim regardless if he was using his handloads or the comparatively light factory loads. I think it's a good choice if you are into large caliber revolvers.
 
If this ruger fan could find one for a decent deal there would be exactly 1 S&W in the safe: A 696.

44 special is a wonderful caliber for CCW/SD purposes.
 
The coolest thing about a .44 Special is that it's MV/ME with a 2" barrel essentially matches a .45ACP with a 4" barrel. Thus yonder snubbie is an effective and formidable protection piece.
 
44 special is a great caliber you can get everything from a "Keith" type almost magnum load to light cowboy stuff.
It's a very forgiving cartridge to reload.
It's accurate and recoil for the most part is minimal.
 
A fantastic cartridge

Elmer Keith did all his work that led up to the .44 Magnum using heavy loaded .44 specials.
Normal factory loads are pretty sedate, a 245 grain bullet at 750 fps. Doesn't wow many people, but usually is quite effective. More modern self defence loads usually use 180 grain bullets at 1000+ fps
My only bitch about the .44 special is a lack of chamberings in manufacturers lineups. Smith and Wesson is the only one that really tries to give it a good home, but can often be real hit and miss with their marketing.

My dream gun is a 5 shot Rossi 720. They were inexpensive, realiable and great shooters. Now they are gone and hard to find. I'd go with that over the charter arms. Too many people on this forum that have had bad experiances with charter.
 
Speaking of Elmer Keith, if you read his book, "Six Guns" you'll encounter some amazing anecdotes about what he could do with a .44 special. Natural ability meets a lifetime of daily practice.
 
I wish Taurus wouldn't have discontinued their big-bore snubbies.

Anyway, don't shoot hotloads in the Charter Arms Bulldog. At least, that's what I hear. Buffalo Bore says not to use their hot (Keith-load-class) .44 Special ammo in the CA guns.
 
I agree with COLT46 on the Rossi 720...:) I have one and it has been very reliable, accurate and fairly easy to carry. The .44 spl is a favorite among quite a few on this forum. The ballistics I believe are closer to 9mm but with a bigger hole. I would not hesitate to CCW this cartridge and it often goes hiking with often.:cool:
 
44 special

I've got a Taurus stainless 445 2" 44 Special. I carry it with Corbon 165 gr hp. Supposed to be about 1150 fps out of the 2". They are snappy. I also shoot milder 200 gr rnfp that I reload. I also have a couple of 44 special Colt/clone SAA. I pretty much shoot black powder in them for cowboy action shooting. Also a couple of Ruger Vaquero's in 44 mag that I shoot the specials out of. It's a great big bore caliber without being quite as huge of a case as the 45 Colt. Needless to say, I love 44 specials.
 
Quote: "Don't shoot hot loads in the Charter Arms revolvers"

This came up in a thread several months ago. Got me to wondering, so I loaded a cylinder full of the Keith loading cartridges in my Charter Arms Target Bulldog and went out to my primitive (but safe) 25 yard range behind my house, put up a target and cut loose. I fired three before I gave up. The gun will take it, tho I think a steady diet of these would loosen it up. The index and middle fingers were sore for a week. Wearing gloves might help, but the gun is so much more comfortable to shoot with loads around factory velocity that it just isn't worth it. The gun will stay tight and no more pain in your fingers. These loads were 250 gr. bullet at 1200 fps.
 
I have lots of 44Spls. The Charter Arms Bulldog is one of them. I have an 80's vintage one with the 3” un shrouded barrel. That extra one inch of barrel seems to make this pistol about 50% more accurate than a 2” snubbie. Of course the pistols are equally inherently accurate but that one added inch of sight radius makes a big difference. Mine shoots to point of aim with 240 grain bullets and the sights are big and easy to align.

I added a Charter Arms low profile hammer, it does not have a hammer spur, and I got rid of the original wooden grips and put on a pair of Charter Arms rubber grips. The rubber grips fit my hand just perfectly and they do reduce the felt recoil.

And that is the rub, so to speak. A Bulldog is a 20 ounce pistol, and even with factory loads hurts to shoot. I don’t shoot it much. Never did shoot it much. And it is a fairly big pistol. Sort of between concealable and full size. If I carry a pistol it is an Airweight M642 hammerless Smith and Wesson in 38 Spl. The Charter Arms while an excellent concept just is too long and a little big. I think the 3” barrel is really what keeps it from being acceptable as a concealable pistol. Maybe I would have changed my mind if I had a 2” barrel version, as I truly prefer big bullets over small. I have a lot of faith that a 240 L bullet is going to plow its way through, whereas a 38 Spl might glance off a rib or a hard head.
 
Love the new bulldog!

I love my new edition bulldog! I've fired over 300 rounds out of it (dear god that's expensive) and still love it.

Snappy? Is that the new term for "Holy crap I it's been 3 days and my hand still hurts!"? Everyone who has shot this gun of mine has been amazed at how nicely it bites.

I'm only 5'5, so concealment options are limited for any type of firearm. I made an IWB to be worn at, well, at the 12:01 position. If the gun is junk, then I'm carrying it in not the trunk, if ya know what I mean. No one, and I mean no one, has ever been able to see it's there. Not even my kids, or wife, that know I'm generally packing, or my friends that I've told I do when in civvies.

The best part is I can go from hands in pocket to 5 rounds gone in less than 3 seconds to where they need to be at 7 yards.

I love this gun, and it will be what get's me into reloading, how can it be justified to make this more expensive than 44 mag ammo?

And I did trigger work on it before I ever fired it, drag a fingernail across concrete and you'll get the exact same smoothness beforehand. I had a friend try it today and he couldn't stop giggling at how smooth it was, and he's never held so "cheap" a weapon.

The bottom line is: I trust this gun to protect me, and my family, while remaining completly concealed from anyone but the most dedicated meat-gazer. Like I said, even my wife can't tell if I've got it on!
 
I have a few 44 specials. It's best performance is when you tailor a reload for your sixgun. When you consider gun size, weight, & cartridge caliber I think the best frame size for a 44spl is the Colt SAA, my favorite being the 4 3/4" .
It's like they are made for each other.:)
 
Just over four years ago, I found myself marching out of my pusher's with a pair of new S&W .44 Specials - a 296 and a 696. Both were 'on clearance', the former at less than half it's $789 MSRP at $349. The 696 was still at their sticker $439, but I couldn't wait any longer to see if it would go down - I had to have it! He gave me another $10 off for buying both. Still, the sum was less than a 'decent' price today for a used 696.

The 696 is a finer version of the 3" Bulldog. It weighs in at 35.5 oz, so it is a good bit more stout, although it will use the same HKS (#CA44) speedloaders as the Bulldog. I replaced it's rounded UM's combat grips with the squared version for a while - then some nice square-conversion finger groove Ahrends in cocobolo, which it still enjoys. It's only commercial ammo thus far has been the CCI Blazer 200gr GDHP's, or GA Arms equivalents in new Starline brass. They make 840 fps from the 3" tube, well over the 800 fps Speer reccomends for reliable opening. I would assume the Bulldog to produce the same mv. The 696's diet is mainly lead - from 215-240gr LSWC/LRNFP's in both .44 Russian and Special brass. A mild 692 fps for a 240gr LSWC in a 'cute' .44 Russian case is an all-day plinker - and easily makes 'major power factor', ie, over pf of 165, for the IPSC crowd. Clean the carbon/lead crude with a proper chamber brush before loading Specials again.

Don't sell the farm to get a 696. I have seen them used going for more than the current full MSRP of a standard new 4" 629. Believe me, the 4" 629 is a far better '.44 Special' than the 696! The 696 has a definite Achille's heel... the barrel. Many were overtightened during construction, resulting in a hint of a bulge line visible in the bore. All have small forcing cones, keeping them in the 'normal' .44 Special realm, ie, no Keith or CorBon loads. It is too heavy to be a CCW, too small for a great range gun, and it's value is too great for a house/truck gun. The standard 4" 629 is easily found at a better price, has a larger hammer, trigger, sight radius, capacity (6 vs 5), and power ability (It is a .44 Magnum...), all at only 6 oz more weight than the 696. Want better recoil control than the stock grips? Try the Hogue .500 Magnum grips - both my 4" & 6" 629's, which replaced my 24's, sport them.

The 296 is a great DAO CCW - with it's smaller OEM boot grips. The Blazers are a bit noticeable with them - downright stout - but then, the loaded 296 weighs 21-22 oz - about what the empty Bulldog weighs. I can hit a 12-16" steel plate 2-3 times per cylinderfull with those Blazers - at 100yd. Some judicious clean/lube/dry-fire/repeat really eased it's DAO trigger. The Blazers do a great job on a 2L pop bottle full of water; small entry, huge split exit, and water geysering through the popped top. I no longer fear attacks from marauding 2L pop bottles full of water...

So, if you want a range .44 Special, get a 629. Want a CCW? Try the Bulldog - with those 200gr Blazer GDHP's. Want a better CCW? Get a 642/442 - .38's are quite effective - and more easily found.

Stainz
 
BillinNH

Bill, it's a 4". Adds a little weight to the revolver. Haven't weighed it but think it's around 22-23 ounces. Also has adjustable sights.
 
<Bill, it's a 4". Adds a little weight to the revolver. Haven't weighed it but think it's around 22-23 ounces. Also has adjustable sights.>

Thanks. I was wondering because you seemed to be getting some impressive velocities.

I've never seen the target model. Care to post a pic?

Bill
 
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