Big bore revolvers

[enloe]

I am a 44 Mag fan and own quite a few. They are all fun to shoot.
Another option for a economical Big Bore would be a Taurus Raging Bull I have owned one for a long time. It shoots great and you would be able to shoot 454 of 45 LC.

It is the only Taurus I own but it is a Helluva Shooter.

 

[vba]

I bought a Ruger Redhawk 4.2" barrel in .45 Colt. I love this revolver, my load is 10.0 grains of Unique with a 255 grain bullet. Don't know the velocity off the top of my head. Plenty of power for me and the recoil is mild.

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

I would think the Ruger .45 convertible would be a great way to go. Uberti also offers convertibles for a bit less money through Cimarron. They are decent enough but they won't tolerate hotter loads as well as the Ruger.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Maybe a S&W 629-3 Mountain Gun or a 625-1 3 inch .45 ACP.

Both of mine shoot great.

Deaf

 

[Drail]

That is a nice pair....... I have owned a 5 in. 625 for 30 years but I have never fired a 3 in. Sure sounds like a good idea. The best thing about an N frame is that you can probably kill someone with it even when it's empty.

 

[enloe]

Got this one for Christmas 629 44 Mag 3 inch it is awesome

 

[RealGun]

My suggestion would be a Ruger New Vaquero in 45 Colt. You can load up to 45 ACP pressure levels, since the gun is also offered in that cartridge. Mine handles those loads just fine. The gun is not the heavy cannon that so many other 6-shot 45 Colts would be. Ruger forces you into a much bigger gun to shoot 44 Magnum. The Ruger is in your budget range, whereas the Smith 625 and others mentioned are really out of reach.

Shown with grip upgrade.

 

[22-rimfire]

The 480 Ruger is a .47 caliber and only shoots that caliber.

The 480 Ruger is a Ruger proprietary cartridge and at present there are no other cartridges with shorter cases that it can chamber.

Does that matter? Ruger and Hornady developed the cartridge/caliber initially for the Ruger SRH. It is really a good caliber for hunting if you want "more than a 44".

 

[doctorjohn]

I like the 44 magnum. I can download a 240gr LSWC with some Unique for plinking, or I can load 240 to 320gr hunting rounds with Win 296.

I can still find 44 Magnum brass at the range once in a while.

I have an S&W Model 29 and a scoped Ruger Super Redhawk. Cylinder on the SRH is a little longer those on Smith & Wessons and Rugers other than the Redhawk. Longer cylinder allows me to load some heavy bullets if that's the way I want to go.

I'm guessing that 44 Magnum factory ammo is a bit more plentiful than some of the other big bore calibers.

 

[Dirt Diver]

Single action, I like my Blackhawk 45acp/45 Colt convertible. Double action, I really like my S&W Model 69. It's a nice 5-shot L Frame. I load and shoot either .44 specials or mid-range magnum loads.

 

[Varminterror]

For the money, it's hard to beat a Ruger revolver in .44mag. Budget and personal preference to decide which between Super Blackhawk, Redhawk, Super Redhawk, or original Vaquero.

If you're not reloading or buying speciality ammo, the .45 colt isn't really in the same class. The .480R is rather mild for its class, but it is decidedly a class above the .44mag, in league with the .454c. The .460S&W and .500S&W in the X-Frame are an entirely different animal in my book as well, not only much greater and power, but much less handy to carry in the field.

I tend to consider the .41 mag, .44mag, and a reloaders .45colt to be "standard" revolvers, anything smaller to be sub-calibers and anything larger to be super-magnums. The 41/.44/.45 class is much akin to the .30-06/.270/.308win class in rifles - the bread and butter standard against which the others are compared.

 

[SlowFuse]

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm seeing a lot of convertible suggestions so I'll check those out.

Single actions keep getting my attention, and I like the idea of being able to load up to the "Ruger only" levels if I wanted to. But I guess it's still between 44 mag and 45 Colt.

Which has more flexibility from a reloading perspective? The 44 mag/special or the 45 Colt/ACP combination? Seems that the 45 wins here but I'm not familiar really with the 44 special.

I guess I've still got some research and shopping around to do. I've been given a lot of good stuff to think about!

 

[USSR]

This.



Don

 

[MaxP]

.44 Mag Bisley.....

 

[22-rimfire]

For the money, it's hard to beat a Ruger revolver in .44mag. Budget and personal preference to decide which between Super Blackhawk, Redhawk, Super Redhawk, or original Vaquero.

If you're not reloading or buying speciality ammo, the .45 colt isn't really in the same class. The .480R is rather mild for its class, but it is decidedly a class above the .44mag, in league with the .454c. The .460S&W and .500S&W in the X-Frame are an entirely different animal in my book as well, not only much greater and power, but much less handy to carry in the field.

I tend to consider the .41 mag, .44mag, and a reloaders .45colt to be "standard" revolvers, anything smaller to be sub-calibers and anything larger to be super-magnums. The 41/.44/.45 class is much akin to the .30-06/.270/.308win class in rifles - the bread and butter standard against which the others are compared.

It wasn't so many years ago that the 44 mag was "the most powerful" in the world. Most folks that bought one couldn't deal with the recoil enough to like to shoot them and hence sold them off. Things are different now with the larger big bores available with factory loadings. And yes, if you shoot much, you really should reload to enjoy the calibers.

The 45LC was never for me. Shooting 45 ACP with moon clips only makes sense to me if you already shoot 45 ACPs.

 

[zb338]

I say buy a .44 magnum of any kind you like. Make sure it has adjustable sights.
Then shoot .44 Specials for target, defense anything not requiring magnum loads.
When you need it you have a .44 magnum.
Zeke

 

[Varminterror]

It wasn't so many years ago that the 44 mag was "the most powerful" in the world

I'd expect almost 60yrs counts as "so many years" to most folks. Which is how long ago it was true the .44mag was the most powerful revolver cartridge in the world.

The .44mag wasn't the most powerful in the world even when the movie came out. Harry Calahan was either a liar, or not well informed when he made that statement 46years ago (quite a few years ago in itself). The .44rem mag was released in 1955, only enjoyed 3 short years in the limelight before the .454casull overshadowed it in 1958 - 59 years ago. Then the Supermags came out in the 1970's, Linebaugh's came in over 30yrs ago... Been a long time since .44mag was king of the castle, no matter how old a shooter might be.

 

[tuckerdog1]

View attachment 229189
Got this one for Christmas 629 44 Mag 3 inch it is awesome

That was a Merry Christmas. How is the trigger? I used to have a couple old model 29s, and they had great triggers. But that was long ago.

Love your signature.

 

[cfullgraf]

Which has more flexibility from a reloading perspective? The 44 mag/special or the 45 Colt/ACP combination? Seems that the 45 wins here but I'm not familiar really with the 44 special.

If you reload, either caliber handgun will give you infinite flexibility although I believe that the 44 Magnum cartridge will provide more ultimate power than "Ruger only" 45 Colt loads. Within safe limits, you can load either cartridge, 45 Colt or 44 Magnum, as hot or as light as you want.

If you purchase ammunition, 45 ACP will add some flexibility to the 45 caliber revolver as there are lots of different factory ammunition readily available although at 45 ACP levels.

44 Special factory ammunition can be hard to find and factory 45 Colt ammunition will be loaded to be safe in 19th century revolvers. There may be some hot 45 Colt ammunition available from specialized companies but it will be difficult to find and obtain.

 

[Crowman]

My most accurate revolver is a tuned 4" S&W 625 Mountain Gun in .45 Colt. I developed several loads for it based around Laser Cast 255 grain hard-cast SWC's. I also shoot light .45 Schofield target loads using 200 grain cast RNFP. This is a very enjoyable gun both for carrying in the field and for informal target shooting.

I also have a 2-1/2" S&W 25 in .45 ACP / .45 Auto Rim. This baby is another versatile gun / cartridge combo. For woods carry, I use heavy bowling pin loads with 255 grain hard cast SWC in Auto Rim cases. Because Speer does not recommend using their .45 ACP shot shells in revolvers, I developed a snake shot load based on the Auto Rim case using a Speer plastic shot capsule and a taper crimp (yup, got a special RCBS die for taper crimping jacketed bullets in ACP cases) just snug enough not to crush the plastic. These work well and pattern same as Speer .45 Colt shot shells. Never had a capsule walk, even after shooting heavy loads. I color the shot shell case heads with a black magic marker to make indexing them easier in the cylinder. For town carry, I load 230 grain JHP anti-personnel ACP rounds in moon clips. Both would suit your needs and not beat you up, yet are capable of taking deer size game and providing predator protection.

 

[midland man]

I enjoy shooting and reloading the 45 colt! I cast my own bullets at 250gr using greendot powder and I run these thru my two heritage big bore revolvers 4 3/4in barrels and my two rossi 92's 16in barrel leveraction rifles! I love the 45 colt

 

[Pentz]

Unless you have some experience with recoil I'd pass on the DA 460s and the like and start with a SA such as Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt. They can be loaded anywhere from snoozing to outright painful without exceeding the sensible limits of the shooter or firearm. Jumping up to a heavy recoiling boomenshootzer can be downright destructive to one's nerves and tendency to flinch. And Taffin was right to observe that years of heavy recoil eventually takes its toll on the structure of the wrist. I can still shoot heavy SAs within reason but the DAs are too painful in my late 60s.

 

[CajunBass]

A slightly lighter, and more "svelte" revolver than the Smith & Wesson Model 29, but still plenty "big bore" enough for me.

Smith & Wesson's Model 24-3, in 44 Special.





The slight taper to the barrel, and the slightly shorter cylinder give it a totally different feel than a 4" Model 29 (The Model 15 in 38 Special, as the same relationship to the Model 19 357 to me.). I don't try to load it hot. The paper targets I shoot don't take a lot of killing. If you need more power, a Model 29 is the way to go.

 

[enloe]

That was a Merry Christmas. How is the trigger? I used to have a couple old model 29s, and they had great triggers. But that was long ago.

Love your signature.

It shoots well. the trigger is pretty smooth out of the box. Don't get me wrong it is no Performance center trigger but it works well. It is no comparison to my 44 Anaconda but it will get better after a few thousand rounds


As for the signature I used to compete all over Tn. doing Power Lifting.
When I started on the Automotive boards and the firearm boards I thought that signature suited me to a T. I still lift averagely heavy when I can but being as I am getting older "Heavy" is not as much weight as it once was

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Ruger Super Blackhawk in .480 Ruger. All the horsepower you will need yet not abusive.

Boy I don't usually care much for ivory grips, but the grain on those are really gorgeous Max. Combine that with the gun overall, and she's a real looker.