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Hoping to fire a .44 Magnum or .454 Casull short-barreled gun in San Antonio area...

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Corner Pocket

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I recently purchased a stainless Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum (5.5" barrel) that I've put 70 rounds through. This is a wonderful gun, and I am really loving it! One of the loads that I've successfully put together for it turns the thing into a flame thrower, and it's a hoot to shoot! :D I suspect that this is one firearm that I'll have for a long, long time.

I've never had the opportunity to shoot a Ruger Alaskan (or similar powerful, short-barreled wheelie) and I would love to do that. It doesn't hurt to ask, so I'm asking whether anyone out there with an Alaskan or similar gun (in the greater San Antonio area) would allow me to shoot a few rounds. I'd be happy to treat you to lunch, buy you some ammo, or perhaps I have a gun or two that you'd like to fire in return.

Please drop me a PM if you'd be interested in helping me achieve this goal. Thanks in advance! :)

Sincerely,
Corner Pocket
 
In my experience.....44 = very fun to shoot over and over......454 = fun to shoot....once.

Especially in a short barrel. A 454 has 75% more recoil than a 44 Mag!

I had a great time shooting it and even hit a 5" target at 50ft, but I don't think I'd enjoy shooting round after round from it......and it had an 8" barrel.
 
I usually dont hesitate to ask someone if I can shoot their gun if I like it. I'll always trade some ammo and let them shoot mine. The .454 is something I want to get to shoot eventually too. Heck, I'd like to shoot everything :)
 
I've had the opportunity to shoot .44Mag, .454Casull, .460S&W and .500S&W in various powered reloads from not bad to crazy strong. Out of the lot I'll turn down the offer to shoot any more .454Casull. Something about trying to get .460 or .500 like performance from a smaller casing by using higher pressures is just wrong. It smacks the hand with far too much gusto to be fun on any level. I'll take the .460 or .500 over the .454 any day of the week.

Having said this I found my own personal tolerance for recoil is easily filled with .44Mag. And it isn't as costly to buy the components for reloading. Or I can even cast my own bullets and make gas checks for them in time.

And if you're a fan of the .44 or bigger rounds you owe it to yourself to get into the reloading sooner instead of later. It'll be cheaper to the point of paying back the cost of a simple reloading setup within only a couple of thousand rounds. And at the same time it lets you play with the more showy loadings such as that fireball round that you found. Heck, you can even load up and have fun with some black powder rounds!
 
It's good to read these replies. No doubt it wouldn't take but a couple .454 rounds to give most enthusiasts all they want of high powered recoil, and even so, I "have a hankering" to shoot one a few times. Maybe that will happen, maybe it won't.

BCRider, 10-4 on the merits of reloading. I've been at it for several years now and it is a very satisfying hobby. ;) Just having purchased my new .44 Mag a few weeks ago, I've been busy working up various loads for it with the components that I have on hand. Now that I've been to the range with it on two trips, I've come back to the reloading bench with greater knowledge of how the .44 loads perform. This morning I looked over the range notes that I've recorded, and I culled a couple of loads from further consideration. Then did some tweaking on a couple of other loads.

I think I'm with you in finding all the thrills that I need within the ranks of the .44 Magnum. However, even though the one I have is wonderful, I'm still hopeful of shooting a snubnose of that type, so as to be better prepared in buying my next wheel gun...:D

CP
 
I've personally got two .44Mag guns now. My first was the Ruger Super Redhawk that had been modified to a 4.25 inch barrel as shown in this picture.

attachment.php


It's a total blast to shoot it and definetly produces a bit more of a sharp smack to the hand than the same rounds shot from my new (used but new to me) Super Blackhawk. But the smack from the heavy weight frame of the SR still isn't so punishing that I can't shoot a couple or three cylinders at each range visit. The gun also came with a very nice custom made Galco high ride holster. So now I'm looking forward to loading up some softer .44Spl like rounds and finding some speed loaders for it and using it at some of my local matches. Should be great fun.

So all in all yeah, a short barrel will definetly give a sharper and stronger smack. And I totally understand about the idea of wanting to try it even if you already know that it's not the sort of thing you'd actually rush out and buy.
 
Probably 1% of the people who buy anything larger than a 44 mag really have a need for it. I'm not saying "because I want one" is bad.
 
Fred40 said:
In my experience.....44 = very fun to shoot over and over......454 = fun to shoot....once.

Especially in a short barrel. A 454 has 75% more recoil than a 44 Mag!

I had a great time shooting it and even hit a 5" target at 50ft, but I don't think I'd enjoy shooting round after round from it......and it had an 8" barrel.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with that at all. I had the opportunity to shoot my Freedom Arms Model 83 in .454 Casull (7 1/2" barrel) for the first time this past Sunday and it was LOADS of fun. We (my boys and I) nearly finished the box of fifty and we could have emptied a second if we didn't have more to shoot with other guns.

Here's a video of me emptying a cylinder:

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3052703150053667879EioFSy

Here's a video of my FA in my right hand, my son's Blackhawk in my left hand loaded with handloads of 25 grains of W296 under a 250 grain Hornady XTP:

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3099554940053667879YnrzRO

Dan
 
My son is a "hand cannon" lover. He has several large bore long barrel things that I would not carry for them. Firing the 500 or Casull, like someone said above is something I enjoyed once. I reload for him but let him do the honors. Nothing out there in our section of the world that my 357 will not stop. It is my side arm when hunting.
 
Corner Pocket,

If I live near you I'd let you shoot my 454 Alaskan. With max loads it really hammers your palm. I've shot a 4" 500 S&W and I'd have to say the Alaskan hurts more. I reload for various calibers including the 454. I have a standard load of 11g of Universal with Hornady 250g JHP XTP bullets. They go just under 1200 fps out of the Alaskan and recoil is downright pleasant. Just saying, reloading really helps a person get more out of cartridge. Good luck with your seach.
 
Glutton?
My 15 year old fires my .44 mag snubby.
He prefers specials, but wont turn it down if its loaded with magnums.
Then again, my specials are reloaded fairly warm.
If it is an N frame sized snubby, it will be fine unless you are firing something like buffalo bore.


Jim
 
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