[MikeJ]

I was fondling my .44 Ruger Redhawk with a 5 1/2" barrel today and got to thinking about employing it for home defense duty with .44 Specials in it. Wondering how many of you use the .44 Special for that purpose and if so, what gun and load do you use? Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving with lots to eat. Mike

[Pappy John]

My Smith 696 stays in the front room, when its not on me, loaded with 200 gr Golddot Blazers that get to 850 fps out of its 3" barrel. Its a five shot L-frame revolver. Other 'stuff' is in the bedroom.

[Preacherman]

Yep - I have two .44 Special revolvers, and one .44 Magnum (a SS Redhawk 5½", like yours).

There are two options for defensive loads in .44 Magnum - you can get the "light loaded" rounds, such as those made by Cor-Bon, Pro-Load, etc., or you can use good .44 Special loads. My personal favorite in .44 Special is Cor-Bon's JHP loading. It used to be a 180gr. JHP at 1,000 fps, but this was replaced a couple of years ago by a 165gr. JHP at 1,150 fps. I still prefer the older 180gr. loading for use in my .44 Special snubbies, but the 165gr. load is right up there with a light magnum, and is very controllable out of the Redhawk. Cor-Bon's loads for this caliber are significantly "hotter" than the mainline ammo makers' loads.

[George Hill]

:D Right here.
S&W 696, 200 grain Federal Classic LSWCHP. I have totally fallen in love with .44 Special and the 696. Together they are one heck of a combo. It's my EDC gun... The dedicated home with the wife gun is a .357, a very nice gun. But the 696... It's like it was made for me. It's perfectly fit to my hand, accurate... I get good vibes just touching it.

I've only tried one other load in it, the Blazers... and they are good. But I like the Federals better. That and I'll be able to reload the Federal's brass.

[HogRider]

I think the .44 Special is one of the best all around self defense calibers. Since my RedHawk has a 7.5" barrel, it spends most of it's time on the range or in the safe, but I thought about getting a shorter 44 Mag ( maybe a SW Mountain gun ) for the purpose of Home Defense.

[9mmepiphany]

another happy 696 owner and blazer 200gr gold dot user... mine came mag na ported, and feels like a 38spl. it lives in the bedroom with 2 speedloaders

[Stainz]

My bedside & CCW is a S&W 296 with 200gr GDjHP Blazers aboard. I reserve my 696 for range use - it is too nice, should I ever have to use a revolver, I'd rather lose the 296! I keep speedloaders loaded with those Blazers for my 296/696 and my safe's 24/629MG - very good and frugal commercial round ($13/50 locally!).

the 629 MG would be about the best new choice for a 200gr Blazer GD .44 Special launch device today - new, they ran ~ $520 here - a tad more for the blued 'special' version - the 29 MG. That 696 is a keeper!

Stainz

[bpisler]

I've got a 3" 24-3 that i keep loaded in the bedroom,it's very accurate and fairly easy to shot out of the N frame.

[ElToro]

I will now!
i just bought (2) 24-3's on the same day !!!!
i need some help finding a good load. i see that cor-bon now only makes a 165 grn .44sp also Buffalo Bore makes a 200 grn at about 1100fps from a 6inch thats on the low end of magnum range..

people like the 200 grn blazer ?

are the silvertips at 900 any good ?

too bad most of the stuff out there is lead round nose at 750fps...

[fred in nc]

Yeah, Hornady 180 JHP's that allegedly shoot out of a 5-1/2" bbl at ~ 1000 fps - have 2 of those in my .44 mag RSB followed by 4 240 grain Win mag loads. I also have the Hornadys in a Taurus 454 with 2" bbl but estimate muzzle vel at ~ 700-750 fps at best. Wisjh I had access to a chronograph.

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. I have loaded Taurus Model 431 around the house.

Here are some chronographed velocities based on 10-shot averages:

These .44 Spec loads from a Taurus M431 3” bbl:


.44 Spec Blazer 200 gr GDHP Ave. Vel = 829 ft/sec
Glaser Silver 135 gr PF Ave. Vel = 1032 ft/sec
Triton 165 gr QuikShok Ave. Vel = 1088 ft/sec
PMC 180 gr JHP Ave. Vel = 827 ft/sec

Best.

[oscar]

The Wiinchester Silvertips are good also.

[ChuckB]

If you shoot a .44 in your bedroom, you'd better be awfully sure that there is nobody on the other side of the far wall. That bullet will go through drywall like it was, well, drywall. Be careful.

Chuck

[Gerald McDonald]

Chuck, that also applies to 9mm, 357 (both mag and sig), 40 S&W, 45 acp and probably 22's, 32's and 380's

[Gewehr98]

And since it's just my wife and I living here, one of my nightstand guns is my recently-acquired S&W 696. I usually have a Caspian Officer's ACP in .45 ACP nearby, (And an 870 Mark I w/ AK backup) but I'll be darned if the stainless L-Frame doesn't grow on you. I planned on selling it, but after a couple boxes of ammo, I realized it was gonna stay with me for a long time, so it got some new grips. It's kept loaded with Federal 200gr LSWCHP's, and a spare speedloader for 5 more rounds of the same:

http://mauser98.com/696altamontleft1.jpg

[Mike Irwin]

The Blaser 200-gr. Gold Dot HPs are TURBO accurate from my Model 24-3, but unfortunately, when I can find them here in Northern Virginia, they're almost $20 a box.

[Jim March]

Especially from a 5.5" barrel, the Gold Dots make a lot of sense. They should still be barely sub-sonic, keeping indoor noise under some control. Not quite sure though, that barrel might tip 'em past the sound barrier. I'd compare those and the Cor-Bon for both noise and accuracy...terminal effects should be plenty adequate either way.

[Stainz]

Jim,

I checked the data sheet from Speer re their #4427 .430" 200gr Gold Dot jHP, the same bullet used in the .44 Special CCI Blazer round. The sheet clearly states that the new bullet is designed to open up completely at 800 fps and not to be used over 1,000 fps, ie, not in magnum loadings. I depend on this, and MC's results, by using them in my 296 with it's 2.5" barrel. BTW, those Blazers hit ~800 fps exiting that 296; 835 fps from the 3" 696 I have, and ~870 fps from my 4" 629MG. I cannot find my range records from last spring when I chrono-ed them in my 6.5" M24, but, if my memory is correct (Big if....), I seem to recall little difference in the 4" 629MG and the 6.5" M24, velocity wise. I recall thinking that the Blazer round wouldn't be suited for anything but self defense... thoughts of bagging a raging pachyderm with one having failed. I'll re-check them next time I use the chrono at the range...

I celebrated the Blazers use last night by buying another box ($12.99/50) and a few boxes of Blazer 115gr FMJ 9mm ($3.99/50) at a local 'Academy Sports' chain. After many thousands of 9mm/.45ACP Al-cased Blazers, I finally had a ruptured case - hard to extract - in my 696 - one of those much heralded .44 Specials. I couldn't tell which cylinder bore had held the split round later, so no damage done. Oddly, those hard to find #4427 bullets are pricey - they make homebrew .44 Special loads (I use 5.7gr TiteGroup & WLP primers) too close in cost to the Al-cased Blazers!

Stainz

[Jim March]

Cool. So ya, they should stay under 1,000fps (and remain sub-sonic) in a 5.5" tube.

That would do.

Oh, and I think Proload has that same 200grain Gold Dot in nickle-plate brass cases...yup, go to http://www.proload.com and browse down to it.

Pricey of course, but if you want to use non-aluminum cases for carry to avoid that case-split risk (and you don't want to pack handloads for business) then these have merit. Come to think, Black Hills and Georgia Arms are also big Gold Dot users and might have similar...GA will be cheapest if they're loading it.

Another thing: when discussing the 44Mag guns for home defense, it's worth pointing out that full-boogie Magnum *frangibles* enter a whole new realm of effectiveness. Something like Glaser Blue-label in 44Mag out a 5"+ tube will just...dear God, rip somebody up good. And as the speed goes up, so does the safety - they're more likely to shatter on sheetrock or whatever.

Sound will be high, but recoil will be moderate (light load of about 120grain or so going like a bat outta hell).

[Mike Irwin]

"I celebrated the Blazers use last night by buying another box ($12.99/50)"

DAMMIT!

I'm thinking a road trip is in order for those kinds of prices!

[mountainclmbr]

A Charter Arms 44 spl Bulldog with a 3 inch bbl was my third handgun purchase after graduating from college a little over 20 years ago. First was a Dan Wesson 44 mag, second was a Series 70 Colt Gold Cup 45 ACP. I actually had to pull the 44 spl years ago when a druggie tried to pull a home invasion on me. He changed his mind really fast and ran. At the time I think I had it loaded with handloads with 240 gr LSWC. It is still a house gun in an easily retrievable location (no children at home). It currently is loaded with Cor Bon 165 gr HPs. I also have the Federal Classic 200 gr LSWC HPs. I am constantly debating with myself which would be the better load to keep in it.

[Jim March]

If you SHOOT even a modest amount of Cor-Bons in a Bulldoggie, you'll trash it.

It'll last for five shots just fine but by around shot # 50ish, it'll rattle a lot when you shake it :eek:.

[Stainz]

Jim,

I think CCI also markets 20 rd boxes of brass loaded with those 200gr GDjHP's - but ~$16. I haven't seen them in a store, just at a show... may have been old stock. I'll continue to 'depend' on the Blazers, I suppose.

It is interesting re the prices at 'Academy Sports/Outdoors'... a Texas-based SE chain. Some are good - some make Wally World look fantastic. The Blazers are cheap... those $3.99/50 115gr FMJ 9mm, for example. People can be gluttons... a young range-denizen with that new Beretta 9mm plastic carbine went there to buy a case of 9mm Blazers... the checkout girl scanned the case - and charged him $4.31 with S/T - for 20 boxes of 50 - 1,000 rounds! I asked him if he brought the error to the girl's attention... he simply replied "Hey, old dude, I just grabbed and ran!". He went back two days later for two more - same price. I told him he robbed them of ~$228 - and what was the difference between what he did and robbing the store of that amount of cash. His classic reply was "Uhhh... I didn't need a gun? Hey, is this a trick question?". Some folks have no shame - my opinion of that young fellow has dropped substantially.

I may chrono those Blazers in my 24 today...

Stainz

[Mike Irwin]

Please tell me Academy Sports does mail order for ammo....


Nah, I don't want to know the obvious answer... :(

[glockten]

One of my HD handguns is a 4" 629 loaded with .44 Special 200gr Silvertips.

Stainz,

Did you tell that young thief that he probably cost someone their job?

[obiwan1]

BOTH of my .44 Spl Charters are loaded with Glasers and kept in strategic places in the house.:D

[big_lead_ballz04]

I do.

[fridlo]

Gewehr98 --

Which speedloader do you use for that 5-shot 696? The only one I could find at the Orlando gun show that even looked close was the one for the Charter Arms .44, and it looked too small in diameter and cylinder bore spacing. Thanks!

Fridlo (new guy)
fridlo45@yahoo.com

[littlebrowndaug]

One guy fondles his gun, another gets vibes, you guys have to get dates more often:D Actually I have a thing for the old guns, should I call it a passion? I like to fire the ol' 1860 colt regular (like? Hell I'll starve so I can buy powder!) I like the roar and the smell, plus the one thing you boys cant get from modern guns, the little puff of smoke. Seems more like an art than anything practical.:)