Which would you rather have.. Ruger GP100 .44 Spl. or Ruger Speed Six .44 Spl.?

GP. The "Six" doesn't give you any margin for error or playing above SAAMI standard pressures.

GP. More meat for Elmer level loads.

Depends what you want it for. If for concealed carry I would go for the Speed Six for two legged, the GP100 for four legged. For bedside or open carry it would be the GP100.

I'd prefer the Speed Six.
If you want to shoot heavy loads, get a .44Mag Redhawk or S&W Model 29.

The only reason Elmer loaded the 44 Special as hot as he did was because there were no 44 Magnums around then. As soon as the Magnum came on the scene he abandoned hot loads in the Special. Just my opinion but I think today's hand gunners should do the same. (smile)

Dave

stoky said:

I'd prefer the Speed Six.
If you want to shoot heavy loads, get a .44Mag Redhawk or S&W Model 29.

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^^^ Yeah. What he said. ^^^

Regards hotloads, yeah sure, get a .44 mag. But there is something to be said for warm loading a cartridge like the .44 special. The best reason not to hot load the Special is not the revolver in the two choices here, it the the cartridge case itself was not designed to handle high pressures.

GP. More room to play with handloads.

That's a really tough one.

.44 Special just isn't an interesting cartridge to me. Personally, I wouldn't want to have to start reloading just for a cartridge similar to .45 ACP.

I'd have to figure out what is more valuable, and sell/trade it.

All depends upon the intended use. For hotter loads for 4 legged use the GP as there is more meat in it. For 2 legged creatures think there are lighter alternatives such as Charter. Actually, the GP should be able to take .44 mag loads IF the barrel shank thickness were to be increased as frame size and such is a bit bigger than the Taurus medium frame .44 mags.

I'd go for the custom .44 Speed Six and call it done.

I've never owned a GP and have no interest in one in any caliber.

I'd actually prefer a SP101 with an enlarged cylinder window to fit a 5-shot .44 Special cylinder. You know, basically a well made Charter Arms Bulldog. Of the choices listed I would go with the GP simply because it is available from the factory. I have been toying with the idea of picking one up to go with my 3" .357 GP100, but I might have more fun with a 4 5/8" Blackhawk .44 Special instead.

I wonder what became of that Speed Six they gave away.

As for the Six or the GP in 44sp...GP

3in preferably

I'd take the GP in A three inch barrel with fixed sights for the same reasons above.

Of those I would get the GP100.

Although, I would probably get the S&W model 69 instead.

I'd choose the Speed-Six because of its superior weight and balance. It's plenty strong, given that the old Charter Arms Bulldog was downright flimsy compared to the Ruger "Six" frame. I'm not exactly sure why someone would go through the expense for a conversion, but the Speed-Six is plenty strong to shoot .44 Spc.

My heart loves the .44 Special, but having carried .357 for duty/defensive purposes, to include a defensive shooting, I would rather have six rounds of .357 than five rounds of .44 in the cylinder. I have a Speed Six, but would not have it converted to .44 Special, if I could find a 'smith with the skill.

FWIW, I carried an S&W Model 629 during my rookie year of policin', 1984-1985. I used a mid-range .44 Magnum JHP load, Hydra-Shok, if I remember correctly, in the cylinder, with my speed-loaders holding a then-somewhat-popular milder Remington LSWC, because Hydra-Shok was a very expensive boutique brand. (This was before Federal bought Hydra-Shok.) By the end of 1985, I had started carrying an S&W Model 58, .41 Magnum, loaded with Winchester Silvertips, until I started using .45 autos about 1990. I started regular use of .357 Magnum in 1993.

Rexster said:

My heart loves the .44 Special, but having carried .357 for duty/defensive purposes, to include a defensive shooting, I would rather have six rounds of .357 than five rounds of .44 in the cylinder. I have a Speed Six, but would not have it converted to .44 Special, if I could find a 'smith with the skill.

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I agree. I remember when that Ruger Speed-5 came out. I wrote a letter (which they published) asking why they would take a perfectly good Speed-Six and convert it to five rounds of what I considered to be an inferior manstopping round. In the article (don't recall the name of the magazine) they had insinuated that the .44 Special was a superior manstopping round. I could understand why someone would convert to a .44 Spc if they liked the round or just wanted a bigger hole in the end. But I felt they were deceiving themselves if they thought they were taking a step up ballistically. The 125-140gr JHP has already established itself as an almost perfect (as close as one can get) manstopping round. Thus, going to five rounds of a slower, fatter bullet didn't make sense. In the ensuing years, I've become a bit more rounded in my views, but that's now.) Around the same time, the so-called "cop-killer" bullet controversy was raging and everyone was trying to keep the media from learning that the 125gr JHP .357 would penetrate many bullet resistant vests. (Advancements since then has rendered this OBE.)

Anyway, I now realize there might be many reasons someone might want a .44 Spc revolver. In fact, if I had the money, I might actually spring for a GP in .44.

But I don't think I'd butcher a Speed-Six, which I think is one of the greatest revolvers of all time.


Ruger Speed-Six can be converted to a .44 Spc...but why?

..

Dave T said:

The only reason Elmer loaded the 44 Special as hot as he did was because there were no 44 Magnums around then. As soon as the Magnum came on the scene he abandoned hot loads in the Special. Just my opinion but I think today's hand gunners should do the same. (smile)

Dave

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A 250gr bullet at 1200fps is not a .44Mag load. It is a heavy .44Spl load. Add another 250fps and you have a .44Mag load, so I don't see this as an apples to apples comparison. The .44Spl can be had in smaller/lighter guns and one strong enough for heavier than dismal factory loads has a lot to offer. The 3" GP is a full 6oz lighter than my 629MG and that matters on the hip.

IMHO, some folks have a need to pigeonhole everything and the .44Spl does most of its best work in between pigeonholes. Which is unfortunate because the pigeonholers will always miss out on something very good.

Standard pressure .44Spl - 240gr at 750fps
Standard pressure .44Mag - 355gr at 1200fps.

There's A LOT of gray area in between.

Confederate said:

I agree. I remember when that Ruger Speed-5 came out. I wrote a letter (which they published) asking why they would take a perfectly good Speed-Six and convert it to five rounds of what I considered to be an inferior manstopping round. In the article (don't recall the name of the magazine) they had insinuated that the .44 Special was a superior manstopping round. I could understand why someone would convert to a .44 Spc if they liked the round or just wanted a bigger hole in the end. But I felt they were deceiving themselves if they thought they were taking a step up ballistically. The 125-140gr JHP has already established itself as an almost perfect (as close as one can get) manstopping round. Thus, going to five rounds of a slower, fatter bullet didn't make sense. In the ensuing years, I've become a bit more rounded in my views, but that's now.) Around the same time, the so-called "cop-killer" bullet controversy was raging and everyone was trying to keep the media from learning that the 125gr JHP .357 would penetrate many bullet resistant vests. (Advancements since then has rendered this OBE.)

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There is actually a lot of merit to the .44Spl over the .357. A big bore doesn' tneed to expand to be effective, the .357 does. Its reputation is COMPLETELY dependent on proper expansion of a jacketed bullet. The .44Spl gets it done with or without, just like the .45ACP. It is also a lower pressure cartridge without the .357's ear-splitting muzzle blast. So it gets the job done without making your ears bleed. Another strike against using kinetic energy as a gauge of a cartridge's effectiveness.

I just bought an SP 101 .44 Spl. 5 shot...and then immediately went on a vacation so I haven't done any shooting yet. When I do I will write up a range report on my observations.

I will say my initial impressions are it is a stout revolver that is really hand-filling and well put together.

Of the two, I'd prefer the GP, mostly because I like factory original. Replacement parts are a little more straight forward.

I think Riomouse911 meant GP, didn't he?

Riomouse911...is that .44 special SP-101 a custom conversion?

Cocked & Locked said:

Riomouse911...is that .44 special SP-101 a custom conversion?

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I am reasonably sure that he meant "GP100," rather than SP101. I do not see nearly enoigh metal in an SP101 cylinder to allow safely reaming to accept .44 Special.