Cocked & Locked
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I've got a couple of the economy models. 
44 Special Shooters chime in
- Thread starter 357smallbore
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Understandable.
KnightHawk
Member
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2018
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- 187
Early Bulldog, Rossi 720, and a Smith 24-3. Just sold a 2 1/2" CA Bulldog.
Had a earlier model 24 no dash, butt.............. also had 2 Lew Horton's, one 3" round butt, second a 4" square butt. In a moment of stupidity I sold them and have regretted it every since. Ran across a Lew Horton 3" round butt at the show here this last weekend, little short of change. I'm save up and I know where it is. If I can pick that one up it will put me on the road to recovery for my earlier sins. Gotta love the Special.
Had a earlier model 24 no dash, butt.............. also had 2 Lew Horton's, one 3" round butt, second a 4" square butt. In a moment of stupidity I sold them and have regretted it every since. Ran across a Lew Horton 3" round butt at the show here this last weekend, little short of change. I'm save up and I know where it is. If I can pick that one up it will put me on the road to recovery for my earlier sins. Gotta love the Special.
Deanimator
Member
I've never owned a revolver chambered for .44 Special, but I own two S&W Model 29-2s, in 4" and 6".
Other than for testing of a barrel repair/replacement, I've shot almost nothing but .44 Specials in it. For home defense, I use the Speer 200gr. Gold Dot 200gr. JHP load. My avatar is a picture of the 4" gun and what that load can do one handed at 50'.
Other than for testing of a barrel repair/replacement, I've shot almost nothing but .44 Specials in it. For home defense, I use the Speer 200gr. Gold Dot 200gr. JHP load. My avatar is a picture of the 4" gun and what that load can do one handed at 50'.
40-82
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- Joined
- Jun 28, 2013
- Messages
- 527
For carry, I had to put a set of Herret grips on it. The original tiny grips will cause your gun to rust. Shoot them enough and you'll bleed all over the bluing, even with a mild cartridge like the .44 Special.
dickydalton
Member
My only 44 Special only is this 24-4, but I shoot a lot of Specials in my 1989 Mountain Revolver and my Model 69.
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whatnickname
Member
I own five revolvers chambered for the 44 Special round. Two Ruger GP 100 in stainless steel with 3” barrels. One blue steel Ruger GP 100 with a 5” barrel and two model 624 Smith & Wesson revolvers, one with a 4” barrel and one with a 6 & 1/2” barrel. All are super accurate and very pleasant to shoot. My go to cast load is a coated 210 RNFP from Missouri Bullet Company over 7.7 grains of Unique, Winchester primers. My guess is around 850 fps. My jacketed bullet loads are both Hornady XTP bullets 180 and 200 grain versions. I load the 180 grain bullets over 10.4 grains of Accurate Arms No. 5 with Federal magnum primers. The 200 grain is loaded over 8.0 grains of Power Pistol with Winchester primers. The 180 grain load will run at 1000 fps out of a 3” barrel. The 200 grain will do around 850 fps. For CCW I would select either the Speer GDHP or a Winchester Silvertip with bullets not heavier than 200 grains.
A word of caution to the S&W model 624 owners. In the mid 80s Smith & Wesson issued a recall on the 624. They were notified by their steel supplier that 14 bars of steel used to manufacture cylinders were not to spec and could result in a catastrophic failure. Smith issued a recall and fitted any defective revolvers with new cylinders. When they did, they stamped the original box with a red circular stamp. Just discovered the recall when I purchased my 6.5” 624 last month. Today there are no replacement cylinders available. If you do not know if your model 624 has been inspected you best call Smith & Wesson. I called them last month on the two 624s I own. Neither had been inspected and both were manufactured at the time when the defective steel was in use. Got both guns back in 10 days and both passed. S&W paid the shipping both ways. My guess is that if either or both guns had proven defective Smith & Wesson would not have returned them. That said I am sure they would have either replaced the guns or paid me for them. Either way, I didn’t care. I’m not interested in shooting a handgun that could explode and I could not in good conscience have sold them to anyone knowing that they may be dangerous. I got lucky this time. My advice is not to take any chances!
A word of caution to the S&W model 624 owners. In the mid 80s Smith & Wesson issued a recall on the 624. They were notified by their steel supplier that 14 bars of steel used to manufacture cylinders were not to spec and could result in a catastrophic failure. Smith issued a recall and fitted any defective revolvers with new cylinders. When they did, they stamped the original box with a red circular stamp. Just discovered the recall when I purchased my 6.5” 624 last month. Today there are no replacement cylinders available. If you do not know if your model 624 has been inspected you best call Smith & Wesson. I called them last month on the two 624s I own. Neither had been inspected and both were manufactured at the time when the defective steel was in use. Got both guns back in 10 days and both passed. S&W paid the shipping both ways. My guess is that if either or both guns had proven defective Smith & Wesson would not have returned them. That said I am sure they would have either replaced the guns or paid me for them. Either way, I didn’t care. I’m not interested in shooting a handgun that could explode and I could not in good conscience have sold them to anyone knowing that they may be dangerous. I got lucky this time. My advice is not to take any chances!
whatnickname
Member
Posted in error.
Charlie Martinez
Member
I shoot my Ruger SA 44 mag. revolvers & my Marlin 1894 (also 44 Mag) almost weekly. My load is 8 grains of Win 231 pushing a 200 grain lead bullet. This is a 44 Special load & I enjoy it immensely. It is accurate, has little recoil especially in the rifle and aside from being deadly on two legged offenders it would work quite well on any medium sized game animals as far as 100 yards and maybe a little more. I will be looking for a good used DA 44 Mag revolver soon & will be shooting the same load.
whatnickname
Member
whatnickname
Member
Please read my post regarding the recall on the model 624 Smith.
375supermag
Member
Hi...
I have three .44Spl revolvers...
A Taurus stainless 5 shot with adjustable sights, a Uberti SAA clone and a Lipsey's Ruger flat top.
I am a big fan... Don't know if it's my favorite cartridge, though.
That tends to be the one I am shooting at any given time.
I have three .44Spl revolvers...
A Taurus stainless 5 shot with adjustable sights, a Uberti SAA clone and a Lipsey's Ruger flat top.
I am a big fan... Don't know if it's my favorite cartridge, though.
That tends to be the one I am shooting at any given time.
The nice thing about a 44 Magnum is you can shoot 44 Special level loads and then full power 44 Magnum loads if you want.
I like 44 Special revolvers and have several, but I do have a couple 44 Magnum revolvers. I do not think my 44 Magnum revolvers have seen a full power load since they have been in my possession. I'm just not into full power loads these days but I do enjoy shooting the revolvers.
One of my idiosyncrasies is I shoot cases designed for the chamber of the gun in the gun. (44 Magnum guns get 44 Magnum cases, 44 Special guns get 44 Special cases, etc.) One of the advantages of reloading I can do that. I have plenty of cases for both cartridges that I do not have to share them between guns.
So, enjoy your 44 caliber guns, Special or Magnum, and shoot what ammunition makes you happy.
Thanks to whatnickname for bringing the recall up.
Everyone with a S&W Model 624 should do their "do diligence" concerning their revolver and this recall.
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Howdy Again
Thanks for the caution. I forget exactly when I bought my Model 624, but it was probably about ten years ago. Shortly after I bought it I heard about the problem with 624 cylinders. I called up S&W at that time and they told me mine was OK.
Always gotta watch threads like this cause DJ is gonna post pics and I never get tired of lookin
CajunBass
Member
I've owned several 44 Specials over the years. Smith and Wesson, Taurus, and Charter. Being a incurable gun trader, they'd all gone on down the road until I had none. Same went for 44 Magnums.
A couple of weeks ago a buddy wanted a Smith and Wesson 22 I had. I offered it to him, he accepted my price. Then I noticed he had a Lippsy's 44 Special Flat Top,Bisley Blackhawk with a 5" barrel for sale at the same price. I still had all my reloaoding stuff for 44 Special, so I proposed a trade, He agreed, and this virtually unfired SS Ruger, with box, papers, and all that stuff came to me.
Then a couple of days later, I walk into my LGS, and lo and behold they have another like new one, in the box, papers, and such, on sale. But this one was in blue. I like blue guns more than I like stainless, so the blue one came home. I'll probably sell the SS one, one of these days. If not, I've just got two of them.
A couple of weeks ago a buddy wanted a Smith and Wesson 22 I had. I offered it to him, he accepted my price. Then I noticed he had a Lippsy's 44 Special Flat Top,Bisley Blackhawk with a 5" barrel for sale at the same price. I still had all my reloaoding stuff for 44 Special, so I proposed a trade, He agreed, and this virtually unfired SS Ruger, with box, papers, and all that stuff came to me.
Then a couple of days later, I walk into my LGS, and lo and behold they have another like new one, in the box, papers, and such, on sale. But this one was in blue. I like blue guns more than I like stainless, so the blue one came home. I'll probably sell the SS one, one of these days. If not, I've just got two of them.
Mowgli Terry
Member
I'd bet that old triple lock has seen a bunch of history. I like shooting 44 Specials and 44 Specials in 44 Magnum revolvers .There was a thread here no too long ago with a very similar topic. Looked up some history on two of the bullets popular for 44 caliber guns. The bullets were a Lyman 215gr. and a 255gr. Both bullets were designed by the same individual. These gas check bullets were introduced in 1952. To me, that meant that people were loading the 44 Specials to higher pressures when the 44 Magnum was just a dream. I got a 624 Smith and a early 60's vintage Model 29 4" that is used as a 44 Special. Several Bulldogs have gone through these hands. I have no plans to stop loading for and shooting my 44 Specials.
Addendum: I sent by 624 back on the original recall some time in the 1980's. At that time there were no extra cylinders. As the same time the original front sight was replaced with a Patridge blade.The 624 passed the inspection.
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