bluetopper
Member
These are 44, special revolvers alright.
Saxon Pig you have some wonderful wheel guns and a great wife.
Saxon Pig you have some wonderful wheel guns and a great wife.
.44 Special revolvers
- Thread starter Shawnee
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Stainz
Member
I did have a 20 yr safe queen LNIB 6.5" 24-3 and a nib Heritage 6.5" 24, both gone during my blued gun purge. I replaced them with a 6" 629, current production, and love it! Below are my '.44 Specials', although only the lefthand pair are chambered for .44 Special. The 4" & 6" 629s, current production, make fine .44 Special launchers. Clean the chambers, and you are good to go with .44 Magnums. Currently, the 6"-er wears a Hogue .500 Magnum backstrap padding monogrip, Weigand scope rail in lieu of the rear sight, SS scope rings, and a Weaver H2 SS 2x28mm scope. It's fun with everything from my 200/240gr poppers in .44 Russian to real Magnums.
Note the small difference in my 4" 629 vs my 696. You gain a real forcing cone vs a knife edged one, another round, another inch of barrel, larger hammer & trigger, etc - and at only six more ounces. I wouldn't shoot anything near a Keith load in my 696 - but, as you'd expect, up to full SAAMI spec'ed Magnums are fine in the 629s. I have another .500 Magnum Hogue monogrip for the 4" 629, too. I've seen new 4" 629s, SKU #163603, for less than used 696s, too. The 296, in a Mika pocket holster, is a frequent pocket protector - and not much fun to pop away with, restricted here to 200gr Speer #4427 Gold Dots in new .44 Special brass from Georgia Arms.
Stainz
Note the small difference in my 4" 629 vs my 696. You gain a real forcing cone vs a knife edged one, another round, another inch of barrel, larger hammer & trigger, etc - and at only six more ounces. I wouldn't shoot anything near a Keith load in my 696 - but, as you'd expect, up to full SAAMI spec'ed Magnums are fine in the 629s. I have another .500 Magnum Hogue monogrip for the 4" 629, too. I've seen new 4" 629s, SKU #163603, for less than used 696s, too. The 296, in a Mika pocket holster, is a frequent pocket protector - and not much fun to pop away with, restricted here to 200gr Speer #4427 Gold Dots in new .44 Special brass from Georgia Arms.
Stainz
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Shawnee
member
Anyone with experience, opinion, or thoughts on the Taurus 645 ????
That's the "bobbed hammer" model.
Stainz - WOW ! CLASSY pistolas Ya got there !
That's the "bobbed hammer" model.
Stainz - WOW ! CLASSY pistolas Ya got there !
Evil One
Member
I just checked the taurus site, they never made a 645.
The bobbed hammer taurus guns sometimes have light strikes on the primer and fail to fire... due to the lower mass of the hammer.
No where near the gun the S&W 696 is.
The bobbed hammer taurus guns sometimes have light strikes on the primer and fail to fire... due to the lower mass of the hammer.
No where near the gun the S&W 696 is.
I am going to go right along with CH47gunner on this, this is my "heavy" woods gun and I open carry it when riding, hiking, etc. It is actually a 629, but I never load it with .44magnum unless in grizzly country (note the .44 Special LSWC's in the ammo slide) - that was my rational for the 629 vs. the 624. I'd like a Lew Horton 24 to go along with this, but this one will do double duty for a few more years until a good deal on one of those comes along.
The .44 Special is my favorite revolver caliber, bar none. The .38/.357 is a valuable tool to have, too, but the .44 Special is just the sweet shooter - much as the .45acp is.
An intermediate term goal is to get a 2nd model S&W .44 Special like SaxonPig's. I have one in .45LC and really, really need one in .44 Special - and preferrably 5" just like those four beauties of his.
calaverasslim - the 5-shot k frame is not a possibility I am told. It takes the added dimensions of the L frame to squeeze in even 5 shots of .44 - just not physically possible on the K frame. This is what I've been told by gun gurus vastly more knowledgable than I, and my home bench caliper experiments bear out their reasoning.
1) A big, but easy-toting field gun:
The .44 Special is my favorite revolver caliber, bar none. The .38/.357 is a valuable tool to have, too, but the .44 Special is just the sweet shooter - much as the .45acp is.
An intermediate term goal is to get a 2nd model S&W .44 Special like SaxonPig's. I have one in .45LC and really, really need one in .44 Special - and preferrably 5" just like those four beauties of his.
calaverasslim - the 5-shot k frame is not a possibility I am told. It takes the added dimensions of the L frame to squeeze in even 5 shots of .44 - just not physically possible on the K frame. This is what I've been told by gun gurus vastly more knowledgable than I, and my home bench caliper experiments bear out their reasoning.
1) A big, but easy-toting field gun:
krs
Member
Stainz,
Sumptin tells me I'da liked to have been around for your "blued gun purge".
I mean, I like stainess short barreled revolvers but if I put them next to blued ones I'll reach for the blue every time. I have three stainless 1911's and keep getting urges to send all three away to be Ionbonded all black. Two of them are nicely customed guns too but even so they seem pasty to me when layed out with my blued ones.
When I bought the LH 24 above I could've had a near identical 629 LH for the same money but passed. But because of your photos I think it's safe to say that if I had it to do over again today I'd buy both!
So when this one came up for $500. brand new I relented and bought it and now have it dressed in Ahrend's round butt to target handles and an SDM gold bead, learning to like it OK. Is it all your fault? My wife thinks so...
Sumptin tells me I'da liked to have been around for your "blued gun purge".
I mean, I like stainess short barreled revolvers but if I put them next to blued ones I'll reach for the blue every time. I have three stainless 1911's and keep getting urges to send all three away to be Ionbonded all black. Two of them are nicely customed guns too but even so they seem pasty to me when layed out with my blued ones.
When I bought the LH 24 above I could've had a near identical 629 LH for the same money but passed. But because of your photos I think it's safe to say that if I had it to do over again today I'd buy both!
So when this one came up for $500. brand new I relented and bought it and now have it dressed in Ahrend's round butt to target handles and an SDM gold bead, learning to like it OK. Is it all your fault? My wife thinks so...
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CH47gunner
Member
Oro -
Nice gun there.
I was never comfortable with *only* the .44 Spl while carrying in Montana, so I've recently up-sized to a 629-4 3", looks kinda like yours.
I also mostly carry .44 Spl's in my 629's, unless I'm home visiting/vacationing, in Montana.
Bruce
Nice gun there.
I was never comfortable with *only* the .44 Spl while carrying in Montana, so I've recently up-sized to a 629-4 3", looks kinda like yours.
I also mostly carry .44 Spl's in my 629's, unless I'm home visiting/vacationing, in Montana.
Bruce
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Ch47gunner -
Nice -4. I think you did really well - I didn't think the -4 came with the fancy Goncalo Alves combat grips. Mine is a -1 from the mid 80s. Maybe there was a limited run later in the mid 90s I did not know about.
Speaking of grips, your 624 has some lovely ones. I am thinking those are Executioner's stags (Patrick Grashorn)? I like those - trying to find the right gun to put a pair on.
Nice -4. I think you did really well - I didn't think the -4 came with the fancy Goncalo Alves combat grips. Mine is a -1 from the mid 80s. Maybe there was a limited run later in the mid 90s I did not know about.
Speaking of grips, your 624 has some lovely ones. I am thinking those are Executioner's stags (Patrick Grashorn)? I like those - trying to find the right gun to put a pair on.
Stainz
Member
Here is my 6" 'Keith-level capable .44 Special' 629 (Yeah, .44 Magnum-ready, too!) as it is today:
I bought the 6" 629 new 8/05 for $569. They are a bit more now... I love the traditional look of the shorter lug. The full lug's muzzle will no doubt stay down a bit more in recoil.
Stainz
I bought the 6" 629 new 8/05 for $569. They are a bit more now... I love the traditional look of the shorter lug. The full lug's muzzle will no doubt stay down a bit more in recoil.
Stainz
I don't own a pure 44 special, but my S&W 629 Mtn Gun is dedicated to the 44 special and makes a great gun for it. Similar to the model 21, but with adjustable sights it is a great woods bumming gun. The only real difference between my Mtn Gun and a Mdl. 24 is the slightly longer cylinder and an ounce or two of weight. I do like having the magnum option if I need it, but properly loaded with 44 spec., it will do everything I need it to do.
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