44 Special ccw velocity?

[joed]

You should stick to 200 gr bullets out of that Taurus 431. That's a heavy bullet and will stop just about anyone you can hit. I had the same gun for years but sold it off recently.

You don't want to shoot 240 gr bullets out of a gun this size, hard on you and the gun.

Only problem with the little Taurus and the Bulldog is 5 shots. I only gave up on my Taurus because .44 Spl is expensive to shoot.

 

[B!ngo]

Thank you TTTiger for the graphs. They really prove the point of the quality that goes in to the Buffalo Bore rounds. The standard deviation is remarkably small compared to virtually any of the other rounds. They are probably as good as high-quality hand-loads. I doubt most home loaders could squeeze less variance out of their ammo. Really impressive and again, thanks for the graphs. I'm (once again) sold on Buffalo Bore.
B

 

[Stainz]

I've had my 296 for over eleven years since buying it new at a LGS for $349 + s/t on closeout. I wouldn't shoot lead from it due to the cautions I received from S&W's Customer Service in two different calls. I also limited it to <200gr bullet due to possible bullet crimp creep. I found 200gr GDJHP Blazers locally initially (Good old days!)for $8.99/50 (Academy) - $11.99/50 - and shot a thousand of them without incident - until one split it's case, making it difficult to extract from my 696's SS chamber - it might have damaged the 296's sensitive Ti chamber. I changed over to GA Arms excellent 200gr GDJHP (Same Speer bullet in a Starline brass case.), 100 of which shipped were about a buck more than Academy's Blazers. I've also reloaded that bullet over a mid-charge of Titegroup - strictly for practice. The kicker... from that 296 they all range between 801-810 fps. Speer claims a doubling of the flying ashtray's frontal area in ballistic gelatin by 800 fps, so all would be effective against attacks by such gelatin.

Seriously - when I am in the woods, the 296 gets a first up round of 240gr LSWC over 4.8 gr Titegroup for 780 fps - should offer good penetration in hawgs, etc - and is followed by four of the 200gr Gold Dots (GA Arms). I pocket carry where possible (CCL) - in the R. Mika pocket holster shown with my 296 below. It fits my cargo pants front pockets - that accounts for ~3/4 of my daily wardrobe. The smaller 642 so holstered fits all of my britches - thus seeing more carry these days.



I don't think it's just me - but the 19.7oz 296 bounces a bit with those boot grips and any of the 200gr Gold Dots. The larger grips I keep on the 696 combine with it's 36 oz mass to make shooting those Gold Dots an all day load. Actually, my favorite load for the 696 is a 240gr LSWC/LRNFP over 3.8gr Titegroup in a Starline .44 Russian case. It shoots like a 'poof' load, while making 700 fps - easily making major power factor! It's a cute round, too - and possibly a decent protection round, as well. I was cautioned to not load .44 Russians in the 296's Ti chambers due to the carbon & lead build-up it would present before the .44 Special step. Yeah, the .44 Special really is 'special' - but so is it's predecessor!

Stainz

 

[Drail]

200 gr. @ 850 - 900 fps. is plenty. The 200 gr. Gold Dot was a MAJOR boon to .44 Spl. snub shooters. I too have shot many hundreds (never seen one split yet) and they're very accurate in my S&W and my Charter. I have also handloaded them over some Unique and got 900 + fps. with no pressure signs.