GungHo
Member
Start shooting it more and buying it more. Then they'll start selling more.
Fate of the .44 special
- Thread starter Arcticfox
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@ Mathew --- I don't think it was a custom gun - the frame was definetly smaller than a GP100 were those out in 1982, 82? I trained with a Smith M &P .38 revolver (had no model number or letter on it) and it was a smaller frame than the Smith
The guy selling it was an Air Force enlisted man - young serving his first 4 year hitch - sort of an aquaintence - I had gotten out of the air force and was going to college when he offferred to sell me the gun - he didn't have enough money to buy custom and he wouldn't budge in his price because he wanted to get back "what he paid for it". It looked brand new I don't think he had it for long - probably bought it on a whim when some friends were going shooting and then it sat around and he neded some money - happens alot with young GI's. I can't remember what he was asking but it was about new store price for a Ruger Security Six - problem was I was going to college and didn't want to part with the price for a new gun for an "offbeat" used one.
The guy selling it was an Air Force enlisted man - young serving his first 4 year hitch - sort of an aquaintence - I had gotten out of the air force and was going to college when he offferred to sell me the gun - he didn't have enough money to buy custom and he wouldn't budge in his price because he wanted to get back "what he paid for it". It looked brand new I don't think he had it for long - probably bought it on a whim when some friends were going shooting and then it sat around and he neded some money - happens alot with young GI's. I can't remember what he was asking but it was about new store price for a Ruger Security Six - problem was I was going to college and didn't want to part with the price for a new gun for an "offbeat" used one.
I love the 44 Spcl. Shoot it through my 44 mags quite a bit at the range. Lots of others do too, so I think it will survive. Not sure about 44 spcl guns though. Why buy a N frame 44spcl? I can buy a N frame 44 Mag and shoot either load. I know charter arms used to make a bulldog, or maybe does once again, but does anyone make a quality 44 special that's smaller frame/weight than a 44 mag?
tipoc
Member
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The point of a N frame .44 Spl. is that it is lighter weight than the .44 Mag. This was the case with the 624.
Note the two guns below.
The smaller cylinder of the M624, not to mention the tapered barrel allow for slightly lighter carry.
Charter Arms continues to make the five shot Bulldog in .44 Spl. but from what I've read they are not as well made as the older Bulldogs. I have not seen either so I can't say from personal experience.
tipoc
Note the two guns below.
The smaller cylinder of the M624, not to mention the tapered barrel allow for slightly lighter carry.
Charter Arms continues to make the five shot Bulldog in .44 Spl. but from what I've read they are not as well made as the older Bulldogs. I have not seen either so I can't say from personal experience.
tipoc
boneboy96
Member
the older (original) Charter Arms bulldog was a very well made gun that could stand up on it's own...I continue to enjoy mine...have owned it for approx 20 years now. As far as the newer Charter Arms offerings...I don't see the same quality or beefiness in them...although I'm sure that the customer service is still very good.
44and45
Member In Memoriam
The .44 special is my all time favorite cartridge for many decades, next is the .45 Colt.
Too bad they don't make S&W like these anymore. Two of them are .44 special.
Jim
Too bad they don't make S&W like these anymore. Two of them are .44 special.
Jim
highlander 5
Member
I fire more 44 spl loads thru my 44 mags than 44 mags.
Not everyone likes to pound themselves into submission.
Not everyone likes to pound themselves into submission.
Shawnee
member
Hi Tipoc (et al)...
Can Midway (or any ammo supplier) ship modern ammo to someone who doesn't have an FFL??????
If so, is it just via UPS or FedX and not through the U.S. mail????
I thought all modern firearms, loaded ammo, caps and gunpowders had to go to an FFL. Please educate me on this one.
To address the thread topic... I shoot a lot of 44 Specials through my Ruger SBH. Lots of fun! Often buy them for not too expensive at gun shows. Am happy to save my Mag. hunitng loads for hunting.
Thanks All
Can Midway (or any ammo supplier) ship modern ammo to someone who doesn't have an FFL??????
If so, is it just via UPS or FedX and not through the U.S. mail????
I thought all modern firearms, loaded ammo, caps and gunpowders had to go to an FFL. Please educate me on this one.
To address the thread topic... I shoot a lot of 44 Specials through my Ruger SBH. Lots of fun! Often buy them for not too expensive at gun shows. Am happy to save my Mag. hunitng loads for hunting.
Thanks All
Last edited:
Jody Johnson
Member
Luv the Special...have two, an SAA and a NF.
Perfect load, makes me quite happy. Shoot em' with handloads and factory, all are great.
Hope Ruger comes out with a dedicated .44 special someday...till then, I'll use what I have.
But then...I shoot a bit of .41 mag...and .45 Colt also...
Perfect load, makes me quite happy. Shoot em' with handloads and factory, all are great.
Hope Ruger comes out with a dedicated .44 special someday...till then, I'll use what I have.
But then...I shoot a bit of .41 mag...and .45 Colt also...
tipoc
Member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2006
- Messages
- 3,563
Yes ammo can be ordered and shipped through the mail, UPS actually, some use fed ex. Some states and localities don't allow it. If you order from Midway, Cheaper than Dirt, or any of the others they will let you know if they can do it. Won't ship to anyone under age of course.
44and45, beautiful guns and my favorite calibers as well.
tipoc
44and45, beautiful guns and my favorite calibers as well.
tipoc
XLMiguel
Member
Shawnee - Midway, Natchez, Ammoman, and all the others routinely ship ammo marked ORMD (consumer commodity) via UPS or FedEx directly to the consumer, no FFL involved, assuming mail order ammo is legal in your state. I buy ammo off the 'net alla time, no problem. FWIW.
Stainz
Member
The .44 S&W Special has never been a rip-roaring success. Even it's parent, S&W, has only the 'special' offerings of the TR21, plain 21, & Ni 21, all holster guns at a premium due to their 'retro' finishes, as they approach next year's centennial. They dropped the last catalog offerings, the L-frames 296, 396, & 696 for the same reason they did the 624, 24, etc... poor sales.
I had both a 6.5" 24-3 and a Heritage version, which I had bought new. I like SS... and had a 629MG, 296, and 696 for .44 Special and Russian use, as I had other .45 Colt & .454 Casull guns for use when I wanted/needed 'emphasis'. I finally sold/traded the blued 24's, I just didn't want to risk damage to their finish. I replaced them with a new 6" half lug 629, which I broke-in and installed Wolff reduced effort springs (I reload with Federal primers...). For me, it was ideal... I had traded away the .454 SRH, so I then had a .44 Magnum, if I needed it - and one heck of a stout .44 Special for other days. It is a cure I reccomend... don't pay the exuberant used 696/624 prices... just get a new 629, it'll be cheaper and a lot more stout. Compare the 35.5oz 696 to a 41.5oz 4" 629... that six oz buys you another chamber and another inch of barrel - and a .44 Magnum-capable revolver - with larger target hammer & trigger, too. Get some S&W .500 Magnum Hogue's ($35 only from S&W), and you'll be able to stand Magnums, too. Want a lighter version? Get a 629MG - at 39.5oz, it's only four oz more than the 696. For .44 Russian & Special use, proper wood stocks are sufficient.
I like the .44 Special, but my collection has more .44 Magnum chambers... the 296 & 696 now have both a 4" & 6" 629, along with a Ruger 4.6" SBH to which I fitted a Bird's Head Grip, to share .44 Special & Russians with. They function fine with the short-cased rounds, just brush the residue out of the chambers before going to longer cases. I guess as long as they still make .44 Magnum revolvers, folks will be loading Specials - and Russians, just like .357 Magnums and .38 Specials - or .32 H&R Magnum and .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W.
I really want a resurgence in interest for the first mass produced centerfire metallic cartridge - the .44 Russian. It preceded the infamous .45 Colt to the marketplace by 2 years. A 240gr LSWC over 3.6gr Titegroup makes 692 fps from my 696 - that's a mild plinker load - but it makes 'major' power factor for my IPSC competitor friends... a real shocker! Talk about hard to find... you really have to be a reloader to shoot it!
Stainz
I had both a 6.5" 24-3 and a Heritage version, which I had bought new. I like SS... and had a 629MG, 296, and 696 for .44 Special and Russian use, as I had other .45 Colt & .454 Casull guns for use when I wanted/needed 'emphasis'. I finally sold/traded the blued 24's, I just didn't want to risk damage to their finish. I replaced them with a new 6" half lug 629, which I broke-in and installed Wolff reduced effort springs (I reload with Federal primers...). For me, it was ideal... I had traded away the .454 SRH, so I then had a .44 Magnum, if I needed it - and one heck of a stout .44 Special for other days. It is a cure I reccomend... don't pay the exuberant used 696/624 prices... just get a new 629, it'll be cheaper and a lot more stout. Compare the 35.5oz 696 to a 41.5oz 4" 629... that six oz buys you another chamber and another inch of barrel - and a .44 Magnum-capable revolver - with larger target hammer & trigger, too. Get some S&W .500 Magnum Hogue's ($35 only from S&W), and you'll be able to stand Magnums, too. Want a lighter version? Get a 629MG - at 39.5oz, it's only four oz more than the 696. For .44 Russian & Special use, proper wood stocks are sufficient.
I like the .44 Special, but my collection has more .44 Magnum chambers... the 296 & 696 now have both a 4" & 6" 629, along with a Ruger 4.6" SBH to which I fitted a Bird's Head Grip, to share .44 Special & Russians with. They function fine with the short-cased rounds, just brush the residue out of the chambers before going to longer cases. I guess as long as they still make .44 Magnum revolvers, folks will be loading Specials - and Russians, just like .357 Magnums and .38 Specials - or .32 H&R Magnum and .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W.
I really want a resurgence in interest for the first mass produced centerfire metallic cartridge - the .44 Russian. It preceded the infamous .45 Colt to the marketplace by 2 years. A 240gr LSWC over 3.6gr Titegroup makes 692 fps from my 696 - that's a mild plinker load - but it makes 'major' power factor for my IPSC competitor friends... a real shocker! Talk about hard to find... you really have to be a reloader to shoot it!
Stainz
44and45
Member In Memoriam
I really want a resurgence in interest for the first mass produced centerfire metallic cartridge - the .44 Russian. It preceded the infamous .45 Colt to the marketplace by 2 years. A 240gr LSWC over 3.6gr Titegroup makes 692 fps from my 696 - that's a mild plinker load - but it makes 'major' power factor for my IPSC competitor friends... a real shocker! Talk about hard to find... you really have to be a reloader to shoot it!
Stainz
Well, being you like to shoot the .44 special in your .44 magnum, which I don't, you could shoot the .44 Russian in it as well...thus, the factory wouldn't have to produce .44 Russian or .44 special revolvers. Now we really don't want that to happen...do we.
The reason I don't like shooting these shorter cartridges in magnum type chambers, is the dirty bullet jump that builds up from the shorter brass cartridge case.
Can't you just see the mess a .44 Russian would cause in such a scenario.
Having said all that, I too would love to see more guns being made in .44 Russian, .44 special, .45 Colt. But even if they did produce them, the average guy couldn't afford to buy them at new prices.
My .44 magnum Anaconda is gathering dust, haven't shot it in years.
Jim
Stainz
Well, being you like to shoot the .44 special in your .44 magnum, which I don't, you could shoot the .44 Russian in it as well...thus, the factory wouldn't have to produce .44 Russian or .44 special revolvers. Now we really don't want that to happen...do we.
The reason I don't like shooting these shorter cartridges in magnum type chambers, is the dirty bullet jump that builds up from the shorter brass cartridge case.
Can't you just see the mess a .44 Russian would cause in such a scenario.
Having said all that, I too would love to see more guns being made in .44 Russian, .44 special, .45 Colt. But even if they did produce them, the average guy couldn't afford to buy them at new prices.
My .44 magnum Anaconda is gathering dust, haven't shot it in years.
Jim
Stainz
Member
Last February found me experimentally proving the folly of shooting short cases followed, without cleaning, by a longer cased high pressure round. I had shot an even mix of over two hundred .44 Specials and Russians in my 629MG, as usual, when I just wanted to 'ping' that 16" plate at 100 yd 'one more time'. The only .44 ammo left in my range bag was a box of my 300gr LSWC loads over 6.2gr of Titegroup, a very fast powder. I had shot hundreds of these loads in the past, they ran just under 900 fps - at the upper edge of comfort with the rounded non-f.g. Ahrends cocobolo stocks. The thunk when they hit the metal plate at 100yd was entertaining. It took me two rounds to find the plate, the third round 'touched' it, the fourth thunked it. The fifth burst my cylinder, broke the topstrap, shattered the sight, and a piece of something scratched/chipped my safety glasses. I was fortunate - unhurt, except for my pride. It made a low level 'booommfff', when it went off... and suddenly, I was holding something that no longer resembled my neat Mountain Gun.
I contacted Hodgdon's and S&W - the consensus of the three of us is simple. The long 300gr LSWC couldn't uncrimp it's case, as it was 'jammed' by lead buildup ahead of it. Literally, there isn't room in the .44 Magnum case with that long 300gr Magnus LSWC bullet properly crimped - over 10gr, and some decent charge compression is needed. Hodgdon said that a .44 Magnum 'proofed' chamber wouldn't withstand a sealed chamber of 6.2gr of Titegroup... it is that potent. S&W tested the metallurgy, and returned the re-useable part(s)... the barrel! They also sold me the nearest equivalent that they were then making - and at a great price. As I am totally at fault here, I was elated. I still miss my MG...
So, as a typical retired college instructor, do as I say... not as I have done! Sure, you can shoot shorter cases - I stll do - just shoot any longer ones first - or clean first. Soak Hoppes, etc, first, followed by a good brushing with a proper CHAMBER brush, slightly larger OD and greater length than a BORE brush. Repeat, if necessary. I did this for years with my old .454 SRH and a mix of .454's and .45 Colt loads... I was just a bit 'hurried'. And, remember... if you don't think it's a good idea, it probably isn't... I really did know better!
Stainz
I contacted Hodgdon's and S&W - the consensus of the three of us is simple. The long 300gr LSWC couldn't uncrimp it's case, as it was 'jammed' by lead buildup ahead of it. Literally, there isn't room in the .44 Magnum case with that long 300gr Magnus LSWC bullet properly crimped - over 10gr, and some decent charge compression is needed. Hodgdon said that a .44 Magnum 'proofed' chamber wouldn't withstand a sealed chamber of 6.2gr of Titegroup... it is that potent. S&W tested the metallurgy, and returned the re-useable part(s)... the barrel! They also sold me the nearest equivalent that they were then making - and at a great price. As I am totally at fault here, I was elated. I still miss my MG...
So, as a typical retired college instructor, do as I say... not as I have done! Sure, you can shoot shorter cases - I stll do - just shoot any longer ones first - or clean first. Soak Hoppes, etc, first, followed by a good brushing with a proper CHAMBER brush, slightly larger OD and greater length than a BORE brush. Repeat, if necessary. I did this for years with my old .454 SRH and a mix of .454's and .45 Colt loads... I was just a bit 'hurried'. And, remember... if you don't think it's a good idea, it probably isn't... I really did know better!
Stainz
44and45
Member In Memoriam
Stainz, I'm really sorry to hear that you lost a good revolver like the Mt. gun.
And this is very good to know that such a freak accident like that could indeed happen to the unwary. Hope this is a powerful warning to shooting short chamber brass cases in magnum revolvers that have crud buildup in their chambers.
I never dreamed this could happen, but by your explenation it is painfully clear it could.
My only reason for not shooting short chamber brass in magnum revolvers is the dirty clean up crud mess it leaves. Frankly, I never shot much of them just because of that fact.
That is why I feel that any caliber cartridge is entitled to have its original chambering.
Man, those 300 grain bullets can be really destructive.
Safe shooting to you in the future.
Jim
And this is very good to know that such a freak accident like that could indeed happen to the unwary. Hope this is a powerful warning to shooting short chamber brass cases in magnum revolvers that have crud buildup in their chambers.
I never dreamed this could happen, but by your explenation it is painfully clear it could.
My only reason for not shooting short chamber brass in magnum revolvers is the dirty clean up crud mess it leaves. Frankly, I never shot much of them just because of that fact.
That is why I feel that any caliber cartridge is entitled to have its original chambering.
Man, those 300 grain bullets can be really destructive.
Safe shooting to you in the future.
Jim
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