Riomouse911
Member
and it wasn’t on the golf course.
I had a hankering for another DA .44 Special, one with a 4” barrel that would be decent for packing about. I’ve been getting spanked on GB while bidding on 624’s, so I decided to try for an L-frame 5-shot model 69 .44 Magnum. I ultimately won one and it was sent to my FFL for the 10-day purgatory before I could officially pick it up.
I took it to the range with a couple of .44 Spl. loads: a 215 gr short-nose SWC over 6.9 gr Unique and a 200 gr RNFP over 7.2 gr Unique. I also brought one .44 Magnum load, a 240 gr Sierra JHP over 10.0 gr Unique. These have all been very accurate in my other guns, so I thought I’d give them a whirl.
^ The very first 15 shots @10 yds.
The 215 gr swc were great, low recoil and printed 15 shots right in the bull at 10 yds. I thought I had a pic of the 200 gr RNFP but I think I deleted it. The 200 gr load did a very similar group of 15 at the same distance.
I also brought my 4” N-frame Model 57 .41 Magnum to compare recoil with the smaller L frame. The .41 Magnum mid-range load had a 210 gr RNFP over 10.2 gr Unique. The first went low, the rest shot well. I also brought a .41 Special load in .41 Spl. Starline cases; a 215 gr SWC over 7.2 gr Unique. Both of these shot very well for me, the .41 Spl.( bottom target) was a real keeper. The first shot was a bit high then the rest were in a good place.
I shot other guns, the .44 Spl. GP ( had the squib in that one from the other thread), the Ruger Mk IV and my two CZ-75’s. At the end of shooting the fun guns I figured it was magnum time.
The .41 had a true magnum load; 210 gr JSP over 20.8 gr Enforcer. This one brings the mail in my 7.5” Redhawk and 6.5” Blackhawk, in the 4” Model 57 the muzzle blast and recoil were definitely up there. 12 of these went downrange to compare with the .44. (That was a weird tear in the target at 2 o’clock, it wasn’t a keyholed bullet.)
The L-frame 69 actually kicked a lot less than I expected. 10.0 gr Unique under a 240 gr JHP isnt a top-end load by any means, but it was controllable and hit right where the lighter .44 Special loads did.
(My last target had a funky wrinkle I couldn’t get out so I shot it as-is.) This was just 5 shots, after 10 more I stopped before I became Flinch Armstrong..
As for the new gun:
The trigger on the 69 was heavier than I like, 11 lb DA and 4.5 lb SA, while the 57 is 8.5 lb DA and 2 lb 13 oz SA (5 pull avg.) I will be getting some Wolff springs and polish the rebound slide to lighten this up at some point.
The stainless was typical S&W; evenly matte with nothing polished shiny. I really must admit I like the black screws/hammer/trigger/cylinder release with the matte stainless finish. These set the parts off nicely, and make the black synthetic grip almost palatable to the eyes.
The grip is like a supersized version of the 317 grip, only this one has a little bit of give to it at the top where the web of my hand fits. I like it better under magnum recoil than the steel backstrap that peeks out of the Hogues on the 57.
The sights are S&W standbys; red ramp front and white outline rear. No adjustment was needed for any of the loads I fired to keep all shots in the blue. The two piece barrel had sights that were clocked perfectly (as to be expected) and the B/C gap was a nice .004 all around. Maybe because the grip was so small the gun felt a little bit nose-heavy. It kept recoil down, yet it was nowhere near as front heavy as a 6” 686. (I”m now kind of wishing S&W would make a 5” L-frame .357 686+ with no lug… you listening guys?)
The one design oddity that I wasn’t expecting was the change in the ejector rod. This one was solid rather than hollow with the plunger inside like all of my other S&W’s. It locked up as usual at the rear of the cylinder, but this one also locked at the side of the crane rather than at the front of the ejector rod under the barrel. It obviously works, but it was a surprise I wasn’t aware of until now.
Because I brought six guns to the indoor range, and I only had two hours free, I didn’t get to really shoot a lot through this gun. I put 20 cylinders (100 shots) through it; 85 Specials and 15 Magnums. From shot one it hit point-of-aim at 10 yards, Im glad I bought it. Now when I get a chance to shoot it outdoors, I’m going to push it further out to see what it does in my hands.
Stay safe.
I had a hankering for another DA .44 Special, one with a 4” barrel that would be decent for packing about. I’ve been getting spanked on GB while bidding on 624’s, so I decided to try for an L-frame 5-shot model 69 .44 Magnum. I ultimately won one and it was sent to my FFL for the 10-day purgatory before I could officially pick it up.
I took it to the range with a couple of .44 Spl. loads: a 215 gr short-nose SWC over 6.9 gr Unique and a 200 gr RNFP over 7.2 gr Unique. I also brought one .44 Magnum load, a 240 gr Sierra JHP over 10.0 gr Unique. These have all been very accurate in my other guns, so I thought I’d give them a whirl.
^ The very first 15 shots @10 yds.
The 215 gr swc were great, low recoil and printed 15 shots right in the bull at 10 yds. I thought I had a pic of the 200 gr RNFP but I think I deleted it. The 200 gr load did a very similar group of 15 at the same distance.
I also brought my 4” N-frame Model 57 .41 Magnum to compare recoil with the smaller L frame. The .41 Magnum mid-range load had a 210 gr RNFP over 10.2 gr Unique. The first went low, the rest shot well. I also brought a .41 Special load in .41 Spl. Starline cases; a 215 gr SWC over 7.2 gr Unique. Both of these shot very well for me, the .41 Spl.( bottom target) was a real keeper. The first shot was a bit high then the rest were in a good place.
I shot other guns, the .44 Spl. GP ( had the squib in that one from the other thread), the Ruger Mk IV and my two CZ-75’s. At the end of shooting the fun guns I figured it was magnum time.
The .41 had a true magnum load; 210 gr JSP over 20.8 gr Enforcer. This one brings the mail in my 7.5” Redhawk and 6.5” Blackhawk, in the 4” Model 57 the muzzle blast and recoil were definitely up there. 12 of these went downrange to compare with the .44. (That was a weird tear in the target at 2 o’clock, it wasn’t a keyholed bullet.)
The L-frame 69 actually kicked a lot less than I expected. 10.0 gr Unique under a 240 gr JHP isnt a top-end load by any means, but it was controllable and hit right where the lighter .44 Special loads did.
(My last target had a funky wrinkle I couldn’t get out so I shot it as-is.) This was just 5 shots, after 10 more I stopped before I became Flinch Armstrong..
As for the new gun:
The trigger on the 69 was heavier than I like, 11 lb DA and 4.5 lb SA, while the 57 is 8.5 lb DA and 2 lb 13 oz SA (5 pull avg.) I will be getting some Wolff springs and polish the rebound slide to lighten this up at some point.
The stainless was typical S&W; evenly matte with nothing polished shiny. I really must admit I like the black screws/hammer/trigger/cylinder release with the matte stainless finish. These set the parts off nicely, and make the black synthetic grip almost palatable to the eyes.
The grip is like a supersized version of the 317 grip, only this one has a little bit of give to it at the top where the web of my hand fits. I like it better under magnum recoil than the steel backstrap that peeks out of the Hogues on the 57.
The sights are S&W standbys; red ramp front and white outline rear. No adjustment was needed for any of the loads I fired to keep all shots in the blue. The two piece barrel had sights that were clocked perfectly (as to be expected) and the B/C gap was a nice .004 all around. Maybe because the grip was so small the gun felt a little bit nose-heavy. It kept recoil down, yet it was nowhere near as front heavy as a 6” 686. (I”m now kind of wishing S&W would make a 5” L-frame .357 686+ with no lug… you listening guys?)
The one design oddity that I wasn’t expecting was the change in the ejector rod. This one was solid rather than hollow with the plunger inside like all of my other S&W’s. It locked up as usual at the rear of the cylinder, but this one also locked at the side of the crane rather than at the front of the ejector rod under the barrel. It obviously works, but it was a surprise I wasn’t aware of until now.
Because I brought six guns to the indoor range, and I only had two hours free, I didn’t get to really shoot a lot through this gun. I put 20 cylinders (100 shots) through it; 85 Specials and 15 Magnums. From shot one it hit point-of-aim at 10 yards, Im glad I bought it. Now when I get a chance to shoot it outdoors, I’m going to push it further out to see what it does in my hands.
Stay safe.
