DaisyCutter
Member
Well, it was more of a hand-me-down. My hunting partner moved from AZ to AK last week and wound up giving me his .44 Mag reloading equipment. I've always wanted a .44 Mag revolver & rifle combo. BTW, he upgraded to 45-70, and a Dillon Progressive press.
At any rate, here's what I have:
Now, I need the revolver. I'm planning to spend part of my tax return on the piece.
Here's my delima:
*Left handed
*Have read that S&W and Colt aren't optimal choices for hot .44 Mag.
I really like the 5-6" barrel length. I'm tall and in good shape. I'd like to hip carry when hiking and on horseback (I ride). I'm accustomed to carrying a duty belt several days per week. I'm thinking any less than a 5" barrel and I'd be starting to defeat the purpose of reloading for good ballistics.
My only big bore revolver experience came from a .45 Colt Blackhawk 5.5" single action. It shot like a dream, even with mildly zippy gunshow-bought reloads.
I don't mind the single action, because they work well for lefties, or as well as they do for righties anyway. Plus, they are safer on horseback. I don't really see myself popping off from the saddle, but if I did, there would be less chance of a AD while conducting the subsequent one-rein stop on my bolting mare. Some people fantasize about zombie shootouts, I dream about hunting from my horse, with a 44 Mag rifle in a scabbard and a .44 Mag revolver on my hip. Giggle if you want, but at the end of the day I have more horses than they do zombies. Or I could handgun hunt from horseback... Oh yeah. *warm fuzzies*
The upshot to a DA is that I can (if I buy Ruger, Colt or S&W, NOT Taurus) qualify and carry it for work. I don't see myself using it for patrol, because I'd have to reconfigure an entire duty rig every time I changed firearms, and the big revolver isn't really as practical for patrol as the $400 plastic Glock 22. But, on class training days or court days it would be kinda cool to wear the big DA .44 Mag and pocket a couple speed strips. Plus, when hiking, in the event of some critter/human attack, the DA would be more simple to employ. I can't carry a SA revolver for patrol. Also, no Taurus firearms (which I personally don't agree with).
So here are my primary contenders:
5" S&W 629 Classic
5.5" Ruger Redhawk
5.5" Ruger Blackhawk
Now, included in my buddy's care package are probably 500-600 210gr JHPs and ~90 240gr JSPs.
I'd like to push these rounds to about the 1000ft-lbs range... Something spicy (by my standard), but not habenero hot. Our duty ammo would be Speer Gold Dot (unk grain). It looks like a lot of the Speer Gold Dot ammo is hotter than my intended handloads. Of course, I'd like to experiment with some hyper-nasty 300gr hard cast rounds, fire a handful, roll 'em around in my hand, and maybe carry some when out in the wilderness. It would be sacrilegious to own a .44 Mag and never shoot a single 300gr grizzly round from it. Though it's doubtful my revolver would ever eat 50 of those screamers in it's entire life. I'd probably also load up some slower plinkers in the .40SW energy range. Frankly, I don't shoot that much anyway... maybe a couple hundred rounds a year. No competition, no drag racing. Mostly just just dry firing and finger fondling.
So there you have it. I don't think I'll be pushing the envelope too far too frequently.
Is a 629 acceptable for that? I think it's gotta be, right? From my limited experience, it appears it would carry, shoot and holster marginally better than a Redhawk. It sure looks better. I'm presuming it would be hard to wear out a Smith 629 with an obsolete turret press?
Does a Redhawk give a bunch of extra margin to a novice reloader? Because, BTW, I've never reloaded. I've built a FAL rifle and a muzzleloader. I know how to stuff powder down the front of a .50 cal. I'm relatively intelligent, and I've shot for years.
I presumed S&W 44 Mags were sano until I started reading all the internet drama over hot loading them. Nobody ever quantifies it though. For instance, they'll tolerate 90% of what a Ruger will. Okay, I could live with that. I don't want the top 10%. Or 629's will tolerate occasional 100% loads, but not a steady diet. I'm cool with that too. Or after 5 years and 1,500 rounds of Speer Gold Dot level ammo, the S&W will be clapped out. I'm not cool with that.
*If anyone has a cool link to "torture tests" or longevity tests of the S&W, I'd like to see it.
*Good book recommendations?
I just want a .44 Mag revolver, that I can press out treats of all flavors for in my new Lyman easy-bake oven, and experiment with, responsibly. I'm not a crazy velocity chaser. I prefer a .270 Win to a ear-melting shoulder-splitting 7mm Rem ultra mag.
I'm drawn to the Smith, despite the Rugers being more "Westerny". If people tell me I need the Ruger for reloading fun, then I wouldn't be too heartbroken.
I have a lot of critters to feed, so I can't afford to prematurely wear out a nice revolver.
Apologies for the rambling post.
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
At any rate, here's what I have:
![400067755.gif 400067755.gif](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/530/530049-ddee21d8def10f141ec877864497ed94.jpg)
Now, I need the revolver. I'm planning to spend part of my tax return on the piece.
Here's my delima:
*Left handed
*Have read that S&W and Colt aren't optimal choices for hot .44 Mag.
I really like the 5-6" barrel length. I'm tall and in good shape. I'd like to hip carry when hiking and on horseback (I ride). I'm accustomed to carrying a duty belt several days per week. I'm thinking any less than a 5" barrel and I'd be starting to defeat the purpose of reloading for good ballistics.
My only big bore revolver experience came from a .45 Colt Blackhawk 5.5" single action. It shot like a dream, even with mildly zippy gunshow-bought reloads.
I don't mind the single action, because they work well for lefties, or as well as they do for righties anyway. Plus, they are safer on horseback. I don't really see myself popping off from the saddle, but if I did, there would be less chance of a AD while conducting the subsequent one-rein stop on my bolting mare. Some people fantasize about zombie shootouts, I dream about hunting from my horse, with a 44 Mag rifle in a scabbard and a .44 Mag revolver on my hip. Giggle if you want, but at the end of the day I have more horses than they do zombies. Or I could handgun hunt from horseback... Oh yeah. *warm fuzzies*
The upshot to a DA is that I can (if I buy Ruger, Colt or S&W, NOT Taurus) qualify and carry it for work. I don't see myself using it for patrol, because I'd have to reconfigure an entire duty rig every time I changed firearms, and the big revolver isn't really as practical for patrol as the $400 plastic Glock 22. But, on class training days or court days it would be kinda cool to wear the big DA .44 Mag and pocket a couple speed strips. Plus, when hiking, in the event of some critter/human attack, the DA would be more simple to employ. I can't carry a SA revolver for patrol. Also, no Taurus firearms (which I personally don't agree with).
So here are my primary contenders:
5" S&W 629 Classic
![163636_large.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.smith-wesson.com%2Fwcsstore%2FSmWesson%2Fupload%2Fimages%2Ffirearms%2F163636_large.jpg&hash=e29db8670970360b1314493562ff1336)
5.5" Ruger Redhawk
![gunx_ruger_redhawk_5.5.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cowboyneeds.com%2Fgunx_ruger_redhawk_5.5.jpg&hash=3d74c14e7895aecb7b65dd25f16de236)
5.5" Ruger Blackhawk
![ruger_70182.jpg ruger_70182.jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/530/530050-0aed25f9b0f794a13928d6c3a8f7a39d.jpg)
Now, included in my buddy's care package are probably 500-600 210gr JHPs and ~90 240gr JSPs.
I'd like to push these rounds to about the 1000ft-lbs range... Something spicy (by my standard), but not habenero hot. Our duty ammo would be Speer Gold Dot (unk grain). It looks like a lot of the Speer Gold Dot ammo is hotter than my intended handloads. Of course, I'd like to experiment with some hyper-nasty 300gr hard cast rounds, fire a handful, roll 'em around in my hand, and maybe carry some when out in the wilderness. It would be sacrilegious to own a .44 Mag and never shoot a single 300gr grizzly round from it. Though it's doubtful my revolver would ever eat 50 of those screamers in it's entire life. I'd probably also load up some slower plinkers in the .40SW energy range. Frankly, I don't shoot that much anyway... maybe a couple hundred rounds a year. No competition, no drag racing. Mostly just just dry firing and finger fondling.
So there you have it. I don't think I'll be pushing the envelope too far too frequently.
Is a 629 acceptable for that? I think it's gotta be, right? From my limited experience, it appears it would carry, shoot and holster marginally better than a Redhawk. It sure looks better. I'm presuming it would be hard to wear out a Smith 629 with an obsolete turret press?
Does a Redhawk give a bunch of extra margin to a novice reloader? Because, BTW, I've never reloaded. I've built a FAL rifle and a muzzleloader. I know how to stuff powder down the front of a .50 cal. I'm relatively intelligent, and I've shot for years.
I presumed S&W 44 Mags were sano until I started reading all the internet drama over hot loading them. Nobody ever quantifies it though. For instance, they'll tolerate 90% of what a Ruger will. Okay, I could live with that. I don't want the top 10%. Or 629's will tolerate occasional 100% loads, but not a steady diet. I'm cool with that too. Or after 5 years and 1,500 rounds of Speer Gold Dot level ammo, the S&W will be clapped out. I'm not cool with that.
*If anyone has a cool link to "torture tests" or longevity tests of the S&W, I'd like to see it.
*Good book recommendations?
I just want a .44 Mag revolver, that I can press out treats of all flavors for in my new Lyman easy-bake oven, and experiment with, responsibly. I'm not a crazy velocity chaser. I prefer a .270 Win to a ear-melting shoulder-splitting 7mm Rem ultra mag.
I'm drawn to the Smith, despite the Rugers being more "Westerny". If people tell me I need the Ruger for reloading fun, then I wouldn't be too heartbroken.
I have a lot of critters to feed, so I can't afford to prematurely wear out a nice revolver.
Apologies for the rambling post.