What is the future of .44 special?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Smith & Wesson has a Thunder Ranch .44 special revolver, Charter Arms has a .44 spl., and Taurus has a .44 spl. - I'd LOVE to see Smith bring back the old model 24 .44spl.

The .44 special is a great round, and I doubt that it will go away - there are alot of factory loads available for it. It makes an outstanding defense round
-my wife's home alone gun was a 4" model 29 loaded with .44 spl. Silvertip HPs for a long time before I switched her over to a 4" S&W mountain gun chambered in .45 Colt.
 
hope to pick up my 396 today

and deliver the Taurus 441 to it's new owner within the next week.

Two more happy 44 spl owners...
 
44 Special

Being a shooter and a reloader for over 40 years, I would say if it were not for the CAS and the reloaders the 44 Special would have 11/2 feet in the grave. To my knowledge, the only currently manufactured 44 Special(yes I know S&W made some special runs) is the little Charter Bulldog. I love the 44 Special and would love to have a custom single action in this caliber.
 
and Taurus has a .44 spl.
Click to expand...

Taurus' web site says the 445 series is now discontinued. To me Taurus seems to be the one that's willing to try anything to make a buck (they're building 500mag revolvers, Ruger hasn't followed Smith's lead yet). So if Taurus dropped a model, I'd assume that it just didn't sell well enough...
 
I was never a great big fan of the .44 Special round...

Until I purchased a nice second-hand S&W Model 696 for relatively cheap. It's a sweetheart of a cartridge, so now I'm considering a levergun and single-action Colt clone in the same chambering. Ammo isn't too hard to find, just search in www.cheaperthandirt.com and use .44 Special as the search term. Likewise, I've got several thousand cast bullets and lots of Starline brass ready to load into .44 Special, so I doubt I'd call it obsolete any time soon.
 
I enjoy the .44 Special very much... mostly out of a SAA in that chambering. But somehow... it seems that it just isn't popular enough for a mainstream manufacturer to make regular, production guns in the caliber.

Ruger won't even touch it... and they'll make revolvers in .30 Carb.

The popularity of the .44 Mag assures us that it won't DIE... but I'm pretty sure that it's doomed to remain a niche round for the rest of its life. :(

I think .44 Special fans make a lot of noise... but there just are not a lot of of us. :p

StrikeEagle
 
And let's not forget the new lightweight .44 Magnum revolvers made of scandium, titanium, unobtanium, etc.

If it wasn't for .44SPL, you couldn't even shoot 'em...
Click to expand...

There was a video of some one shooting a 600 Nitro Extress in a handgun. I'm sure there'll be someone out there "man" enough, that will load their ultra light 44mags with full power ammo having 300gr+ bullets, like those from Garrett or Buffalo Bore, and pull the trigger... :neener:
 
id love a charter arms sized .44spl, if it were of better quality.
 
One of the local stores has a charter arms 44spl. It fits my hand very well (It even feels good in my weak hand.) and appears to be very well made. I need to start saving up to buy one.:cool: Sure the walls of the cylinder are thin, but the 44spl is not a high pressure round. According to SAAMI pressure specs (That I have taped to my guns safe.) the pressure of the 44spl is only 15,500 PSI while the 44mag runs at 36,000 PSI. Provided you don't try and hotrod the round, like some handloaders do, you should have no problems with it. The idea of using an steel frame with a seperate aluminum grip frame really does save alot of weight. The quality of the new ones are much better than others that I have seen in the past.
 
I have an older Charter Arms 3" barrel .44 Special Bulldog.

And it is the most convenient short-barreled revolver that I have, other then my 2 1/2" barreled H&R Model 732, in .32 S&W Long. It just plain shoots well and has sufficient power to "stop the action" when I call on it to do so.

BTW, Nick (Charter's CEO) has informed me that their quality is continuing to improve, and the Bulldog will soon be out in the 4" and 6" barreled models, with adjustable sights, later this year.

I do hope that this helps you in your quest for an EXCELLENT "fighting handgun."

Good shootin'

Scott
 
The 44 special is really dead. Its not that great of a round. The 44 mag is much more potent. The 357 mag does better in smaller guns. The only reason for the 44 special to exist is to satisfy die hard fans of the caliber. The 45 acp does a better job as a soft shooting big bore round if you don't like the mags. RIP 44 special.
Pat
 
BTW, Nick (Charter's CEO) has informed me that their quality is continuing to improve, and the Bulldog will soon be out in the 4" and 6" barreled models, with adjustable sights, later this year.
Click to expand...

That's good to hear. Buffalo Bore has a warning for their 44sp ammo, specifically against Charter Bulldogs. If one can shoot Buffalo Bore in a Taurus' discontinued 445, but not in a Bulldog, Charter still got a lot improvement to work on. I think I read it somewhere that Charter claims their no side plate design(looks like those Ruger designs) is stronger. Well, apparently not as strong as Smith and Taurus, let alone Ruger...
 
45

The 45 Colt is really dead. Its not that great of a round. The 454 Casull is much more potent. The 357 mag does better in smaller guns. The only reason for the 45 Colt to exist is to satisfy die hard fans of the caliber. The 44 Special does a better job as a soft shooting big bore round if you don't like the mags. RIP 45 Colt.

(Or fill in 45-70 & 458 Winchester where appropriate.)
 
Class never goes out of style.

Many people like the .44 Special because of the reduced noise and recoil compared to the .44 Magnum. I've read that most .44 Magnum owners actually shoot more .44 Special (or .44 Special-equivalent) loads in their Magnums than they do full-power loads. I guess there's a reason why the old 250gr lead SWC round at 900 fps was so popular (and 450 ft-lbs is hardly a "mouse-fart" load)...

I'll just have to enjoy my S&W 24 Heritage, 296, 396, 624, 696, Freedom Arms 97, Rossi 720, and Custom Ruger Blackhawk at their moderate velocities for a few more decades. A man can't have too many .44 Specials. And yes, I do enjoy reloading...
 
If you do elect to shoot .44 Russians from a Special chamber, or either it or a Special from a Magnum chamber, please do brush the chambers carefully before loading and firing even mediocre Magnums - especially with fast powders. I lost my much-enjoyed 629MG due to such carelessness last week. It had launched only Russians and Specials over it's life, being cleaned regularly. I shot a batch of mild Russians and a few similar Specials - then I had to try some 300gr LSWC in .44 Magnum cases over 6.2gr of Titegroup - chrono-ed at 868fps from a 4.6" SBH. On the third cylinderful, I lost my revolver, the cylinder & topstrap having burst. The 629MG paperweight is now back at S&W for metallurgical tests. My contention is that the lead buildup before the rim step in the chambers slowed the opening of the crimp, causing a fast rising pressure spike - and the resultant effect. A double charge would only result in a 20% overcharge - perhaps not quite enough to cause the results. Either way, I have egg on my shoulder - and lucky for me, no personal damage. Okay, my arm is sore - from dissassembling 350+ such rounds - all right on the money - 6.2 gr.

The moral is simple... don't use Magnums after Specials or Russians in a .44 Magnum - unless you carefully clean the chambers. I have since shot ~300 .44 Specials and Russians in my Heritage 24 and SBH - sort of 'getting back on the horse'. I still plan on reloading/shooting Specials... just not up to .44 magnum levels - even in bullet weight (Goodbye to my stash of 300gr-ers!).

Stainz
 
cases

Actually, I run only 44 mag brass in my 44 Mag, even with lite loads. The 44 Special brass goes only in the 44 Special.

I'd never thought of lead build up from special cases causing insufficient neck room for a mag case but I suppose it could happen. Most people never think of neck space to begin with and there are situations where it can cause trouble.

I first encountered the neck space issue converting 9.3x74R brass to 400-360 brass. It comes up again if you want to load bore sized bullets in the 9 mm for accuracy loads. For reasons known only to the gods, 9 mm pistols have over sized bores. (SAAMI specs it that way, DWM did it that way when they invented the 9 mm Parabellum.) Another place it can pop up is in the 454 Casull where the chamber has a rather tight neck diameter. that's the reason they don't recommmend 45 Colt dies for loading it.
 
QUOTE
The 45 Colt is really dead. Its not that great of a round. The 454 Casull is much more potent. The 357 mag does better in smaller guns. The only reason for the 45 Colt to exist is to satisfy die hard fans of the caliber. The 44 Special does a better job as a soft shooting big bore round if you don't like the mags. RIP 45 Colt.
END QUOTE

The 45 colt is a bit different. It has factory ammo as powerfull as the 44 mag (+p corbon) Its also the mainstay of Cowboy action shooting. Without CAS it would be a lot less popular.
Pat
 
QUOTE
The 45 Colt is really dead. Its not that great of a round. The 454 Casull is much more potent. The 357 mag does better in smaller guns. The only reason for the 45 Colt to exist is to satisfy die hard fans of the caliber. The 44 Special does a better job as a soft shooting big bore round if you don't like the mags. RIP 45 Colt.
END QUOTE



Corbon just came out with a new .45 Colt offering:

45 COLT+P 225 GR. DPX 1200 FPS/720FTLBS
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

L
  • Locked
Is 44 special a good carry gun?
2
Replies
48
Views
4K
wnycollector
W
H
  • Locked
.44 magnum stopping power? Also what is .44 special?
2
Replies
26
Views
6K
goon
G
4
  • Locked
44 ?
Replies
24
Views
1K
CMcDermott
C
J
  • Locked
Would it be foolish to to pair a .44 spl only revolver with a .44 mag rifle?
2 3
Replies
61
Views
3K
RealGun
RealGun
MrDig
  • Locked
44 Magnum and 44 Special
2
Replies
26
Views
3K
tipoc
tipoc
Back
Top