Which .44 Magnum?

[RugRev]

Aside from Taurus, S&W and Ruger if you can find one consider the Dan Wesson and Colt Anaconda, also.

 

[NelsErik]

Super Redhawk w/7.5" Barrel

This is the gun that my Dad is pushing me to get.

As far as a shorter gun for self-defense goes my brother will have a large caliber rifle with him and I would rather be very proficient with one gun, than less than with two. I think the minimum length barrel that I can hunt with is 6" in Arizona, but I'm not sure. I need to find the rule in Alaska too, unless they let you carry whatever whenever.

Is there a gun that is more suited to shooting hardcast bullets than others and are all the twist rates the same? The molds that I currently have all appear to be for heavier bullets.

If I look at used guns, what are the things that I should look for on the Ruger?

 

[harmonic]

My vote would also be for the Ruger. I have two 29-2s and have owned numerous Rugers. The Ruger Redhawk/Super Redhawk has massive locking points when compared to the 29 and makes it much stronger. Now, if you were buying multiple guns, I'd say get one of each. But if you're only buying one all purpose weapon, go with the Ruger.

Personally, I'd make it a Super Blackhawk. Virtually all of my aimed fire is single action anyway. Plus, they're easier to work on.

If I look at used guns, what are the things that I should look for on the Ruger?

This is from a sticky on this forum re how to buy a used revolver:

Check the cylinder play.

1) With the gun UNLOADED (check for yourself!), close the action.

2) Thumb the hammer back, and while pulling the trigger, gently lower the hammer all the way down while keeping the trigger back - and KEEP holding the trigger once the hammer is down. (You've now put the gun in "full lockup" - keep it there for this and most other tests.)

3) With the trigger still back all the way, check for cylinder wiggle. Front/back is particularly undesirable; a bit of side to side is OK but it's a bad thing if you can wiggle it one way, let go, and then spin it the other way a fraction of an inch and it stays there too. At the very least, it should "want" to stop in just one place (later, we'll see if that place is any good). The ultimate is a "welded to the frame" feeling.

Check the cylinder gap.

4) Still holding the trigger at full lockup, look sideways through the barrel/cylinder gap. If you can get a credit card in there, that ain't good...velocity drops rapidly as the gap increases. Too tight isn't good either, because burnt powder crud will "fill the gap" and start making the cylinder spin funky. My personal .38snubbie is set at .002, usually considered the minimum...after about 40 shots at the range, I have to give the front of the cylinder a quick wipe so it spins free again. I consider that a reasonable tradeoff for the increased velocity because in a real fight, I ain't gonna crank 40 rounds out of a 5-shot snub .

If you're eyeballing it, you'll have to hold it up sideways against an overhead light source.

Checking the timing.

5) You really, REALLY want an unloaded gun for this one. This is where the light comes in. With the gun STILL held in full lockup, trigger back after lowering the hammer by thumb, you want to shine a light right into the area at the rear of the cylinder near the firing pin. You then look down the barrel . You're looking to make sure the cylinder bore lines up with the barrel. Check every cylinder - that means putting the gun in full lockup for each cylinder before lighting it up.

You're looking for the cylinder and barrel holes to line up perfectly, it's easy to eyeball if there's even a faint light source at the very rear of both bores. And with no rounds present, it's generally easy to get some light in past where the rims would be.

Checking the bore.

(We're finally done with that "full lockup" so rest your trigger finger. )

6) Swing the cylinder open, or with most SAs pull the cylinder. Use the small flashlight to scope the bore out. This part's easy - you want to avoid pitting, worn-out rifling, bulges of any sort. You want more light on the subject than just what creeps in from the rear of the cylinder on the timing check.

You also want to check each cylinder bore, in this case with the light coming in from the FRONT of each hole, you looking in from the back where the primers would be. You're looking for wear at the "restrictions" at the front of each cylinder bore. That's the "forcing cone" area and it can wear rapidly with some Magnum loads. (Special thanks to Salvo below for this bit!)

Checking the trigger.

7) To test a trigger without dry-firing it, use a plastic pen in front of the hammer to "catch" it with the off hand, especially if it's a "firing pin on the hammer" type. Or see if the seller has any snap-caps, that's the best solution. Flat-faced hammers as found in transfer-bar guns (Ruger, etc) can be caught with the off-hand without too much pain .

SA triggers (or of course a DA with the hammer cocked) should feel "like a glass rod breaking". A tiny amount of take-up slack is tolerable, and is common on anything with a transfer bar or hammerblock safety.

DA triggers are subjective. Some people like a dead-smooth feel from beginning of stroke to the end, with no "warning" that it's about to fire. Others (myself included) actually prefer a slight "hitch" right at the end, so we know when it's about to go. With that sort of trigger, you can actually "hold it" right at the "about to fire" point and do a short light stroke from there that rivals an SA shot for accuracy. Takes a lot of practice though. Either way, you don't want "grinding" through the length of the stroke, and the final stack-up at the end (if any) shouldn't be overly pronounced.

Detecting Bad Gunsmithing:

8) OK, so it's got a rock-solid cylinder, a .002" or .003" gap, and the trigger feels great. Odds are vastly in favor of it being tuned after leaving the factory.

So was the gunsmith any good?

First, cock it, then grab the hammer and "wiggle it around" a bit. Not too hard, don't bang on it, but give it a bit of up/down, left/right and circular action with finger off trigger and WATCH your muzzle direction.

You don't want that hammer slipping off an overly polished sear. You REALLY don't want that It can be fixed by installing factory parts but that'll take modest money (more for installation than hardware costs) and it'll be bigtime unsafe until you do.

The other thing that commonly goes wrong is somebody will trim the spring, especially coil springs. You can spot that if you pull the grip panels, see if the spring was trimmed with wire cutters. If they get too wild with it, you'll get ignition failures on harder primers. But the good news is, replacement factory or Wolf springs are cheap both to buy and have installed.

Timing (test #5) is very critical...if that's off, the gun may not even be safe to test-fire. And naturally, a crappy barrel means a relatively pricey fix.

Cylinder gap is particularly critical on short-barreled and/or marginal caliber guns. If you need every possible ounce of energy, a tight gap helps. Some factory gaps will run as high as .006"; Taurus considers .007" "still in spec" (sigh). You'll be hard-pressed to find any new pieces under .004" - probably because the makers realize some people don't clean 'em often (or very well) and might complain about the cylinder binding up if they sell 'em at .002".

 

[257x50]

Ruger Bisley Vaquaro Stainless. 7 1/2 inch cut to 6. If you like single actions.

 

[chez323]

Ruger Super Blackhawk! Can't go wrong, I've got one with a 7 1/2 barrel that's a blast to shoot. Also have it's little brother in 357 magnum, both are of the 50th anniversary edition models........

 

[dovedescending]

man, sounds like a great trip.

 

[FoMoGo]

For woods protection I wouldnt want a single action, I would want something I could use under HIGH stress 1 handed and not worry about altering my grip for every shot.


Jim

 

[NelsErik]

dovedescending
man, sounds like a great trip.

Yes, it should be! This will be forth four month trip that I have taken with either one of my brothers or my dad. Last year my dad and I hiked from Moab, UT along the Colorado River to Hite, UT and then by boat to Page, AZ. I have done the Appalachian Trail, 4 months in the Minnesota/Canadian boundary waters in a canoe, 4 months in northern Montana, and 4 months in Canyonlands National Park.

I'm missing the lower half of my right fibula so these trips are getting tougher each time, but I'll keep going as long as I have the money and family to go with.

After Alaska, the entire family is going to the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area to find where our great, great Grand-dad had a trappers cabin... That should be a good trip!

 

[BOOM-BOOM]

NelsErik, How are you and your brother getting to Alaska? Flying or driving.

If your going to drive, how do you plan to get your revolvers there.. No revolvers allowed in Canada..... Just wondering...

 

[NelsErik]

Currently the plan is to take my Dad's Cessna 421, but will probably change. We have an uncle who has a small strip and house on the southern boarder.

 

[thomis]

It does sound like a great trip. I'm envious! Getting all of my siblings in one place is not easy.

Steer away from scoping it. Can you imagine trying to find a charging bear in a scope, even a low power one? Let alone trying to settle the crosshairs on it? Not me!

And for the record, I didn't mean to discount the S&W .44 mag models in any way. I said they were exceptional guns.
To mention the part about them not being perfectly suited for the heaviest and longest magnum loads is not "disingenuous" but rather factual. And about Elmer Keith and his contributions to the caliber... 22 grains of 2400 behind a 429421 250 grain cast bullet, I believe was his favorite carry load. I bet if he had gotten his hands on one of the new model super blackhawks during his development stage, he may have carried it over the model 29. Just sayin'.

Here's a great article on defensive shooting.. and bears... and revolvers...

http://www.garrettcartridges.com/031000.asp

 

[MJR007]

I also cast. My 7.5" redhawk will do great things with 95%ww/5%Sn 300g pills. Good luck to you.

 

[Legionnaire]

Can't go wrong with a Redhawk, but make mine a 5.5-inch. Mount is a Weigand "no-drill."



Or a Super Blackhawk. I converted this one to a Bisley myself with parts from Midway.

I just like the 5.5-inch barrel length.

 

[MCMXI]

My vote is for a Redhawk rather than the Super Redhawk. I have a S&W 629 (.44 Mag), a Redhawk in .45 Colt and a Super Redhawk in .454 Casull. If I were buying another .44 Mag (not that I would), it'd be the Redhawk beyond any shadow of a doubt. Why the heck anyone would want to pack around that Super Redhawk with the 7-1/2" barrel is beyond me but to each their own. For hunting ... sure ... but for general duty such as backpacking ... not for me.

Personally, I think that the SRH "Alaskan" is one of the best looking revolvers ever made. The SRH with either the 7-1/2" or 9-1/2" barrels ... not so much. If Ruger decided to offer an "Alaskan" with a 5" barrel as shown below ... I'd be first in line.

 

[Magnumite]

Ditto the Redhawk. Brutal strong and accurate. With good handloads, mine will shooting into 3/4" at 50 yards and I have the target to prove it. A friend has an early Colt Anaconda and it shot factory CCI into about the same size groups. I'd also consider a 29/629 in a 6" barrel. Bought a DX when there were making them and they are sweet.

The Super Redhawk to me is more of a 454 and up caliber gun.

You can't go wrong with many of the good 44 Mags out there. Just match the gun to the purpose.