who makes a snubnose in .44special?

[megatronrules]

I think S&W and taurus make snub nose revolvers in this caliber and who else makes a snubie in this caliber and what are the model numbers?

 

[fiVe]

Charter Firearms makes the Bulldog, but I've heard Charter Firearms should (unless they are older models) be avoided.

R/fiVe

 

[8830]

Smith only shows the 396 in 3 1/8" barrel. Taurus has the 445 2" in blue, stainless and total titanium. If you can find an old Charter Arms bulldog then you are good to go but the current batch suck.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

Smith & Wesson also make these 3 - but they are .44 Mag, also

http://www.firearms.smith-wesson.com/store/index.php3?cat=293546&sw_activeTab=1

 

[happy old sailor]

friends wife has Taurus revolver in 44 spec. is a nice gun and she loves it. think is concealed hammer or really bobbed. she carries in her gun purse and has no trouble dry firing it in the purse, so, could fire live ammo easily. maybe purse would muffle blast, she does not want holes in it to find out. cant fault that. dont know if still in production, havent seen one in a couple years. oh, is SS. i see one, i get it. know nothing of SnW 44 Spec, am only interested in their magnums. well, ok, a mountain gun in a heavy caliber like 45C.

 

[BryanP]

Taurus lists their 445 series of .44spl snubbies as "Not in production."

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Looks like all of the big bore Taurus snubbies are no longer in production. The offering @ S&W is pretty much limited to the 396. Haven't seen any other .44 spl snubbie other than the Charter.

I hope Taurus brings the 445 back. I wanted one. I did manage to find a 455 (.45 ACP) which I'm awaiting delievery.

 

[BluesBear]

I have been told that Taurus won't be producing the .44 snubs anytime in the near future. No one will tell me why though. My guess is that they are too busy concentrating on their 9mm snubs and their single action revolvers.

Taurus has also stopped production of the Rossi .44 specials.

Perhaps they felt they didn't sell well enough although I have never see one languishing on any dealers shevles. They seem to sell briskly.
Also from what I hear the ports were very unpopular in the .44 models but Taurus felt they were needed so they pu them on almost all of the .44s.
I have one of the few blued steel 445s made with the unported barrel and I'm hanging on to it!

I am STILL waiting on that Black Hills 250gr LSWC .44 special ammo that they were supposed to make that the S&W Thunder Ranch Special is regulated for.
Anyone seen any yet?

 

[shep854]

I was very fortunate to get a Taurus 445 a few weeks ago. The dealer I bought it from says he can't get ANY more. This is sad, since the "Bulldog" style .44Spl snub has a good claim on "the ultimate" snubby.

 

[S&W44]

S&W used to make the 624,a 3" N frame.My personal favorite.

 

[LynnMassGuy]

Wow, that 624 rocks. Nice gun.


Regards
John

 

[BluesBear]

 

[azrael]

Bluesbear,
that is a nice revolver...wanna let me borrow it for a few months??

I have handled and shot the new series of Charterarms .44's...Granted they arent the "bees knees", but it seemed servicable to me..

 

[BluesBear]

wanna let me borrow it for a few months??

Which one? The Taurus 445 or the S&W 29-3?

Would it come back with a nice new holster?

Actually I'd just love to be able to "borrow" them myself but right now both are residing in a local loan establishment having been reluctantly placed there to pay bills while I am disabled. The empty holsters here on the shelf are depressing to see.

I did visit them last week and they seem to be in better shape than I.

 

[azrael]

Bluesbear,
I was thinking of the Taurus...yea I would throw in a holster for ya trouble...I am even working on a new belt holster for the J-frames so it would have been a BELT holster for it, not a pocket holster as would be the norm

I have been there as far as taking stuff to the local "loan" people more than once...THIS time (cortison shots are steep!) I just decided to sell off most of the pistols that I have and be done with it...Only one that bugged me was my springy xd-9compact..that one hurt pretty bad...


But this to shall pass, and all that...

 

[BluesBear]

The Taurus fits perfectly in a K-frame holster. J-frame holsters are way too small. I currently use a Bianchi 56L paddle holster although a Baker style pancake properly cut for the 2" barrel would be my ideal.

I am old fashioned and still require a thumb break. Both for peace of mind and enhanced retention.

 

[Ruger Redhawk]

S&W made a 44spl a few years back.It was the Model 296.It looked like a over grown Bodyguard(models 38,49 or 649).It was a light weight model.I believe these were dropped from S&W line couple years ago.I have one unfired put away for a rainy day.

Ruger Redhawk

 

[SouthpawShootr]

The 296 was an aluminum frame/titanium cylinder. Been gone for a while. I've seen a few here and there. A gunshop locally still has one NIB. Been sitting over a year. Frame size is K or L - don't know which. Big drawback was ammo restriction - 200 gr or lighter, jacketed bullets only. Unless you reloaded you were in for some hefty ammo expenses.

There was one interesting post over at www.smith-wessonforum.com a while back where one blew. Don't remember the specifics, but S&W replaced with another model since this was already out of production. Tamara on this board has one IIRC.

 

[Gunz]

Love 44 Spl revolvers. 624, 24, 296, 396, 696 are all my favorites.

Carry the 296 all the time. shoots well. Saw the Inet pix of some fellow named "Doc-something" with the 296 cylinder all blown apart and top strap of the alloy frame all ripped upward. Impressive and excellent photo documentation. The joys of modern technology for Inet and the digital camera.

Most people hate the idea of a shorter cartridge and want to buy the full house magnum cylinder so "they can shoot both." Most people under-appreciate the 44 Spl. Also, the 200 gr. CCI Blazer with Speer wide-cavern hollowpoint is nothing to sneeze at for 800 fps. I would not want to be on the receiving end of one.

If you can come across one and you love it, then grab it. Taurus made a 441 with 3in blue barrel, I believe. Gritty action and heavy trigger pull. I saw a 445, but did not buy one.

I own more than a few 296 models, when I found them on close-out, and the dealer was dumping them cheaply. Into my safe, were they adopted.

I hate that awful HiViz sight on the 396......RUins a perfect revolver....

 

[SouthpawShootr]

I hate that awful HiViz sight on the 396......RUins a perfect revolver....

You are absolutely correct and I wholeheartedly agree with you. Maybe they can be changed out?

 

[BluesBear]

I saw a 445, but did not buy one.

My Taurus 445 has a fabulous trigger pull.
I bought mine slightly used from another THR member and it appears that the sideplate has never been removed. It has one of the best out of the box trigger pulls I have ever encountered.
I thought it was a fluke until I shot Lady45's Taurus 651. That has the best small frame trigger pull I have ever seen. It seems that Taurus is finally getting it right.

I had several Charter Arms .44 Special revolvers back in the late 1970s. I started out with the 3" standard model. It shot great but you had to pay close attention to the screws. Even with locktite they'd shoot loose.
My favorite one of all was the 4" Police Bulldog. The adjustable sights were a big help. I also had one of the later Bulldog Pug models, but by that time Charter quality was slipping badly.
All of my Charters were blued. I just didn't like the quality of their stainless guns and I knew too many people who owned then and were less than thrilled with them.

I still am of the opinion that .44 Special and .45 Auto Rim are just about perfect for pocket revolvers.

 

[Stainz]

The entire S&W L-frame 5-shot .44 Special family is now gone - the 396 is not in the '05 S&W catalog. Several years ago, I had grown tired of drooling over my dealer's long-time new case sitters, a 696 for $439 and a closeout-priced 296 for $349, both brand new. I bought the pair and quickly replaced the grips on the 696 with the squared version of the same grips, a la the 66's, and recycled it's rounded UM's on the 296 Airweight, a great improvement.

The 296 was discontinued years ago, yet persisted in the pipeline new for closeout prices of $350-$400, vs it's MSRP of $789. It has fixed sights, 2.5" SS lined barrel, Al frame, Ti cylinder, enclosed hammer, and is ammo-restrictive (200gr or less clad only). At ~21oz loaded with CCI Blazer 200gr Gold Dot .44 Specials (or, what I use now - GA Arms Starline brass cased version), and an L-frame, it is a bit hard to conceal. Great home gun.

The 3" 696 was axed later - but still several years ago. It's numbers were exhausted quickly - and it has developed a cult following, causing it's used prices to go from $350 to as much as $700 some places. Don't ask me how I know about the cult thing, we are all sworn to secrecy. Mine is my most common range companion - now with Ahrend's cocobolo stocks. Whether my 'wimpy' 240gr LRNFP over 3.5gr Titegroup in .44 Russian, which make a whopping 690 fps, or my hottest loads, it is pure fun. S&W has never had much luck keeping .44 Special, their own round dating back nearly a century, revolvers in production - just low demand. Get them where you can find them!

Stainz

 

[shep854]

Shooters tend to be enamored with "POWER!" in terms of velocity, blast and kick. I guess it's the "gee whiz" factor. That's the only reason That I can figure that the .44Spl hasn't caught on more.

I was very pleasantly surprised how pleasant my Taurus 445 is to shoot. It seems to be gentler than some bigger .357s.

Maybe if Dirty Harry had bragged about his .44 Special. "Special Force"? I understand that he was actually shooting Specials in his Maggie.