Any other .44 Spl guys around here?

[Valmet]

Any other .44 Special guys around here? I’ve been a fan for awhile and while I know you “should just get a .44 Magnum and shoot both,” I like factory .44 Spl wheelguns. 

Have a Charter Arms Bulldog and an early 6.5” S&W 24-3. Anyone else here in the .44 Spl camp? If so, what wheelguns do you have? 

[Rellik]

Well I kinda qualify.  I have a BullDog Pug that I load 240 swc over 4gr 231.  Lighter than cowboy, but it doesn't hurt as much as factory WW cowboy loads.  

I load my 629 with a max 44 Spec load of 8 gr Power Pistol under that same bullet.  Shoot it all day and don't have to soak my hand afterwards.  

[blueiron]

The S&W 24 was my first duty gun. I was short of cash when I left the Corps and went to the academy, so the oh-so popular .357 Magnum was out of the question. A retiree sold his handguns to a local gun shop and I just happened to visit at the right time. 

The .44 Special round didn't have high performance bullets in those days, but the old Federal 200 grain lead SWC-HP was accurate and hit hard enough that I was comfortable carrying it. I handloaded in those days, so practice ammo was easy to crank out with 7.5 grains of Unique pushing a 240 grain lead SWC. Easy to shoot, accurate, and the round had a proven track record. 

Going to the 9mm autoloader was a poor compromise at that time. 

[Rellik]

7-7.5 Unique under a 240 hard cast swc is the Skeeter load.  

Now a dayz, BE-86 and PP have replaced Unique in pistol loads. 

Edited December 14, 2019 by Rellik

[Borg warner]

I started out reloading for a Charter arms Bulldog using a ten dollar(at the time) Lee loader that you hit with the hammer. I used Bullseye and Unique and soon got a scale so that I could load the cartridge a little bit hotter with 200 grain bullets which didn't recoil as much as 240 grain bullets.

Later I got a Lew Horton model 24 with the 2 3/4 inch barrel and also had a S&W model 29 with a 6 1/2 inch barrel and experimented with even hotter loads in the 44 Special and also reduced loading the 44 mag. I found that using Unique powder I could duplicate the same velocity by using approximately one grain less is the smaller case. In the 44 mag I used 2400 powder for top loads in the Smith but saved Winchester 296/H110 for loading for a Ruger Super Blackhawk that I had.

These days I only have the model 24 but would like to get another Bulldog. My brother recently found an old 3 inch tapered barrel Charter Arms bulldog in mint condition and I'd like to find something like that. I always wanted a peacemaker clone in 44 special but my eyes can't see those sights anymore so maybe a Ruger Bisley Flat-top in 44 special would be the way to go. Or otherwise, a Uberti S&W Schofield which does not come in 44 special but comes in 44 Russian that could be re-chambered to 44 Special. But those guns are pretty pricey.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Borg warner

[Moshe]

I went with .460 Rowland for a similar equivalent.  The G-21 Conversion worked great, the extra heavy springs tamed the round nicely.

[AK_Stick]

I reload 44 SPC loads for my gf and/or visitors to carry one of my loaner 44’s. 

 

Not too much recoil, but a good hard cast bullet to get to the vitals. 

Edited December 16, 2019 by AK_Stick

[minervadoe]

I have to defer to a parodied quote of Dos Equis Most Interesting Man.

I don't always shoot .44 Special, but when I do, I pass it through my Ruger Redhawk.  Stay saucy my friend.

.44 Special handles great out of a big gun.  A couple friends of mine love their Charter Arms .44 Specials.  It's like keeping a can of Whup Ass in your pocket.

Edited December 16, 2019 by minervadoe

[Borg warner]

33 minutes ago, minervadoe said:

I have to defer to a parodied quote of Dos Equis Most Interesting Man.

I don't always shoot .44 Special, but when I do, I pass it through my Ruger Redhawk.  Stay saucy my friend.

.44 Special handles great out of a big gun.  A couple friends of mine love their Charter Arms .44 Specials.  It's like keeping a can of Whup Ass in your pocket.

what is that gun in the lower picture with the custom unfluted 8 shot cylinder and the moon clip? I can't imagine it's a 44 special.

[Rellik]

Looks like an 8 banger 357 RedHawk.  

[Borg warner]

26 minutes ago, Rellik said:

Looks like an 8 banger 357 RedHawk.  

I knew that Ruger made an 8 shot 357 but I didn't realize they came with moon clips or that the cylinder was unfluted.

[minervadoe]

2 hours ago, Borg warner said:

what is that gun in the lower picture with the custom unfluted 8 shot cylinder and the moon clip? I can't imagine it's a 44 special.

 

2 hours ago, Rellik said:

Looks like an 8 banger 357 RedHawk.  

Bingo.   It is my current favorite .357 Magnum.  I call them The Twins.  The one on top is my good old six shot .44 Magnum and the one on the bottom with the moon clip is indeed an eight shot .357 Magnum.  I was just too lazy to crop the picture. 

If I shoot full power .44 Magnum loads out of the one chambered for it, honestly if I want to be accurate at all, it takes me about an hour to get through fifty rounds.  I take lots of breaks and if I start flinching I take even more breaks.  So, for both  guns, I download my reloads to about 420 foot pounds of energy. 

Edited December 17, 2019 by minervadoe

[Borg warner]

39 minutes ago, minervadoe said:

 

Bingo.   It is my current favorite .357 Magnum.  I call them The Twins.  The one on top is my good old six shot .44 Magnum and the one on the bottom with the moon clip is indeed an eight shot .357 Magnum.  I was just too lazy to crop the picture. 

If I shoot full power .44 Magnum loads out of the one chambered for it, honestly if I want to be accurate at all, it takes me about an hour to get through fifty rounds.  I take lots of breaks and if I start flinching I take even more breaks.  So, for both  guns, I downloads my reloads to about 420 foot pounds of energy. 

That's a nice gun. I really like the Redhawk. Much more so that the super Redhawk. I wouldn't think you'd need to download the 357 much in a gun as heavy as a Redhawk. I have an N-Frame Smith and Wesson model 28 Highway patrolman with a six inch barrel and even the underwood 180 grain hardcast  loads don't recoil like a 44 mag or even a 41 magnum in the same size gun.

 

[Rellik]

1 hour ago, minervadoe said:

If I shoot full power .44 Magnum loads out of the one chambered for it, honestly if I want to be accurate at all, it takes me about an hour to get through fifty rounds.  I take lots of breaks and if I start flinching I take even more breaks.  So, for both  guns, I download my reloads to about 420 foot pounds of energy. 

Yep!  People see the movies, and read the magazines, but they just do not know what it is like to turn one lose in a magnum pistol.  It hurts.  Like catching a line drive w/o a glove.  

As a pistol hunter, I start a month out from the hunt getting ready with practice.  I have small hands, and arthur is prevelent in the family bloodline.  So I do not shoot magnums regularly.  Captains of Crush is a big aid to sucess, as is my Pachmyrs.  

Whether my 4" 629, or my 5 1/2" 45 RedHawk, the drill is the same.  

[Fnfalman]

The only .44 Special that I have is a Triple Lock. 

[minervadoe]

On 12/16/2019 at 5:44 PM, Rellik said:

Yep!  People see the movies, and read the magazines, but they just do not know what it is like to turn one lose in a magnum pistol.  It hurts.  Like catching a line drive w/o a glove.  

As a pistol hunter, I start a month out from the hunt getting ready with practice.  I have small hands, and arthur is prevelent in the family bloodline.  So I do not shoot magnums regularly.  Captains of Crush is a big aid to sucess, as is my Pachmyrs.  

Whether my 4" 629, or my 5 1/2" 45 RedHawk, the drill is the same.  

I used to use hand exercisers like a fiend, but then I got swelling in tendons and they'd get stuck in their pulleys.  As a shooter, I find the maladies name is a little confusing since they call it "Trigger Finger."  But, I really enjoy shooting mild .357s out of a Ruger Redhawk.  If I want, I can even do the mark of Zorro on the target.  Wait, that's an S.  The mark of Sorro. 

[Rellik]

1 hour ago, minervadoe said:

 If I want, I can even do the mark of Zorro on the target.  Wait, that's an S.  The mark of Sorro. 

A lot of us older guys have ambi-dexie hands. 

So if you close and use the other eye, it'll work out.  

 

[minervadoe]

1 hour ago, Rellik said:

A lot of us older guys have ambi-dexie hands. 

So if you close and use the other eye, it'll work out.  

 

Right hand, right eye.  Left hand, left eye. 

So, you're saying right hand, left eye.  Left hand, right eye.  Got it.

If that centers my groups, then I won't have to adjust my sights.

[Rellik]

It was a badly worded

6 hours ago, minervadoe said:

Right hand, right eye.  Left hand, left eye. 

So, you're saying right hand, left eye.  Left hand, right eye.  Got it.

If that centers my groups, then I won't have to adjust my sights.

It was a badly worded joke to flip your 's' into a 'z' pattern on your target.  

[minervadoe]

5 hours ago, Rellik said:

It was a badly worded

It was a badly worded joke to flip your 's' into a 'z' pattern on your target.  

Yet, I still believe it may work. 

[Dric902]

It wasn’t worth having at her set of brass for specials, I would rather download magnums to a medium or reduced

[Wrango]

On 12/14/2019 at 4:13 AM, Valmet said:

Any other .44 Special guys around here? I’ve been a fan for awhile and while I know you “should just get a .44 Magnum and shoot both,” I like factory .44 Spl wheelguns. 

Have a Charter Arms Bulldog and an early 6.5” S&W 24-3. Anyone else here in the .44 Spl camp? If so, what wheelguns do you have? 

I've had a hankering for one of Charter's Classic Bulldogs for a while now.  I've shot .44 spl. and enjoy it but I don't like to do it a lot 'cuz my .44 is mag. and I don't like shooting spl. ammo in any of my mag. guns.  But that Classic Bulldog?  Mmmm!  I get it!

[Valmet]

On February 4, 2020 at 11:06 PM, Wrango said:

I've had a hankering for one of Charter's Classic Bulldogs for a while now.  I've shot .44 spl. and enjoy it but I don't like to do it a lot 'cuz my .44 is mag. and I don't like shooting spl. ammo in any of my mag. guns.  But that Classic Bulldog?  Mmmm!  I get it!

Is there a specific reason that you don't like shooting .44 Spl in your Magnums?

[Rellik]

On 2/4/2020 at 10:06 PM, Wrango said:

I've had a hankering for one of Charter's Classic Bulldogs for a while now.  I've shot .44 spl. and enjoy it but I don't like to do it a lot 'cuz my .44 is mag. and I don't like shooting spl. ammo in any of my mag. guns.  But that Classic Bulldog?  Mmmm!  I get it!

You're in luck, I have both.  The 2" Bulldog Pug is loaded with a light load of 4-4.5 grains of 231 / HP38 under a 240 swc.  Accurate enough for plates @ 25 out of a 2" snubby.  Est vel is 600+-.  

My run of the mill load for my 4" 629 is 8gr of Power Pistol under the same 240 swc.  Magnum cases.  Chrono says 957fps.  Can shoot it all day, and your hands don't hurt at the end of the day.  

[Wrango]

18 hours ago, Valmet said:

Is there a specific reason that you don't like shooting .44 Spl in your Magnums?

Just not a fan of the ring that forms and can hold brass in the chamber.  It's happened on a few .357s of mine over the years and I'm not a fan.  Yeah, yeah, I know, you can clean that stuff out but I'd rather not.