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.44 Magnum for the recoil sensitive


Moshe
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I had a 629 4", and I was accurate with that, but it stung like the dickens.  Not much flesh left on the hands.  I was wondering if a 29 in 6 inch with packmayers would make any difference, or just a waste of time?

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I also have a 4" 629, and some years ago killed two hogs.  240gr XTP and a below max load of 2400.  One hog at 50+ yds, another around 20-25yds.  

It wears stocks of Pachmyer, but many others make rubber stocks that might fit your hand better.  Shop around.  If you are "being a REAL man" and shooting it with the classic S&W oversized target stocks, you know, the ones that can dress down Bondo, your shooting days are numbered, and the day is coming where a heavy 22 Ruger is the only pistol in your future.  

But yes, a 6" bbl will dampen recoil somewhat.  Get the one with the underlug, or a RedHawk.  Also try dropping the bullet weight from 240 down to 200 or 180.  Deer aren't that tough, but I don't know the application you need.  

I shoot a steady diet of 240 cast swc over 8gr of Power Pistol.  Hercules lists this as a max Special load.  Can shoot it all day long, and don't have to soak my hands after.  It throws that 240 at around 950 out of my 4" bbl.  Powerwise, its like a very heavy 45 auto.  

If you can't find exactly the rubber stocks you want, get something close, and use racquet tape to adjust fit.  

Edited by Rellik
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I used to love shooting ,454 Casul, then the meat on my hands got less, then the .44 magnum, then that messed me up.  I miss shooting .44 magnum, I just don't want to get it to sting after a string.  I like revolvers, .357's don't bother me-yet.  Just hard to let go of the .44 magnum idea.  It is a great round in general.  I can shoot .45 auto all day long.   Thanks for the advice.

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I shoot .44 Magnum occasionally in ICORE matches. It's fun to hear people say " WTF was that ? " after the first few rounds.

 

I only do it OCCASIONALLY.

8422737_44nag_1.jpg.948a725521fdc2c408d0e7cb0cfcbd76.jpg

 

.44mag.jpg.c44ecac5ee2f8827ea42ac343754d22f.jpg

 

629 with Pachmayr grips

 

Edited by willie-pete
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Willie, do you load a mid-level load with Blue Dot, so when you shoot on overcast days you make the fire balls?  

Or do you just go with 296, so that even on clear days, people wonder where the flash of lightning comes from??

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I prefer the Hogues to the Pachmayrs. Smith and Wesson has even used Hogues as factory grips. a Six inch barrel will help somewhat but the best solution is to reload and find the load level that you shoot best.

Otherwise the HSM 44M-1 240 grain hardcast SWC "Cowboy Load" develops 1100 fps and 705 fpe of muzzle energy and is hotter than any 44 special load. barrel length really does make a difference. I had a 6 1/2 inch model 29 with the underlug barrel and the factory Hogue grips and it was a pleasure to shoot. A friend of mine has a 10 1/2 inch Ruger Blackhawk and even with the factory grips it handles recoil beautifully even with the hottest ammo.

   
         
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3 hours ago, Rellik said:

Willie, do you load a mid-level load with Blue Dot, so when you shoot on overcast days you make the fire balls?  

Or do you just go with 296, so that even on clear days, people wonder where the flash of lightning comes from??

I prefer AA9 to either 296 or 2400. It's flash suppressed. 296 will give slightly higher velocities but AA 9 comes close and is an accurate clean-burning powder that meters well.

Edited by Borg warner
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Since I mostly use the heavy loads for hunting, flash suppression is not important to me. 

Sticking to the more popular powders, because having been stationed in smaller towns and cities, I could always be able to buy the popular powders.   

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11 hours ago, Borg warner said:

I prefer the Hogues to the Pachmayrs. Smith and Wesson has even used Hogues as factory grips. a Six inch barrel will help somewhat but the best solution is to reload and find the load level that you shoot best.

Otherwise the HSM 44M-1 240 grain hardcast SWC "Cowboy Load" develops 1100 fps and 705 fpe of muzzle energy and is hotter than any 44 special load. barrel length really does make a difference. I had a 6 1/2 inch model 29 with the underlug barrel and the factory Hogue grips and it was a pleasure to shoot. A friend of mine has a 10 1/2 inch Ruger Blackhawk and even with the factory grips it handles recoil beautifully even with the hottest ammo.

   
         

I was watching Hickock .45 play with a Smith 29 and a Ruger Redhawk, yesterday.  He prefers Smith, but he did mention the Ruger was made to take heavier .44 magnum loads better.  He had a pretty 80's stainless example that doesn't look like the current Ruger line up with the barrel sticking out of the barrel, which looks odd.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Rellik said:

Since I mostly use the heavy loads for hunting, flash suppression is not important to me. 

Sticking to the more popular powders, because having been stationed in smaller towns and cities, I could always be able to buy the popular powders.   

That is the nice thing about being rural.  Heavier calibers can be used.  In the city, a .44 magnum might over penetrate a bit.  I love good looking revolvers.  I prefer stainless over blued, simply because once you scratch up bluing, getting it fixed properly is a PITA.  In theory one of my dream models should be coming in today, a Smith 66-1 2.5 inch.  They are good for +p .38 over the .357 friendly 686's I have.  But, I like it for a BUG.  It comes with wood grips, which I don't like, because it may look good, it transfers a lot more energy into the hands.  I ordered the older looking model of Pachmayer to dress it up, and a leather belt holster.  When the weather clears up this coming week, as it should be here, at the LGS today (I hope), I look forward to putting some gold dots through to see how it works out.

I was researching for the .44 mag for later this year, since I sold my 629 awhile back, even trying to magnaport it.  I think the solution might be going the Ruger way,  a longer barrel, Hogue grips, probably porting it, wearing shooting gloves, and if push comes to shove, putting specials rather than magnums.

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1 hour ago, Moshe said:

I was watching Hickock .45 play with a Smith 29 and a Ruger Redhawk, yesterday.  He prefers Smith, but he did mention the Ruger was made to take heavier .44 magnum loads better.  He had a pretty 80's stainless example that doesn't look like the current Ruger line up with the barrel sticking out of the barrel, which looks odd.

 

 

The Ruger Redhog with the dumbass barrel sticking out of the barrel is the Super Redhog. The normal looking Redhog is the standard Redhog, otherwise just designated as the REDHAWK. Both guns are still being made today.

These guns are heavier (which is why they are sometimes referred to as Redhogs) and designed from the ground up to take much heavier loads than an N-frame Smith and Wesson. with standard loads that extra weight helps to soak up recoil. The Hogue grips for the Redhawk are also very effective.

The only downside to the Rugers is that the triggers are not as nice as a S&W but a good gunsmith can greatly improve them.

Redhog:

https://ruger.com/products/redhawk/models.html

Super Redhog:

https://ruger.com/products/superRedhawkStandard/models.html

Edited by Borg warner
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Yes, a nice stoned trigger is nice.  Though, I find it is easier for me to place my shots in single action.  But, I like the option of it just popped off right now, double action.

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1 minute ago, Moshe said:

Yes, a nice stoned trigger is nice.  Though, I find it is easier for me to place my shots in single action.  But, I like the option of it just popped off right now, double action.

With the Rugers, both single action and double action can be improved by a skilled gunsmith.

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For the first year I owned it, my 45C RedHawk became my "sofa"  gun.  During comercials, I would slow fire a spot on the wall.  During the movie, I would shoot the bad guys on the tv.  

You can do hundreds of reps in a single night and not get burnout.  Trigger finger gets stronger too, always an aid to great da shooting.  

After a time - silk.  Like the old guys revos.  

Sasha Seimuel.  Early 1900's 357.  Maestro de tigre.  

SW-.357-Magnum-Revolver-Jaguar.png

The-SW-.357-Magnum-Revolver.png

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On 5/30/2019 at 2:45 PM, willie-pete said:

I shoot .44 Magnum occasionally in ICORE matches. It's fun to hear people say " WTF was that ? " after the first few rounds.

 

What else would a man who "carried" a Titan II missile with a 9 megaton yield W-53 warhead shoot for fun?

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That is the conclusion I have come to.  Researching between the two a lot recently.  Ruger is heavier, and can contain the round a lot better. which probably with a 6.5 barrel, rubber grips and gloves might work.

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  • 1 year later...
On 5/31/2019 at 4:21 PM, Rellik said:

For the first year I owned it, my 45C RedHawk became my "sofa"  gun.  During comercials, I would slow fire a spot on the wall.  During the movie, I would shoot the bad guys on the tv.  

You can do hundreds of reps in a single night and not get burnout.  Trigger finger gets stronger too, always an aid to great da shooting.  

After a time - silk.  Like the old guys revos.  

Sasha Seimuel.  Early 1900's 357.  Maestro de tigre.  

SW-.357-Magnum-Revolver-Jaguar.png

The-SW-.357-Magnum-Revolver.png

Cool picture of Sasha. I recall reading about him in one of Capstick's books. 

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I prefer Pachmayr's over Hogues because the Pachmayr's have rubber covering the back strap while Hogues don't.  That's where most of the recoil is directed, so that's where I want the extra padding. 

I reload my .44 Magnum 240 grain loads to go around 950 fps.  I find the recoil is less flinch inducing at that loading.  I noticed that I enjoyed a similar powered loading in my Redhawk .357, so I calculated what it would take to drop my .44 Magnum load down to the same foot pound level with a heavier bullet.  Yeah, my .357 loads are loaded down a bit to begin with.

The twins: Top - Redhawk .44 Magnum, Bottom Redhawk .357 Magnum

redhawksCropMed.jpg

 

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