Am I a weakling? 44mag

Polish-Jack

Polish-Jack

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Kelowna, B.C. Canada
I was finally able to find some ammo for my new to me Smith and Wesson 629 6 inch. Firing of one round is unpleasant, the second round is borderline painful, and the third round simply hurts. No more, thank you.

Am I a weakling, is this normal, or is Callahan a monster?
 
It’s more then most people can shoot, honestly 45 acp and 357 magnum is were most peoples limit is.

I thought about a big mag when I was buying more handguns, then I remembered my times trying them and most of the owners loaded them down anyways.
 
Good thing about a 44 magnum revolver is that you can load down and also shoot 44 special.

Also grips make a big difference. New round butt 629s that come with the full wrap around rubber grips, the x-frame grips or the full wrap around Pachmayr grips, really reduce the recoil impact.

The older heavily checkered target wood grips or hogue rubbers with the exposed backstrap are definitely not comfortable with full power loads for me.
 
Polish-Jack said:
I was finally able to find some ammo for my new to me Smith and Wesson 629 6 inch. Firing of one round is unpleasant, the second round is borderline painful, and the third round simply hurts. No more, thank you.

Am I a weakling, is this normal, or is Callahan a monster?
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I am going with weakling. I taught my 11 year old grandson to shoot many years ago. He shot my 5" S&W 629 with no issues. Not even 100 lbs soaking wet. I am trying to include the video. Going to have to find a new way to load video. Utube cancelled it.
 
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npbra said:
I am going with weakling. I taught my 11 year old grandson to shoot many years ago. He shot my 5" S&W 629 with no issues. Not even 100 lbs soaking wet. I am trying to include the video.
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What a great kid. Puts away his used casings, notes the recoil "hurts" the fingers but immediately loads 6 more. OP might be weakling or not but kid is a monster!
 
Your grip position with a boomer revolver is critical. A very different grip than a semi, especially with a an old west style hog leg. Aftermarket grips will also change your experience a great deal. I had a Blackhawk 44 that I loaded hot. The only reason it hurt a bit was that I was not willing to radius the sharp edges of the grip. I didn’t end up buying aftermarket grips because it got sold. I did load up some gentle loads for the MIL. 700 fps with 240gr bullets vs 1400. Very gentle.
 
emerson said:
Your grip position with a boomer revolver is critical. A very different grip than a semi, especially with a an old west style hog leg. Aftermarket grips will also change your experience a great deal. I had a Blackhawk 44 that I loaded hot. The only reason it hurt a bit was that I was not willing to radius the sharp edges of the grip. I didn’t end up buying aftermarket grips because it got sold. I did load up some gentle loads for the MIL. 700 fps with 240gr bullets vs 1400. Very gentle.
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I'd add that in general, the shape of single actions are way more comfortable for recoil than the most double actions. I have a 4.2" Smith 629 and a 4.625" Ruger SBH. The Ruger rolls back in the had (ok pretty aggressively but it doesn't inflict pain). The Smith really pounds the hand a lot more, but again i find the full rubber grips really help.
 
Polish-Jack said:
I was finally able to find some ammo for my new to me Smith and Wesson 629 6 inch. Firing of one round is unpleasant, the second round is borderline painful, and the third round simply hurts. No more, thank you.

Am I a weakling, is this normal, or is Callahan a monster?
Click to expand...

Don't forget, Callahan used a special load! (Dirty Harry Magnum Force)
 
I enjoy the bigger cartridges, 460S&W, 44 Mag, 50AE, would like to get a 45-70 revolver before I can't anymore. I haven't had any pain yet, but maybe that is because I'm young?

I can also shoot them one handed without issue.
 
my 6" 357 hits hard. I'm glad I can just buy / shoot 38 for it instead of having to load lighter. never tried a 44 but I'm guessing I wouldn't shoot many either.
 
Daugust said:
I enjoy the bigger cartridges, 460S&W, 44 Mag, 50AE, would like to get a 45-70 revolver before I can't anymore. I haven't had any pain yet, but maybe that is because I'm young?

I can also shoot them one handed without issue.
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I think this is the key, being young has a lot of advantages, I used to enjoy the 44 Magnum and even the 500 S&W but after a few rounds from a 44 Desert Eagle, I promised myself, never again. The recoil and the arthritis, it turns out, do not play well together!
 
Recoil doesn't bother me for some reason. I mean it affects my accuracy, obviously but I actually enjoy the physical sensation. You're not a weakling, you just have yet to aquire the taste for it.
 
Just throw out that 629 (just kidding) and buy a S&W Performance Centre revolver with the built in muzzle device. I had a S&W 460 and the recoil was quite acceptable in 460 and 454 Cassul. In 45LC the recoil was extremely soft. Hard to believe the difference…
 
I panic bought a 629 four inch barreled 44 mag and bought a box of HSM "Bear Loads". Same experience here and I've been shooting handguns including .357 mag for ~30 years. I can shoot the big loads well which is good because it's for "potential" remote work purposes. But it's just not a lot of fun. I got to round 4 on my first foyer before thinking I may need to change the grips.

But...with reloads it's an absolute pleasure to shoot. I'm using 200 grain cast bullets over Titegroup in a .44 mag case. I don't have the charge weight handy unfortunately.
 
ravenzoom said:
Don't forget, Callahan used a special load! (Dirty Harry Magnum Force)
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44 Special type load. For the OP, load your ammo to 44 Special levels, most of your issues will go away. You might also want to look into better grips, factory ones leave a lot to be desired in the recoil department for most people. Also, if you are shooting some of the hunting ammo like Buffalo Bore makes, dont. Your 629 wasnt designed to hold up to that level of recoil for any length of time. - dan
 
hickstick_10 said:
It’s more then most people can shoot, honestly 45 acp and 357 magnum is were most peoples limit is.
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Only a few people can shoot a .45 ACP (230 gr./850 fps) or .357 Magnum (158/1200) handgun as well as they can shoot a .38 Special revolver. And I will add that the vast majority of people cannot shoot a revolver in .38 Special (158/850) as well as they can shoot a .22 LR revolver. One hand, two hands, not much difference if you had a little bit of time pressure. Range: 25 meters. NO BENCH please ! And STOCK handguns only - meaning NO compensator or muzzle brake. Your choice of "grips".

Show me a man who can shoot a .44 Magnum (240/1300) STOCK revolver - no muzzle brake - every bit as well and as fast as he can shoot a .22 revolver or even a .38 Special revolver. On demand. Show me.

Sometimes, we all read too many and too much gun magazines. Often times.
 
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Polish-Jack said:
I was finally able to find some ammo for my new to me Smith and Wesson 629 6 inch. Firing of one round is unpleasant, the second round is borderline painful, and the third round simply hurts. No more, thank you.

Am I a weakling, is this normal, or is Callahan a monster?
Click to expand...

As with anything in life, the more you do something, the more you get used to it. Recoil is no different in this aspect. You're probably better off to shoot some watered down loads to get used to it. I found shooting 44 mag in a DA revolver a lot rougher recoil wise compared to 45 Colt Ruger loads in a SA revolver.
 
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