44 Magnum handguns

BCRider said:
Oddly enough the longer barrel doesn't make the gun more accurate other than it provides you with a longer sight baseline to work with. The only thing you get that is truly gun related from the longer barrel is a little more velocity.

Ruger and S&W both have their fan base. Having had both I tend towards S&W other than the Ruger Blackhawk simply because S&W doesn't make a SA/loading gate style "cowboy" revolver.

The Ruger is stronger and more tolerant of full power and even "Ruger only" loads though. So recoil junkies are wise to stick with the Ruger lineup.
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I like both, Ruger and S&W. Admittedly, the only Rugers I've had have been single actions, one Super Blackhawk and an old 'Flattop' which I still have. It was a little 'well used' and has a set of Ruger factory staghorn grips. Also, it's had an aftermarket hammer and trigger unit installed and worked over and now has a let off comparable to the single action let off of a S&W.



My favorite is a 4" S&W model 29, with factory S&W ivory. I've had a number of 29's over the years and in both 4" and 8 3/8" and this one shoots the best of all.



A while back, I dressed it up with a Keith style holster made by Milt Sparks. The present model of that holster has a covered trigger guard but they agreed to make me a replica of the original.

 
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I have the Ruger SBH in about 8 inch. It had stock grips and I couldn't hang onto it. I put Hague grips on it and it made the gun shootable. It may not be as pretty but much better to hang onto. Mine has a scope on it as well, this is kind of cool. I bought it used for not a lot of coin.
 
I am looking at buying a .44 so I can apply for my wilderness ATC and am probably going to go with a S&W 629 6" with the half lug. It seems to me to be the best compromise of weight, size, and sight radius, plus I prefer the look of the half lug instead of the full one. I have Ruger and S&W in .357, and prefer the S&W.
Kristian
 
The inability to group well with a short barrel handgun relates to marksmanship, not gun accuracy. More practice is the answer. If I choose a handgun over a rifle, I want it to be as small and portable as is reasonable. When I want a long barrel, I want a stock to go with it.

 
so far i can say in regards to the S&W that i prefer the full lug under the barrel.. and tend to agree with Boomer.. short barrel for me since accuracy seem to not suffer from the longer barrel. Also.. since i can't carry any handgun in the woods (what a sad and ####ty situation, almost make me consider moving out of the country) it wont matter too much.. i'll get my Rossi Ranch hand 44 if i want an "American Pistol"/"Canadian Rifle" in the wood since i have no other choice!

Hey Boomer, are there Bears at your range or you found a way to shoot legally outside a range ?
 
graydog said:
Two things. While it is correct that a 4.2 inch barrel is just as accurate as a longer barrel it is far easier to shoot a longer barrel accurately. One more thing that the longer barrel does , it reduce muzel blast and felt recoil which is considerable when you are shooting full house factory loads.

Graydog
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True on both counts. It's just that from shooting shorter to longer I find that unless I'm shooting from wrist rest bags that all the longer sight baseline does for me is show me how shakey I'm getting. In terms of the actual shooting accuracy from short to longer baselines my free style accuracy is pretty much a wash since the limit is related more to my old guy nerves and old guy eyes.

I think for me that the longer sight baselines make it easier to see if I'm holding the sights accurately. But with a bit of care I can get groups that are just as tight with the shorter gun. So I'd suggest that it's more accurate to say that the longer sight baseline will HELP us shoot to our best. But it won't let us shoot any better than we can manage with the shorter barrel and a little extra care.

.... Now if the comparison was being made between the various less than 4" snub nose to 6" then yeah, No doubt that the longer barrel will help the shooter do noticably better. It's just that 4 or 4.2 is "enough" to get good accuracy so there's not the big difference between 4/4.2 and 6 in real practical terms like you'd see between a 3" sight baseline and a 6".

For my black powder revolvers they simply wouldn't look right if they were short. So 7.5'ers for those. Same for my Super Blackhawk with the full 7.5 barrel For my S&W revolvers I like both my 6 and my 4.2 options (I've got a re-barreled restricted Model 66 K frame that I just LOVE!). But I've also got a Ruger Super Redhawk that was bobbed to the smallest possible length that still fits the big front sight. So about 4.5'ish? And that's a hoot to shoot as well.

For me I'd not want a DA/SA revolver that was longer than 6". The 8 3/8" S&W's just look odd and totally unbalanced to my eyes. And that's even with being used to seeing my cap and ball long guns.

If you're going to shoot .44Mag in the handguns it would be a natural thing to go with a .44Mag rifle as well. The obvious choices are the lever action Rossi or Marlin. Someone also mentioned the bolt action Ruger 77. And there was even a semi auto tube fed Ruger at some point in the past which would be worth watching for on the EE. They go for a pretty princely sum when you do find one though. And of course there's the Thompson Contender and Encore single shot options as well.
 
i hope this little info is helpful, but if you're going to go with a 44,
maybe look into some reloading if you havent already.

i know half a dozen people who ended up selling the gun down the road
because it was just too expensive :p

also, about the barrel length; having a longer barrel(being heavier near the muzzle) will
help with accuracy and getting your sights on lock after your first shot.
consider that because 44 aint no 22
 
masa said:
i hope this little info is helpful, but if you're going to go with a 44,
maybe look into some reloading if you havent already.
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you are the second to suggest i should reload.. i already specified in this thread that i reload 44 magnum already. no offence taken but just to make things clear

While having a Dillon 650.. and a Ranch Hand in 44.. why not get the revolver and full length lever action to go with it (reason to created this thread)

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Johnn Peterson said:
I like both, Ruger and S&W. Admittedly, the only Rugers I've had have been single actions, one Super Blackhawk and an old 'Flattop' which I still have. It was a little 'well used' and has a set of Ruger factory staghorn grips. Also, it's had an aftermarket hammer and trigger unit installed and worked over and now has a let off comparable to the single action let off of a S&W.



My favorite is a 4" S&W model 29, with factory S&W ivory. I've had a number of 29's over the years and in both 4" and 8 3/8" and this one shoots the best of all.




A while back, I dressed it up with a Keith style holster made by Milt Sparks. The present model of that holster has a covered trigger guard but they agreed to make me a replica of the original.

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Love that wheel gun, and love that holster. If I recall, you said the make and model of holster in another thread, and just by coincidence, I was looking for it last night, but without success. So, if you don't mind stating it again, what Milt Sparks model is the holster?
 
RE: Accuracy

FWIW, I picked up a Stainless 4.2" GP-100 (in .357, mind you) a couple years ago for my first wheel gun and still remember being completely dumbfounded at the accuracy when taking it out for the first time. My wife still laughs about the look on my face after the first 6 rounds went down the barrel. You could drive nails with the bloody thing and it was immediately placed on my "never sell" list.

I liked the 4.2" because it felt better balanced in my hand than the 6" - not as nose-heavy. As already stated here, the longer barrel has a longer sight radius and a little more weight up front should help tame some of that colossal jam - maybe more of a consideration for a .44 than a .357.

That's my 2 cents...
 
Chuckbuster said:
Love that wheel gun, and love that holster. If I recall, you said the make and model of holster in another thread, and just by coincidence, I was looking for it last night, but without success. So, if you don't mind stating it again, what Milt Sparks model is the holster?
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In the early 70's at the end of a visit with Elmer Keith:D in Salmon Idaho, as I was preparing to depart, I had Elmer pose for a quick photo by my truck:).



A short while back, I decided to get a holster for my 4" 29, the same as what he has in the above photo. From discussions on my visit and from info in his books, I knew it was made by Milt Sparks so I googled them, sent the above photo and made an inquiry about obtaining a reproduction.:( 'Apparently' to meet safety and liability concerns, there had been a slight change to the design, as below.



I made a special request for a closer replica of what Keith had and they obliged:D with the following.



As to the exact model,:redface: I'm sorry, I'm not sure what it is. Best I can suggest is to check out their site and send them an e-mail.
 
funny thing is, i heard about Elmer Keith 3 days ago.. being not too old, not too young.. never heard about him before. The history about him is incredible.. and i have him to thank about being the grandfather of the 44 magnum!

Boomer.. i researched atc's before.. and being rarer than a flying pink rhino.. i wonder what kind of work you are into.. and also.. are you guys recruiting :) I work in IT, i should be able to carry , we got vicious bugs!
 
DocBurN said:
Boomer.. i researched atc's before.. and being rarer than a flying pink rhino.. i wonder what kind of work you are into.. and also.. are you guys recruiting :) I work in IT, i should be able to carry , we got vicious bugs!
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Well if you like bugs, those aren't birds flying around, they're skeeters


But this settled em down for a few minutes
 
I know this will get some hate, but if you're reloading, the desert eagle isn't the impractical P.O.S. that the sour grapes crowd label it as. I like mine a lot. I shoot it whenever I can. It's such a beast. It takes most of the punch out of the round. Also with the rail on top, putting optics on it is super easy. Downsides: obviously cleaning is more of a chore, and extra mags can be expensive.
 
Makembite said:
I know this will get some hate, but if you're reloading, the desert eagle isn't the impractical P.O.S. that the sour grapes crowd label it as. I like mine a lot. I shoot it whenever I can. It's such a beast. It takes most of the punch out of the round. Also with the rail on top, putting optics on it is super easy. Downsides: obviously cleaning is more of a chore, and extra mags can be expensive.
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i judge my Rossi Ranch Hand as i would the desert eagle.. seem to be a novelty gun.. not the most practical lightweight survival home defence bear killer gun on the market.. ;)

My rossi is too short to be a rifle... too long to be an handgun .. some people will tell you its a useless gun.. i dont care, its fun too shoot! (also i bought it since its the shortest non-restricted legally carryable in the woods in canada with is 24" OAL that defy the canadian gun laws of 26").. same reason why i will get a desert eagle too in 44 magnum some day (its not gonna be right now.. but i am a gun enthusiast and collectionner... i will have a DE in my safe.
 
Older S&W revolvers with their wonderful finish, deep blueing, light crisp SA triggers and smooth DA triggers seem to me to be the zenith of wheelgun development.

I looked for a 4" 629 for a while and then settled for a 7.5" Super Redhawk (.454 Casull) for ATC carry.
 
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