Pietta 1873 in 44 mag?

Mark-II

Mark-II

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I already have a Pietta in 45colt, but I do have a lot of 44magnum and little desire to shoot my model 29 lately.

Anyone have one of the 44 magnum models? How does it shoot? How's the POI vs the POA?

Have you shot stuff in around the 1000fps range (240grainers)? Accurate? I have zero intention of shooting full house 44mag. My stuff is more like hot 44 special.


I realize they aren't expensive, and if I can hit a pop can on the swing at 12 yards I'm happy enough. I've just had enough of fixed sight revolvers that toss their shots high and left, or to some other quadrant.


I'd be looking at either the 5.5 or 7.5" one. Probably the 7.5...
 
Bought a 5.5... 2 years ago and POI was 8 inch low and one foot left at 20 yards...

First, i filed the front sight to level the shot and then crooked it to the left to zero the windage, it was perfectly centered, i only shoot full house loads in all of my 44 mag, for this Pietta 44 Mag, the recoil was painful in the hand...

For that reason it found a new home, i think the quality is ok, lesser calibers should be more enjoyable... JP.
 
I think that that round with a SAA grip would be pretty unpleasant. I have a SAA in 44-40 and it is a really nice shot, I know that this won't use up your .44 inventory but perhaps you can try to achieve a similar load to the 44-40.

I have found with the SAA that your trigger finger has to be right on or you can get some pretty nasty POI. I have yet to file or bend a sight, I usually shoot steels at 10 yards. Of course each gun is different...
 
The grip does play a huge part in it I know. They are a style of handgun very susceptible to nuance.

I just wonder if the sights are set up for each calibre or if they basically are all for a 250gr projectile trucking along at around 800fps.

I have a Remington conversion in 44-40. Very nice calibre. I just am not currently loading it on the progressive so it's more of a treat to shoot.

I had a super Blackhawk once, but the 10" barrel was far too long and the square trigger guard made just about everything unpleasant, though recoil wasn't vicious
 
It's funny how many folks say that the SAA style guns are "natural" feeling and that the "fall readily to hand". I found that wasn't at all the case. It took me a while to realize that they don't like to be held up high around the "neck". I was hitting all over the place until I finally fell into the proper mode and held them lower and with the pinky of my hand hooked under the butt end. Once I did the guns started shooting nice and straight when I used a nice in line neutral hold on the gun so it fit neatly in line with my hand and forearm.

They are not a gun that takes kindly to a two handed hold either. Even the fast cowboy action folks only sort of hang their support hand around the strong hand so their thumb is right there to #### the hammer. They don't really use the second hand for actively supporting the gun.

If you're doing any of these things then it may explain the wild shots you've had. I had 'em too before I learned to "toe the corporate line" with my grip.

Since you have a .45 already you likely know that the fixed sights revolvers are only good for one bullet weight and charge power. Alter either one and the new group will be somewhere other than the old one. Fixed sight shooters need to settle on what they are using for ammo and then stick to that recipe. Or find another which provides the same POI as the first one. That's simply the way it is.

If you've got a bunch of .44Mag ammo that shoots at 1000fps I would suggest that this is about the strongest you want to use in an SAA. I shoot that same sort of ammo in a Super Blackhawk which is bigger and heavier and find it's great fun but up there pretty close to my recoil tolerance for ammo that I want to shoot in quantity. I'm not sure how I'd feel about that same power in a lighter 1873. I suspect I'd want to tone it down to around 900fps for 200gn and probably 850 for 240gn.
 
I had a pietta in 44mag...I liked it....the sights were a little off (common apparently) but it was a substantial piece, beautiful blueing, brass trigger guard, and mine was really well put together....I honestly only sold it because I'm not a huge wheel gun fan...I think I may regret that....kinda miss it...lol
 
You guys aren't helping ;)

No, I indeed have figured out the SAA hold for me. I shoot everything in the bullseye style, since it's the most comfortable.

I do tend to hold them a little deeper in the hand - I don't generally like the pinky-under grip, which is well nigh impossible on the army grip frame regardless.

As much as it is Yet Another Peacemaker, I do like the feel of them better than Rugers. Can't really explain why.

I've nothing against throttling back my loads. I was mostly interested in whether the Pietta is sighted to shoot full house loads, cowboy loads, or....?

I think I'd settle on the 7.5". It just looks right. My tombstone is a 7.5 and looks to have the same grip frame.

Still have not decided to jump or not...
 
Oh, you'll certainly have to dress the front sight down a hair. I don't know for sure but I THINK that they copy the original sight blades that are used in the .45Colt guns which have lighter barrels due to the thinner walls from the bigger bore. Everything else gets the same sight blade. So when I got my .357 model Pietta SAA's they shot low by about a yard or so at 20 feet.... :d

But really other than the personal concern or screwing up this is a good thing. I'd rather buy a gun like this which I need to take metal off than find out it shoots too high for my preferred loads and need to install a taller sight or weld back on some metal. One direction is easy and can be done by just about anyone. The other needs a smith or well equipped metal shop.

I do suggest that if this is your first or just your second time trimming a sight to match the POA to the POI for your load that you sneak up on things. As you say there's some minor but significant variation in frame shape and grip sizing. It takes a few shooting sessions to sneak up on the best hold.

You'll also want to settle on your ammo loads for bullet style and weight and muzzle velocity before you do any final trimming to match the POA to the POI. It's a bit of a commitment since revolvers are affected by this stuff so much.

Ya know I've often thought that if I could work out the loads JUST RIGHT that I could well end up with a slightly hot 240gn load that matches the POI of a milder 200. Where this magic combo ended up I don't know. But I'd sure want a gun that has adjustable sights or to leave the front sight on a fixed model a bit tall until I worked it all out. It would be nice to have some mild 200's at around 750 to 800fps for new shooters or recoil shy folks or days I wanted to just shoot mild stuff. Then to have a stouter 240gn running up around that 950 to 1000 fps range for when I wanted more of a thump. I'm pretty sure it can be done. Just need to put in the time to get there. Then both would work with the same sight height.

I've always wanted to play with my .357 Piettas in that way. I currently shoot CAS events with 130gn LRNFP and 3.8gns of Titegroup. It's a softer load but still perky enough that I feel like I'm shooting a real gun instead of some little poofy thing. It would be fun to load up some .357Mag cases with a 158gn or maybe 180gn bullet and a suitable powder charge for a little more thump that hits at the same POI. Something still well below full power magnums but that would give more of a thump for some range time smiles.

Too may projects.. FAR too little time......
 
I find that my grip can have a fairly significant impact on....well...the elevation of the impact lol.

I've never had a gun that shot low, so it sometimes amounts to taking a fine bead as well.

There's no reason why I can't shoot my 200gr 44-40 bullets. I just have about 3000 240 grainers sitting in pails waiting to be loaded.

I'll revisit load development the next time I have to run some. Probably using 231 or Titegroup. I just have a pile of 231 on hand so I usually reserve that for revolvers and the somewhat cleaner TG for pistols. I think I was using 8 or 8.4 TG at one point. It was fine in the N frames but got a bit uncomfortable when I got a model 69. I have been using HS-6 since then, because at the time it was all I could get, and it's softer shooting.

The only .38 cals I've played with are the open tops. Fun guns but the sights are not exactly. Lol

I've a Ruger .357 flat top that I'm liking. For some reason I've taken to this one where I didn't with a near identical Blackhawk I had previously. Can't explain that one either.,

I might get into the cowboy thing some day, but for now I just like to shoot for relaxation, and for me competition is the antithesis of that. I did just order one of those norc 1897 clones, though...


Perhaps the answer that I need to look at here is to wind down with the 44mag over the next couple years and stick with 45 Colt.

...but the SAA isn't a bad deal in the meantime... I'll decide tomorrow
 
kg said:
The .44 Mag chambering comes with the Alchemista/1860 grip doesn't it.....?
Click to expand...

Looks like an Army grip to me. Same as on the Tombstone. I find it a bit large, but on a heavier recoiling gun a pinkie under grip gets a bit painful for me, so I prefer it to the navy size
 
I had a fatter aftermarket grip on a Ruger once, and it felt foreign to me. Oddly enough I generally prefer smaller thinner grips, though I have big hands. I just like to bury a pistol in my hand, I think.

I'm probably going to go for the 7.5" one.... Darn it they're still a very good deal when everything else has been creeping up to a grand and beyond.
 
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