44 Magnum Timberwolf

[Hickory]

Last night I finally got my claws around this new-in-the-box 44 mag Timberwolf.
My local gun dealer had this in his own personal collection and made the mistake of telling me about it 20 some years ago.
After letting him know from time to time that this gun would be happier spending it's days in the woods then in a dark metal safe, he finally relented and over the last several weeks we worked out a very, very good deal.
I don't know if I'll shoot it right away, but it sure fits my hand & shoulders good & fast.

[mark2935]

Sweet little gun. It will be just right for stalking in the woods. IMR4227 will be kind to you. Enjoy.

Mark2935

[Artful]

Friend had one in 357 - they are quick on target - glad you rescued a safe queen.

[Mk42gunner]

I've said it before, but I really wish I would have bought a few of these guns (in both calibers) when they were new on the market and inexpensive. Good luck with your new addition.

Robert

[Hawks Feather]

That looks like a nice collector's piece or maybe a nice shooter.

[Hickory]

Well, I have decided to shoot this gun.
Last night after supper, I ran some 44 specials through the gun just to see how it cycled. The trigger group is amazingly a lot like that of a Remington 870. Loading three rounds in the tube I held down the slide release and pumped this action and they cycled nice and smooth.
Next, I loaded three 44 magunm rounds into the magazine loaded with 429460 HP boolits. These are the ammo I'd hoped to hunt with.
The action seized up without even getting the round in the chamber. Using a stiff piece of plastic I finally got the cartridge out of the action along with the other two from the magazine tube.
I checked the over-all-length and it was 1.688". I have a 20 round box of factory ammo by Federal that had over-all-length of 1.610 these functioned without a hitch in the gun. At the moment I have only two boolit molds that can give me an AOL of 1.610 or less and one of the two is for a 44-40 that drops a boolit at .429" a little small I think for this gun. But, I don't know as I have not slugged the barrel.
By the way, the manual that came with the gun says the barrel has a 1/25 twist with ten lands & grooves.
What I may try first is to shoot 44 special cases at 44 special velocities with the 429460 hp.
This is more than enough to dispatch a deer out to 50-60 yds.
After this deer season I'll explore different boolits for the 44 magnum case to have the option of full velocity if needed. And I don't want to resort to using jacketed bullets if I can use cast.
More to follow as it unfolds.

[cwheel]

I've had the .357 version for 20 years or so. Mine is fussy about the bullet profile ( likes round nose bullets, and not semi-wadcutters ) and the OAL of the round. Also seams to like the pump worked sharply for best feeding. Sure wish I'd got the 44 as well, the 44 ended up being a very rare rifle, only 500 or so imported by Springfield from IMI. Unfired, in the box with the papers like what you have, you have got quite a bit of money there. Mine impressed me as being a nice fast,handy and lite rifle, hard to imagine those not selling well in todays market, a shame the quit importing them
Chris

[Hickory]

Well, a few minutes ago, I ran a slug down the bore of the Timberwolf and like most rifles in the 44 magnum caliber, they run large, .432" to be exact.
I have an extra H-I sizing die in .430" and a roll of 220 grit sandpaper. I guess I'll spend a few hours opening it up tomorrow to .433". Earlier this year I bought a MP mold #434640 that should work fine with 44 special brass. But, like I mentioned in the above post, it doesn't take much to kill a deer. I don't see any reason not to get 1100+ fps with this boolit & brass combo.

[Hawks Feather]

So Hickory is probably way to modest to share this, but I certainly am not. If you look at the pictures above you will see where Hickory said that he was planning to shoot the Timberwolf in .44 magnum that he recently purchased. Well I had the honor of being there for a few shots today. After blowing up several gallon jugs of water at 50 yards I didn’t do so well at 100 yards. So Hickory thought that it might be a good idea to shoot a paper target to see where they were hitting. So this is the target that I shot – well maybe I should say shot 5 rounds. Heck since I seldom shoot anything with open sights I was feeling pretty good about the target. After all, the wind was blowing and as I said open sights. So, Hickory thought that maybe he should shoot the paper target and see where it was grouping for him. My feeling good about my shots vaporized (just like those gallon jugs of water) when we started walking close enough to see the three shots that he had just made. Since nothing ‘really’ happens without pictures, I thought that I would just shoot a couple.


So this is the target with my five shots showing with a line.



Then there is this showing Hickory’s three shot group.

Overall I think he is pretty happy with the way it is shooting.

[Mk42gunner]

Now I'm really wishing I had bought one of those when they were available.

Hawks Feather, align the sights then focus on the front sight.

Robert

[Hickory]

Jerry and I shot the "Wolf" this afternoon and it was windy.

When we started on the milk jugs they blew up pretty good a 50 yds. But shooting them was to get used to the gun and see how it handled. The windage was right on when we started shooting paper, but low. The boolits that Hawks Feather used were MP 434640 HP with 8.5 grs of Unique with the correct AOL of 1.610" that would cycle through the action.

When I shot, I used some left over 44 mag ammo from 15-18 years ago that had 300gr XTP with the bullet seated out to the second channler groove, and because they were over length they had to be feed into the chamber one at a time. I don't remember the powder was or the weight.

Because the cartridge was longer than the suggested AOL and that they chambered easily I am thinking there may be a lot of free bore in this gun and the reason that I got a better group the Jerry. More testing and load development will be needed to get this gun running strong.

[Hawks Feather]

Because the cartridge was longer than the suggested AOL and that they chambered easily I am thinking there may be a lot of free bore in this gun and the reason that I got a better group the Jerry.

Thanks Hickory, but I think Mk42gunner might have me pegged.

[nagantguy]

Great score, I luster after one of those for years, never seen one in person, now outta my price range. Good for you, put her to work in the deer woods and give us a full report!

[Mk42gunner]

Thanks Hickory, but I think Mk42gunner might have me pegged.

I wasn't meaning to pick on you; I just spent way to many times on the rifle range almost chanting, "Sight alignment, sight picture, front sight." Those six words cover pretty much every iron sight situation.

Robert

[Hawks Feather]

I wasn't meaning to pick on you; I just spent way to many times on the rifle range almost chanting, "Sight alignment, sight picture, front sight." Those six words cover pretty much every iron sight situation.

Robert

None taken. While I am all too familiar with what I need to do, I can't seem to control bifocals that focus on the rear sight, have the front fuzzy, and the target impossible to see. It is an age thing and the reason that I have scopes on everything that I shoot and want to hit anything.

[Mk42gunner]

Perfectly understandable, in fact I have been seriously considering getting a few scopes that feature the fast focus eyepiece for those times when I have either vision correcting or safety glasses on.

Of all the physical problems with getting older, the loss of perfect vision is the one that bothers me the most.

Robert

[rking22]

Nice score and nice shooting. I kick myself for not picking one up when they were introduced. I am somewhat enthralled with pump guns, have had to settle for remington 25s, 760s and a 141 in centerfire. i was hopung the Timberwolf was and indication of more interesting (slide action) designs becoming available, sadly that wa incorrect. Good hunting, and looking forward to pics! Oh and I hear you on the eyesight, rear sight "furry", front sight "less furry" target "mostly a blur". I still use irons, and hunt with them, just takes a while to get off a shot

[nekshot]

I would think these would sell better than those win 97 clones and they sold very well and function ok. Enjoy your neat gun and I also wish I bought one of these when they were on the market. Maybe some one will start cloning it.

[Three44s]

To to self: Don't mess with Hickory!

Good job!

Hawks Feather,

You might look at those peep fronts. I believe it's MOJO sights sells a front peep in a set for Mosin rifles that helps on the focus issue?

Best regards and don't have any more fun than you all can stand!

Three 44s

[Hickory]

This morning I went to the backstop and measured the three shot group with a caliper.
When measured, it was 1.038" center to center.
I still have a lot of work to get a good combination of the right boolit & accuracy with a good amount of killing power for deer.