The all-new 44 Magnum

[fatelk]

I picked up an old issue of Gun Digest from a few years back. There is an interesting article in it about the new S&W 44 magnum, written by Col. Charles Askins. I thought it was pretty good, regarding the severe recoil and amazing power, enough to destroy engine blocks.

"This Magnum is a man's gun. It ain't for boys. Word reaches me that some joes, probably with lace on their panties, are putting on gloves to shoot it. I hear that after a few shots your hand feels like you had been swinging at some fast balls with a cracked bat.":)

[wellfedirishman]

Fatelk, is there any way you can scan that page in higher resolution to make it readable? I'd love to see the full text, but have a hard time reading the pic you posted.

Thanks for sharing, that is cool.

[Longwood]

The 44 Mag changed the grip world in a hurry.
Anyone who insists on wood grips deserve a sore hand.

[subsonic]

Wood grips can work. For me, it's really more about shape than material, but each hand is a little different.

And to think, we now have the .500 s&w, which has (going from memory) roughly 3-4x the recoil energy and muzzle energy of a hot .44

[Hickory]

A S&W 329 loaded with
full house 310 gr Boolits
and wood grips can beat
a person up pretty good.

[tek4260]

A S&W 329 loaded with
full house 310 gr Boolits
and wood grips can beat
a person up pretty good.


I agree! Wood grips would beat a person up better when you pistol whip them. :wink:

[ClemY]

The first time I shot a Model 29 with full power ammo, the thing tried to grind a spot in my thumb with the checkered grips. Checkering, or lack thereof, is more important to me than grip material. All my .44s have smooth grips or rubber grips. On my 629 Mountain Gun I finally put on the grip from the .500 Mag to keep that light gun from tearing up my hands.

[Jack Stanley]

I really like the nylon monogrip that Hogue made for mine . I only use bullets in the two hundred fifty grain range when full power is needed . The grip allows me to get a better grip on it without the need for checkering . Lots of 2400 in the case will still make the gun stand up right smartly when it's needed . But most loads use Unique to duplicate .45 Colt or .44-40 loads , biggest game here is whitetail and they haven't got Kelvar jackets yet :mrgreen:

Jack

[skimmerhead]

Dem fella's with lace on their panties better not try the .500 mag ! i wonder if they wear garter's with dem...[smilie=l:

skimmerhead :castmine:

[9.3X62AL]

Col. Askins was "colorful", to say the least.

As I slide inexorably into dotage--a process my rotten daughters love to remind me of--my tastes in recoil (and other things) have changed. Moderated, let's say. My enjoyment of large caliber revolvers is not reduced in the least, but like spicy food and racy women........maturity has refocused my viewpoint. Those 240-250 grain SWCs need not split the sound barrier to make venison nor to punch paper. Heck, even Elmer Keith said "1200 FPS is all you need" with his #429421.

I do tape on a band-aid to cover my lowest thumb knuckle when firing the BEEG LOADZ. If someone has an issue with that, they can keep it to themselves AFAIC.

[fatelk]

Fatelk, is there any way you can scan that page in higher resolution to make it readable?
Let's try this. If it's too small, try CTRL+ a few times to enlarge it.
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm274/fatelk/44mag1.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm274/fatelk/44mag2.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm274/fatelk/44mag3.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm274/fatelk/44mag4.jpg

[Swampman]

I shoot wood grips and I don't think the recoil amounts to much. I enjoy it. My friends 14 year old son will shoot a whole box of hot .44s and ask for more.

[PanaDP]

That's a pretty cool old article. I would hate to read too much of that cheesy prose, though. "These hyar parts"? Give me a break.

[429421Cowboy]

Love the old stuff, those guys really knew what a gun should do and not what you should have to settle for. We live in a world of choices, they had to make these things happen by pushing the big companies to turn out products that they needed in a time of compromises in handgun tech. Think about how badly some of us "need" a particular gun for a certain job, then think about being involved in 1-3 firefights on one shift and what kind of gun you'd want! Those guys had stones to go out there with Colt SAA .45's or S&W .38's and do that stuff every day! I can't imagine what kind of leap it must have felt like to get the first true magnums in their hands.

[Longwood]

I learned early on to not shoot them like the Colonel did for the photo shoot.
I bet his wrist was sore later.

[jblee10]

I love the picture of the one hand shooting. It looks like a great gun for double taps, ha. I believe that 44 ammo has tamed since it first came out. But I forget the original ballistics.

[MT Gianni]

It is the same Col Askins that called this "Elmers little cannon" after Elmer Keith killed the mule deer his hunting companion wounded with a 600 yard shot.

[Dale53]

I had the pleasure of meeting Charlie Askins quite a number of years ago at the NRA Convention. He WAS a colorful gentleman of wide and quite serious experience.

Frankly, I was quite favorably impressed with him. He was the "Real Deal"...

Dale53

[ClemY]

I had the pleasure of meeting Charlie Askins quite a number of years ago at the NRA Convention. He WAS a colorful gentleman of wide and quite serious experience.

Frankly, I was quite favorably impressed with him. He was the "Real Deal"...

Dale53

He was also a stone killer.

[Dale53]

When people are shooting at you, that can sometimes be helpful, I imagine...

Dale53

[bjeffv]

I have a new 44mag s&w 329pd which weighs in at 26 ounces. I put 25 rounds down range the first day I got it. Its really not that bad of recoil, my hand was sore the next day but really no worse than shooting a snub nose 38 spl fifty times.

I have a six inch anaconda, honestly I can shoot full loads thru that all day. I think the article is a bit of hype considering the weight of the original smiths.

Ahh the 500 now there is some recoil. But with the grips they have on the gun it isn't so bad. My first revolver was one of these, its a great gun but due to the weight its only practical to haul to the range.

Personally I really thing the 44 magnum round is a great cartridge. Best all around revolver to me.

[Mal Paso]

I love the picture of the one hand shooting. It looks like a great gun for double taps, ha. I believe that 44 ammo has tamed since it first came out. But I forget the original ballistics.

Elmer's bullet with Elmer's Load can do 1600 fps from a 6" gun with a muzzle energy about 1400 lbs. The S&W 500 top end is only about 60% more.

[starmac]

The 44 mag got toned down considerably not long after it was introduced iirc.
I read that there were used ones on the market with a box of shells minus one pretty regularly the first year.

[Longwood]

My Dan Wesson made my hand sore the first time I shot it. Nothing like the single six I had tried one round in once, many years before however.
I put the rubber grips on it and used it to knock over 53 pound steel rounds at 220 yards for a while then continued to shoot thousands of full bore loads through it and it never made my hands or any one else's hands sore.
I controlled it with two hands and unlocked elbows off handed and have a photo of me with it at full recoil and the ten inch barrel is pointed at about 45 degrees behind my head.
It must have kicked like a mule but I never noticed much.

I bet the Colonels, hand hurt, wrist hurt, and elbow hurt, the next day.
They were some pretty tough dude's but the 44 mag sure made a better and much more accurate, shooting style, popular in a hurry.

[leftiye]

I shoot wood grips and I don't think the recoil amounts to much. I enjoy it. My friends 14 year old son will shoot a whole box of hot .44s and ask for more.

For me the trick is to keep the upper knuckle of my thumb out from behind the frame. If the recoil goes into the web of my hand, there's no problem. I just made a new set of grips for my model 29 (spalted maple) to celebrate the new 8 3/8" barrel and minimum dimension chambered new cylinder. All fitted the way the factory don't do.

[leftiye]

"He was also a stone killer." ClemY


When people are shooting at you, that can sometimes be helpful, I imagine...Dale53

Totally agree. BAD is the only way to be if you have to play that kind of game. Don't apologize either! Knock knock - rude awakening time!

[Cowboy T]

I know what you're thinking..."did he fire six shots, or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off...you gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"

Well, do ya, punk?

:-)

To me, the S&W N-Frame is the most aesthetically pleasing revolver ever made. Its proportions are just perfect, even over the K-Frame. A more beautiful wheelgun has not been crafted, IMHO. And with sane loads, the Model 29 will last a lifetime.

[ClemY]

"He was also a stone killer." ClemY



Totally agree. BAD is the only way to be if you have to play that kind of game. Don't apologize either! Knock knock - rude awakening time!

Doing it and getting away with it in his time was possible. Now it would probably land you in jail with the guys you had helped to put there.

[leftiye]

Always someone who just has to ruin the moment, eh?:kidding:

[Judan_454]

I put pachmayer grips on 44 mag 629 didnt like the way felt so I went back the stock grips they fit my hand much better. I do agree with the point is that its not what they made of its the shape that they are, thats more important.

[LAH]

I use the service stocks with a Tyler T Grip. Works great for me. Recoil into the web of my hand where I'd rather.

[rhead]

My son's girlfriend (17 nd maybe 110 pounds) wanted to try super blackhawk with wood grips one day. She fired off a cylnder full of 18 grains 2400 and 255 grain Keiths.
She did comment that the recoil was unpleasant.
I did not ask about the lace, but I would consider the presence to be legitimate.

[Mal Paso]

I think the 6" Half Lug is one of the nicest looking guns ever. You'll never sell me a full lug.

If it wants to recoil, let it!

[44deerslayer]

I have 10 S&w model 29 from 5 screws to vcomps my new one is pc conceal carry it is small to hold half size n frame i have been shooting a 29 since I was 5 years old with wooded grips I have no problems with recoil and I load 20 grains of 2400 429421 and my bowling pin load is 6.5 grains of unique 429421 I average 10,000 to 15,000 a year. All with wooded grips