How popular is 44 Special and how many of you shoot that cartridge?

[Patrick L]

Yup I do. I have a Smith 24-3, and a 4 screw pre 29. I only run about one box of moderate magnums a year through the pre 29. I definitely like to baby her. She and the 24-3 see thousands of light specials though. Just a great round!

[Frank46]

I have exactly one 44 mag ruger redhawk. I have three 44 specials, 624 with 6.5" bbl, 24-3 with 3" bbl and a 24-3 with 4" bbl. Saw the 624 first and the rest just happened along. Love the 44 special. Frank

[Petrol & Powder]

Bedbugbilly - I too share your desire to avoid the magnums. I can shoot the magnums and own a few but I have no great affinity for them. I recently decided to return to the 44 Special after a long break from big bore revolvers. Economics drove me to the far more common 44 magnum platform but I predominately shoot 44 Special cartridges in that gun. I always liked the 44 Special and I re-discovered what a fun round it is. Soft shooting, accurate and easy to reload. The 44 Special will never replace the 38 special and 9mm in my house but it is here to stay this time.

[Vulcan Bob]

The thing I like about the .44 Special is that it is sort of like the .45 ACP, just enough to get the job done but not too much to be a handful. My standard load for it is a Lyman 250gr 429421 using Power Pistol at 900 fps or so depending on the gun. what is a bit surprising at least to me is how many shooters have never heard of the .44 Special.

[rintinglen]

I currently have three, and have had several (4, IIRC) others, and while most of them failed to live up to expectations--Skeeter, Elmer and those guys told me that the 44 Special was magic in brass--I have to say my Ruger Flat Top greatly exceeds my expectations. It is the most accurate 44 special I've ever shot or owned, and one of the three most accurate revolvers of any caliber I've ever shot. I heartily endorse getting one of the Rugers. Much more fun than a 44 magnum. If you can shoot a 1911 45, a 44 Special will be a piece of cake.

[Char-Gar]

I have never been much of a 44 Special fan. I have owned a dozen or so over the years, but have only held onto one. A 1933 Hand Ejector that has been customized by Micro at some point. It is a nice shooting handgun.

I much prefer the 44 Magnum, but I very seldom shoot magnum loads in mine, preferring to keep the velocity to below 1,000 fps. Very mild shooting and accurate load.

[smkummer]

Easy to load, many boolit options including several cast, power options from lovingly mild to enough to drop deer cleanly so what else do you need to know? My fun range load is with either bullseye or 700X sending either the Lee 200 FP bullet or Lyman's keith 245 grain bullet out at about 700 FPS and its deadly on V8 cans at 25 yards. Mild in my Colt 5 1/2 SAA. Skeeter's load of unique and the 245 Keith bullet going out at over 900 FPS is about as powerful as I load as 2 hands is needed for comfort with a SAA grip frame.

[atr]

I shoot more .44 spl in my Ruger than I do .44Mag....
240 gr at maybe 800fps

[buckwheatpaul]

I really admire the 44 special....since I have a ton of 44 mag. brass I load at 44 special velocity....I carried a S&W 29 on the streets for years until the DPD became kinder and gentler......the 44 special will do anything 99.999% of anything you need it to do....it harvests deer, hogs, and other animals.....it is a good defender round (bigger is better)....recoil is great and a joy to shoot.....it is not obsolete......only getting better IMHO!

[GLL]

Everyone should own at least one .44 Special revolver!
Shooting a pre-war HE is a real joy !





Jerry

[GLL]

A modern Model 24-3, 624, or 696 is more common and much easier on the wallet !





Jerry

[theperfessor]

I have more revolvers in .44 Spl than any other caliber. For fun, self defense, and almost any other legitimate handgun use a .44 Spl can do it.

Edit it add: My avatar shows me holding my winter carry gun, an alloy frame hammerless L frame S&W in .44 Spl. It has all the recoil I ever want. Can't imagine a magnum level load in this size gun!

[screamingjohnny]

I have enjoyed the 44 specials that I have shot and would highly recommend it.

[40-82]

A couple years ago I picked up a 2nd model hand ejector in 44 Special with the relatively hard find five-inch barrel. The young gunsmith doing the paperwork for the gunbroker transfer told me that it was a rare cartridge. I didn't realize that, but thinking about it I suppose he's right. Before WWII in the 44 Special's most famous period Smith & Wesson made very few of them compared to 38 Specials and Colt made even fewer. I always figured that the vast majority of serious field gunners in that day had at least used the cartridge, or knew quite a bit about it even if some of them did prefer the 45 Colt or the 45 ACP. Since 1956 the 44 magnum has supplanted the old 44 Special, but unless you're doing something that particularly calls for the magnum I'd rather use the 44 Special. One of the great things about the 44 Special seems to be that its not touchy as to what loads it requires. Just about any shotgun powder seems to shoot well enough in the 44 Special to use, something I can't always say about the 45 Colt.

[azrednek]

As I age I've become more recoil sensitive. I've learned to love 44 Special as I can shoot it for hours without the fatigue and flinching from shooting a large amount of mags. Just doesn't make sense to beat yourself up shooting large numbers of mag loads to punch holes in paper or kill tin cans. I usually end my shooting session by shooting a couple cylinders of mag loads.

I'm some what embarrassed by the short supply of 44 Special brass. I simply use 44 Spec data in mag brass. If there is a difference in accuracy shooting 44 Spec loads in mag brass compared to Spec brass. I haven't seen it on paper.

That's my 44 Special on top after I replaced the horrible looking factory grips. It was a Christmas present given to me.

[GLL]

azrednek:

I would enjoy seeing more photos of your very nice looking nickel .44 Special !
Is it a pre-Model 24? What is its history?

Beautiful grips !

Jerry

[W.R.Buchanan]

GLL: what is the exact model of the Stainless S&W snubby with the Ivory Micarta grips in your above post,,, and do you want to sell it?

I want one like that!

Randy

[Aunegl]

I've been shooting a Taurus 441 3", since the early 90s. I've noticed when I've taken women to the range, they loved shooting the gun. I make sure I have 50 rounds on hand, for my female guest.

[alamogunr]

I've got two .44 Spec, a S&W Model 696 and a converted S&W Model 28. I happen to be working up loads with several boolits right now.

I've got two .44 Mag. Both are Ruger BH. One is the Super with the square back trigger guard. If I don't get it made into something else, I'll probably never shoot it again. My middle finger can't take it and I don't want to wrap it or the glove enough to be comfortable. The other one just sits there because I had rather shoot other guns.

[44Vaquero]

I load quite a bit of .44 special brass for my Vaquero and my 1894 Winchester carbine. It's still got plenty of punch and does not scare the bejesus out of those who are recoil sensitive.