44 Magnum
Sam06
Member Posts: 21,244 ✭✭✭✭
I love the 44 Magnum its fun to shoot accurate, powerful and its also fun to reload for.
I took all of mine out because I am going to thin the heard. I have too many(If that is possible) and I just don't shoot them as much as I used to when I hunted with a handgun.
So I loaded up 700 rounds of ammo, 250gr KT hard cast with a gas check and 20gr of 2400 with a CCI LP mag primer, all loaded on my Dillon 550.
The guns I took out were:
S&W 629 Mountain Revolver 4"
2 S&W 29-2 One 4" one 6" both blue
Ruger Redhawk 5.5" Stainless
Ruger Old Mod SBH 4 5/8"
Dan Wesson stainless 8"
T/C Contender 10" with a scope
After shooting them I am getting rid of the SBH 4 5/8" gun there is a problem with it and it kicks too much. I handed it over to Ricci, he sent it to Ruger to get fixed. The Dan Wesson was the most accurate of the bunch. It even out shot the the T/C.
But my favorite was the Ruger Redhawk 5.5". It shot really good felt good in the hand and was plenty accurate with that load. I was kind of surprised I thought The 6" 29-2 would be my favorite but it was not. I may get rid of the T/C barrel too.
I shot paper targets from 10 yds to 50 and Steel from 20yds to 100. I also shot a Rossi M92 in 44 mag that I haven't shot in a long time. It was fun but I think I am going to get rid of it too.
Anyone out there enjoy the 44 mag like I do?
Comments
I've had about all on your list aside the Dan Wesson. Sold the last one a few months back and all the ammo except a lonely box of PMC that I found after the sale.
It is one of the few I reload for any more. I also have a RH5.5 stainless, with "express" sights. Also a 4 5/8 SBH only with the Bisley grip. That makes it more comfortable to shoot. My wife took her Idaho moose with a 77/44 using a Speer 270g. I took mine with a 629 and a 300g Nosler. The only 44 I am reluctant to shoot is a little Browning low wall "hunter" that is just too pretty to take out.😊
I like the Redhawk but don't have one right now. With the 454 I don't have much need for a 44 mag. I do however have the single shot 44 mag rifle. My brother in law just gave me 50 rounds he had from when he had a 44 mag smith.
I have owned several .44 Magnum firearms over the years. I have enjoyed handgun hunting for the majority of my adult life and still carry one whenever I go whitetail hunting. I don't shoot them anywhere near as much as I once did. 25 or so rounds and I am done. Still Love that boom when you touch one off....
I have kept a rifle/handgun combo in .44 Mag in my collection.....think I might have to go put a few rounds through them this week at the range... 😀
I like it in both handgun and carbine. Currently A Ruger vaquero 4 5/8, Smith 629 4" Smith 29-2 6",Smith 69, Marlin 336,Marlin1894, and Henry Big boy live here. Just sold a Dessert Eagle never shot it much and it was picky about ammo
After shooting them I am getting rid of the SBH 4 5/8" gun there is a problem with it and it kicks too much. I handed it over to Ricci, he sent it to Ruger to get fixed.
I hope you took all the 3 screw parts out of it before you had him send it back , as Ruger probably will keep them when they update it with the new model parts , those parts by themself of worth couple hundred dollars
BTW I did the shooting over 3 days.
The RRH is a great gun and easy to change the sights on. I have a green FO front with the standard rear with the white outline blacked out. I think the fiber optic front gave it an advantage with my 60 y/o eyes. I have been using a set of reading glasses with the left lens out to shoot pistols with. It works OK.
I have sold several 44's in the last few years. The one Ken is talking about was a 4 5/8" gun I had put a Bisley grip, trigger and hammer on. It was a good shooting gun but I just never used it. I also sold my S&W 629 classic 6", it was an older gun w/o the hole( I will not have a gun with a lock) and I had a scope on it. I killed a bunch of deer and hogs with that gun, but I don't hunt anymore so it needed to go.
I cast my own bullets. I usually do it in the winter and cast for a week or two. I can cast all the bullets I will need for the year sometimes. Yep I have plenty of lead(about 1.5 tons) and when I start casting I just do it till I am done. I do it outside and in the winter when its not too hot. I usually set up the grill and cook steaks and drink beer. When I am waiting for lead to melt I throw the ball for the dogs.......its like a camp out, I even have a few friends who come over and drink beer with me. My wife thinks I am crazy.
S-F if you can ever find an older Dan Wesson jump on it. Their 44 Mag is a stout pistol and I have loaded some really heavy loads in it, loads I would normally only shoot in the T/C. Mine looks like this:
I used it to shoot metallic silhouette back in the 80's and I have killed a few deer and a bear with it.
I have a Rossi in .44 mag. My brother was up from Florida a few years ago and I brought out a collection of guns for him to shoot. We got to the Rossi, I picked it up and fired a round at the target. As the bullet left the barrel he jumped back and almost fell on his butt. I asked him what happened and he said it felt like Mike Tyson hit him in the chest. I asked him if he wanted to shoot it and he said h**l no. 😀
Bubba my 44 mag Rossi is an older one w/o the stupid safety on top. It shoots good and has one of the smoothest actions of any lever action I have ever felt. It also has a great trigger.
I got it to hog hunt with in LA and its a real killer with my handloads.
I wish I had bought a Dan Wesson about 10 years ago they have gotten quite pricey I have a 357 Dan Wesson and it is one of my most accurate handguns
I love my 44s I currently own 2 Ruger SBH, a super Red Hawk Alaskan, a model 94 and a Rossi model 94 copy "pistol". I love the 44s best of all my guns but the arthritis in hands these days makes it harder to handle them... just recently added a single six in 22LR mainly from reading all the recent posts and I felt I needed a leaf killer... also just won a used Ruger AR 556 which is in process sent the MO yesterday to the seller. I also like my 9mms several carbines and pistols. For the last 20 years or so I only had 44s and 9s plus one 22LR bolt rifle. But a few years ago I inherited a old sporterized winchester in 30.06 that the Experts here identified for me and a marlin 336 in 30-30 haven't got around to trying those yet... Yes I do love my 44s!
and a marlin 336 in 30-30 haven't got around to trying those yet
when you get around to trying your 30-30 see if you can find some Hornady Leverevolution like these
they usually shoot great
Here is the Old Model 3 screw SHB 4 5/8" gun. I forgot it comes with a Simply Rugged holster(That is worth about $80 right there)
This is a nice shooting gun.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/885883271
Thanks for the tip on the ammo redhawkk480!
That is a nice SBH Sam06 I added it to my watch list, both my SBH have the longer 7" barrels so this shorter one has my interest.
Finish on Ruger 3 screw? cerakote of some sort?
The 629 MTN Revolver is a frankengun kind of. I wanted one real bad but they were either real expensive or they had a lock or no firing pin on the hammer. I didn't want that.
So I found a beat up 629 no dash with a 6" barrel at a gun show. The thing had been used and was kind of scratched up but not deep. I looked around and found a take off 4" MTN revolver barrel.............I am in business now!
I took the gun to a friend who had just retired and went to gunsmith school. I knew he was good because he was an Armorer in a tier 1 unit and at AMU. He fixed the old girl up gave it a trigger job and replaced some of the internals and all the springs. Re-crowned the barrel and gave it an 11 degree forcing cone then screwed the 4" on.
Presto I have a 44mag MTN revolver on the cheap(Well kind of) and its a square butt and it has a proper firing pin on the hammer.
Great gun and it shoots like a dream.
I too have all on your list except the Dan Wesson. I hunted all last week with the Super Redhawk. Didnt have to shoot it however. Im kind of partial to the Model 29 and I have two of them. I hunted with the Thompson for years, but Ive kink of lost interest in it. I do all my own reloading also.
Jimmy
I have never shot a Super Redhawk only held one. To me it felt kind of heavy but it was a big pistol the one I held was a 454 I believe.
Yep its a kind of silver grey cerakote. It looks good. The gun has a really good trigger, it hard to beat those Old Models and of course there is none of the stupid writing on the barrel. The gun is from 1970 and the grips are really good looking.
Mine weighs five pounds.
That is alot. I think a Redhawk is around 3#'s and its a heavy gun.
my SRH Alaskan with 2.5 inch barrel is 45 ounces unloaded (just under 3 lbs.).
I have a Ruger Blackhawk with a 10 1/2" barrel. Had it ported and I put a rubber grip ground down to my "grip" that is deadly. Hand gun hunted for years in Ill. (in mid Jan.). Call it my meat gun. Loaded with 300 grn. copper H.P. Hornady, Win. primer, #296 powder (25 grns.) and the lead set out to the outer ring. A deadly load. Got every deer (20+-) with the 1st shot with the exception of one and we got her the next morning. Topped with a Leupold 2X.
Very Heavy! Especially with a big scope on it. Helps controll some of the recoil. Usually resting it on something, like a stand rail when shooting. Freehand you wouldnt want to hold it up too long.
Yes they are and those 454 kick like a darn mule , I ended up selling off all of mine in both the 454 and 480 , with the Arthritis I have , it just hurt to much to shoot them
Only .44 Mag I have is a 1894 Marlin. It's a fun little rifle.
Never have had one but want one.........................I also see the utility of pistol/carbine combos.......the only one I have is in 9mm. Would like .357 and .44 also.......................soon our black guns will be outlawed......so those combo's will be good to have.
I carry a 6" Colt Anaconda when I'm hiking and that rascal gets heavy after a few miles. LOVE to shoot it though! I've thought hard about the SRH Alaskan, I'd love to shoot one and see what it's like.
Sounds to me like you need another 44 Magnum.😊
I had a pair of NM SBH in .44 mag,. I gave $150 for one and $175 for the other when the retail on new ones was over $300. 29-2 8 3/8", Marlin 1894, Ruger Carbine, and a 6" 629. I briefly owned a 3 screw SBH. Of these only the 629 remains.
I had a Colt in 44 mag I think it was an Anaconda. It was a 6" gun and it was the worst shooting gun I ever had. I had a gunsmith measure the cylinders and they were all over the place most were undersized.
I traded it for a 29-2 4" Blue gun and some boot. The 29-2 had the wood box all the tools and paperwork with the shipping box. It was maybe shot 20 times when I got it. I still have it and its still in good shape.
Nanuq907, the Alaskan with the Hogue® Tamer™ Monogrip® is very comfortable to hold, still has the 44 kick but easier on the hand than the SBHs with the wood, love both, but I'm more accurate with the longer barrels on the SBH. You should try to find a friend near by or a range that has one to rent and try the Alaskan out, course the price of them right now is double what I paid and I got it 4 or 5 years ago maybe more... whenever the last price spikes happened...
The SBH in 44 mag are not too bad on the hand with the dragoon grip. But the 4 5/8" guns with the steel BH grip will punish your middle fingers knuckle bad at least for me. I always put a dragoon grip on just about any BH or SBH I had and I liked to straighten the trigger. I think Ricci called the Sam modification.
@Ruger4me Thanks for the pointers on the SBH Alaskan. I have wood grips on the Anaconda and they're fine for 100 rounds or so, but for what the Alaskan would be used for, Hogues would be perfect.
@Sam06 I must have got lucky with my Anaconda. It's from the early 80s and I've compared it a lot with my '63 Python. I actually prefer the Anaconda.
Clarification: I had five pounds in my head thinking that's what I add in weight when I pack it. I started thinking about that after I posted. I weighed it, the revolver itself weighs 3 pounds 5.5 ounces, the rig including the holster, loaded SRH, etc. weighs five pounds.
I had a Colt Anaconda that was like yours it was like shooting a shotgun and the trigger on it would get stuck and not reset
I think Colt had some quality control issues in the 80's. After that I vowed to never buy another Colt unless it was an old one. I will say it was a pretty gun though and felt good in the hand but man it was a dog.