Thanks for all the kind replies. I had no idea how widespread the ".44 Special Obsession" had spread. I guess I shoulda known, since as noted Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton were preaching the Gospel of .44 Special long before the current evangelists, John Taffin, Duke Venturino and Clint Smith came on the scene and took up the pulpit. Here's how I came to join the "believers."

I had my eye on a pair of .44 Special Smith & Wesson revolvers I'd seen in a gun shop, so I went to try to decide which one to get. First choice was a S&W 396 Airlite SC Mountain Lite .44 Special: Scandium frame, Titanium cylinder, chrome-lined 2.5" barrel, Hogue Bantam grips, Hi-Viz front sight, adjustable rear sight, 5-shooter, light as a feather. What's not to like?


Took her out to the gun shop range. Fifteen rounds of 200 gr. Remington and Ultramax full-house .44 Special gave me all the answer I needed. My left hand started to sting about the third round. Good thing I'm ambiguous. Switched over to the right for the second five, then back to the left for the third five. Enuff! Now I know why one gun magazine writer called this Mountain Lite the "Mountain Bite!"

Plus the sights were way off. Shooting high and to the right several inches. I guess I know why the previous owner never got it zeroed in. Back to the gun shop and Plan B.

Or maybe it was Plan A all along and I just had to get over my infatuation with ultra-lite.

S&W Model 21-4, 4" barrel, blue steel with Rosewood grips for $450.

I had looked at this beast earlier and the price was so low I figured it was used. But when I asked about shooting it, the shop owner said it was new and unfired and he had picked it up at an estate sale recently. I didn't argue with him. After a very brief haggle, I forked over $425 and walked out of there quick before he could change his mind. Davidson's price? I checked: $750+!!!

I may get arrested for robbery, but at least for now, she's mine.

As I noted earlier, she bit just a bit when I shot her so I found the set of Pachmayr grips and now she's a genuine pleasure to shoot, even with those snappy 200-gr. JHPs I got from Georgia Ammo.

I thought I might be shooting only light Cowboy loads when I bought my first .44 Special, and if it had been that 396 ultra-light, maybe so. But the 21-4 can handle all the full-house loads I've tried so far, up to 240-gr., with all ease.