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S&W Revolvers: 1961 to 1980 3-Screw PINNED Barrel SWING-OUT Cylinder Hand Ejectors WITH Model Numbers


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  #1  
Old 04-11-2011, 01:42 AM
Frank46 Frank46 is offline
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Default New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special

As usual I was at a local gun show. All I wanted was some ammo and to look over some rifles and pistols. I just had to walk by a dealers showcase when I spot a m24-3 with a 4" barrel in blue. Kinda grungy as when you shoot a revolver but don't clean it. But then it all stopped when I saw the 44 special
on the bbl. Been looking for one of these for years. serial number is abz1624. bore was full of leading so it was obvious no attempt had been made to clean it up for sale. Few minor scratches and some holster wear at the muzzle and a few other places, Honest wear I call it. Guess I'm going to start reloading
for this cartridge. The only problem that I can see is that the firing pin bushing has a couple dings in it and it appears the right side of the hammer is rubbing the frame. Does anyone have any cures for these problems short of sendiing back to S&W?.. Thanks, Frank
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Old 04-11-2011, 11:59 AM
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Grunginess and mechanical issues aside, I'd have snagged that one, too. I'm kind of a sucker for anything that says 44 Special on it. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on whether the CFO is involved) I don't hang around where there are a lot of those around, or I'd be in the poorhouse owing back rent.

I think the four-inch 24's are about as good as it gets. If it wasn't totally sacrilegious, I'd have my 6-1/2 incher rebarreled.

I bet you'd make a few fellas happy if you posted some pictures of that little honey.
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Old 04-11-2011, 12:19 PM
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There is an unwritten rule on this Forum that any thread about .44 Special revolvers MUST have several photos included !

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Old 04-11-2011, 02:25 PM
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I think there's only 2500 people on the planet that owns one of these in this barrel length. Welcome to the club. You have what I consider the PERFECT revolver of all time if you reload. This one here was bought new by me in 1983, traded to my brother for a Harley dirtbike, left by him under a pillow in a Bakersfield motel then retrieved, then bought back by me for $350 twenty years ago. It ain't going anywhere now. Congradulations on your new prize.
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Old 04-11-2011, 03:40 PM
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2498 other people who have a 4" M24-3. I have two, a matched set. My favorite shooters as I have yet to fire my 2 Flat top 44 Special Blackhawks. Enjoy your prize. Any good S&W mechanic should be able to fix the problems you mentioned. Bob!!
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Old 04-11-2011, 03:51 PM
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Nice catch. I have one of the 4 inchers also. Truly a reloaders dream cartridge.
The hammer or trigger rubbing on the frame can be corrected with shims which you can get from Brownells.
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Old 04-11-2011, 05:09 PM
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I bought the only 24-3 that has come my way. It was a 6 1/2", I never really warmed to that length barrel. After a decade or so I came across a new 4" barrel on Ebay. I had to send the revolver and barrel back to S&W to have the new tube mounted.

The 6 1/2" barrel had to be sawn to get it out, evidently the early non pinned barrels were screwed in really tight. S&W got the 4" tube in and I added some Skeeter Skelton stocks and a standard hammer and trigger.....

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Old 04-11-2011, 06:38 PM
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Quote:
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I bought the only 24-3 that has come my way. It was a 6 1/2", I never really warmed to that length barrel. After a decade or so I came across a new 4" barrel on Ebay. I had to send the revolver and barrel back to S&W to have the new tube mounted.

The 6 1/2" barrel had to be sawn to get it out, evidently the early non pinned barrels were screwed in really tight. S&W got the 4" tube in and I added some Skeeter Skelton stocks and a standard hammer and trigger.....

I love the end product. Those grips are really nice. Who made them, Herrett's or maybe Deason (I think that was his name).
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Old 04-11-2011, 06:46 PM
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There is an unwritten rule on this Forum that any thread about .44 Special revolvers MUST have several photos included !

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Old 04-11-2011, 06:47 PM
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Here's my 4" 24-3. Pretty much the same story as yours. I saw it being carried around by a guy at a large gun show in October of 2010. It was filthy and wearing oversized black rubber grips! Snagged it for $375.00 (I know, I know)

Got it home and it cleaned up real nice. Replaced the rubbers with these nice football targets shown in the picture. Standard hammer and target trigger. Very nice SA let off. Used it to shoot a whitetail buck in November of 2010.

It and my 58 are probably the two most well liked of the 12 or so S&W revolvers I own. This one would probably be the last one to go.
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Old 04-11-2011, 07:58 PM
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I love those .44s! While I missed on the oppurtunity to snag a 624 4in. a few years back, I did manage to grab a Second Model Hand Ejector in .44 Special, with 6.5in. barrel and nickel finish! I just wish I could post a picture of the old girl. Dale
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Old 04-11-2011, 08:19 PM
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I like .44 specials. Here is a picture of 6 of them. I recently bought my 7th, a 5 1/2" ruger flatop blackhawk a lipsey special overun? Havent taken a picture of it or shot it yet. I belive my 23-3 4" is my favorite and makes the most sense. I have a 6 1/2" triplelock that was sent back to the factory in 1949 and hand target sights added, a 1906 copper queen colt that was converted to 44 special by old gun writer tommy bish, a HD that I had converted with a model 21 barrel, a 1950 target, and a 3 rd gen colt saa in 4 3/4". A lead to my new ruger is under the pictures.




Ruger New Model Blackhawk Blued Single-Action Revolver Model 5233
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Old 04-11-2011, 08:52 PM
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My humble .44spl collection. Actually one of the 6.5" 624's is gone, traded it for a 3" 657. I'd picked up the "spare" 624 for a buddy who said he really wanted one. He changed his mind so I hung onto it figuring at some point....
Anyway, .44spls and .41mags make my heart beat a bit quicker.


Kevin
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Old 04-11-2011, 08:59 PM
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Default 4" tapered barrels

The 4" Model 24 is a Beautiful firearm!

For those (like me) that want the option to fire .44 Magnum but prefer the tapered barrel profile over the Model 29's Heavy Barrel profile ....
There are the Model 29 and 629 Mountain guns .


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When the 24-3 was introduced, 7500 units were produced with 2625 being 4" and 4875 were 6 1/2".
Stroker
There were also 5000 Combat Variation 24-3's with 3" barrels and Roundbutt frames .
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Old 04-11-2011, 10:46 PM
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The 4" M24-3 is a rare bird, only 2625 of them where mad ine '83. As I've stated before, I wass 22 years old with a newborn child when they came out, working in a small shop for not much more than experience and enjoyment on the side, but I swore I would have the set of 4" & 6", which at the time sold for around $285 each.
I took me 25 years to do it, and much more money, but I finally assembled a set of NIB unfired examples.
The 4" took the longest, I paid alot for it but would have doubled the cost to get it to complete this set.
Congratulations on getting something so rare for modern standards, enjoy shooting it. I never will shoot mine now that it is in hand.
Total cost on this set of 3, the 4", 6.5" and the '85 release 3" was $1700. I feel confident I could double my money on it if I were inclined to sell, which will never happen. I don't have another 25 years.
Some of you may have seen this before, to those i apologize, but here they are again.
Enjoy that 4", you got a good catch there.



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Old 04-12-2011, 01:21 AM
Wyatt Burp Wyatt Burp is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Smithhound View Post
The 4" M24-3 is a rare bird, only 2625 of them where mad ine '83. As I've stated before, I wass 22 years old with a newborn child when they came out, working in a small shop for not much more than experience and enjoyment on the side, but I swore I would have the set of 4" & 6", which at the time sold for around $285 each.
I took me 25 years to do it, and much more money, but I finally assembled a set of NIB unfired examples.
The 4" took the longest, I paid alot for it but would have doubled the cost to get it to complete this set.
Congratulations on getting something so rare for modern standards, enjoy shooting it. I never will shoot mine now that it is in hand.
Total cost on this set of 3, the 4", 6.5" and the '85 release 3" was $1700. I feel confident I could double my money on it if I were inclined to sell, which will never happen. I don't have another 25 years.
Some of you may have seen this before, to those i apologize, but here they are again.
Enjoy that 4", you got a good catch there.



RD
I would like a Lew Horton since I have the other two but they are hard to find in Ca.
Both my 24-3's came with football target grips. Your 4" grips must be original but i didn't know those came on these guns. Here's my .44 Specials. The bottom pic is a John Gren conversion in .44 Special black powder only.


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Old 04-12-2011, 02:21 AM
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Thank you all, you really made my day. I had no idea that the 4"
bbld m24's were that rare. Took quite sometime to remove all the leading in the bbl and cylinders. But yet another problem has reared its ugly head. I'm suspecting that the crane may be bent. At first the shiney spot on the breech end of the bbl might have been leading. Nope its where the cylinder is rubbing on the end of the bbl. If one were to look at the space between
the cylinder and barrel there is a slight gap on the left hand side. But no gap on the right hand side. When cleaning the cylinder face it had tiny bits of lead sticking to it. Evidently when fired since the chamber axis was off the bullet was hitting maybe the side of the forcing cone causing some leading. And since this is a fairly rare revolver I would like to have it fixed by someone who knows what they are doing. So any help along these lines is greatly appreciated. By the way that same dealer had police revolvers from chicago, detroit, and I saw a few model 65's in nickle from the Baton Rouge police department. By then it was too late to even look at them as my wife was watching me very closely. The rear sight elevation and windage screws would not move, so I gave them a bath in kroil and this morning they freed up very nicely. And yes I do reload and have a set of 44 special dies waiting on cases and large lead/alloy bullets. Thanks again,Frank

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Old 04-12-2011, 09:39 AM
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Frank46, If you're 24-3 is having bent yoke problems the best place to send it is S&W. They do really nice work on the old revolvers.....


Wyatt Burp, The stocks on my 24-3 are from Blumagnum - the successor to Deacon Deason who made the original
"Skeeter" stocks.
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Old 04-12-2011, 11:47 AM
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Now you have me thinking about cutting my 6.5" barrel down to a 4" or 5" .....

Its already had some factory work done so no foul.


It never ends.

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Old 04-12-2011, 01:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Engine49guy View Post
Now you have me thinking about cutting my 6.5" barrel down to a 4" or 5" .....

Its already had some factory work done so no foul.


It never ends.


5 inch bbl would be real nice.
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Old 04-12-2011, 02:30 PM
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Sketter really liked 4 1/2" and had one built at that length. I think it sounds good too! You sure wont see another!
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Old 04-12-2011, 04:04 PM
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I posted this one a while back in the 1981 and newer section and did'nt get too much response on it. Made me think that there was no love for the 44 special. Looks like I should have posted over in this section. Might be the longer barrel that keeps folks from liking it , but it is minty and sure looks unfired. A local gunshow find. Should I keep it and shoot it or should it be sold to a collector? Never had a 44 special before , do they shoot well?

Twig.
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Old 04-12-2011, 04:23 PM
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Great pics and stories here. Congratulations to all of you on your M24-3s.

Mine was purchased about 2000. I had wanted, once more in my life, to buy a NIB S&W. I did not want the truly new models but one I would have bought "back then" when I didn't have the finances. So I thought my best chance for a NIB would be one of the M24-3s in 4 inches. I had seen a few over the years at the guns shows. It seemed that when they were introduced not all of them sold. So I was seeing them at the shows for about $450.00 NIB.

By the time I started searching I was not privy to this forum, but knew of the online gun auctions. I found mine in Maine for $600.00. But then it was sold before I could buy it. THEN...it showed up in Chicago about three weeks later for $650.00. Bought from Maine and once in Chicago the new owner had the hots for a stainless semi-auto "Wonder-45". This time I didn't hesitate although I thought I was paying a bit too much.

I'm glad I bought it.

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Old 04-12-2011, 05:16 PM
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Yep I use 'em a lot. Just seems to be a well rounded caliber.

Blue or Stainless




And a stubby for headin' into town.


And a couple of off breeds like this for riding the range.

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Old 04-12-2011, 06:05 PM
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I started out a few years ago with a 3" NIB 24-3, then I found a NIB 6 1/2". I always wanted a 4" to finish the set. I haven't found a 4" 24-3, but I did find a 4" 624 last week that pretty closely fils the bill. It came from a friend who was "thinning out" his collection. It even came w/ a factory letter that it was checked out for the recall & passed. Shoots like a laser beam too! Here's another good chance to show it off again:
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Old 04-13-2011, 01:37 AM
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Gentlemen, thanks for the kind comments regarding my 24-3 4" 44 special. As I told Matt in an e-mail it was pure dumb luck. I've always had a hankering for a revolver in 44 special. Last summer from the same dealer I got a 624 6.5"bbl 44 special. Now going into summer I got this 24-3 4". Got a couple 44 caliber moulds somewhere but in the meantime will seek out maybe a couple boxes of lead bullet 44 ammo. Shot my last 50rd box of federal lead bullet in a tricked out 44 magnum. I must say that the photography of the members here is as good as the revolvers they take pictures of, its just that good. You guys really made my day. Thanks again, Frank
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Old 04-13-2011, 08:34 AM
Wyatt Burp Wyatt Burp is offline
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I posted this one a while back in the 1981 and newer section and did'nt get too much response on it. Made me think that there was no love for the 44 special. Looks like I should have posted over in this section. Might be the longer barrel that keeps folks from liking it , but it is minty and sure looks unfired. A local gunshow find. Should I keep it and shoot it or should it be sold to a collector? Never had a 44 special before , do they shoot well?

Twig.
Of course we are going to say shoot it. The real nice touch was making the 1983 guns with 6 1/2" rather than 6" barrels to keep things original. Just because all the 4"ers are popping up here does not take away from the longer one. It is an elegant mellow gun to shoot. They are all real pleasant unless you hotrod them which I don't. My 4" gun has the sideplate screws moved around in this picture which meant my brother peeked in there before I bought it back from him.


This is a 1982 or 83 Colt .44 Special with a nickel cylinder numbered to the gun. Colt didn't want to waste those 483 nickel cylinders laying around so they did this...


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Old 12-17-2014, 08:34 PM
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I have a 4" model 24-3, serial number ABZ 51xx. All original NIB. Paid a little over $400.00 for it. It had been sitting in a safe of a collector since the seventies or early 80's. Any help on date and value appreciated. Thanks, dawg
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  #29  
Old 12-17-2014, 08:52 PM
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New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special  
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I have a 4" model 24-3, serial number ABZ 51xx.

It had been sitting in a safe of a collector since the seventies or early 80's. Any help on date and value appreciated.
Well, not since the "seventies." The updated Model of 1950 was not introduced as the Model 24-3 until 1983. Only 7,500 were produced in 1983 and 1984. All were in the ABZxxxx serial range. 2,625 are reported as shipping with 4" barrels and the remaining 4,875 had 6 1/2" barrels. So you have a scarce and highly thought of revolver. Keep it clean.
Here are some photos of the one in my collection (a 6 1/2" example). I've not yet found a 4" mate for it, but I'm keeping my eyes open for one that is as clean as the one shown here.





As for value, I got mine in a trade with a friend who is a Colt's collector several years ago. He had $895 on it, but gave it to me straight across for a commercial 1911A1 National Match with the scarce fixed sights. He needed one for his collection and I had no money in it at all. It had been given to me by the son of my dad's high school buddy after he (the father) passed away. My dad was fine with me trading it off for a Smith that I wanted.
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  #30  
Old 12-19-2014, 01:02 AM
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I like the heck out of the 6 1/2" barrel, myself. Try and get someone to cut down their 27.
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Old 12-19-2014, 01:04 AM
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New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special  
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Originally Posted by adustydawg View Post
I have a 4" model 24-3, serial number ABZ 51xx. All original NIB. Paid a little over $400.00 for it. It had been sitting in a safe of a collector since the seventies or early 80's. Any help on date and value appreciated. Thanks, dawg
That's a good question - would like to hear from others on that. I have an unfired 4" 24-3 with box, papers and tools I bought three years ago for $783.00. I keep an eye on Gunbroker prices for these but only a couple have come up and I don't remember the sales prices. Given the recent uptick in prices for late 44 HE-framed revolvers, $1,500.00 would be a conservative value IMHO. Sellers are asking that for the less scarce 6&1/2" version. All the .44 Specials are scarce and should fetch higher prices than they do.

Last edited by 44R; 12-19-2014 at 01:06 AM.
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Old 12-19-2014, 01:34 AM
Frank46 Frank46 is offline
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New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special  
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Guys, kinda thought I lost my marbles as my first post was dated 3 1/2 or so years ago. Then I saw the dates on the most recent posts. Was at a local gun show and no S&W's in 44 special I know cause I looked. But did see one of the Ruger 44 specials. Only thing I didn't like is that my pinky finger sits on the underside of the stocks. Have fired the 3" 24-3 with some win silvertip ammo and sort of shooting a 22rf. Got brass,dies and bullets and a winter coming up. Good combination. Thanks again, Frank
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Old 12-19-2014, 07:57 AM
bob42 bob42 is offline
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New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special New S&W model 24-3 w/4"bbl 44 special  
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Does a 21-4 Thunder Ranch count. It's a 4 inch 44 special & a great shooting piece. Found in a Tennessee pawn shop last summer. My first 44 spl. but not my last.
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Old 12-20-2014, 12:58 AM
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... Have fired the 3" 24-3 with some win silvertip ammo and sort of shooting a 22rf. Got brass,dies and bullets and a winter coming up. Good combination. Thanks again, Frank
Frank,

Have you ever loaded .44spl with Pyrodex? I haven't tried that but was meaning to. I don't really shoot my .44's at all. I really only load .45 and .223. I did try some commercially loaded cowboy action ammo in my 2nd model 44HE and liked it a lot even though it was a little dirty - much dirtier than earlier nitro powders like Unique. The smoke and smell was nice and would the experience a lot of character when shooting these newer .44 specials.

Kevin
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