A "Special" State of Mind (The .44 Kind)

[HamHands]

My only .44Special but it's a choice one, & my favorite handgun in good company... This M24-3 Lew Horton Special... I shoot steel with and carry both in the Woods and on Nightly Neighborhood Dog walks. The trigger in both DA/SA is amazing and I can stage a single action shot without touching the hammer 98+ times out of a 100 I'm so familiar with that DA trigger pull.

The .44Special Cartridge is so diverse... load dependent it's even capable of taking any game/animal in North America I'm confident.

 

[STCM(SW)]

I've sold some of my target .44's but still my 1950 cut down to 5", 696, and two others.
That dam Elmer & Skeeter got me going with there write up's.
I don't count my old M29......

 

[Burnston]

Great writeup Sir. Thank you. I kinda' like the .44 Special myself..

Those are dandy. Nothing beats stag or ivory on blue steel.

 

[Burnston]

Yup, a 44 special is hard to beat.

Here is a pretty rare King 4th Model Military 44spl with red reflector sights. It shipped originally as a 4" fixed sight and then King did their magic. Shown with a S.D. Myres 'jockstrap' floral carved holster.

That holster is a prime example of why I cannot have nice things. I'd have it scratched up and muddy. Beautiful indeed; thanks for the pics.

 

[Burnston]

This pic is old......The guns are old..........I am old......But I still enjoy therm and their kinfolk not on display. I adopted Skeeter's load way back and see no need to change. 7.5 grs of Unique behind my 250 gr cast SWC....Good enough for cock roaches or bears......That OP feller would probably nice to hang out with.

I appreciate the compliment. Sadly, spending the bulk of my time with horses and cattle dogs I'm a bit of a pain in the rear, and I tend not to share my ammunition. Bless the anonymity of the internet.

 

[Burnston]

I applaud the OP who has demonstrated in words and pictures how "special" the .44 S&W Special really is. I have to confess, my two .44's (a Ruger Blackhawk and S&W Model 24-3) are mainly in the safe and sometimes take a trip to the range to do nothing but punch paper. However, you have demonstrated just how practical and effective this fine old cartridge can be when carried as a working gun to take game and get rid of predators. With the right load in the right gun handled by a highly competent shooter, the old .44 will get the job done. Thanks for sharing.

It has taken a lot of time and work, and more than one close call when I was concerned I didn't have "enough gun." Fortunately, this turned out to be more shooter error than a pistol problem, and I began to practice more from the back of a moving horse. Thankfully I've yet to have another occasion to test my new skill.

 

[Teep]

Wonderful write up and photos. I truly envy you, hope to see more of your post.

 

[SAFireman]

That holster is a prime example of why I cannot have nice things. I'd have it scratched up and muddy. Beautiful indeed; thanks for the pics.

Yup, I can't hunt, work cattle, or fences with that kind of leather. For those days we have rigs like these:

 

[bgrafsr]

I have 3 .44's.
A 1919 .44-40 Colt SAA with one piece Ivories.

A 3rd Gen. .44 Spl. with Sambar Stag stocks.

Lastly, a custom built, by me, Smith model 624, with a .44 Magnum barrel I installed, because I liked the heft of the heavier Magnum barrel.

 

[Burnston]

I have 3 .44's.
A 1919 .44-40 Colt SAA with one piece Ivories.

A 3rd Gen. .44 Spl. with Sambar Stag stocks.

Lastly, a custom built, by me, Smith model 624, with a .44 Magnum barrel I installed, because I liked the heft of the heavier Magnum barrel.

I'm proficient with the Smith, but I long for the Colt. Mine is a 3rd gen as well, with one piece Red Stag from Zane Thompson.

Did you have a cylinder gap issue using the .44mag barrel on the 624 frame? I started my m28 conversion with a .44mag barrel but the gap would have been much too wide and he'd have had to mess with the barrel to make things right. I instead opted for an m24 takeoff from a member of this forum.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I appreciate the compliment. Sadly, spending the bulk of my time with horses and cattle dogs I'm a bit of a pain in the rear, and I tend not to share my ammunition. Bless the anonymity of the internet.

I share your thoughts. I only share ammo with my son if needed. And you can count the folks I've invited onto my private range in the last 20 years with your fingers on both hands.

 

[Mbrgr1]

Great post!

Good to see others out in the country.


First time my 44 made it into two posts in one day, but what the hell...


624 4" from 1985, a sweet carry gun.


Thanks for posting!

 

[HamHands]

Good to see others out in the country.


First time my 44 made it into two posts in one day, but what the hell...


624 4" from 1985, a sweet carry gun.


Thanks for posting!

I love the way Hard Cast Keith's seem to "Auto Align" into the cylinder's charging holes from a Speed Loader with minimum effort offering a much faster reload time.

My old M625, Keith's, and HK Speed Loader made for my fastest reloading times in a revolver to date.

That is a lovely 4" M624 and those grips, goodness, they are sweet!

 

[bgrafsr]

I'm proficient with the Smith, but I long for the Colt. Mine is a 3rd gen as well, with one piece Red Stag from Zane Thompson.

Did you have a cylinder gap issue using the .44mag barrel on the 624 frame? I started my m28 conversion with a .44mag barrel but the gap would have been much too wide and he'd have had to mess with the barrel to make things right. I instead opted for an m24 takeoff from a member of this forum.

I have a lathe, so I had no problem cutting the barrel shoulder back to obtain a .004" b/c gap. I then recut the forcing cone to 11 degrees.
As I had used a blue Model 29 barrel, I had Andy Horvath scrub the .44 Mag logo off and restamp the barrel with .44 Special. The gun was then sent off and I had a red ramp insert installed and then had it hard chromed.

The picture doesn't show it, but I installed a smooth color case hardened combat trigger and a color case hardened target hammer.
The gun is very accurate.

 

[jcs266]

I LOVE the .44 Special. It's by far my favorite handgun round. Currently the only dedicated .44 Spl I have is the 5-shot 3" Ruger GP100. I carry it alot and find it the perfect size sidearm in a Simply Rugged pancake holster.

My 4" .44 Mtn Gun has mostly had .44 Special rounds through it. Another huge favorite. I grew up with Skeeter and Elmer so I know what you mean, those were great and entertaining books indeed.

 

[Fishinfool]

OP - You have some beauties there. My favorite .44 spl is a USFA (bottom gun) that shoots to the sights at 25 yards with a 240 swc at 875 fps.

Larry

 

[S&W ucla]

Great post, really enjoy seeing working guns doing what they were made for! I tote a M69 4.25" around the farm occasionally. (44spl loads most of the time). Had a 696 that somebody really wanted so I let it go. I like the smaller 44 L-frame and prefer the longer barrel of the 69. Kinda think Elmer and Skeeter would have too!

 

[buffalo4star]

Seen some outstanding 44's on this thread. 44 Spl. has been a favorite for longer than I can remember. Wanted to post my three beauties that are all working guns. A third generation COLT NFSAA and two 1950 44 targets. The latest is a factory 4" that the previous owner / owners put to some heavy use but not abused and it is a great shooter.

New photos of pre 24 4" now with moose antler stocks made by
bigmtnman who is a member of this forum.

 

[jcs266]

Ok we gotta keep this thread going... My all-time favorite round

My 1985 624...

 

[Daimler1989]

Gentleman,
I confess, my 624 is one very special amongst all my S&W revolvers. I had it roundbutted to have more options for stocks, but in the end I stick with Hogue round-to-square conversion stocks without finger grooves. It's very accurate with plated and jacketed bullets in .429/.430 and a 215 grs lead SWC in .432. Interestingly accuracy was also fine with heavy lead SWCs in .430 above 250 grs. Otherwise lead is not the best option, chambers are wide.

Will take it out to the range on saturday...

regards from Germany
Ulrich

original


Ahrends Retro Banana


Ahrends Retro Target


Hogue Hardwood


12 rounds 10 meters