All I see is magnums and nothing in 44 spl. until I look at N frames and then I only see one. The price of used 696 guns has gone way past the price for a new 686 L frame. Plenty of people carry 5 shot 38's and don't feel the need for 6. I happen to be one. The 44 Special is pretty much dead if you judge that by what they now offer. I guess the 45 ACP is the new 44 Spl. Lots of those in the catalog. To me a 44 spl. is the big bore revolver caliber just as the 45ACP is the big bore pistol caliber. With the sucess of the 686 one would think they might offer it up in some other caliber again. I must be getting old.

Jim

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That's just somebody talkin.

Jim ... The .44 Special is not dead ... it continues to be a niche caliber for enthusiasts and purists, but not mainstreamers. The 296, 396, 696, 24 and 624 are excellent revolvers, and are highly valued and appreciated by .44 Special aficionados. I love my 624 snub and would not part with it for anything less than the proverbial King's ransom. I also owned a 396 Mountain Lite, but found the recoil to be extremely uncomfortable, and sold it. If you find a .44 Special revolver, buy it and enjoy being part of an exclusive fraternity.

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I'm with the banned ...

Gun buyers are some funny people. I have seen quite a few times when, for example, S&W has introduced a new model, say, the -624, and it gets lots of initial press. S&W makes a batch but can't sell all of them for normal prices, so they make a deal for them to one or more distributors, who offer them to retail buyers at prices often way below MSRP. We see the prices discounted and many times wait just a little more hoping the prices will drop further. Suddenly, they are all gone. People clamor for more, but S&W, looking at that gun's history, won't believe the demand is sufficient to generate enough sales to make it worthwhile to them. So the demand for, and prices of, these guns then escalate.

We are funny folks. We seem to want a lot of things only after they quit making them, while we didn't buy them when they were available.

That 5 shots would probably explain it right there, many people don't feel secure just having 6 in a revolver, let alone 5. So the initial sales didn't support keeping it in the line. It takes a person that's really confident about their marksmanship to be at ease with just 5 holes in a cylinder.

Now, an 8 shot L-Frame in .327 Federal, that would be an interesting proposition....

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

All Smith .44 specials are/were N-frames with the exception of the 696,396 & 296(5 shot L's).
Except for a gap in the late 60's into the early 80's Smith has always a .44 special of some sort in their line up. Recent from Smith were the 21's & 24's( 6" blue still in the classic line).
Now you can .44 specials from COLT, Ruger, Charter Arms(5 shot) and US Firearms................The .44 special is NOT dead.

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S&W Accumulator

"That 5 shots would probably explain it right there, many people don't feel secure just having 6 in a revolver, let alone 5."

I certainly hope you weren't serious with this comment. How do you explain all the J Frame .38 and .357 Magnum revolvers that have been sold over the past 60 years since introduction of the Chief's Special, not to mention the Ruger, Rossi, etc. 2" 5 shot clones of the Chief. There have been millions of these sold!

Because they are 5 shot? Hardly. Lots of Charter Arms and Taurus have been sold as 5 shot 44 specials.

Sidenote: this notion that people feel undergunned with only 5 shots is silly as far as your average citizen goes. I know these are old stats but most "firefights" involving average folks are over with a total of less than 3 rounds being fired by one or both parties combined.

Law enforcement TOTALLY different story.

As for the 44 special being dead, I sure don't think so. However I look at guns not only from being an enthusiast, but from a general public standpoint. A lot of calibers are "obsolete" when it comes to the average citizen who might own one or two handguns.

.22s, .38 spe, .357 mag, 9mm, 40 cal (somewhat) and 45 acp. Other than that it's people like us that keep things alive. 44 spe, 44-40, 45 colt, 41 mag, etc

44 mag has it's own kind of following.

Getting back to the 44 special, it's certainley a viable well conceived round. There should be more, but alas there aren't.

Actually the older I get the more I prefer .45acp in revolvers for versatility and availability of ammo.

So this forum is a bad place to ask: is this........obsolete or why don't they make .......anymore?

Someone here will always make the case for this or that. That doesn't always equate to the public at large.

Dave

I have no problem what so ever with a 5 shot revolver. Have been shooting just at 45 years. I have a 49, a 649, and now a 696. They are all 5 shot revolvers. I would say a whole lot of people will not go where they are not suppose to be. They do not go looking for trouble. They do not need a 15 shot plus 9mm. A J-frame 5 shot is enough to give them piece of mind and if confronted will use the revolver they have on them. A revolver is the perfect self defense gun to have. I can give you a lot of reasons why they are better. But I do not want to add to the length of this post.
I do not go into harms way. If I were going into harms way it would not be with ANY handgun. It would be a military rifle, a M-1 carbine, an M-1 Grand, a AR-15, or - you get the ideal.

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2 Timothy 1:7

While I love the .44 Special, and have a bunch of them, I would prefer to be armed with a 7 shot .357 Magnum in an L frame than a 5 shot .44 Special in an L frame if I need a weapon as opposed to a piece of sporting goods.

The Model 696 vs. 5-shot J frame .38 is apples and oranges. With the little .38's, you are trading round count for size and weight. The small size and light weight of the J frames is why people carry them.

If you are carrying a Model 696 around, it is because you like it.

All I'm saying is that over the past few decades, it became commonly held that a revolver with only 6 rounds (let alone 5) was no longer adequate and the double stack "wonder nine" pistols took over.

How do you explain the majority of the hanguns being stocked and sold are now pistols? Or the reason behind the development of 7/8/10 shot revovlers?

I did not say that I agreed with, subscribed to, or advocated the notion that a 5 round revolver is somehow inadequate.

It was simply an opinion of why the 696 may not have been widely embraced, based on what has been opined by various pundits in gun magazine articles, LGS bull bleep, and forum jabbering regarding handgun firepower.

The majority of the handguns I own are revolvers, I don't feel insecure at all having one (5 or 6 rounds) as my CCW, and in fact I prefer them due to ease of operation... draw and squeeze the trigger, no safety lever for my middle aged mind to keep track of.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

Another consideration is ammunition. .44 Special is a handloader's dream, but a retail buyer's nightmare. Factory ammo is expensive, and not nearly as available on/off the shelf as most other calibers. The majority of shooters don't handload or mail order ammo in bulk ... they buy a box or two at their LGS or Walmart.

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I'm with the banned ...

And if you load hot, like I venture to guess a lot of 44 spc loaders do, I wouldnt want to put that in a L frame

5-shot snubs are more popular than ever......

I saw a dealer at the last gun show I was at with tables full of Charter Arms .38 snubs in cute colors like Pink and Gold, and he was selling quite a few of them.

Ruger can't make enough SP101's right now to meet demand. Bud's used to have all kinds of them now they might have a few of the DAO ones for sale, which will probably be gone soon.

I was at Gander Mt. one day for maybe 45 minutes and saw the clerk sell 3 Taurus 85's.

The value of KISS, keeping it simple, means that lots of people...........ranging from seasoned gun enthusiasts to novice shooters and new CC permit holders, know the value of a reliable, light, compact revolver that will be easy and quick to bring into action if needed.

Odds are if you need to shoot in self defense as a civilian, it will be quick, close and dirty and most inexperienced people will just do a "panic dump" anyway and empty all 5 shots at the threat.......by that time hopefully you are alive and unharmed and you should be moving yourself and your family out of danger.......if you need 18 rounds and a spare mag in a civilian defense scenario than something went seriously wrong, or you're in a running gun battle with multiple armed attackers....

if you need 18 rounds and a spare mag in a civilian defense scenario than something went seriously wrong, or you're in a running gun battle with multiple armed attackers....[/QUOTE]

Something one might see in a movie.

When a 38 comes out and one sees the muzzle flash and hears the report most would think it's time to leave, that is if it's still an option.

Jim

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That's just somebody talkin.

Now, an 8 shot L-Frame in .327 Federal, that would be an interesting proposition....

Yes please !!!

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~ S&WCA No.2159 ~