.44 Special?? Why Even Bother!!!

[maglvr]

Wow, that title got you in here fast! didn't it?
Let me make a confession here, I actually used to think that way, years ago.
With the 44 mag. flooding the market, why would anyone want a Spl.?
For me it started with a 3" Charter 44, and as for the cartridge itself... all you have to do is look at it to want to give it a hug, it's just so d@mn cute!!
Then somewhere along the line I got the itch for a 624, I located one with 6.5" barrel at a price I couldn't pass up!
Well, it shoots like a dream, is much lighter to carry for hunting that a 29, and is probably the revolver I shoot most accurately.
I load it up a bit, using a 250gr hardcast WFN over 17gr of Lil-Gun for about 1150fps or thereabouts.
I wouldn't trade it for the world, BUT, I ran into a real problem, when I decided it needed a big brother to hang out with, wanting something light, short and fast in the heavy woods, I was forced to take matters into my own hands! I had a NEF single shot 20ga I wasn't using and decided it needed a upgrade, I ordered a Timberwolf 44mag barrel from Numrich for under $30, shortened the chamber to 44spl. and fit it to the stub of the 20ga. barrel.
Now I have the best of both worlds in 44 Special, a great 6-shooter and a sweet handling 5-1/4lb. 17" barrel, Trapper, Saddle ring carbine.(pic below).
I could have left the Timberwolf barrel 44 magnum, but I wanted a dedicated 44 special, THAT'S how much I like that old classic round!

Happy collecting/shooting all!!!
Maglvr

 

[m657]

nice.....

How does one 'shorten the chamber'? I would guess when trimming the barrel down you recut a chamber just for 44 special?

 

[woodsltc]

Now that is a neat rifle...............thanks for sharing !!

Don

 

[fyimo]

Great looking rifle and I shoot a lot of 44 Special in my Model 29-2 with 6 inch barrel. I'm getting to the age where a few cylinders full of 44 Mag is about all I want to shoot anymore on a range trip.

 

[Dale53]

I have been a .44 Special fan for many more years than I care to remember (approaching sixty years>()).

Being an early Elmer Keith fan (his little book written in 1936 "Sixgun Cartridges and Loads" started me on my way when I was about 14 years of age. I didn't have much money in those days but had an understanding father who was a "gunny" in his own right. I lusted after an S&W Model 24 and finally, some years later, ran onto a Model 24 at a GOOD price.

It was everything it was supposed to be. I shot it well right off the bat.

I had a friend who shared a love of everything .44 (he had a Model 29 .44 Magnum) and I alternated between the .44 Special in the Model 24 and my Ruger Super Black Hawk. I settled on Skeeter's load, 7.5 grs of Unique behind a 240-250 Keith, for the Special and it is my favorite field load to this day.

I have the original Model 24 (6½"), a 624 (6½"), a 624 (4"), a Cimarron Colt Clone 4 5/8", and finally after wishing for one for fifty years, the Ruger .44 Lipsey Special (5½").

None of them are safe queens but have been shot a good bit. Always satisfying:

This was shot standing at 25 yards with the Skeeter load using the 6½" Model 624.

Since I have .44 Magnums, when I deer hunted that is what I carried, but I have taken a considerable number of small game animals with the .44 Special.

Dale53

 

[K1500]

I totally agree. Why bother with a special when you can have a 329 or nightguard in 44 magnum? They are lighter than a steel 44 special, you can shoot 44 special in them all day long, but you have the capability of shooting some hairy chested magnums if you need to. Stir, stir, stir...

 

[kci-mia]

I'm a new follower to 44 Special.
I carry a 4" model 29 as my "woods" gun frequently but load it with "moderate" 44mag loads as there are no large man eaters around here. Recently I found a Lipsey exclusive Ruger 44 Special built on the old flattop Blackhawk frame and found it to be excellent revolver. It is now my dedicated "woods" gun and is loaded with 250gr SWC @ 950fps using Unique powder. Great load for what I use it for aned very accurate.

 

[don turner]

i also love the 44 special and a charter arms bulldog pug is one of my concealed carry guns that i carry a lot of the time here in fla. its light and small and the recoil is not too bad in this little gun. i also have owned serveral 44 magnum rifles and i loved to plink with them using 44 special ammo , no recoil and hardly any muzzle blast and very accurate.

 

[valkyriekl]

I've recently discovered .44 Special, loading it for my 629-5; it's my new favorite caliber!

 

[maglvr]

nice.....

How does one 'shorten the chamber'? I would guess when trimming the barrel down you recut a chamber just for 44 special?

M657:
I took .125"(1/8") off the chamber end, leaving the chamber 44 Spl.
I had no rim-recess cutting to do as I made it so the rim seats on the outside lip of the chamber, then I recessed the 44 barrel, the thickness of the case rim, making headspace non existant(0.000").

Maglvr

 

[Smithhound]

Count me a fan.
24-3 3"
24-3 4"
24-3 6.5"
624 3"
624 4"
Lipsey 5.5"
The first 4 are unfired in original boxes with all paperwork!
Am I a happy guy? You bet.
I know your wondering..'How could he be since he's never shot 4 out of 6?', well, because I've owned a couple of each over the years and like a fool let them get away, these won't. Always looking for shooter grades tho.
I shoot the 624 4" & Lipsey and that is close enough for me.
RD

 

[AKAOV1MAN]

With a 296, 396, 696, 624 (3") and a modified M21-4 (IL gone) my 44 Special needs are met quite well.
I used to handload it, but as time got more precious(meaning I got older) I started using Buffalo Bore heavy loads for serious, and some lighter stuff with a 200 GR SWC for small stuff and general plinking around. In the 296 and 396 I stick with the recommended jacketed loads because of the recoil, and there is recoil in those guns with a stout load! They will do almost anything that a mag will do, if needed. If I have to go into grizzly land, my long gun gets supplememnted with a Ruger (sorry) Redhawk 4" in 45 Colt with a really stout Buffalo Bore load.
But absent the larger predator, there isn't much than the 44 Special cannot accomplish, and with style too.

 

[YogiBear]

Aloha,

I'm sorry, but I have a problem trying to understand something.

You shortened the chamber end, I can understand that.

BUT, didn't you have a large Gap between the end of the barrel and the face of breech/action? (Am I using the correct term here?)

Didn't you have to do other modifications???

Maybe some photos showing how you did it would help me.

 

[maglvr]

Believe me, there were a lot of modifications, however, the 20ga chamber area is what contacts the action, just as it always did, the 44 barrel was recessed, the thickness of the case rim, inside the 20ga barrel. So the case/primer contact the action and are surrounded by the 20ga chamber.

 

[katsass]

Being well past 60, I long ago fell in love with the .44 spl. A big, heavy bullet, traveling along at moderate speeds sort of fits me. Here's my favorite carry gun for stomping around the desert. M-24-3; 3"; round butt, Lew Horton Special.

 

[mm6mm6]

I really like your NEF rifle! Now that's custom!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's two about why the .44 Special IS special!

 

[dan belisle]

I'm a fan, 3" CA Bulldog, 3" 624, 6.5" 624, 4 5/8" Colt SAA, 7.5" Colt NF. Great cartridge. - dan

 

[feralmerril]

Here are my .44 specials.

 

[maglvr]

Beautiful guns folks!!! Great to see the Spl. is still alive and well!!!