Best .44 Special config.

[jtcarm]

24-3 or 624. Wasn't there a 24 "classic" also?
If you don't require adjustable sights, theres plenty model 21 Thunder ranch editions that can be had for around $600.

 

[jtcarm]

24-3 or 624. Wasn't there a 24 "classic" also?
If you don't require adjustable sights, theres plenty model 21 Thunder ranch editions that can be had for around $600.

 

[SDH]

I agree with the Gila Bender also. A 24-3 is a wonderful shooting gun. (Even they are getting hard to find in 4".) I bought one new back years ago and now, I am reluctant to shoot it, since it still looks virtually unfired with original box, paperwork, etc., etc. So, I still shoot the ol' 4" worn finish pre-24 that I love so much.... Mike

I'd agree with all of this except for the part about being reluctant to shoot... I might feel different if I had a 4" pre-24?
I was fortunate to acquire this 24-3 with box, stock grips, tools, paper And these KB custom grips. One of my favorite shooters.

 

[semperfi71]

I have posted this picture before. My M624 is polished and loaded with a 240 grain hardcast semi-wadcutter to almost exactly 1,000 fps with Herco.

I haven't gone to work yet on this NIB M24-3 purchased "used" 15 years ago.

 

[Stirling]

Great thread. I really do like the M24-3 with the 4" barrel and you guys have some nice ones. One thing I'd forgotten about on this forum though is the Colt SAA, neat, very neat!!!

 

[durco]

I'd agree with all of this except for the part about being reluctant to shoot... I might feel different if I had a 4" pre-24?
I was fortunate to acquire this 24-3 with box, stock grips, tools, paper And these KB custom grips. One of my favorite shooters.

Hey, ol' S&W buddy, I know what you mean. But, when my Alabama buddy, Dave Carroll, is selling NIB 24-3 4" blue guns for $1050..... and if I shoot it just a tiny bit more (mine still looks NIB), I've just knocked $300 or more off of that. Hmmmm! Tough to do.

Maybe not - if I didn't already have my old pre-24 4", which is in excellent mechanical shape, but shows about 90% condition - which I shoot all the time anyway. Heck, I even shoot it out the kitchen window in the morning when I'm cooking my grits. "Big Mama" don't like it, but she needs to get up out of that bed anyway..... HAW-HAW!

 

[jtcarm]

Lamenting his story of a 24-3 RB. I bought a 624-3 four inch from SmithNut that he had returned to the factory for roundbutting and the installation of a gold bead front sight. AWESOME gun....dan

Still lamenting my 6.5" 624 I blithely let go many years ago.
Yes, a man can never have enough .44 specials

 

[David LaPell]

I have had a couple .44 Specials, including a Triple Lock, a 6 1/2 inch Model 24-3 and a 4-inch 624. I think of all of them the 4-inch 624 was the best carrying gun and was very accurate plus I never worried about the loads I put through it. It took the old Skeeter Skelton load, a Lyman 250 grain cast bullet #429421 and 7.5 grains of Unique.

 

[tcc]

No wonder I can't find a good deal on a .44 Spl...you guys have all the good ones!! Seriously, great pics and stories! Thanks. I'm still looking..

 

[BillyMagg]

No wonder I can't find a good deal on a .44 Spl...you guys have all the good ones!! Seriously, great pics and stories! Thanks. I'm still looking..

Yeah, I knew I shouldn't come in here with you guys, now I 'm gonna spend the next hour lookin at 44 specials, when I should stick to 29s. billy

 

[SDH]

.44 Specials are very popular at the moment. I've think I've got 7, but have had some of them for 20+ years. None of these pics are new..
T-lock target 1908

2cd Model HE, 1926

1950 Target .44 shipped 4/54

Somebody mention SAA? 1910 rebarreled .44 (the last Colt)

 

[jtcarm]

Since this seems to have turned into a show your .44 spl thread, here's my Model 24. Not a Horton, but a 4" I had custom round-butted.

I just doubled my .44 special horde with a .44 HE II that's been cut to 4" (looks factory) and nickled (which does not look factory.) Pics to come. As you can see by the Model24 pic, I'm a lazy photographer.

I'd trade, well, something significant to have my 6.5" 624 back. That thing shot like a house on fire with 16.5 2400 behind a hard-cast Keith bullet.

That's a nice-looking 624 David. I prefer a post sight picture over a ramp.

I sorta have another 24-3. It was a retirement gift to my late father and belongs to my mother's estate (she's in a nursing home), along with some very nice Ruger collectibles. I could probably buy it from the estate at a reasonable price, but I have no business with an NIB collectible, I'd shoot the heck out of it.

 

[MajorDude]

Like plenty of others, the .44 special is my favorite cartridge. For a shooter, I'd look for a 624. Modern steel, great looks, easy care. The target grips should make it comfortable to shoot for you, and if you handload, you can take it all the way down to powder puffs with decent accuracy. The afore mentioned Skeeter load shoots like a laser beam, but I have bruised my palm with it with the wrong grips! Good hunting finding one though, I haven't seen one for sale for any price in the last two years at any of my usual places. Or any other .44 special for that matter!

 

[JGR_LV]

Let's get this out of the way now; I'm a self-confessed Philistine. If you want collector value, get something with the correct grips, but take them off when you shoot it. Substitute a set of the readily-available rubber grips on your range days and your hands will thank you. The later S&W target grips are beautiful to look at, they fill the hand nicely and will be reasonably comfortable for most people shooting .38 Specials, but they are too wide at the top for most of us. The combination of the wide wooden grip and the trademark hump under the hammer, designed to keep the gun from rolling back in your hand under recoil, is a lot like getting rapped in the web of your thumb, HARD, with a wooden mallet under heavy recoil. It's not my idea of fun. My personal favorite is the Decellerator series from Pachmeyer. If you just can't bear the sight of tacky rubber on your collector gun, look for a set of the old Herrett Shooting Star wood grips. They have a narrower profile at top and bottom, but still look good. I haven't tried the Jerry Miculek grips that the Custom Shop uses on some of the new guns, but Brownell's sells them and lots of people swear by them. Another benefit is that you won't need to worry about damaging a nice set of original grips at the range.

JGR

 

[jtcarm]

I find Hogues way better than Pachmayrs. But old Herrett Shooting Stars? I had a pair on a 19-3 once and would sooner stick my hand in a meat grinder than shoot with those again. Again, Hogue woodies or Miculek.

 

[10-shooter]

Oh, Oh CAN I PLAY TOO? OK.... I know, I know, this forum is for older Smiths.... but hey this is a 44spl as well....

18oz of pure joy to carry... and honestly, to me it is pretty pleasant to shoot... recoil is not bad.

396 Mountain Lite Ti..... (no lock BTW)

Gotta love those 44 spls

 

[jwk]

I have a 624 4" that has been round-butted. I use Pachmyer compacts on it. It also had a melt job (dehorning) done on it. While it won't ever be a collector's dream it is one sweet shooting revolver.

 

[153]

I don't get to shoot it much, but I feel real lucky to have this 24-3,

 

[dewey]

OP, as you can tell by all the replies

how popular .44SPLs are. Reloads from 7.5 grains of Unique for Skeeter's target load to my favorite hunting load of 16.5grains of 2400 under Keith's 250 grain at 1,200 fps for deer loads ( in post-war guns ) the .44SPL CAN do it all !!!!

 

[tipoc]

Some very nice guns here.

tipoc