Fired my first .44 Magnum Sunday

[Fishslayer]

Went to the range Sunday & my buddy let me have a go with his worked over 5" M629. Just WWB 240gr. Nothing heavy, but still...

"I have GOT to get me one of THESE!"

SWMBO is not amused...

 

[Vulcan Bob]

When you hold the thunder in one hand it is a bit addictive!

 

[bigshot500]

Let the maddness begin...the 44 imho is the best of the best...fun, big boom, accuracy, hunting all wrapped in a 29 or 629 frame...

 

[26Ford]

629 P.C. w/ 6 1/2" here, some of the best fun you can have with your clothes on huh? 26

 

[MK111]

Been shooting the .44 Mag since 1975. Probaly over 30,000 rounds total through at least eight pistols over the years.
Taken 20 whitetail deer with the .44 Mag. My 14 yr old grandson took his first deer this year with my S&W 629 Classic deluxe.
I always have two .44 Mag pistols for backups.
The .44 Mag is must have.

 

[Fishslayer]

629 P.C. w/ 6 1/2" here, some of the best fun you can have with your clothes on huh? 26

hehe... you could say that. I'm just getting back into an old obsession & have spent the last couple years (Nov '08 to be exact) getting the basics down. You know. .357 & .45ACP.

I'm a frugal person & the ability to load from powderpuff .44 SP to Big Boomers for the same weapon appeals to me.

The WWB didn't really have a LOT more thump than my Big Dog .357 loads, but it DID have people peeking around the barriers to see "What thah..."

 

[Capt Steve]

Wanted one and finally came up with a good enough rationalization to justify getting a 44 mag. We now are doing a fair amount of camping in bear country and a 357 can't be relied upon to stop a bad bear soooo, get something that will, which = 44 Magnum. Frankly, I will probably never even see a bear and if I do hopefully won't have to shoot but if Yogi doesn't want to play nice my 6" Dan Wesson loaded with Buffalo Bore 305 grain slugs should be sufficient. The truth is I always just really, really wanted a 44 mag. (o;

With a little luck the range is the only place I'll ever shoot it and while the BB 305's are unbelievably hot rounds you have the option of lighter loads in 44 mag or specials. With the Pachmar grips it is very manageable and still serious fun to shoot.

 

[Fishslayer]

The truth is I always just really, really wanted a 44 mag. (o;

I'm busted....

 

[RJBarbJr]

Yup, same here... Fired my first .44 mag last week. Bought a 629-5 6.5" barrel with Power Port. Nothin' like it! Can we say addicted?? IMO, it's the best "all-around" caliber to own. Some of the owners on here have posted pics of their beauties! Check 'em out!!

 

[msinc]

I am 49 years old, been hunting/shooting since I was 13 and just bought one myself a few months ago. I was always interested but about every 5 years or so I would have a chance to shoot one and it was always the same senario...a big six foot four+ BS'er kinda guy with a SBH and a $1500 dollar Stetson hat, you know the one with a snakeskin band and feathers all the way down his back and a belt buckle about 10" in diameter would hand it to me and say, "here ya' go boy try a mans gun!!!" Upon touching the trigger I would realize this was just another big idiot reloading probably a little above maximum charges. It wasn't fun and I would never hit anything {and he wouldn't even shoot it himself} he would say something real stupid like "maybe when you grow a little bigger like me you'll be able to handle it son." then he would load up and go home. I pretty much grew up believing that 44 magnums were too powerful to be accurate and they somehow turned normal guys into a flaming moron. Finally bumped into a normal owner of one and fell in love with it...and the rest as they say is history. Good shooting.

 

[venomballistics]

44 magnum is arguably the absolute finest of all handgun calibers. All the power you'll need to do in anything that responds to being shot, without going into the obscenity of the exotics like the 460 and 500 magnums.
game wise, its good from bunnies on up to bear and will address all points inbetween. go forth and get a 29/629 and a reloading press to open up its full spectrum .... shes a fine discovery

 

[Inspector-Callahan]

familiar....

I am 49 years old, been hunting/shooting since I was 13 and just bought one myself a few months ago. I was always interested but about every 5 years or so I would have a chance to shoot one and it was always the same senario...a big six foot four+ BS'er kinda guy with a SBH and a $1500 dollar Stetson hat, you know the one with a snakeskin band and feathers all the way down his back and a belt buckle about 10" in diameter would hand it to me and say, "here ya' go boy try a mans gun!!!" Upon touching the trigger I would realize this was just another big idiot reloading probably a little above maximum charges. It wasn't fun and I would never hit anything {and he wouldn't even shoot it himself} he would say something real stupid like "maybe when you grow a little bigger like me you'll be able to handle it son." then he would load up and go home. I pretty much grew up believing that 44 magnums were too powerful to be accurate and they somehow turned normal guys into a flaming moron. Finally bumped into a normal owner of one and fell in love with it...and the rest as they say is history. Good shooting.

Ahhh, don't you just love guys like that! They are perfect ambassadors of fine shooting aren't they? Sometimes, I get more enjoyment out of just going to the range and "observing" guys like that. It is entertainment.

Thankfully, you did not let that deter you from getting one of the best calibers going. Unfortunately, it is saddening that many new shooters ARE discouraged by experiences like that. From a reloader's standpoint, the 44 Mag is wildly versatile as has already been said. I rarely shoot full power loads, and when I do, they are often in big guns like a TC Encore or Ruger Bisley Hunter. Most of the time a sub 1,000fps load is just perfect.

Whenever I take relatively new shooters to the range to shoot my 44's, they always leave amazed how NON-painful it was to shoot. Realoading does have it's benefits.

44's tend to multiply.......fast!

IC

 

[RoninPhx]

arizona

Wanted one and finally came up with a good enough rationalization to justify getting a 44 mag. We now are doing a fair amount of camping in bear country and a 357 can't be relied upon to stop a bad bear soooo, get something that will, which = 44 Magnum. Frankly, I will probably never even see a bear and if I do hopefully won't have to shoot but if Yogi doesn't want to play nice my 6" Dan Wesson loaded with Buffalo Bore 305 grain slugs should be sufficient. The truth is I always just really, really wanted a 44 mag. (o;

With a little luck the range is the only place I'll ever shoot it and while the BB 305's are unbelievably hot rounds you have the option of lighter loads in 44 mag or specials. With the Pachmar grips it is very manageable and still serious fun to shoot.

Don't be to sure you won't run into a bear, try mt lemmon or some of the areas up along the old tom mix highway. As to myself, i have had TWO close up and personal one on ones with black bears in arizona, both while armed. The first time was at about ten feet with the wife and two golden retrievers. I had a hicap 9mm and felt descretion was the better part of valor. The bear agreed. The second time was in heavy oak thickets with a hi powered rifle, couldn't hardly move in the thicket. Both times the bear indicated he/she knew where i was but i didn't know for sure where they were. Distances from the woofing going on was probably about ten yards.
The other issues to deal with in arizona are the narco's and vistors from sonora. And it IS an issue. As to the bear i know personally a incident where a black took a whole magazine from a 30.30. Yes it did depart, but not right away.
Because of those things i wanted big fat bullets. Thus a marlin 45.70 guide gun, and for a side arm either a .44magnum, or my favorite, a .41magnum with heavy bullets. or a vaquero with heavy loaded .45long colt.
There was a girl scout a few years ago killed near tuscon by a bear that had been relocated but came back.
Another favorite is a glock 20 with 200grainers running at 1200fps.

 

[everReady Rob]

Yup, a 44 mag is great fun. Some think its lost its luster since the birth of bigger bores, but if it was good enough for Harry Callahan, you can bet your sweet bibby its good enough for me.

 

[msinc]

Ahhh, don't you just love guys like that! They are perfect ambassadors of fine shooting aren't they? Sometimes, I get more enjoyment out of just going to the range and "observing" guys like that. It is entertainment.

Thankfully, you did not let that deter you from getting one of the best calibers going. Unfortunately, it is saddening that many new shooters ARE discouraged by experiences like that. From a reloader's standpoint, the 44 Mag is wildly versatile as has already been said. I rarely shoot full power loads, and when I do, they are often in big guns like a TC Encore or Ruger Bisley Hunter. Most of the time a sub 1,000fps load is just perfect.

Whenever I take relatively new shooters to the range to shoot my 44's, they always leave amazed how NON-painful it was to shoot. Realoading does have it's benefits.

44's tend to multiply.......fast!

IC

I used to really hate guys like that...now I just look at them and actually feel sorry for 'em. Like you said though they are entertaining...like chinese dudes at a public boat ramp. Those kinda guys did deter me up until about a month ago when I bought my first 44 mag. and I am sorry for having lost out all those years I could have really been enjoying one. I will probably sell my 357's cause I haven't felt the need since. Also, I have my three best friends now looking for a 44 magnum. They have all gone shooting with me and are starting to make the "seen a nice 44 pistol for sale anywhere???" or "you got all the stuff to reload for a 44 magnum, right??" comments. Too bad I didn't run into you at the range first, I would have now been shooting/hunting/owning/collecting 44's for 31 years!!!!

 

[29aholic]

I shot my first one over 25 years ago...and spent the next 6 months saving for one...a 29-3. I cant tell you how many 100's of miles that gun has traveled with me or how many 1000's of rounds I have fired through it but I have regretted neither and it has never let me down. They will throw it in the furnace with me when I go.

 

[Nightowl]

My 6 1/2 was the first revolver i ever bought, and I still have it. Mostly loaded 20 gr 2400 over 429421 Lyman cast bullet. I thought the 22 gr load was too much, so loaded it down a bit. Basically, I started my shooting habit with it, now that I have more and newer guns, it has not been to the range for a couple of years. Need to get it out more.

 

[Snapping Twig]

First pistol I bought was a 6" 586 in 1983. Not long after that a neighbor's friend that I was casting boolits for told me I needed a .44, so he brought over 2 29-2's in wood boxes and told me to pick one. Still have it, a 6.5" S serial made in 67.

Then I bought another .357 that I didn't care for, so I traded it to a friend for a 629-2 that he didn't care for. He happened to be Ken Kelley and he had an original 3" LH barrel for that revolver, so he swapped them out, traded me and I still have that revolver - it's my favorite.

S&W was doing the revolver of the month back in 89, so they came out with the 4 position front sight on the Classic Hunter, bought that. Had it hard chromed and I still have it.

Fell into a Ruger Super Blackhawk. Never warmed up to the dragoon trigger guard or the cavalry grip, it got traded.

Last month a 624 made itself available, so of course I bought it. 3", it matches my custom 3" 629. Sweet shooting and accurate!

I have other calibers and they shoot fine, but by far I shoot .44 more than all the others combined.

My magnum load is a 265g cast @ 1200fps and I shoot a special 250/265g cast @ 900fps. Either one is more than enough to do the deed and EK gave his blessing to those velocities for the caliber - and we all know he did his homework.

 

[7tenz]

I'm of the autoloader persuasion, yet the 44 mag is the only reason I have a wheelgun, three 29's and one 610. In fact like a lot of others, it comes to mind as a "if I could have only one gun", gets top consideration. Got a 44 marlin to keep them company.

As a sidenote, the 41 mag is also a great choice. I used to have one.

 

[batmann]

Welcome to the world of .44's, the finest all around caliber. From the lightest of specials to the heaviest of magnums, a .44 will do all that needs doing with a handgun.