My first firing of a 44 Mag.

[Meeteetse]

The snubby .44 mags are the same as the snubby lightweight .357's S&W is offering. While the gun may be able to handle the "HOT" stuff, the shooter may not. I have tried and decided that for me, these guns are actually great "specials", .38 and .44. Even my .44 Mtn. Gun is pretty much a great .44 special gun and a marginal .44 mag. I have bigger guns for the magnums that make shooting fun and reasonable. With modern ammo, unless you're in bear country, specials+P are all the power most of us need.

Enjoy your new gun. With lighter special loads, those great looking grips might even be usable. I have rubber on all my magnums just in case.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

As others have said or implied, those grips are a joke. I wouldn't fire a light .45ACP revover with two-finger grips. A .44 Mag? Ridiculous.

Best grips vary with hand size and shape, but I would recommend Hogue or Pachmayr. I have some custom grips which were supposed to duplicate Pachmayr Compac Pro grips, but probably have about the grip circumference of the Pachmayr Compac (not Pro) grips. They are fully checkered and VERY comfortable, even though they are wood, not rubber.

While you should probably start out with .44 Spl, a ported 3" .44 Mag should be perfectly usable with the right grips. I know my double-Magnaported 3" 629 is.

 

[mr.magnum]

i have this advice to offer. keep in mind that the shape and size of the grip affects where your hand is placed. the higher your hand is on the backstrap, the less the recoil flips the gun- at least to me. i have smaller hands, so i prefer panels, but some rubber grips will come close to the same effect. also, gloves are important. i use ansell hyflex which are for working. they are coated with a rubbery substance, and give a good consistant grip and they are so tight and thin that you will forget that you have em on. to me they make a huge difference. just my 2¢

 

[bsms]

Went to a range yesterday with a Ruger Alaskan 44 Mag - 2.5 inch barrel and 40 oz. I had started with the standard Alaskan Hogue grips, switched to the old GP100 rubber & wood grips, and was now trying some Badger grips. I had filed the finger groove projections away, then sanded down the whole thing and used linseed oil on it.

I fired 25 rounds of full power 44 Mag retail ammo. The Badger grips allowed me to put the recoil more into the web of my small hands than against the thumb, and their angle...well, it didn't help with recoil, but seemed to help to keep the muzzle rise down a bit.

Also fired 10 rounds of Grizzly 44 special - much more enjoyable to shoot. And also fired 80 rounds of 357 thru my Model 60 LadySmith. At the end, my right hand was sore, but the Badger grips (minus the pointy projections) were the best I've tried for controlling a 2.5" 44 Mag.

I have no trouble shooting 357 from my 60LS, but I plan to relegate the Alaskan to home defense using 44 specials. I will say I found it to be a very accurate gun, limited only by my lack of skill. But a snub nose 44 Mag, I've concluded, is really best as an incredibly strong 44 special shooter.

Now I've got to figure out how to buy a 629 with 5" barrel without my wife divorcing me...

 

[RedBerens]

I think your gun loaded with Buffalo Bore's 255gr SWC in .44 Special would be enough for anything you might run across. Grizzly Cartridge makes a 260gr WFNGC and a 250gr JSP that would be just as good.