Waste of Skin... Or Actually Waste of N Frame

[Aglifter]

I'm very fond of my 329NG... even more so when full of Specials... I admit, I do like the ease of getting 44 mag cartridges when going bird hunting in areas w. pigs.

I think the biggest advantage a 44 mag has over a 44 special is the ready availability of cartridges loaded to deal w. animals.

 

[handejector]

Uh......
Why make a 38 Special??

 

[Poohgyrr]

Being the troublemaker that I am....

Well, I was kinda wondering......

With the 50s being made now, just toss all the less powerful rounds and keep the best. 500 S&W for handiguns; and 50 bmg for the rifles.

 

[michael thornton]

i love 44 spec and the 44 mag they both have a place im glad they make both

 

[mm6mm6]

This box would be too heavy if the guns were Magnums instead of Specials:

And these are all a lot more fun and useful than they would be if they were Magnums instead of Specials:

I can do anything I need to do with a .44 Special. As others have said, the guns are lighter, handier, easier to carry, easier to shoot, and they have that special element of "class...."

 

[Old Navy]

You know why I like 357 N frame??? Because K&L frames are just a tad too small and do not fit my hand good even with big woods on, kind of wish I had got the 625 instead.

Oh well the oldest grandson should be big enough to handle the 686-8 5" by the time he is 7 or 8 I guess. At 4 yrs and 9 months old he is almost 4' tall and weighs in at 72 lbs and strong as an ox.

 

[Beans]

I had a NIB 624, 4 inch, 44 Special and a like new 629 MT Gun in 44 Mag. I weight both of them on a postal scale and they weighted the same.

I have fired a buddys 624 and find that the accuracy for me is the same in both guns. (624 & 629)

I sold the 624 and kept the 639 Mt Gun. I fire both 44 Specials and .44 Mags out of my Mountain gun. and with the 624 I was limited (?) to .44 specials.

All that being said I shoot more .44 Specials out of the Mt Gun then .44 Mags.

Both the .44 Special and the .44 Mag Has it place.

 

[Old Navy]

I ran across a 41 Mag about a year ago that was priced very good for a LNIB gun but having looked up reloading data and bullets available couple times over the years and have stuck with 10mm automatic because of the huge assortment of bullet types, shapes and weights, more then available for the 357 IIRC and about the same with 44 Magnum vs 44 magnum. So that is why I would never own a 41 magnum, sorry guys.

 

[Nygma]

However for me, the only N frames I "need" are 44 Mags and 45 ACP's.

Ok. Now I really don't get it.
Why would you need a 45 ACP N frame when you could just load 44 Specials in your 44 Mag?

 

[Muley Gil]

"Why would you need a 45 ACP N frame when you could just load 44 Specials in your 44 Mag?"

A M625 .45 ACP Mountain Gun with a handfull of full moon clips makes a h--l of a fightin' sixgun. Quickest loading revolver and a good man armed with one is as fast as most folks with a semiauto.

I carried a 3" M625 as a cop and could beat most of my fellow officers, armed with semiautos, during reloading drills and qualifications.

 

[Nygma]

I don't see a lot of difference between this:

and this:

This one will do both jobs you require using 44 Mags and 44 Specials:

You don't really "need" the 45 ACP with 44 Specials loaded in the Magnum. You just "want" it like I "want" my 41 Magnums and my 44 Specials.

If the difference between moons and speedloaders dictates a "need", then you need a 1911.

 

[Engine49guy]

The M29 .44 mag vs M24 .44 Sp debate is easily solved by having one of each.

The M24 is just too pretty to abandon IMHO.

 

[NE450No2]

Gentlemen...

Some of the last few posters have somewhat validated my original post.

Anything, that you can do with a 44 Special, you can do with a 44 Mag, and you can do 44 Mag "stuff" with a 44 Mag.

Also you can find 44 ammo many more places than you can find 41 mag ammo.

I have not found the accuracy of a 44 Mag shooting light loads any less than a 44 Special...

ON the 45 ACP revolver...

Any one who is a 1911 "freek" should have a 1911 S&W revolver IMHO...

Also, as others have stated, a 45 ACP revolver is a "Combat" revolver par excellance. No other revolver reloads as fast.

I carried one as a work gun for several years...

SO, IF I "really" was the President of S&W, I would still make 41 Mags, and 44 Specials for "MY" "misguided"., but loyal customers....

BUT as "THE PRESIDENT" I would carry a 45 ACP revolver in town, and a 44 Mag in the woods.

There would be no locks, and the guns WOULD WORK OUT OF THE BOX.

And there would be a Custom Shop, so if somebody wanted a certain calibre with a certain barrel length, they could get it.

 

[Duke426]

If I was President of S&W, there would never have been a 41 Mag, and no 44 Specials after the intoduction of the 44 Mag...

I thank God you aren't/weren't/never will be the president of S&W...

Are you really from Texas? Sounds like you are from Washington DC as you know what's best for all us "misguided" souls as you refer to us...

 

[44 special Dave]

Well, everytime a thread like this comes up, objectivity goes out the window.

Objectivity leaves because everyone begins expressing their opinion about their pet caliber/gun.

The threads can be "fun" but prove really nothing.

I really like 44 specials, but objectively it isn't the end all and be all of calibers.

As for someone being the president and eliminating the lock, guess again.

If you were president of S&W you would work for the larger parent company of S&W. Gee i wonder what company that is?

Everytime the lock comes up (I can hear the switch flipping on the anti lock people) a bunch of uninformed folks will say," why do they have the lock, I'm going to write to S&W".......blah blah, blah.

Geting bank to waste of an n frame....it's all opinion. A lot of folks on this board actually believe what they say is going to sway someone away from what they really like.

Guess again

Dave

 

[Old Navy]

It is funny that even people who know about the lock company and their design for a gun lock being reason for buying S&W they still think that S&W will do away with locks if they complain enough. That's just too funny.

 

[m657]

....as a marketing ploy, it makes possible to raise the price for those that DON'T like the lock, so pre-lock models go up....

and for those who want the latest improved version....here's the newer, more expensive (of course) SAFETY lock model....

Seems like the best of both worlds.....

 

[Engine49guy]

My "Objective" opinion is that I prefer the look and balance of the taper barrel on the M24 better than that of the bull barrel M29.
Although the M29 will shoot 44 sp. and could eliminate the M24 I dont like it as much as far as looks or balance.
Many buyers like me have to like the look and "feel" of a gun as well as its performance.
Curb appeal effects sales, Sales determine which models continue being produced and which ones are discontinued.
Personally I am not interetsed in adding another cartridge revolver to my current collection.

I would compare it to buying a motorcycle,
Although designed as utilitarian transportation the majority are used as recreation.....

HD learned that older design air cooled V twins outsold the new redesigned faster water cooled Vrods even though Vrods out performed their older models.
This was primarily due to the difference in styling.
Performance numbers are important but the buyer has to equally like the look and feel.

Just because an older model is outperformed by a newer design does not necessarily mean the older design should be immediatly deleted,
Ultimately Sales figures determine which ones continue and which get the boot.

In this case as in the case of the Harley V Rod, The sales figures of the .44 SP/.44 Mag support its continued manufacture despite being slower and less powerful than the 41 Mag..

If you were president of Harley Davidson would you cease production of the better selling air cooled V twin models in favour of the Newer faster water cooled V Rod engine knowing the buying public prefers older air cooled models?

 

[senecaap]

I have been shooting S&W revolvers since 1970, my first a 6.5" Mod 29.

I had a Mod 41 in 1968 for NRA Bulls Eye Matches...

But back to N Frames....

Since the 44 mag was "invented" why still make 44 Specials???

Now I have shot a BUNCH of 44 Special power loads in my 44 Mags...
MANY with Special brass with no problems, and many in Mag brass at 44 Special power levels...

So why would anyone buy a N frame in 44 Special, when a 44 Mag can do anything that a 44 Special can do AND use 44 mags when needed???

Then there is the 41 Mag... Now I am an Elmer Keithite of the Highest order, but the 41 Mag [and I had and used a Mod 58 for a foul weather work gun], was a TOTAL waste of the N Frame...

What was needed, and would have been better was proper Police loads for the 44 Mag...

I have no problems with 357 Mags in the N Frame, and I am not a 357 Mag kind of guy...

I think the N Frame 45 ACP revolvers are GREAT. And I used one for a work gun for several years...
I have a 325 NG next to me as I type this...

Like wise I think the 45 Colt N Frames are good for a fella that is a Big Colt SAA shooter, and wants a DA Revolver in the same calibre....

If I was President of S&W, there would never have been a 41 Mag, and no 44 Specials after the intoduction of the 44 Mag...

There would not be any "locks" either....

With a name like NE450No2, I would think twice about criticizing a cartridge (or peoples choice thereof) for being REDUNDANT or carrying on after cartridge advances were made, after all the 450 No2 was possibly the most needless and redundant cartridge ever invented (ok the Weatherbys were the MOST needless) what with the .450NE and .500NE covering all bases.
I choose the special because; 1. any two revolvers that are the same, save one being a special and one being a magnum, the special will be about .5 lbs lighter, and much easier to carry. 2. The special is all you need for the human animal, and it's that pesky little brute I am most concerned about when considering a handgun. 3. If the .44 Special is too light for some non-human animal and more power is needed...I'll take a rifle over a magnum handgun any day.
All that said, I still buy and shoot magnums, I just see the place for them and Specials.

 

[500 Magnum Nut]

The 44 spls are lighter than the magnum. The cylinders are not as long, things like that all contribute to a lighter gun.