44 special outdated

[savageevo]

I just bought a used taurus revolver 44 special not knowing too much on revolver ammo. After my ten days I picked it up. I then tried to find the ammo at Walmart. No luck so I look elsewhere. Everybody is out. Did I buy a bad pistol that is outdated because of the ammo. Am I ***** out of luck, Is that caliber not so good. Thanks for the info.

[Sutcliffe]

Not outdated at all

Not many places will have .44 Special on hand and it will be a lot pricier than even .44 Magnum. Get used to it.
If you want economical shooting you better be prepared to handload.

[bwiese]

That being said, a competent 44Spl load is a very effective round.

Miwall may have some bulk 44Spl though it may not be as hot as others.

You'll probably have to buy in bulk via mailorder or go to specialty shop: local onesy-twosey by-the-box purchases will be more expensive than 44Mag.

[Harbinger]

Not many places will have .44 Special on hand and it will be a lot pricier than even .44 Magnum. Get used to it.
If you want economical shooting you better be prepared to handload.

If you hand load, you can even play with .44 Russian.



Mike

[savageevo]

by looking at the picture above. Can I use 44 s&w in my gun even though it is made for 44 special??? thanks

[kurac]

I believe the .44 S&W American is an old heal based round like a .22LR thus making the bullet an actual .44 diameter where the .44 Special and Magnums are .429" so the answer would be no.

I have fired thousands of .44 specials and not a single one of them was a factory load. I don't know where you live but here in the south bay I think you can find some at Reed's for $35 a box or so. If you handload you can make them for less than $10 per box of 50.

[dfletcher]

Oh, No - Me too?

I just bought a used taurus revolver 44 special not knowing too much on revolver ammo. After my ten days I picked it up. I then tried to find the ammo at Walmart. No luck so I look elsewhere. Everybody is out. Did I buy a bad pistol that is outdated because of the ammo. Am I ***** out of luck, Is that caliber not so good. Thanks for the info.

Darn, then what am I going to do with this Smith & Wesson in 44 Special?

There's nothing wrong with the 44 Special. It's not the most popular caliber around but you can buy excellent self defense rounds and plain old 246 grain RNL is probably out there in white boxes as is LSWC. You have to look a little harder to find it, that's all.

And I don't think you'll have any trouble finding ammo in the catalogs - Midway, Cabelas, etc.

[-hanko]

I just bought a used taurus revolver 44 special not knowing too much on revolver ammo. After my ten days I picked it up. I then tried to find the ammo at Walmart. No luck so I look elsewhere. Everybody is out. Did I buy a bad pistol that is outdated because of the ammo. Am I ***** out of luck, Is that caliber not so good. Thanks for the info.

The introduction of the .44 magnum caused the downfall of the .44 special, a lot like it did the .41 mag...same thing happended to the 10mm when the .40 S&W was introduced.

The .44 special, like the 10mm and .41 magnum, is still an EXCELLENT round for both plinking, target shooting, and personal defense. It's far more controllable than the .44 magnum. You do not have an outdated gun, it's just that most joe-sixpack shooters think the magnum will make them a Dirty Harry/mall ninja.

Keep the gun, find ammo online or through mail order. Better yet, reload a little.

I admire your taste in guns

-hanko

[Sutcliffe]

Delving a bit deeper....

Elmer Keith did his preparatory work paving the way for the .44 Magnum using the .44 Special. Using Smith and Wesson hand ejectors and Colt SAA's he could get a 250 grain Keith bullet to 1200 fps. Way more powerful than factory loadings even by today's standards.
Sadly, the .44 magnum ruined the market for the special and it doesn't get the respect it deserves.

[SnWnMe]

Congrats on scoring the classic S&W big bore caliber.

Factory 44s are pretty anemic due to the low pressure loads. Handloading brings out the potential of the round. I have a 240 gr 44 Spl load that breaks 900 fps out of a three inch bbl M24 and 1100 fps out of my 6.5" M29

[1911A-1Fan]

Buffalo Bore.

[Bucc]

As has already been said it is not outdated.
.44 American is outdated not the special.
Learn to handload and really enjoy. It really is not rocket science. If I can do it and rat can do it.
Get a Lee Loader and get started. If you really want to make an effort get a small cheap press off Ebay and some books and go for it.
It is a great home defense round.
Many interpersonal conflicts have been resolved with big slow heavy lead bullets.
The 41 mag. 10mm and 44 spl won't be obsolete until people like us quite loading them at home.

ETA> If that isn't your bag Miwall does have bulk ammo at the GS and online.
I've shot their stuff and would never hesitate to do it again. I have a few cases of their .357 and .44 mag ammo in the garage right now and will be picking more up end of the month in Costa Mesa.

[liketoshoot]

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/practice_caa.htm

follow the link for mail order, if your not in a "banned" city no problem.
I get reloads at my range for 44 special to use for pratice in my 44 mag.
but welfare-mart has 44 mag. no problem there.

[bruss01]

.44 special is a great round. Sure, not the common garden variety buy-it-at-the-general-store kind of round, but you can get all kinds of ammo for this thing if you look around.

Go to a gun store.

Order online.

Reload.

If you want cheap(er) target ammo, Miwall makes it and you can get it from them at about any gun show they attend. Or buy it from them online at Outdoormarksman.com

If you want ammo for defense, then you want the Speer Gold Dot HP 200 gr GDHP. If you are reloading, you need the 4427 GDHP bullet (200gr). The reason I recommend these specifically is that these HP's are designed to expand at .44 special velocities, whereas most .44 caliber bullets are designed to perform at magnum velocities these days.

Ballistics on the .44 special are close to .45 acp. In short, you got yourself a heck of a revolver there, now go find something to feed it and have yourself a real good get-acquainted session!

[thomasanelson]

Don't feel bad. The 44 Spl is a good round. Only the ammo cost makes me wonder. Recently, I was actually looking for cheap 44 spl ammo to shoot in my 44 mag, but it actually cost more in some cases. Same thing seems to be happening with 38 spl. It used to be as cheap as 9mm, but now it seems to cost as much as 45acp. Like others have said, try reloading and you will be shooting cheap.....er.