44 special vs 44 magnum

[battleship]

While in Contra Costa Collectibles - Walnut Creek, today a man bought a very nice 3 inched barrelled 44 special in stainless, pre lock. i think i might of jumped on it, if i had of seen it first, though i know nothing of this caliber gun except you dont put magnum rounds in it i believe.

So why make a gun that looks as robust as a 44 magnum that can only fire a round which must be under powered to some degree, what were the reasons behind the production of this caliber handgun.

On all appearances, i would not be able to tell by the design of this gun that it could not withstand the explosive force of magnum rounds so what do they leave out of the barrell and cylinder that they would keep in a 44 magnum build, for comparison i have a 44 magnum 4 inch mountain gun the barrell is very thin but it has no problem taking the magnum loads that it was desgined for. The buyers 44 special barrell seemed alot more thicker than my 44 magnum barrell, is it something in the milling process that gives it its strength or leaves it out?

[Elucidus]

The history of 44 mag is pretty interesting.

Anyways, 44 mag was created because Elmer Keith and others had created some loads for 44 special that a lot of the older 44 special guns couldn't take without blowing. Manufacturers wanted to take advantage of this, so they created the 44 mag round, 1/10" longer cartridge, to prevent people from using the high powered loads in 44 special. (obviously a liability issue).

A thick-walled 44 special could probably take some pretty hot loads. A thick-walled 44 mag could take even more, due to the sheer volume of powder you can load into the cartridge.

Rugers, DW, and some of the higher end Taurii (Raging Bull) can take much hotter loads(44 mag)than a S&W 29 series due to the increased wall thickness of their cylinders.

As to why someone would create a 44sp handgun, hard to say. 1/10" can lower the OAL of the weapon by a lot, but I don't really see the point. Perhaps nostalgia.

[homerm14]

Before the mountain gun came out the magnum was not available with the light barrel, only the special. The special is one of the best (underrated rounds) ever made. In this day and age you are probably better off with a mountain gun in magnum so you can use both rounds. unless you want a smaller frame (696) five shot 44 special. A well loaded 44 special can do pretty much anything you need it to do just as well as a magnum most of the time, and doesn't kick nearly as much.

[battleship]

I believe it was the 696 five shot that was purchased can any one direct me to some pictures of the 44 magnum round next to the 44 special i would like to see the length comparison.

[homerm14]

I believe it was the 696 five shot that was purchased can any one direct me to some pictures of the 44 magnum round next to the 44 special i would like to see the length comparison.

If it was a 696 in California that was one lucky sob. It's a rare and much sought after gun even out of state. I would love to post pictures for you, but do not have a working camera at the moment.

[battleship]

Rare is what the FFL dealer said, thats what i over heard and got me looking at it, it was mint and i think the buyer got it for $850, darn it.

[homerm14]

Rare is what the FFL dealer said, thats what i over heard and got me looking at it, it was mint and i think the buyer got it for $850, darn it.

There are 3 for sale on gunbroker right now for a little less than that right now. All are out of state and it is rare to see that many for sale. I have one and can say it is one of my favorite guns. I have a warm place in my heart for the 44 special and the old Keith load. I personally own 3 specials and 3 magnums. I very rarely shoot anything but specials.

[Blademan21]

44spl v 44mag

I also have a 696 that I carry in winter. With my .44 speed strips it is a pleasure to carry.

[bohoki]

44 special was made because people wanted a revolver round that was about like a 45 colt but 45 colt is a "cowboy gun" 44 special sounds more like a metropolitan like detective comic and there was a bunch of cheap 44 specials imported and the charter arms bulldog

they are kind of like trasitional guns even though the change to smokeless powder happened long ago there is still the limitations of lower pressure in the specs

[Army GI]

Why? Because you can still have a powerful self defense handgun that's larger than a .357 Magnum. A 240gr bullet at 1000 fps will make short work of pretty much anybody and it makes a good deer cartridge too.

[pullnshoot25]

I love .44special and magnums. I want to get the Taurus Ultralite .44spl SS but they dont make it anymore... 20.6oz I think it is, which is lighter than the Charter Bulldog and is better constructed.

[BigRich]

When Keith developed the 44 "Magnum" he wanted a 44 caliber, 240 grain SWC bullet that would go 1200 fps out of a 4-5 inch tube. He was developing this in 44 Spcl revolvers because he kept blowing up 45 Colt Single Action Army revolvers. The 44 Spcl. had more cylinder wall so he went with that. You can load a 44 spcl up to that pretty easily but it is really hard on non-magnum revolvers. A great load in 44 spcl is a 240 hard cast LSWC at 1000 fps out of a 4" tube. It is pleasant to shoot and will handle almost all your needs. If you exceed that envelope then it would be better if you just unlimbered your rifle and finish the job with vigor. If you want to own and enjoy the 44 spcl then you really need to hand load. It is a very flexible cartridge. You can go from a single ball load at 300 fps (like a big pellet gun) to a real stomping 240 gr at 1150. The cases last quite a long time too.

[lockwrench]

SAAMI specs on the 44SPC are about 16K PSI max.
44 Mag are more like 36K PSI -- more than twice the pressure.

44 Special is a very respectable self-defense round, comparable to the 45 Colt.
To safely chamber the 44 mag requires a much stronger, and heavier action,
for little gain from an SD perspective. If you're hunting, which is what
the 44Mag was developed for, you'd want a longer barrel.

Trust me, you wouldn't want to fire many full-house 44 Mag loads in a lightweight 3" revolver anyway.

[Rattler Bill]

I have been a handgun hunter for 12 years now. I initially shot a Weigand Combat BHM conversion on a SS S&W 629 with a Tasco red dot sight, wonderful setup except in dim light the dot flooded out the tube. I went to a Tasco 1.25 - 4. It was a terrific handgun, I have killed about 25 deer, 10 Hogs, and a coyote with the setup. I had never killed a deer with iron sights so that was my next endeavor. I found the S&W 329 PDI on the market and it was the gun I dreamed of. There were issues though that popped up. The gun is made of Scandium and Titanium and feels almost plastic it is so light. I named the gun "Potato Chip". In single action it is a great shooting gun, the first time I tried a double tap was a different story alltogether. On the first shot the gun got out of position on my hand and the second shot the damn gun just flat out split the web of my hand between indes finger and thumb. Not a pretty sight. I bled like I had been shot. I still love the gun. I want to find some good espanding .44 spl. rounds so it will serve as a good self defense wheelgun. I carry it in a Kramer cross-draw holster and it sits there like home. It is by the bed in a box filled with UMC 180 gr. truncated cone flat soft point bullets (this is my hunting load and I've never lost anything I ever shot with this load, plus, they're cheap) Anyone know any good .44 spl rounds for sef-defense?

[shooting4life]

Little necro posting eh.
Here is my 624 pre lock 3 inch in 44 special. It is shown in the lower right