44 Spl in Short Barrel?

As a matter of fact, the extractor on my Taurus PT92 took on a plum hue when the pistol was reblued. The rest of the slide is deep blue.
 
I am now the proud owner of a S&W Model 21-4 in 44 special. All the over time I put in was worth it when that sweet revolver arrived. Time to start reloading. This thread has been very helpful.
 
Congratulations! What frame size is the mdl 21 built on? Its smaller than a 29, right? That sounds like a sweet gun that will prolly shoot very well for you.

Sometimes I wish my charter was a smith. :D
 
The Model 21 is on the N frame with a 4" tapered barrel and the trigger is buttery smooth. I wanted one for awhile and now that it's out of production, snatched one up as soon as I had the $. If I ever get a camera, I'll post some picks.

I've always been interested in the 44 spcl and came close to getting the Charter Arms Bulldog at my local gun store, but for an extra $200, went with a near mint S&W found online.
 
For $200 more you got a MUCH better revolver. If you handload you now have the best setup possible for a CCW revolver.
 
I agree. With handloads you can eke every last bit of versatility out of the round.

Too bad its the same size as the magnum, I thought it's be a little smaller. Wouldn't a K frame 44 Special be super cool?:D
 
As I understand it, the 5-shooters pretty much correspond to the L-frame, size-wise. I think that's as small as you're going to get with a .44.
 
The model 21 shares it's N frame with the magnum. But it's equipped with a tapered 4 inch barrel, fixed sights, and round butt handles. It's the handiest most enjoyable 44 I own. Wouldn't trade it for a dozen magnums. The K frame was never made into a 44 as far as I know. But S&W made a superb L frame in the 696, sadly now gone.
 
The 696 was undoubtedly the best .44 Spl. snub ever produced. When I first heard they were being introduced I found one. I will never sell that one. It has the smoothest action of any S&W I have ever handled, is easy to pack, and is a joy to shoot sensible loads in. Sadly S&W decided there wasn't enough interest in the idea and even more sadly many of the guys who bought them tried to run Elmer Keith loads in them and beat them to death. The next best choice is the Model 21.
 
shep854 said:
Rampant Colt, are you talking about the area on your gun just above the grip? I wasn't sure if it was the lighting. I have seen other guns with a 'purple' color due to (I presume) a blueing quirk. I've seen it most often on Rugers.
Click to expand...
Look at the trigger and directly above it. It almost appears to be casehardening or heat treament with a layer of blueing over it
 
Sure is great to see all these .44 Special fans. :D

It appears the general consensus is the Speer GDHP in 200 grain for the best load. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with other .44 Special factory loads? Here's a list I made from what's available from Ammunition to Go:

44 Special DRS 180gr. Hollow Point Ammo
44 Spec. CCI Blazer 200gr. Bonded GDHP Ammo (same as the Speer load)
44 Special Hornady Critical Defense 165gr. HP Ammo
44 Special Hornady Custom 180gr. XTP Ammo
44 Special Winchester 200gr. Silver Tip HP Ammo
44 Special Corbon 165gr. HP Ammo
44 Special Corbon DPX 200gr. HP Ammo
44 Special Speer Gold Dot 200gr. Hollow Point Ammo
http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/44-special-hollow-point


I left off the MagSafe and Glaser stuff. Not really interested in that. Some of this ammo is quite expensive. The DPX ammo is selling for $42.95 for a box of 20!!!:eek:
The DRS and Blazer ammo is probably the most economical at $33.95 for a box of 50.
I was especially curious about the Winchester Silvertip ammo. Does it expand as well as Speer? Is it loaded too hot for the Bulldog? I pretty much dismissed the CorBon for the Charter guns.
 
I hsot the Blazer 200gr Gold Dots because that was the cheapest factory .44Spl ammo I could find, but even with the rubber grips on my 445, they stung!
----
Does anyone have know who could make a custom wood grip for a 445? Also, I'd like a leather paddle holster; any ideas on who might tackle this?
 
umm, Shep, if it stings with rubber grips, what will it do with wooden ones? :eek:

Here is a tip: At least one size of the "Ribber" grips that Taurus makes (like the ones that came on my snubbie Tracker) will fit on the Model 445 etc, in place of the concealment sized rubber grips. It is not a big deal to change them.

You can put the larger "Ribber" grips on for range work, but use the smaller ones for carry. The larger ones hurt the hand less, in my opinion.

Bart Noir
 
Shep: You might want to switch to the Pachmayr Gripper grips. I have them on both my Bulldog and Pitbull. They are MUCH better than the factory grips at absorbing recoil. Seem to be a different formulation of rubber.

I fired the Speer GDHP load in my Bulldog with factory grips and it didn't bother me that much. But the the 155 grain .40 S&W out of the Pitbull was BRUTAL. My hand was bright red after 25 shots and I said forget that stuff.:(

Oops...I see you have a Taurus. Not sure if Pachmayr makes grips for them. :)
 
Deputy, my thought is that a more hand-filling wood grip might spread the recoil out a bit--besides they'd look better!:)
 
Shep: A larger grip will spread out the recoil. But a rubber one will actually absorb it. It all depends on what's available for your gun.
 
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