$700 .44spl or magnum?
- Thread starter JERRYS.
- Start date
22-rimfire
New member
For mostly range shooting, I'd get the 44 mag. But if you perhaps want something a bit more compact, then 44 spl.
It is mostly a academic thing for me, as I would get a 41 mag every time.
It is mostly a academic thing for me, as I would get a 41 mag every time.
I have owned three .44's ever. First was a ported Taurus with a six inch barrel and it was a decent revolver and the eight ports worked very well. Not a thing wrong with it, but I swapped it for my carry gun and never looked back. Needed one and not the other, it made sense in that situation.
Thought it would be a great idea to simply buy a .44 Mag barrel for my Contender... Accurate & squeeze all the energy from the round, right? NO WAY! It did indeed do both of those things but it was a meatgrinder on the hands. Horrendous recoil, I could not even begin to like it. That barrel sat for like 6 years before I forwarded to a nice dealer at a gun show that probably made a fine profit on it.
A couple years ago I finally found the only .44 I really want to own... a circa-1985 Redhawk with a 7.5" barrel, and then I had Mag-Na-Port do a four port job on it.
I still don't have any specific use for a .44 Magnum, but it is fun to play with. It is a bruiser.
Thought it would be a great idea to simply buy a .44 Mag barrel for my Contender... Accurate & squeeze all the energy from the round, right? NO WAY! It did indeed do both of those things but it was a meatgrinder on the hands. Horrendous recoil, I could not even begin to like it. That barrel sat for like 6 years before I forwarded to a nice dealer at a gun show that probably made a fine profit on it.
A couple years ago I finally found the only .44 I really want to own... a circa-1985 Redhawk with a 7.5" barrel, and then I had Mag-Na-Port do a four port job on it.
I still don't have any specific use for a .44 Magnum, but it is fun to play with. It is a bruiser.
Why? Do you like the unpleasant recoil? The pain in the hand with an extended shooting session? Do you like to irritate the other range shooters with the greater than normal report? Like the muzzel blast off the cubical side panels? Your preference for a .44 magnum range gun I am sure leads other shooters here to wonder just why a .44 Magnum is better than a .44 Special for just shooting paper targets. Please do not keep us in suspense.
22-rimfire
New member
Dahermit...agumentative aren't you? I would choose the 44 mag revolver for mostly range shooting simply because you can shoot 44 specials or downloaded 44 mags out of it. You always have the option of shooting hotter 44 mag loads. It is just a matter of what you want to do that particular day.
Recoil? Just a matter of getting use to it....
When I want to make a lot of "noise" at the range, I shoot a 475 Linebaugh. But I prefer to shoot it in a more isolated place or where I have the range to myself which is often the case in my area during weekdays.
Added: There can be some pain with "extended" shooting with the 44 mag like many of the big bores. Frankly, I don't do "extended" shooting with the big bores. That is just stupid and defeats the purpose of shooting the big boomers unless all you want is noise. I shoot mostly 22's at the range and prefer rifles now mostly. Other than my Ruger LCR 22 and SR22P, I haven't shot my 22 handguns much lately and I have a lot of them.
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RIDE-RED 350r
New member
Some people find the recoil and report of heavier mags unpleasant and choose not to own or shoot those cartridges.. That's fine by me. Everybody is different and I do not look down my nose at those folks for their decisions and tastes.
But what gets me is when some of those folks ridicule those of us who have no problem shooting these cartridges and almost seem offended by it..
And the whole point about "annoying" others at the range??? Give me a break! It's a SHOOTING RANGE. Loud things happen there.... Wear adequate hearing protection and go about your business. I pay my $$$ for the weapons I choose to own, and I pay my $$$ in dues to my Rod and Gun Club..If my club president gives me the OK to use my 44 mag at the indoor range, I will be damned if I am going to let someone who is too easily offended to dissuade me from using the facilities and firearms I have paid to use.
Some people need to get over themselves.
"What do you need THAT for".... sounds disturbingly familiar to me......
Oh and I thought I should mention.. Of all of the times I have fired my big, irritating, loud, earth shaking 44mag at the range, I have NEVER had someone directly or indirectly express irritation by the fact I am firing a mag. In fact, most stop shooting and come stand behind my firing station because they want to see that 44 show it's stuff...
I see no practical purpose for using 44spl level loads for practice. Beside the fact it is smartest to practice with the rounds that will be in the weapon when it counts... When cooking up handloads, some guns are very fussy with grouping from one charge level to the next within magnum starting and max charges... Why on earth would anyone think that practicing and zeroing with 44 spl would translate to the same groups and POI when using mags. Talking about practicing with Spls and carrying mags here, point being to practice with what will be in it when it counts...
But what gets me is when some of those folks ridicule those of us who have no problem shooting these cartridges and almost seem offended by it..
And the whole point about "annoying" others at the range??? Give me a break! It's a SHOOTING RANGE. Loud things happen there.... Wear adequate hearing protection and go about your business. I pay my $$$ for the weapons I choose to own, and I pay my $$$ in dues to my Rod and Gun Club..If my club president gives me the OK to use my 44 mag at the indoor range, I will be damned if I am going to let someone who is too easily offended to dissuade me from using the facilities and firearms I have paid to use.
Some people need to get over themselves.
"What do you need THAT for".... sounds disturbingly familiar to me......
Oh and I thought I should mention.. Of all of the times I have fired my big, irritating, loud, earth shaking 44mag at the range, I have NEVER had someone directly or indirectly express irritation by the fact I am firing a mag. In fact, most stop shooting and come stand behind my firing station because they want to see that 44 show it's stuff...
I see no practical purpose for using 44spl level loads for practice. Beside the fact it is smartest to practice with the rounds that will be in the weapon when it counts... When cooking up handloads, some guns are very fussy with grouping from one charge level to the next within magnum starting and max charges... Why on earth would anyone think that practicing and zeroing with 44 spl would translate to the same groups and POI when using mags. Talking about practicing with Spls and carrying mags here, point being to practice with what will be in it when it counts...
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To me this is really like asking "if you wanted a 45ACP, what would it be, OR, if you wanted a 10mm Auto, what would it be". It just seems a crazy question to me. First off, why would you care what gun someone else wants, given no other specification other than two calibers? Here's my problem: let's say you narrowed it down to 44 Mag. "Hey, what 44 Mag gun would you buy?".
Why do you give a rat's a$$ what 44 Mag gun someone else would buy? I don't get it. So, after I bought the 44 I wanted, and posted it to of course elicit the "oh yeah that's nice" comments, someone comes back with "yes, but soon you'll want one of these" and posted photos of what for me are the most hideous examples of revolvers ever made--the very reason I don't generally like revolvers. What to this guy is 'the coolest' is to me not even a consideration--I wouldn't own a revolver if that is what was available.
It's just not reasonable, or productive, to me to ask such a wide open question. Not sure how any good can come from it. Silhouette gun? Carry gun? Hunting gun? Down-at-the-club paper gun? Plinking gun? You gotta know every gun owner responding is going to say "well here's what I have and it's pretty cool". How does that help?
Here, your only choice that's realistic is to buy this one, because it's the one I bought, and I think it's the coolest 44 ever made. Never mind I'd never be caught dead shooting it or that I think its uglier than a pink glock in camo.
Can you narrow it down? It drives me just a little nuts when some says "I have $500 to spend what should I buy?" It would be a better question to ask if we just said "I have $500 to flush down the toilet on a toy. What toy do you think I would have the most fun with?" How can anyone know what toy you'd have the most fun with?
Why do you give a rat's a$$ what 44 Mag gun someone else would buy? I don't get it. So, after I bought the 44 I wanted, and posted it to of course elicit the "oh yeah that's nice" comments, someone comes back with "yes, but soon you'll want one of these" and posted photos of what for me are the most hideous examples of revolvers ever made--the very reason I don't generally like revolvers. What to this guy is 'the coolest' is to me not even a consideration--I wouldn't own a revolver if that is what was available.
It's just not reasonable, or productive, to me to ask such a wide open question. Not sure how any good can come from it. Silhouette gun? Carry gun? Hunting gun? Down-at-the-club paper gun? Plinking gun? You gotta know every gun owner responding is going to say "well here's what I have and it's pretty cool". How does that help?
Here, your only choice that's realistic is to buy this one, because it's the one I bought, and I think it's the coolest 44 ever made. Never mind I'd never be caught dead shooting it or that I think its uglier than a pink glock in camo.
Can you narrow it down? It drives me just a little nuts when some says "I have $500 to spend what should I buy?" It would be a better question to ask if we just said "I have $500 to flush down the toilet on a toy. What toy do you think I would have the most fun with?" How can anyone know what toy you'd have the most fun with?
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Yep, have do agree that indeed you -DO- sound a little but nuts. To spend your leisure time on a discussion forum where enthusiasts like to chat about guns -- and get so worked up about the topic someone elects to open.
What sense does it make that you clicked the thread at all? Two sentences in... why keep reading? And then, to go even further and make a reply!
Seems like it makes a lot of sense to me why someone would ask exactly these questions. Seems to me that he might want to see our point of view -- to get an idea of what occurred to us, why, our thought process and ideas that led us to OUR decisions, which might then point out angles that never occurred to him up to this point.
To share the information, the experience, the opinions and maybe catch some ideas and areas that didn't seem quite so obvious to him.
What sense does it make that you clicked the thread at all? Two sentences in... why keep reading? And then, to go even further and make a reply!
Seems like it makes a lot of sense to me why someone would ask exactly these questions. Seems to me that he might want to see our point of view -- to get an idea of what occurred to us, why, our thought process and ideas that led us to OUR decisions, which might then point out angles that never occurred to him up to this point.
To share the information, the experience, the opinions and maybe catch some ideas and areas that didn't seem quite so obvious to him.
Deaf Smith
New member
My only .44 spl is a Lee Horton S&W 3 inch 24.
And it's a safe queen.
But I have several .44 magnums.
The 629-1 above being my favorite.
Deaf
And it's a safe queen.
But I have several .44 magnums.
The 629-1 above being my favorite.
Deaf
Wheelie_Fan
New member
Jerry's.
The mod. 69 is a fine handgun.... I'd say it's worth a close look even if mildly interested... Lock or no lock, I've been very impressed with mine.
Either way, good luck with whatever you choose!
The mod. 69 is a fine handgun.... I'd say it's worth a close look even if mildly interested... Lock or no lock, I've been very impressed with mine.
Either way, good luck with whatever you choose!
22-rimfire
New member
Great choice. I have a M57 mt gun.
A few years back, I got a great deal on a slightly used S&W Model 21 Classic in .44 Special. It's my favorite revolver, and while I do dream of owning a Magnum someday, I love that big N frame gun and glad I bought it. I have noticed the cost of ammo is almost the same between Magnum and Special, so I would suggest getting the Mag and reloading. Either one is about $1 a bullet regardless if it's a lead cowboy round or uber mag.
RIDE-RED 350r
New member
WOW! Nice deal on the 629 MG!! 
$600 doesn't buy much of anything bigger than a k-38 at the shops round my parts!
$600 doesn't buy much of anything bigger than a k-38 at the shops round my parts!
RIDE-RED, the asking price was $650, and I was honest with the guy about it being a fair price but had hesitations because of the built-in-lock. he thought for a while then said $600 and tossed in a box of wwb 240gr. jsp so I went with it.
I'd still trade it and $200 for a non-locked version if I could find one.
I'd still trade it and $200 for a non-locked version if I could find one.
22-rimfire
New member
Never had a problem with their locks. None of my locks have ever been locked anyway. I don't know what the big deal is about the lock.