Flamethrower

Hi Tamara,

Love it!

I've have a Smith & Wesson M-657 with a three inch barrel from a small run of 2000 guns made in 1988.

Mine has been heavily customized by Ron Powers and magnaported. I also fitted Pachmayr Decelerator grips with the finger grooves. :D

It accompanied me to LFI-I and Massad Ayoob got a real kick out of it. After the anti-revolver jokes subsided I had lots of revolver lovers "come out of the closet" and ask me privately about the gun. :eek:

Do some close quarters drills with your new snubby and you'll see how well it works in that role especially with its short sight radius, but you'll still have one hell of a flat shooting piece for engaging targets well out beyond 25 yards.

Enjoy...

- Anthony
 
Tamara-

I have an identical revolver except that mine has not been magnaported, It is very accurate with both .44 Magnum and .44 Special loads. Enjoy! :cool:
 
Some years ago, having been in the port next to a snubbie .44 Magnum shooting handloads, I'll give you an advanced range report from your range neighbor's point of view: "Ow! Hey! What the hell is that thing?!" :)
 
Tamara,
Very nice! I have the same gun in .41 mag. The grips did not feel right for me, so I put on a set of Spegel wood boot grips. See my avatar at GT.
Best regards and enjoy!:D
 
how is an N frame 44 a carry gun in the real world?
Click to expand...

A PWL leather pancake holster that puts the tip of the muzzle about even with the bottom of the belt (most of the gun rides above the waistline). Pull on a windbreaker or sweater and *badabing!*, you're concealing an N-frame.

With Triton .44 Mag "lites" (165gr/1250fps) or Cor-Bon's .44 Mag defense load (165gr/1300fps) and some heavier stuff, like maybe Silvertips, in the speedloader, you have a very versatile carry package that has ample power and can (using the 210 or 240gr reloads) deliver enough penetration to deal with shooting through stuff, should the unlikely need arise.
 
Talk me out of wanting one, someone... please...


I keep rereading this thread, dreaming... losing productivity...

I just sit on the couch between commercials, looking at my G27 in its kydex holster with its Meprolights, wishing I had a cannon like this.

I mean it was easy to say no to the G29, the Desert Eagle, the ultrabig SRHs...
 
Flamethrower 44 Snubbie

Tamara,

Congratualtions on your new flamethrower. I've had a 3" SS Taurus M44 for almost a year now and love it. Yes, with factory loads, it is a flamethrower (and I don't have the ported version), but boy is it fun to shoot!

I had to trade the wood grips for Pachmyer Decelerators because I used to draw blood after only 20-30 rounds with the originals. Now that the grips are softer, I can fire maybe 100 rounds a session before my hand starts to give out (and that's with somewhat reduced level handloads).

All that being said, I really enjoy my M44, and it does draw attention at the range.

Enjoy your flamethrower snubbie and give us all a range report soon.

Nazman44
 
Anyone wanting to carry a 44mag for ccw better practice quite a bit. With magnum loads(not special) there is no such thing as a quick follow-up shot.
OTOH: If you need one, you've most likely got A LOT of trouble. :D
I have carried my 9.5" SRH in a shoulder rig for ccw a couple times. But only when we were going back to town for more supplies during hunting season. On the actual hunt I don't feel the need for ccw, so the sp101 and p239 stay home. I just carry the SRH open style.
 
One more thought guys.

My 357 sp101 gains no advantage in ballistics above the bottom 2 or 3 loads on the charts. I get more BANG, BLAST, and RECOIL, but no more velocity. That's why remington only rates the 125gr. GS at 1220. In a 6" barrel you will get more velocity than that, but not in a snubbie. I've proven this on my chrono.
I agree that for WOW or WTH factor the hot ones are fun to shoot though. :D
 
Tamara,
How would Pro Loads Tactical Lite work? Seems they'd tend to reduce the flames and muzzle flip would be close to eliminated. That should further decrease your split times.
 
Notes on firing the hand howitzer:

Bear in mind that one of the most viciously recoiling handguns I've ever fired was a 3" 629 (although that one was loaded with 300gr grizzly-stompers). I was ready for this gun to be an utter beast, but was pleasantly surprised by its controllability both with the "lite/tactical" JHP's and the middleweight 240gr loads (Magtech 240gr JSP @ 1170fps). The porting really works, nearly negating muzzleflip and allowing fast follow-up shots, doubletaps, and even rapid emptying of the cylinder while keeping all hits on a medium Shoot-N-See.

Flash was unspectacular with the Tritons and nearly invisible on the dimly-lit indoor range with the Magtechs.

All in all, I am very much in love with this gun. My roommate teases me mercilessly about it: "That's such a girly little gun! You know girls are supposed to use simple little revolvers because they can't handle manly semi-autos..." ;) :D
 
Tamara, I had forgotten about the lighter loads. All my 44's are 6"+ barrels and usually shoot only warm to hot handloads. I'm going to go try some of the tacticals just to see what they're like. I have shot specials before, I'm assuming they'll be similar.
 
P.S.

The PWL holster in question is stamped "S120TS" on the back, for those who are looking for a good N-frame totin' holster...

holster.jpg
 
29 3 inch barrel

I have a 3 inch 657, similar to Anthony's. Mine went back to the factory and is now a SQUARE BUT.

Be VERY CAREFUL not to use full charge reloads in it because, the barrel is not pinned. I use factory for CCW and either 5 or 8 grains of UNIQUE for practice.
 
KSFreeman,

Were you saying that Ben Grogan was blinded by muzzle flash? Didn't that shootout take place during the day? And I thought that he lost his glasses.
 
Don't know if you handload,...

...but you NEED to try 29-30+ grains of H110/296 behind a 180 grain of your favorite flavor. That oughta be something to see out of a ported shorty like that. Crimp tight.

JV
 
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