frame strength

[Newton24b]

im here to discuss the smaller guns, the smaller frames specifically.

while studying the capabilities of the .44 special as a hunting round, i found a few rather interesting discrepencies in the strength of guns.

quite a few websites and authors profess that although all 44 specials are normally designed for the 246 grain lead round nose bullet, that most of the smaller sized da/sa revolvers chambered in 44 special arent able to hold up to that load.

its said that 44 special chambered revolvers that weigh less then 30 ounces unloaded, or are smaller then the N frame 44 special should use a 186-210 grain bullet loaded to 950-1100 fps. Thats disregardless of what metal is used to make the frame.
however ive seen some authors declare that the sub 200 grain bullets are OK on a sporadic diet because they are "to small, too fast" and can hurt the gun.

 

[drail]

There are two main factors involved with small light revolvers. One is that when using lightwight bullets for the caliber the lighter bullets will jump from the chamber into the barrel faster and the forcing cone can be damaged if the alignment is less than perfect. (and most are not perfect but the forcing cone allows the bullet to "self align" with the bore.) The second is that with a light weight revolver there is the problem of inertial bullet pull. In other words, when fired the gun recoils backwards quickly while the bullet tends to stay at rest for a few milliseconds. The result is that the bullets resting in the adjacent chambers can be pulled from their cases (just like a inertial bullet puller). If that happens they can protrude from the front of the cylinder and tie up the gun. The frame's "strength" is really not so much an issue here but when you get below a certain weight problems can happen. I have been shooting a Charter Bulldog for many years and have never had any bullets pull (with my handloads anyway), but at 19 oz. the recoil from heavy loads will generally make you back off before the gun is damaged. (if it doesn't you will beat up the gun fairly quickly). After 50 rounds of hot loads your hand will tingle for a couple of days. The old 246 gr. standard load was actually a pretty weak load (think black powder) and the ammo manufacturers have kept factory loadings in .44 Spl. fairly weak since there are so many older guns still around. But a 200 gr. load from a .44 Spl. snub can easily achieve the same power factor as a .45 ACP ball round without stressing the gun very much. The problem comes when people try to turn it into a "magnum" cartridge with light bullets over heavy charges of fast (or slow) burning powders. The .44 Spl. comes from a time when we were transitioning from black powder to smokeless powder and metallurgy was not what we have today as well as many of those older guns had very little (or no) heat treatment. If you have a choice of a heavy slow load versus a fast light load pick the heavy slow load. Your gun will last years longer. Besides, with a 2.5 to 3 in. bbl. you're not going to get really high velocity. You can try to use a faster burning powder to compensate for the short bbl. but then you will start to see gas cutting of the top strap and forcing cone erosion.