I am considering selling

D

dahermit

New member
I went out to my home "falling plate" (actually swinging plate) set-up to shoot 100 rounds of .44 Special. Wow...at 77 I am no longer up for the recoil. After 10 or so rounds, I had enough of the recoil. The load was only 4.1 grains under a Keith-type 250 grain home-cast bullet (the last of the NRA formula lubed bullets, have switched to Powder Coated bullets).
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The 4.1 grain Red Dot load is considered a mild load, but I just cannot take that much recoil anymore.

I will have to mull it over. I have 650 loaded rounds, six HKS speed loaders, a .44 Spl. Dillon 550b set-up.

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I hate coming to the point where I have to deal with parting with this beauty.

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/se...ia/1684019473285583/medium/1606006176/enhance
 
That’s a real beauty. Getting old isn’t for sissies. To my mind, .44 Special is far far under appreciated, as are lovely wood grips.
 
Try some Hogue or Pachmayr shock-absorbing grips, perhaps? Not as pretty as those beautiful wood grips, but the cushion grips might allow you to keep shooting.
 
"What he said." -- yes, try different grips.

I read, elsewhere, that .44 Russian is a compatible possible step down from the .44 special. Maybe worth looking for.

(Yeah, I know. .44 Special is hard enough to find.)
 
Decided to shed the nice looking wood grips and keith heavy bullets long time ago

200 gn rnfp at about 800 fps with houge rubber bantams. If you want to take pics, just switch them back. BIG difference in recoil between 240 and 200 gn bullets while using rubbers. Am not hunting any game, and 44-40 power loads are fine for target/vermin.

696's are a personal favorite
 
lee n. field said:
"What he said." -- yes, try different grips.

I read, elsewhere, that .44 Russian is a compatible possible step down from the .44 special. Maybe worth looking for.

(Yeah, I know. .44 Special is hard enough to find.)
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As a hand loader, I already have access to .44 Russian strength loads. The 4.1 of Red Dot is likely within that range.
 
zeke said:
Decided to shed the nice looking wood grips and keith heavy bullets long time ago

200 gn rnfp at about 800 fps with houge rubber bantams. If you want to take pics, just switch them back. BIG difference in recoil between 240 and 200 gn bullets while using rubbers. Am not hunting any game, and 44-40 power loads are fine for target/vermin.

696's are a personal favorite
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At this stage in life, it makes little sense for me to look for lighter weight .44 bullet molds.
 
Yes, you should be commended for still actively shooting at 77.
Getting old sucks. But maybe it does make sense to look for a lighter bullet load just to keep that beauty going. Isn't that the advantage of a revoler, to be able to shoot power puff loads. Look for some trail boss cowboy loads.
 
suggest a .44 magnum lever gun

Short barreled .44 will give considerable recoil. Suggest get a .44 magnum lever gun for those rounds. If the revolver no longer is suited to you, suggest sell it and get a .44 lever gun. Henry makes a nice one. recoil is relatively mild in a lever gun because there's more mass and recoil shouldn't be too bad. My Marlin .44 lever gun with light hand loads doesn't kick much at all.

Two bits.....
ciwsguy
 
Rubber grips and reduced charge loads?

If it's hurting too much, go to 38 special. Mel Tappan admitted that a lifetime of shooting magnums crippled him. I always kept that in mind.
 
I'm 71 now and find myself shooting a lot more 38 Special than anything else .
The 45 acp has always been a favorite until all the bending over and chasing empties all over the floor started to get to my bad back ... same goes for 9mm ... bending over and over just gets me down .
Hey ... not a thing wrong with a nice 38 Special ... 2.7 grains of Bullseye under any cast bullet is a lot of fun and the empties are left in your hand... Model 64 S&W ,with Millet SP-1 red dot sight ... Love it !
Eyes got old so had to get the SP-1 red dot ... sweet !
Gary
 
ciwsguy said:
Short barreled .44 will give considerable recoil. Suggest get a .44 magnum lever gun for those rounds. If the revolver no longer is suited to you, suggest sell it and get a .44 lever gun. Henry makes a nice one. recoil is relatively mild in a lever gun because there's more mass and recoil shouldn't be too bad. My Marlin .44 lever gun with light hand loads doesn't kick much at all.

Two bits.....
ciwsguy
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At my age and health, I do not consider it wise to buy green bananas let alone add to my gun collection.
 
gwpercle said:
I'm 71 now and find myself shooting a lot more 38 Special than anything else .
The 45 acp has always been a favorite until all the bending over and chasing empties all over the floor started to get to my bad back ... same goes for 9mm ... bending over and over just gets me down .
Hey ... not a thing wrong with a nice 38 Special ... 2.7 grains of Bullseye under any cast bullet is a lot of fun and the empties are left in your hand... Model 64 S&W ,with Millet SP-1 red dot sight ... Love it !
Eyes got old so had to get the SP-1 red dot ... sweet !
Gary
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Most of my shooting is now is with one of my old K38's with 130 grain bullets and 2.7 grains of Bullseye (or equivalent). But I have a lot of .44 Special rounds (650) that I wanted to shoot up because of the lack of small pistol primers.
 
74A95 said:
What if you could cut the recoil to half or less? Can you handle that?

some quick numbers:
250 gr bullet
4.1 reddot
600 fps
= 3.3 ft pounds of recoil from a 36 ounce gun


150 gr bullet
3.0 reddot
~ 600 fps ???
1.2 ft pounds of recoil from a 36 ounce gun

lighter bullets: https://www.mattsbullets.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=70

That recoil would be less than what a 38 spl wadcutter produces.
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I went through my lot of .44 Special loads and found that I have some loaded with 3.0 Grains of Bullseye...so when I get the 4.1 grain loads of Red Dot used up, I will not likely use Red Dot again.
 
dahermit said:
I went through my lot of .44 Special loads and found that I have some loaded with 3.0 Grains of Bullseye...so when I get the 4.1 grain loads of Red Dot used up, I will not likely use Red Dot again.
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Okay, but that's not the point.

If you could load ammo with 1/2 or less recoil, would you keep the gun?

If not, sell the gun and be done with it.
 
dahermit said:
At my age and health, I do not consider it wise to buy green bananas let alone add to my gun collection.
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I look at it this way....
1) you can’t take it with you
2) keep doing your thing as long as you can
3) enjoy the shooting sports as long as you can, even if it’s a 22

I’m mid-60s and am becoming more recoil sensitive. The last 30-06 I shot knocked the rocks loose in my head and it took 6 months to recover. I don’t shoot my M1 Garand anymore and early-willed it to one of my daughters. Could have sold it, but chose to keep it in the family.
 
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