Ruger Stronger Than S&W?????

Did I read correctly earlier? A 310gr .44 Magnum at 1500fps? Holy smokes!! :eek:

Not that it means much, because people will always do what they are prone to do, but I am quite happy with the .44 loaded at S&W safe pressures. The Smith and Wesson fits my hand better than a Ruger Redhawk or Super Redhawk. Does this make me wrong for not having a gun capable of handling the nuclear-magnum loads? I hope not! ;) If I want a more powerful handgun, I would have Bowen build me a .500 on a Ruger Redhawk or Super Redhawk (and live with the ergos) or maybe even go with a Freedom Arms 97 in .475 and call it a day with that.

No need to try to get 150-rwhp out of my little 650 Suzuki when a bigger engine will do better. There truly is no replacement for displacement! (Unless we want to get into turbos and such not...)
 
I am quite happy with the .44 loaded at S&W safe pressures. Does this make me wrong for not having a gun capable of handling the nuclear-magnum loads?
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Nope! FWIW, when my friend sold his 686 (the one that kept going out of time), I bought it and gave it to my Mom for home defense. It's a great gun and a good shooter. She's put a box of .38+P shells through it in the last 12 years or so. If she ever needs to use it, it will serve her well and at the rate she's using it, it will last forever. ;)
 
So whats an excessive load?

Alright just for the record i like S&W revolvers but i believe the ruger is stronger. However i have a question, what is considered a heavy load? What loadings of .357 can you consistently shoot from a 686 and not worry about stretching the frame out over time. So for the sake of getting some sort of standard on what is a heavy load.

What is the heaviest .357 mag load that a 686 can consistently handle?
What is the heaviest .357 mag load that a GP100 can consistently handle?

of course this will be shrouded in opinion, but it will also get results from those who have owned both for a long time and get some sort of trend.
 
But what does all this hoopla really matter?

Now we have guns chambered for Smith and Wesson ONLY loads. You can hotload those Rugers and DWs till the cows go home and they all are nothing more than understudies to the 500 S&W Magnum. Case closed until Ruger makes the Super Duper Redhawk. Til then: Thank you for sharing.

Your friendly S&W fanboys.
 
Hot loads will beat-up any revolver. I have a old Taurus that has been beat up pretty good and has never gone out of time or developed endshake. I stopped counting rounds at 37,457 rds according to my log-book.
 
"Did I read correctly earlier? A 310gr .44 Magnum at 1500fps? Holy smokes!!"

Yep. Developed by him.

Recoil is, shall we say... brisk.

That load shot through both sides of a large whitetail deer at approximately 80-85 yards some years go.
 
My great questions are: Am I ever going to encounter any super duper magna thumper Ruger only .357 Mag loads that I just absolutely have to run through my 686? Or will I be able to get by with the normal, run of the mill standard magna thumper .357 Mag loads to do whatever I'm ever going to need to do with it? And will those normal standard magna thumper .357 Mag loads harm my 686?

I'm under the impression that the normal, run of the mill magna thumper loads will not harm the 686, but maybe the super hot ones (factory or hand loads) will. I can't think, right off hand, of any reason for me to be shooting those super hot loads. I don't live in bear country (well, there are a few black bears, but not enough to worry about), but .357's are minimal against them anyhow. Feral hogs are problematic, but any .357 is going to be minimal against them, as well. The most demanding thing I believe I'll ever do with it is maybe somewhere down the line I'll try deer hunting with it, and I believe that I can come up with an effective moderately hot deer load that won't hurt the 686, especially given that I won't be trying to push a whole lot of them through it. The point is, I don't really think that going into the field with the deer load is going to leave me any more short changed than if I had one of those super hot loads. Anyways, most of the time I end up shooting cheaper .38's for practice. And they aren't going to hurt the 686 at all.

So the whole debate on whether the Rugers are stronger than the S&W's is moot to me. I really don't care all that much if the Ruger is that much stronger, as long as my S&W is strong enough to do what I want it to do. And I do believe that it is.
 
Now we have guns chambered for Smith and Wesson ONLY loads. You can hotload those Rugers and DWs till the cows go home and they all are nothing more than understudies to the 500 S&W Magnum.
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Smith and Wesson only loads? NOT!!

http://www.magnumresearch.com/Expand.asp?ProductCode=BFR500SW

I do believe the title of this forum is Ruger Stronger Than S&W?????

The X Frame is a strong frame and Smith made it to fulfill their original claim that they had the most powerful handgun in the world. Does this speak of Smith and Wesson products in general? No. The X frame was specifically designed for the 500 S&W cartridge and now the .460 S&W. Magnum Research now has a BFR in 500 S&W; does this bring them on par with Smith and Wesson? I don’t think you would agree with that statement, any more than I would agree that Smith making one strong and HUGE gun would bring up the strength of the entire Smith and Wesson line of handguns. The Super Redhawk is chambered in the .454 casull which is well above the 500 S&W as far as pressure goes. If the cylinder length is sufficient for the 500 S&W I am quite sure the gun will handle the cartridge. I am also sure that those who enjoy Ruger handguns would be interested in seeing another big bore model come out. In the end Ruger Firearms are stronger than S&W firearms when you sit them down and compare apples to apples. It is also interesting to me that to shoot the cartridges in the pressure range of the .454 Casull, S&W had to build a gun that in it’s 8 3/8” version weighs in at 4.5lbs. I thought Rugers were huge! Have a good one.

.44mag

For those who feel the 500 S&W is the most powerful pistol, take a peak. The .50 Alaskan/500 Martin in a pistol.

http://www.singleactions.com/500Martin.pdf
 
Egg on my face

I sure have to eat my words. I've always just taken a couple of guns to the range. For some reason, I had never taken a Ruger and S&W at the same time. Well I did yesterday, and boy do I stand corrected. In direct comparison, there's no way the Ruger even comes close to having as nice a trigger pull as the Smiths do. No way.
Hence, I'm able to control the Smiths far more accurately.
 
Paleryder,

There are few people who will argue that Ruger triggers are better than Smith triggers. I personally feel that my Smith’s have nicer triggers. I have stated before that both guns have their virtues, and have always stated the trigger differences as I know them. A lot of work can be done on a Ruger to make it easier to shoot accurately. What I have found in my experience is that both guns can be shot to the same degree of accuracy; it just depends on the experience of the shooter and their ability to adjust. I find it funny myself that all these battles lately started because the comment was made by myself and others that Rugers were stronger and Smiths looked/felt better. Apparently someone took offense on the Smith side of the fence and thought that meant that we were saying Smiths were weak. Well have fun and enjoy shooting them both, that’s all I do. :)

.44mag
 
Haveing had both Rugers and Smith &Wesson revolvers for over 35 years I now only have Smith & wesson,Dan Wesson,Colt,and Freedom arms no Rugers I find thier weapons both pistols and rifles to be ugly,porely finished and clunky and akwardand just plain (like Bill Ruger himself )too rough around the edges.life is to short to have to make do with a Ruger just to save a few pennys.
 
I see what you mean. Of course one can overpay for a current run S&W where corners are cut at every turn and the factory saves their pennies while extracting the same amounts from your wallet.

I wouldn't mind paying more for a Smith if I were getting what I was paying for, but since I am not, I don't. :D
 
Boats,

There are some heavy rumors that Colt is stopping production of their pistols. There was a thread about a week ago on that exact topic. You might want to read it, I think Tamara had some great input. Have fun.

.44mag
 
Master Blaster

Nope sorry I don't buy it Its gonna flex at the weakest spot where the metal is thinnest, thats where they always let go as well.

But if you have a pic of the back of the frame letting go on a revolver I'd sure like to see it.
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Never said it would fail at the back of the frame. Properly designed, a flexing frame won't fail, operating within it's perameters. However, the point where a flexing portion connects to a non-flexing portion is where you will find the greatest number of failures. One of those places happens to be the top strap. The asymetrical design of the sideplate method allows a torquing of the frame under extreme conditions. This was never a problem with the original low pressure loads that S&W (and everyone else) started out with. Their original deisgn was elegant, and continues to be so. Ruger started designing when brute force calibers were readily available. Bill designed his firearms to be utilitarian, rugged in the extreme. His far more symetrical design is simply better at handling extreme forces.
 
to be ugly,porely finished and clunky and akwardand just plain (like Bill Ruger himself )too rough around the edges
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BUSTER51,

I assume you enjoy your gun rights as much as the next guy, if so you might wish to talk with a little more respect about a man who fought hard for your and my rights. Bill Ruger was a huge supporter of the NRA both Politically and Financially. He also testified in front of Congress on more than one occasion regarding your and my gun rights. You may not like the man's guns, but that is no reason to attack the man. Especially one who helped you out and you never even met him. I am always amazed at how easily people forget which companies have stood for and protected the 2nd amendment and which ones have stood by while it is attacked.

.44mag
 
Boats,

There are some heavy rumors that Colt is stopping production of their pistols. There was a thread about a week ago on that exact topic. You might want to read it, I think Tamara had some great input. Have fun.
Click to expand...

Was that the M-16/AK-47/MIM thread I avoided? :D
 
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