skeeter skelton and the 44 special

Another Skeeter Skelton fan here. The first exposure to his writing was a review of the Virginian Dragoon revolver; a friend had one for sale at a gun show last weekend and that article came to mind.

As others said, the advantage of the .44 Special over its Magnum counterpart is that it can be a smaller and less bulky revolver. I have an N framed revolver but it seems just a bit too large. Same with a Ruger Super Blackhawk. I have one of the Bisley Flattop .44 Specials; it is built on the same cylinder frame as the New Vaquero and is well proportioned. This is, of course, subjective.

The Smith Model 69 and the Ruger GP-100 are smaller than an N frame but they have a five round cylinder. If you like a DA revolver, though, either would be an excellent choice. The M69 would give you the option of shooting .44 Magnum.
 
Howdy

Yup, I used to read Skeeter when I was a kid and he was writing for Shooting Times. At least I seem to remember it was Shooting Times.


Did somebody say 44 Special?

A blued Triple Lock without any finish left on it from 1907 at the top. I got it for an amazing price because of the lack of finish. Still shoots like a charm.

A nickel plated Triple Lock from 1915 at the bottom.

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A Triple Lock Target Model from 1913.

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44 Hand Ejector 2nd Model from 1921.

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I love this funky old 44 Hand Ejector 3rd Model. It left the factory in 1929. Was carried by an officer in WWII. I have his beat up holster somewhere. Refinished, not a very good job, and the grips are almost worn out. Wouldn't trade it for anything new.

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A pristine 44 Hand Ejector 4th Model from 1955. Almost as old as me, but in much better shape.

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Kind of on the new side, a Model 624 from 1985.

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I have a few more 44 Specials, but this board only allows six photos per post.
 
.44 spl +P......sort of

I had a Charter Bulldog for a while, not sure how fast my 250 gr Keith LSWC, using a max load from the Speer manual of the era, I'm not sure how fast they were running, but the poor little revolver shot out of time pretty quickly.

My next .44 and all others have been .44 mags, M29 and then a 629 Mtn Gun.

My standard load for the Mtn gun drove a 240 gr LSWC to about 1000 fps, which I equated to .44 spl +P. I thought a useful load, serious enough to do whatever I asked of it, but not to abusive to shoot.
 
I have a Model 24-3 6.5" barrel from around 1984 or so.

One of my favorite handguns, and I really don't much care for tubes longer than 4".
 
The versatility of being able to shoot more than one cartridge carries a lot more merit when you're restricted to owning only one firearm. Go with a 44spl if that's what you really want.
 
I'm new to the 44 caliber, and have dies and brass enroute to try for myself this wonderful thing called 44 Special, albeit in a M629.
 
I have both 44 special and 44 mag. The specials are the ones I shoot.

When I first got my permit in 1987, My dad bought a new Custom shop 3" 624. He loved it. Loaded it hot and mild. We shot bowling pins at our local range. He used his 3" smith, I used my 1911 in 45. We traded off about every other week. As he got older, He promised that gun to me. I really wanted a 44 special, so in the meantime, I bought a charter arms Bulldog. I would go to my parents house (4 hours away) and hang out there for the weekend. One time I found ALL his guns loaded. Hand guns, and long guns. Every one. I emptied them all and took the ammo home with me. The next time I came it was the same thing. He did not say anything to me. Dementa was setting in. I discussed it with my mother and that weekend, I took ALL ammo and gun powder out of their house.

Well I bought the Bulldog, and took it to the range. I was shooting some of the ammo he had for the 624. Everything was going well until about round # 75. KABOOM. I blew the top off the Bulldog. Half the cylinder and all the top strap was gone. I called charter the next day. The daughter answered the phone and I told her EXACTLY what happened. She said It should have not done that and send it in. I asked her if they could build me a new gun from the pieces that were left. She said they would warranty it. I asked for a shipping label She said "how long have you had it?" I said 2 days. She sent me a label. In two weeks they send a new revolver to my FFL. Invoice said "Paid in Full".

I did get my Dads 624 a couple years after that. I shoot steel bowling pin matches every week. I shoot that gun 4 or 5 matches a year. A couple weeks ago my Daughter shot it in the match instead of me. For steel pins, I load 5 grains of Red Dot which gives me 700 fps out of the 3" barrel.

Thinking back, I remember shooting in my dads a back yard. He brought out some reloads and said try these. I fired 3 shots out of the 624 and handed him back the other 3. I said "too much" . I have a feeling one of those found its way into the Bulldog.

I have a Ruger SRH with a scope on it. I shot one deer with it. 35 yards the SWC quartered through the deer exiting and leaving a large pool of blood. The deer did a forward cartwheel and never moved.

For one pin match this year I took the scope off the Ruger and shot the 700 fps specials through it. I won the match that night.

The Bulldog fits in a few of my J frame holsters and I used to carry it.

Reading Sixguns right now, got it for the Kindle for about $9.99.

Enjoy your specials, I do and always will.
David

Edit: I will see if I can find pics of the topless bulldog and the 624.
 
Even Jeff Cooper liked the .44 Special. He and his 1911ized buds of the SWPCL knew a sheriff who was adamantly opposed to the automatic pistol. So they rounded him up a 2nd or 3rd Model and loaded him a case of good stout SWCs and he was happy.
 
I have often wondered why the large bore DA revolver went out of fashion.
Jeff Cooper said he had little experience with the 41 Magnum but he endorsed it for LEO use for those who preferred revolvers.
 
One of the reasons the big bore DA revolver has diminished in popularity is the fact that the N-Frame revolver has a grip that is too large for many men to shoot double action fire readily. The grip of the K-Frame and L-Frame Smiths has proven to be more user friendly for serious double action shooting.

I had a Smith Model 625 in .45 ACP that had the narrow and smooth DA trigger which was a strain for me to shoot, but better than N-Frames with those wide target triggers.



Bob Wright
 
I read Skeeter's stuff when he was still living, saved a lot his articles in a binder, but I never "got" the .44 Special; for Special-level ballistics I prefer moonclipped .45, and if it's going to be hot, get a Magnum.
 
I read Skeeter's stuff (and about everybody else) during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Skeeter told good stories, and wasn't as preachy as some gun writers. I always enjoyed the various "Adventures of Me and Joe".

Never got interested in the .44 Special though. Shooting the .44 Special was, for me, a "meh.." experience. For me, the round is useless. I don't mean it doesn't work or isn't accurate, I just mean I don't have a use for it. I have several guns in "useless" calibers that I like more for some reason or other, and since I'm just lukewarm about the .44 Special, never got one, and have only shot a couple boxes of Special through my Magnums.

One of the reasons the big bore DA revolver has diminished in popularity is the fact that the N-Frame revolver has a grip that is too large for many men to shoot double action fire readily.
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I suppose it belongs on the list, but I would put "many men unable to shoot DA readily due to grip size (or trigger reach, which is different) way down on that list. I think the decline of the popularity of big bore revolvers is due to other factors more than grip size. Grips come in a lot of different sizes and styles, and changing out a set that doesn't fit you for one that does turns the gun into a "whole different animal".
 
For me, the round is useless.
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For me, who needs a 'Magnum' when you have a .44 Special or .45 Colt :) . The magnums are almost useless ... Well, gathering dust anyway :p .

Speaking of .44 Special, I just ran across and picked up a Taylor Co. Cattleman SAA 4 5/8" barrel at a sporting goods store today. The store actually also had a 7 1/2" as well in .44 Special. 'Almost' got it too, but know what the wife would say.... Anyway, you don't see many .44 Specials around so ended up with the shorty. Everything appears to work, and the throats appear to be sized right too. Only downer, is it doesn't have the hammer 'safety' notch (so missing a click) and a floating firing pin on the hammer :( . So not really a true replica.... To late today to go try it out, but another .44 Special for that stable. If it turns out to be a good shooter it will be off to the gunsmith to reduce the trigger pull weight to a reasonable level and remove the obvious creep it has...
 
"For me, who needs a 'Magnum' when you have a .44 Special or .45 Colt . "

I wouldn't say that the magnums are useless. I LOVE my .357s and my .41. But, oddly enough, I've never had a bit of interest in the .44 Magnum. Absolutely no desire to have one.

But I also absolutely adore the .44 Special and the .45 Colt. I looked long and hard for my S&W 25-5 in .45... I could have had a bunch with 6" tubes, but that's not what I wanted. I looked for over a decade before I found a cherry 4". No box unfortunately.
 
I wouldn't say that the magnums are useless.
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I agree with the useless part ... that was just 'tongue in cheek' response to the 44 Amps remark :) . In fact, it wasn't that long ago I was saying 'why .44 Special, when you can always load down the .44Mag to .44 Special power levels'... But when the Ruger .44 Special Flattop came out, I was hooked. I could see why Taffin, Skeeter, Keith, Wilson, and others pushed the .44 Special.
 
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I wouldn't say that the magnums are useless.
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Me either. Kinda a good reason they were developed. Iffin the "specials" were that "special", odds are, there'd never been a magnum. That said, there is a "special" place for "specials". They work and work well within their parameters, even if those parameters are toned down from their magnum siblings. We as gun enthusiasts have attachments to particular calibers and platforms based on may things. It don't matter what they are and they don't have to appeal to anyone else but us. Whatever trips your trigger.
 
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