smith and wesson,and the 44 special

N

Newton24b

Moderator
Im curius on the 44 special and sws product lineup these days.

they are supposed to have discontinued the non N frame 44 specials due to limited demand years back. but yet they had enough demand to create the 396 night guard. So is there some hope for the L frames to start popping up in 44 special?
 
That would please me no end...I missed the chance on one of the earlier .44 Spl offerings with a 4" barrel. I'd prefer it without the full length under lug to keep the weight down, but a 5 shot would be just fine with me. Son #1 has a 696 that I've lusted after for the last 15 years. Rod
 
One can only hope for a return of the 696. But I wouldn't hold my breath. S&W seems intent on making "mystery metal" guns and things in wierd configurations I wouldn't allow in my safe today.
 
The sad part is that any 44 Special S&W brings out for the foreseeable future is going to have the confounded Internal Lock. That (expletive deleted) thing is ugly to see, it spoils the clean/classic lines of the frame's shape and is of no earthly/practical use or good. Blast them for ever thinking of it and worse for putting it on their entire (or almost the entire) revolver line.

Dave
 
The 396 Night Guard has already been discontinued as has been the M21. The only revolver S&W currently makes specifically chambered in .44 Special is the M24.
 
The 44 special seems to be one of those loads that has a small and very vocal following, but when manufacturers listen and begin making models in that caliber sales are less than spectacular. It's a great load. Mild recoil and very accurate. As we all know can be loaded up into a real fire breather, but it seems to fall into a crack. .357 magnum, 44 Magnum and the 45 Colt sell better and meet the needs of most revolver shooters. The .41 magnum also has the same problem incidentally. Good load, but one of those "In-Between" loads with a small and dedicated following.

Fortunately there are a fair number of 44 Special revolvers out there today. Ranging in prices from astronomical to very reasonable.
 
Yep and that is the other problem the 44 Special has. Not only can 44 magnums be "down-loaded" to .44 specs, but the 44 magnum will shoot 44 Special. That versatility is nice. Just like .38/357 magnum revolvers.
 
It's a great load. Mild recoil and very accurate. As we all know can be loaded up into a real fire breather, but it seems to fall into a crack. .357 magnum, 44 Magnum and the 45 Colt sell better and meet the needs of most revolver shooters.
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Part of the problem too is that the guns required to safely make the .44 Special a fire breather are usually just as large and heavy as a .44 Magnum. I think that many people come to the conclusion that, if they're going to deal with the inconvenience of a big, heavy gun anyway, then it may as well be chambered for .44 Magnum.

Likewise, .44 Special has to "compete" with other cartridges that offer very similar ballistics and are available in very similar platforms. .45 ACP, .45 Auto-Rim, and .45 Long Colt (standard loadings) have all been chambered in revolvers very similar to those offered in .44 Special and deliver similar ballistics.

The good news is that while .44 Spl guns may be slow sellers, the cartridge itself is alive and well as a sub-load in .44 Magnum revolvers. There are several good .44 Special self-defense loadings available including Winchester 200gr Silvertip, Federal 200gr LSWCHP, Speer 200gr Gold Dot, and Cor-Bon 200gr DPX as well as a few others. While most people might choose to buy a .44 Magnum revolver for its versatility, many quickly realize that the power, and thus the blast and recoil, of that cartridge is more than they want, need, or can handle for certain situations but that .44 Special is a very attractive alternative.
 
It is true...

The 696 came out and left and I never knew it existed. I saw it 2 weeks ago in a LGS that I visit when I get a job to do out there. Been there 3 times in like 4 years and I always found something there to buy. This trip it was the 696. Wrote the info down went home and hit the threads and picked it up 2 days later. It is the perfect 5 shot revolver. IMO. Next month I am picking up a RCBS reloader to load 44 Spl and 38/357 magnum.

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I'm an admitted 44 special lover. I've always felt the people with the 44 magnum gun were the ones with the disadvantage. They are carrying larger heavier and less handy guns chambered for a cartridge that few of them will ever actually need. And most will fire a few cylinderfuls of magnums and then carry it with 44 specials in the chambers. For my purposes the special can handle nearly every need I have in a slimmer lighter easier to carry gun. Thats exactly why Skeeter and others kept clammering for another factory special. It's also why there were so many Blackhawk Rugers converted, back in the day. I don't think we've seen the last of factory 44 specials.
 
Well it's not a "L" frame. It has "mystery metal" parts, and a lock. Nobody else wanted it, so I got it for a good price.

21-4, "Thunder Ranch", 44 Special.

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But it will shoot the lights out, and looks like it's ready to go in harms way.

I like my 29-2, but as others have said, I'll probably never shoot 44 magnums out of it, but it shoots really nice with 44 specials.

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Webleymkv said:
While most people might choose to buy a .44 Magnum revolver for its versatility, many quickly realize that the power, and thus the blast and recoil, of that cartridge is more than they want, need, or can handle for certain situations but that .44 Special is a very attractive alternative.
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Yessir, that's been my experience. I ventured off into .44 magnum-land several years ago, and found some pretty good loads that are powerful, accurate, and fun to shoot, but then I started looking at the .44 Special and realized that I could find a middle ground between the wimpy Special loads designed for old pistols and the barn-burner magnums. I settled on a load that runs a 240 SWC at about 950 fps. That load is good for about 95% of what I want that revolver to do.
 
The sad part is that any 44 Special S&W brings out for the foreseeable future is going to have the confounded Internal Lock. That (expletive deleted) thing is ugly to see,
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I know, I agree. The sad part is that introduced the lock.. then they re-introduced some of the "classic guns." But with the ILS! Come on. If you are going to make things like the Model 21, and 58, etc, couldn't you at least make those without the ILS? Even if you think it is somehow necessary for the general public CCW type of guns? Call the old ones some kind of Special Edition "Reproduction Series" or something. It's like Ford deciding to release 1000 new 1965 Mustangs for their 50th anniversary. But with electric engines instead of 289's.

Well it's not a "L" frame. It has "mystery metal" parts, and a lock. Nobody else wanted it, so I got it for a good price.

21-4, "Thunder Ranch", 44 Special.
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That's actually a nice looking gun. And they were going quite cheaply there for a while. I should have closed my eyes to the lock and bought one but I just couldn't do it. I could have had it removed and the hole closed up. On the other hand... it's more satisfying to just buy the old guns on the used market if S&W is refusing to give gun buyers what they want to buy. Why should we reward them if they won't listen to us? I thought the customer was always right?

this is the perfect carry gun as far as I'm concerned... would love to see more of these available...
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The M396 was a nice woods carry gun. And while I would usually say an N frame .44 Magnum is too big and heavy to use for such a thing, a pre-lock M629 Mountain Gun is actually a very nice ".44 Special" to use that way as well. They can be a bit much with full .44 Magnums (like the much lighter M329's) but they are a joy with .44 Specials. Load up your Mountain Gun with heavy cast SWC's at 1000 fps or so and it can do pretty much anything without all the drama of full magnums.

On the other hand.... the .44 Special I'm most likely to carry in the woods is a custom gun. OM Ruger .357 Blackhawk converted to .44 Special. So the smaller frame gun with the 4 5/8ths barrel. Bead blasted grip frame so it is silver. Blued upper so it is a two tone gun. Nice looking, compact and medium weight. Easy to carry all day long. Much easier to carry around than most .44 Magnums. Can do anything you need to do. The modern production Flat Top .44 Special Blackhawks are very nice as well. I just like the unconverted OM's better!

Gregg
 
it's more satisfying to just buy the old guns on the used market if S&W is refusing to give gun buyers what they want to buy. Why should we reward them if they won't listen to us? I thought the customer was always right?
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That might be true, but I'm shooting that one while I'd still be looking for an old one. I got that one used after ignoring it for a month or so at the LGS. Finally I gave in and took it home. I actually like it quite a bit. The fit and finish is as good as any Smith & Wesson I've ever owned, and it shoots just the same. I didn't like the stocks that came on it, so I replaced them with the Hogues. Best thing about the Hogues is they mostly cover the Thunder Ranch logo on the other side.

I never think about the lock. It's just something on the side of the gun, like a screw or a pin. I don't even have a key for it.
 
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