The heavy recoil and high ammo costs have resulted in a constant supply of lightly used .44 Magnum revolvers since the 1950s. The case is a shortened 44 special or Russian and the rim is thinned. Get the latest news and reviews from Gundigest.com. Purchase A PDF Download Of The American Handgunner July/August 2018 Issue Now! Meanwhile, the .44 Spl's recoil is mild as milk. Related Links; Rock Island Arsenal Bolt action .22 TCM; Savage Arms Corp. Model 24 Combination Gun .22LR/.410 GA; SMITH & WESSON S&W 14-2 K-38 MASTERPIECE 38 . The .44 Smith & Wesson Special is well over a century old. Add that to its limited penetration potential, and the Special isnt exactly a stellar hunting cartridge. I got a stainless Non fluted cylinder gp100 then found a blued 5 inch on CDNN for $500. Even though it isn't called a 44, it does shoot a 44-caliber bullet. However, their most important contribution was to come up with the first cartridge using a bullet of uniform diameter. Now jump to 1907. Giveaway prizes may have evidence of being test fired or exhibit minor handling marks. (III) Giveaway winner(s) chosen by random drawing. The .44 Spls ballistics arent too far off from the .45 ACP, which remains a popular option for both law enforcement and civilian personal defense. (Thats Newtons Third Law for those of us whove been out of school for a while. They were ballistic twins. I also shoot with a USPSA club and own many modern pistols and long arms, but acquiring the cowboy firearms could be a financial challenge. Employees and agents of Publishers Development Corp. are not eligible. Both cartridges were originally designed for big bore revolvers. FIOCCHI HERITAGE 44 S&W RUSSIAN 247 gr. Most notable were humps at the top of Model #3s grips and odd-looking spurs extending from trigger guards. Yup and yup. 44 Russian is typically loaded at 650 to 700 fps with a 200 grain CSWC or CLRNFP. As a cartridge for the Hand Ejector, First Model .44 (nicknamed triplelock) they introduced a wild and crazy idea. That said, if .44 Special appeals to you as a defensive cartridge, there are still plenty of relatively small revolver options out there to choose from (even if most will be second-hand). If an expanding bullet hits the target at a slower rate of speed, it may fail to expand. All entries must be received by giveaway end date. Smith & Wesson Centerfire Revolvers. The .44 Magnum had a surge in popularity in the 1970s after Clint Eastwoods Dirty Harry character referred to it as the most powerful handgun in the world.. $11. Mail-in entries accepted; send postcards (no envelopes) to: American Handgunner Magazine, GOM Mar/Apr 2023, P.O. Deployed military should use stateside address. No substitutions or transfers to a third party are allowed. Ruger New Model Blackhawk Centerfire Revolvers. It was named .44 S&W Special. Reloading the .44 Russian is made easier today with the availability of .44 Magnum Carbide sizing dies. (III) Giveaway winner(s) chosen by random drawing. Less case volume. Lots of folks said "ohh, bad juju" but he says he had no problems. Great article! Prizes will not be awarded if illegal in jurisdiction of winner(s). However, we can easily track a cartridges kinetic energy through the powers of math. Contest open to U.S. residents only. Taurus - 444 Raging Bull 6.5in 44 Magnum Matte Stainless 6RD. Loading the 44 russian may need a new die or two. Too much penetration in a densely populated area, or when loved ones may be on the other side of a door, can cause catastrophic collateral damage. . RN bullets over 3.8 grs. Cartridge Specs: .44 Magnum vs .44 Special. I use it in, 25-20 (resized from 32-20) , 9MM, 38 Spl, 357 Mag, 40 S&W, 10MM, 44 Russian, 44 Spl, 44 Mag, 45 LC, 454 Casull, 460 S&W and 45-70. However, the zippier speed produced by the Magnum definitely gives it an edge in the accuracy/trajectory department. then discontinued it again. . I do believe that this was due to the Russians having a round-nosed bullet design causing them to "tip" a bit from one to another as the spring pressure increased. Smith & Wesson, Colt, Ruger, Korth, Taurusthe list goes on. Best all around is a four inch light weight .44 mag, using loads toward the lighter side. Box 1926, Escondido, CA 92033. Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited. Magnum for four-legged adversaries and Special for two-legged predators. While .44 Special is more than serviceable for medium to smaller game at modest distances, the reality is .44 Magnum has such a good track record that you might as well not bother. How are you going to get that load to feed in a rifle ? A First-Year Magnum: Shooting The S&W "Pre-29" by JUSTIN DYAL; Contact; Donate; Eye Candy for the Gentlemen out there; How to start a career in Education Part One; N.S.F.W. Comparing the accuracy of two different cartridges is a tricky affair. When Smith & Wesson developed the New Century revolverthe Triple Lock Hand Ejector, the basis of their N-framethey wanted a new cartridge to go with it. of Unique yields 790 fps all from a 71/2 Colt Single Action. The short round probably will not go into the loading die far enough to crimp the bullet in place. Case length was 0.97 and velocity was likely a bit over 700 fps. This New Anaconda performs exceptionally well with .44 Special loads. Maybe you just like to go out on a weekend and shoot the "Guns that Won the West" or that your favorite TV and movie cowboy heroes toted. Yes, the 44 Special can be applied in the 44 Magnum barrel with no . Giveaway prizes may have evidence of being test fired or exhibit minor handling marks. of Trail Boss for right around 685 fps. Colt chambered the Single Action Army in .44 Russian and after the .44 Special arrived they chambered for it too, marking the barrel: Russian and S&W Special .44. Colt also chambered a very few of their Model 1878 Double Action sixguns in .44 Russian and S&W, even though the Triple-Lock debuted in .44 Special, apparently had to take care of some diehards and thus a few Triple-Locks are also found chambered in .44 Russian. S&W and Colt no longer make any. As we said, the .44 Mag has a slightly longer case than the .44 Spl. May 23, 2013 North country gal said: Different cartridge length. Order a Henry Single Shot online at Sportsman's Warehouse. With improved firearm metallurgy available, Smith & Wesson increased the bullet weight of the new cartridge to 246 grains while retaining a heavy 23-grain black-powder propellant charge, which almost equaled that of the .44 American and produced a muzzle velocity of roughly 750ft/s. [5], In 1872, while in the US, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich visited the Smith & Wesson factory to review the progress of the Russian order. Last edited on 20 February 2023, at 04:29, "Smith & Wesson's #3, Colt's Biggest Rival in the Old West", "American Legends: Those Fantastic .44s! You need to seriously look at shooting .44 spl in those revolvers. The new magnum case was the .44 Special stretched to 1.29. In response, Smith & Wesson developed the first double-action .44 Magnum revolver in 1955. (II) Limit one entry per household. The .44 Smith and Wesson, based off the .44 Russian was introduced in 1907 for the Smith and Wesson New Century Revolver. Get 12 Issues a year of the country's best firearms writing. [1] In addition, the cylinder design of the No. Glad I passed on a Charter Arms. Both are good shooters with easy to handle recoil in my old hands. The 44-40 (first known as 44 Winchester Centerfire or WCF) was introduced in 1873; the 44 Russian was introduced in 1871. If these three rounds were interchangeable do you think all the manufacturers would be making dual cylinder guns? He includes several photographs. In late 1907 the .44 Russian sired its son, the .44 Special, and was around in late 1955 to see its grandson, the .44 Magnum arrive. Mine currently are the RCBS "cowboy" style with carbide sizing die and case mouth belling die with plug diameter of .426 inch. Stopping a human threat and humanely harvesting an animal are two very different things. However, be aware that lever-action rifles can be fairly ammunition-sensitive. Reloading the .44 Russian is made easier today with the availability of .44 Magnum Carbide sizing dies. Elmer Keith had pushed the envelope for years with ever heavier bullets sent downrange at faster and faster velocities. RN to 240-gr. He's just usin primers and wax. The non-necked design makes it a viable option for areas that restrict hunting with necked-down cartridges. Save my name and email to use for future comments. For hunting, either with a rifle or a handgun, the .44 Remington Magnum is capable of taking even the toughest game animals. (II) Limit one entry per household. Current loadings. Cowboy load for .44 Magnum I started shooting with a local Cowboy Action Shooting club several months ago. and the case is the same outside diameter. Velocity changed also to nominal 1,470 fps. When a hunter shoots an animal, it may not drop dead in its tracks. Sure, some people handle recoil better than others. bullet at a similar velocity of about 750 fps. I would load a couple of dummy rounds (no powder/primer) and try it. FYI: The flying ashtray was a .45 acp hollow point manufactured by Speer. A 5-shot Charter Arms Bulldog Pug .44Spl is much easier to carry than a 4in S&W N frame. While shooters can (and often do) argue ethereal concepts like stopping power and shootability until the cows come home, the numbers simply dont lie. Factory warranties may apply in some cases. All entries must be received by giveaway end date. The .44 Specialor rather .44 Smith & Wesson Specialis essentially a slightly lengthened .44 Russian case loaded with smokeless powder. 44-40 or 44WCF are larger diameter cases like 45 Colt cases then bottle necked to a .427 bullet. Because .44 Magnum cartridges are loaded to much higher pressures, running them through a revolver chambered for .44 Spl could have catastrophic results for both the shooter and the handgun. If recoil is a turn-off, the .44 Spl is probably the better option. While there's no doubt the .44 Rem Mag puts a ton more speed and energy downrange, that performance comes with a price. I guess there wasnt enough interest for Ruger to keep them in their lineup. God, Liberty. I like Black Rifle Coffee. .45 Schofield brass works better. I've 'made' .455 brass but .45 long colt brass is on the thick side when you trim it that short. . The bear, during the attack, moved from one hunter to the other, giving Doug the chance to access Reed's .44 magnum, that had been hung in a tree. Winners will be notified by certified mail on official letterhead. If you need to bust through the tough hide, bone, and muscle of a charging bear, penetration is a good thing. Employees and agents of Publishers Development Corp. are not eligible. Hoping for army contracts S&W submitted the new Model #3 to the U.S. Government for testing. I was chambering .44 Russian in a 44-40 chamber, not .44 magnum or .44 Spl. (III) Giveaway winner(s) chosen by random drawing. Employees and agents of Publishers Development Corp. are not eligible. It is also easy to find fresh brass for both cartridges. (I) Giveaway ends May 31, 2023. Mail-in entries accepted; send postcards (no envelopes) to: American Handgunner Magazine, GOM May/June 2023, P.O. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. Winners must respond within 30 days of receiving notification or an alternate winner will be selected. To protect the privacy and security of winners, names will not be made public. Thankfully, manufacturers understand this. .44 Special may not be as special as it once was, but even in 2022, its far from useless. Get the 76th edition of the World's Greatest Gun Book. (I) Giveaway ends September 30, 2022. Not only is the break-open design simple and safe, but the 44 magnum has very low recoil for the mass of the bullet with about 10-11 ft-lbs being about average. (II) Limit one entry per household. This revolver was chambered in a .44 centerfire, however to accommodate those who had Winchesters and wanted a companion revolver, S&W also chambered the American in .44 Rimfire, used in the Henry and Winchester 1866 Yellowboy leverguns. Both are good for bowling pin shoots, though you'll get faster splits using .44 Special. The biggest difference I see between a .44 special revolver and a .44 mag is the weight of the firearm. Is it absolutely necessary to have a .44 Russian chambered cylinder or will the .44 Special work just fine with Russian brass? All the major bullet manufacturers, including Sierra, Nosler, and Hornady, have multiple options for .429-inch bullets. A single-action Ruger Blackhawk in .44 Special, a good choice for Cowboy Action shooting and similar events. No purchase necessary. Velocity spreads were nearly even shooting both bullets with IMR Red. Stopping power is one of those terms that gets tossed around as shooters try to qualify the effectiveness of certain cartridges. Single point sling is handy for the bush. The .44 Russian rds chambered just fine, the .44 Spl. and .44 Russian rds in a 44-40 revolver. Winners must respond within 30 days of receiving notification or an alternate winner will be selected. Believe it or not, .44 Special is better than .44 Magnum at some thingsbut the reverse is true as well. JerryB II Corinthians 3:17, Now the Lord is that Spirit . As long as the hunter knows how to follow a blood trail, he recovers the animal, and the hunt is still deemed a success. What are you going to do if there's a knockdown target ? Their Double Action top-breaks were mostly chambered in .44 Russian too. Smith & Wesson's popular .44 Russian cartridge had established a reputation for superb accuracy and was a renowned target load, and they decided to use an improved smokeless powder version as the basis for the new round. (II) Limit one entry per household. The main difference is in the case dimensions. of Universal for just under 760 fps and 1 groups. On the left 44 S&W Russian; 44 S&W Russian. If you want confirmation that less recoil is better in a fighting cartridge, consider that the FBI ditched the original 10mm Norma load partially because of it. Factory warranties may apply in some cases. No substitutions or transfers to a third party are allowed. 44 Special vs 44 Magnum: Caliber Comparison by Ammo.com. *Must have a registered ARFCOM account to win. and .44 Magnum and refer to the Russian as the .44 Short. Using A .44 magnum case a 240gr lead bullet uses 5.1 gr Bullseye to get 800fps for a .44 Russian load.