Revolver 44magnum.

[ruhler]

Well Im sitting and waiting on my Henry All weather 44magnum I ordered, so I was thinking about castbullets and hoping to get some castbullet load paired with my revolvers. So I took some cast bullets and dropped the bullets through the cylinders up to .431 it went good in both my Ruger and my S&W but .432 to my surprise the rugers couldnt get the .432 bullets through the cylinder, but it worked in my S&W I googled it and it seems like older revolvers had bigger cylinderthroats because of it was used mostly with leadbullets and newer revolvers has tighter throats because of jacketed bullets. It will be interesting how it will work out, worst case I can calibrate all from .429 to .432. Anyway wiped down my revolvers and took some pictures to show here.

My Smith & wesson Classic 629-3, 5" barrel and Nill woodgrip it looks beatiful but after 50rounds of hot 240grains loads I get a little sore in my hand) But I enjoy every shot of it, its extremly accurate with both 44spl and 44mag loads. The front sight sights are interchangable and I have several different, original, LPA target sights, LPA fiberoptics and some more, the original rubbergrip is also available but I like the look on wood more. The trigger is tuned but no changed springs and such, triggerpull is crisp and really nice. Traded it with a friend with my old Ruger GP100 6" 357mag.



Ruger Super Blackhawk 44magnum with 10,5" barrel, I bought it new and it has a tuned trigger and I had to grind down the frontsight about 1,7mm to get it right on the papertarget it actually differed that much with a older blackhawk that my uncle uses when we measured the sight. I have hogue monogrip grip to it aswell but I like the original look alot more, however the recoil with that square triggerguard can be a pain on the middle finger. The trigger has been tuned without change of springs and such its really crisp.

[JEBar]

thanks for the pictures and info .... I'm a fan of Redhawk 44 Mags .... successfully big game hunted with a Blackhawk 44 mag in the '60's but didn't like the way the grip pivoted from the recoil .... good rubber grips and Mag-na-porting have turned our Redhawk into a shoot all day revolver

[ruhler]

thanks for the pictures and info .... I'm a fan of Redhawk 44 Mags .... successfully big game hunted with a Blackhawk 44 mag in the '60's but didn't like the way the grip pivoted from the recoil .... good rubber grips and Mag-na-porting have turned our Redhawk into a shoot all day revolver

yeah blackhawks have a different type of recoil, its alot better with the hogue rubbergrips on. Redhawks are really nice shot one on a couple of occasions with 7.5" barrel I belive it was, those are really nice, built like tanks and really good accuracy.

[North Country Gal]

Have shot every Ruger 44 mag, SA and DA and same for S&W 44 mags, too. The 44 mag has always been my favorite cartridge, though I only shoot it, sparingly, these days, given that I no longer reload. Factory 44 mag ammo is insanely expensive. When I do get the itch to shoot the 44 mag, now, I pull out one of the Contender rigs. Slows down the ammo consumption rate.

If I had to rate the 44 mag revolvers, though, it would be the Super Redhawk Ruger for shooting comfort. Could breeze through a box of 50 in not time at all and not feel at all beat up. Every one I had was also pleasingly accurate. Ugly as sin, but what a workhorse! Loved the Ruger SAs, too, but could never find one that could keep up the the SRH, overall.

Speaking of overall, as in overall accuracy, I'll give the edge to the Smiths. Had a couple that could almost keep up with a Contender. Never had a 29/629 that didn't shoot well. All were things of beauty, too. No plans to get back into the 44 mag revolver game at this point, but if I did, it would be a Smith.

Not everyone's style, of course, but this particular Contender 44 mag rig will shoot tighter groups at 100 yards than any Marlin 1894 44 mag rifle I've owned or any 44 mag revolver I've owned. With that long barrel and no cylinder gap, I get velocities close to a 44 mag rifle, too. Also have other 44 mag Contender barrels in various lengths and configurations, but this one is my long distance rig.

[Squatch]

Love the 10 1/2" Super Blackhawk. I have one as well. For 30 years it was my Rifle! The only gun I owned for many years. I bought my Big Boy to complement the Ruger!

[DAVIDF]

Well Im sitting and waiting on my Henry All weather 44magnum I ordered, so I was thinking about castbullets and hoping to get some castbullet load paired with my revolvers. So I took some cast bullets and dropped the bullets through the cylinders up to .431 it went good in both my Ruger and my S&W but .432 to my surprise the rugers couldnt get the .432 bullets through the cylinder, but it worked in my S&W I googled it and it seems like older revolvers had bigger cylinderthroats because of it was used mostly with leadbullets and newer revolvers has tighter throats because of jacketed bullets. It will be interesting how it will work out, worst case I can calibrate all from .429 to .432. Anyway wiped down my revolvers and took some pictures to show here.

Hi ruhler,

I have a later 90's manufactured Super Blackhawk and a more recent one manufactured a couple of years ago. I am not sure when they went to tighter cylinder chambers and throats. John Linebaugh writes about them being loose, but that article was written 25 years ago and he was also referring to Blackhawks in .45 Colt. He writes that that recent manufactured Blackhawks have nice tight cylinder chambers, but the throats should be opened from .451 to .453 (again for .45 Colt, not .44) for best performance.

I have settled on cast bullets sized at .432 since they work well in my Big Boy. .432 or even .431 sized cast bullets will not drop thru the throats of either cylinder on my Blackhawks. But accuracy seems to be best with the .432 sized cast from both Rugers as well as my Big Boy. Seems that a number of people on other forums commonly use cast sized at .432 in their Rugers of recent manufacture. I am not approaching maximum pressure loads, however, and tighter throats (or larger cast bullets) could lead to higher pressures. John Linebaugh wrote about that in the same article. He could not approach the powder charge with properly sized cast that he could with jacketed bullets with the loose chamber throats. The jacketed were significantly smaller diameter than the cast, so a lot of gases escaped reducing the pressure.

Keep us updated on your hand load results on your revolvers and your All Weather Big Boy once you receive it.

[ruhler]

Well Im sitting and waiting on my Henry All weather 44magnum I ordered, so I was thinking about castbullets and hoping to get some castbullet load paired with my revolvers. So I took some cast bullets and dropped the bullets through the cylinders up to .431 it went good in both my Ruger and my S&W but .432 to my surprise the rugers couldnt get the .432 bullets through the cylinder, but it worked in my S&W I googled it and it seems like older revolvers had bigger cylinderthroats because of it was used mostly with leadbullets and newer revolvers has tighter throats because of jacketed bullets. It will be interesting how it will work out, worst case I can calibrate all from .429 to .432. Anyway wiped down my revolvers and took some pictures to show here.

Hi ruhler,

I have a later 90's manufactured Super Blackhawk and a more recent one manufactured a couple of years ago. I am not sure when they went to tighter cylinder chambers and throats. John Linebaugh writes about them being loose, but that article was written 25 years ago and he was also referring to Blackhawks in .45 Colt. He writes that that recent manufactured Blackhawks have nice tight cylinder chambers, but the throats should be opened from .451 to .453 (again for .45 Colt, not .44) for best performance.

I have settled on cast bullets sized at .432 since they work well in my Big Boy. .432 or even .431 sized cast bullets will not drop thru the throats of either cylinder on my Blackhawks. But accuracy seems to be best with the .432 sized cast from both Rugers as well as my Big Boy. Seems that a number of people on other forums commonly use cast sized at .432 in their Rugers of recent manufacture. I am not approaching maximum pressure loads, however, and tighter throats (or larger cast bullets) could lead to higher pressures. John Linebaugh wrote about that in the same article. He could not approach the powder charge with properly sized cast that he could with jacketed bullets with the loose chamber throats. The jacketed were significantly smaller diameter than the cast, so a lot of gases escaped reducing the pressure.

Keep us updated on your hand load results on your revolvers and your All Weather Big Boy once you receive it.

Will keep you posted about the handloads, hopefully I can get atleast one load that have good accuracy in both revolver and rifle.

[DAVIDF]

Will keep you posted about the handloads, hopefully I can get atleast one load that have good accuracy in both revolver and rifle.

If you are looking for light loads with 200 or 240gr bullets at velocities of 1230fps and slower out of the rifle I can provide you with what has worked great for me. I haven't worked up any loads at higher velocities. If I ever get a single shot Henry, it will be devoted to a heavy 300gr load. It will be a poor man's 45-70

[GFK]

Well Im sitting and waiting on my Henry All weather 44magnum I ordered, so I was thinking about castbullets and hoping to get some castbullet load paired with my revolvers. So I took some cast bullets and dropped the bullets through the cylinders up to .431 it went good in both my Ruger and my S&W but .432 to my surprise the rugers couldnt get the .432 bullets through the cylinder, but it worked in my S&W I googled it and it seems like older revolvers had bigger cylinderthroats because of it was used mostly with leadbullets and newer revolvers has tighter throats because of jacketed bullets. It will be interesting how it will work out, worst case I can calibrate all from .429 to .432. Anyway wiped down my revolvers and took some pictures to show here.

My Smith & wesson Classic 629-3, 5" barrel and Nill woodgrip it looks beatiful but after 50rounds of hot 240grains loads I get a little sore in my hand) But I enjoy every shot of it, its extremly accurate with both 44spl and 44mag loads. The front sight sights are interchangable and I have several different, original, LPA target sights, LPA fiberoptics and some more, the original rubbergrip is also available but I like the look on wood more. The trigger is tuned but no changed springs and such, triggerpull is crisp and really nice. Traded it with a friend with my old Ruger GP100 6" 357mag.



Ruger Super Blackhawk 44magnum with 10,5" barrel, I bought it new and it has a tuned trigger and I had to grind down the frontsight about 1,7mm to get it right on the papertarget it actually differed that much with a older blackhawk that my uncle uses when we measured the sight. I have hogue monogrip grip to it aswell but I like the original look alot more, however the recoil with that square triggerguard can be a pain on the middle finger. The trigger has been tuned without change of springs and such its really crisp.

Those will put a hole in something!