Thinking on getting something light and short in a bigger bore.  Tell me if I am overlooking anything:
-44 speial
-45 acp

Are there any 45 colt snubbies besides a 45/410.  Isnt' the cylinder in those a helluva lot longer than it needs to be for 45 colt?  I like .45 cal better than .429, and I like rimmed cartridges better than rimless in revolvers.

I'd prefer a low pressure, low power 50 cal actully, like 50 gi but a revolver.  Guess that's just a pipe dream...

why?

Hamilton Bowen made a .577 Redhawk once.  Iirc, he also made a .50 Special.

Charter Arms .44 Specials are interesting.  I have a new manufacture one.  It shoots much better than I expected it would.

The other choices are the .45ACP S&W N-frames.   They make a few snubbies, some with exotic frame materials.

Then there is the rare S&W 696 44 Special.  That one with a 3" barrel (all stainless) is something I wish S&W would bring back.  There is also an alloy framed version out there in their Nightguard line.  I think it is the 396 model number.

Lew Horton offered a few short barrel (3" or less) N Frame .44 Special S&W revolvers over the years.  They can be found in both stainless and blued.

Sometimes you can find a Colt New Service that has been chopped down (AKA Fitz Specials).  They are still large frame revolvers.

Two of my 44 Specials.

Smith & Wesson 696




Charter Arms Bulldog (top)

Ooohh  AHHH

Tell me of the 696 please.  How does it shoot?

Dunno, I haven't shot it yet. Soon

I have been looking for one of those for a while.  I like the size and love the .44 Special round.

I could probably never shoot a .44 Magnum again and be happy.

Anyhoo, enjoy!

The thing that worries me about it is that the forcing cone is very thin.  I will not shoot anything but standard pressure ammo in it.

They are no longer in production but can be found, Taurus 450, snubby 45Colt. I had one back in 2000 and it was a good shooter.HKS speedloaders for 44 special worked on it. The 445 was in 44 special and I bet it would be a good one too.

why?  B/c maybe a big bore snubbie is better than a 38.  

For something relatively light an and small in current production, it looks like a charter 44 or a smith 45 acp is it.  I did notice smith has  a retro 45 lc, it is not a snubbie but the cylinder is just normal lenght, not like the judge/governer.


I don't know if charters are any good yet.  I heard that for a while theywere total crap.  They have a 9mm and a 40 cal revolver w/ little things in there that holsd the cartridge so you dont' need a moon clip.  not sure if I trust it but I wish they would hurry & come out w/ one in 45 acp...  That smith 45 is alot of $$  Specially the night guard one.

I had a bulldog back when the stainless ones first came out but the trigger used to hang up. factory said it was fine so I traded it off.

I wouldn't mind something similar with a real trigger=maybe a S&W?

I have a 629 snubbie , I want something smaller and lighter.

I might live with a taurus if they made something with a short cylinder. The silly judge with that god awfull long cylinder and the assoiciated nasty ballance
doesn't do much for me

I have one of the "Old" Rossi .44 SPC. with short barrel. Nice shooter, easy to carry. Never a problem.
The new ones I know nothing about.

Dave N

Consider the Colt Sheriff's Model revolver. They're single action, but they come in .45 Colt and .44-40.

My most expensive stock revolver to date.
I bought a 4" 686 barrel to have bored to .44 but my Smith is still yelling: Blasphemer at the top of his lungs.

I have one of these,too. Great little woods gun. I was impressed with snakeshot out of the little beast. link

OP, if you go with a big bore and you shoot it much your gonna want to get set up to reload. Ammo is ridiculous for the .44 spc. and .45 Colt.

When you consider all of the oddball guns S&W has put together over the years you would think there would be something available.

Did they ever make a 44SP with a lightweight frame?

The factory 44 sp loads are pretty weak with the 240 or 220 gr bullets going 650 or 700 FPS. bump that a bit to get about 900 or 950
and you are talking.

45acp with a moonclip for reloads makes a good bit of sense also. seems like we could have a more compact 5 shot gun in either caliber. keep the cylinder and frame short for lightness and compactness

I have several smaller N-frames but they are pretty chunky

Yeah,  i have reloading equipment.  Man, i wish charter would come out with that revolver in 40the in 45the acp.

Yeah,  i have reloading equipment.  Man, i wish charter would come out with that revolver in 40the in 45the acp.

search for Lew Horton; you'll find a bunch of N-frame S&W snubbies

Here is a short cylinder 50 cal 5 shot snubbie:

http://www.reedercustomguns.com/revolvers/Brute.htm



I am not sure what that 510 GNR caliber is but I am sure that guy could make one in 50 GI or a lower power caliber.  

Bowen Customs has already made some 50 GI revolvers in ruger single actions.  

Problem w/ using a redhawk, like this Reeder Custom gun is it would be heavier than necessary for a lower power gun.  

Maybe he could turn a 6 shot 44 mag S&W night guard into a 5 shot 50 GI.  Course, then you be in about $3000 for a snubbie

Here is  a good thread about 5 shot 50 cal carry revolver:
http://thefiringline.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-280962.html

here is something I found on another forum:

"...You have to really pay attention to your zeros. The .50Spl is based on the .500Linebaugh, cut to .44Spl length of 1.16".

The .500Spl is based on the .500S&W, cut to ~1.27". Slightly shorter than the .44Mag but longer than "Special" length.

Then there's the .500JRH (or .500S&W 1.4") suitable for the FA and custom Ruger single actions.

Then there's the .500S&W cut to true "Special" length for use in New Model mid-frame five shot conversions. ..."

I heard of  a guy who had Bowen make him a revolver based on 500 S&W brass but trimmed to 44 special length.  I think they were calling it .500 special k(urt).   Maybe they will eventually make guns chambered in .500 special w/ shorter cylinders and less weight.  

I think the diameter of the base of the .500 Linebaugh based brass is larger than that of the S&W 500 mag based brass which can make the linebaugh harder to fit sometimes & I am not sure if there is is a slight diameter difference.

Anyway, the popularity of the 500 S&W has made greater availability of brass, bullets, dies etc probably making it the best basis for 50 cal rimmed cartridges.  

It looks like any light-weight 6 shot 44 special, 44 mag or 45  acp snubby revolver that could be converted to some sort of short 50 cal 5 shot would start out weighing between 27 and 29 oz from looking at the Smith nightguards in those three calibers and that taurus 44 mag titanium.    Would be silly to start out w/ a 40+oz revolver unless it was for the woods.

Here's my 1917 Colt. This is the way I bought it.
RLTW

I have one and it is a hoot but I would like something a bit more compact and lighter that would be easier to haul around.
I realise the hefty 629 is the way to go for heavy 44mag loads but for a 44sp 200gr going 700 to 900 FPS it is overkill.

What I am wanting is something about the weight and size of the charter bulldog but with the better quality and trigger
of a S&W. I understand to hit these goals of mine it would need to be a 5 shot.

45ACP would work as well (for me) as the 44sp and I believe it could be a tad shorter and of course should be set up for clips for reloading

Not sure if this would have to be a L frame or if this could be done on a K frame

The nice thing about the Bulldog is it only weights about 25 oz, same as a 3" alloy frame 1911.

Old pic, I;ve since swapped out the rubber grips for some of the old style wooden bulldog grips.

I just recently found my first Charter Bulldog, an older Bridgeport made gun.  These are surprisingly nice revolvers, I should have gotten more serious about getting one a long time ago.

I wish I could find a stainless model like yours.

Current charter 44s are about 20 or 21 oz.  Dont know how they do it.  I think the taurus ti lagebore snubbies about 17 oz