[ARCHIVED THREAD] - .44 Magnum Question (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 2/28/2010 8:46:37 PM EDT
| In almost 5 months I'll be 21 and my mom asked me what I wanted and I said I wanted a Ruger Super Blackhawk so we went to the gun store today and looked for one and the dealer asked me what length of barrel I wanted. The only .44 I've ever shot was my cousins so I called him to ask what length his barrel was and he could not tell me because he sold his gun a few months ago. So I now ask the members of Ar15.com for help on barrel length. |
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Gun Broker or EE could be your friend.  Yes but I want arfcom to be my friend. Don't you want to be my friend? I've got a ruger srh in .454 which I mainly shoot 45lc thru due to cost.....you are looking at an expensive target gun... fwiw, mine is the 9 inch.....I'd go with the barrel closer to 7 inches... |
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Gun Broker or EE could be your friend. Yes but I want arfcom to be my friend. Don't you want to be my friend? I've got a ruger srh in .454 which I mainly shoot 45lc thru due to cost.....you are looking at an expensive target gun... fwiw, mine is the 9 inch.....I'd go with the barrel closer to 7 inches... I know that but as I go shooting maybe once a month and one of my friends said he would reload the ammo for me if I wanted I don't think cost of ammo would be that high. |
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Gun Broker or EE could be your friend. Yes but I want arfcom to be my friend. Don't you want to be my friend? I've got a ruger srh in .454 which I mainly shoot 45lc thru due to cost.....you are looking at an expensive target gun... fwiw, mine is the 9 inch.....I'd go with the barrel closer to 7 inches... I know that but as I go shooting maybe once a month and one of my friends said he would reload the ammo for me if I wanted I don't think cost of ammo would be that high. if you have a friend that rolls his own and is willing to hook you up.....go for it! Just one question, you aren't buying from Jim's in fayetteville are you? |
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You could probably go to Ruger's website & see what lengths they come in. What were you wanting to use it for? Hunting/CCL/target shooting/etc?   I think it's gonna be used for finger fucking.  I'd just get a 6" if you didn't have a specific use for it. Having seen ammo prices lately, I can't blame him for just wanting to look at it. 
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Gun Broker or EE could be your friend. Yes but I want arfcom to be my friend. Don't you want to be my friend? I've got a ruger srh in .454 which I mainly shoot 45lc thru due to cost.....you are looking at an expensive target gun... fwiw, mine is the 9 inch.....I'd go with the barrel closer to 7 inches... I know that but as I go shooting maybe once a month and one of my friends said he would reload the ammo for me if I wanted I don't think cost of ammo would be that high. if you have a friend that rolls his own and is willing to hook you up.....go for it! Just one question, you aren't buying from Jim's in fayetteville are you? Dear god no. I go in there to fondle their FS2000 till they moved it onto the wall. Their prices are stupid high and the clerks are idiots. |
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The SBH is available with a 4 5/8 barrel (round trigger guard), 5.5 barrel (round trigger guard),7.5 barrel (squareback trigger guard Dragoon gripframe frame) and a 10 barrel (square back trigger guard Dragoon grip frame) it also uses a longer ejector assy. There is a 7.5" Hunter which uses the Hunter Griprame, and a 7.5 Bisley Hunter which uses the Bisley Gripframe (also used on the 7.5 Bisley. The 4 5/8, 7.5 and 10 have an unfluted cylinder while the 5.5 uses a fluted cylinder.
Confused yet? 
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Gun Broker or EE could be your friend. Yes but I want arfcom to be my friend. Don't you want to be my friend? I've got a ruger srh in .454 which I mainly shoot 45lc thru due to cost.....you are looking at an expensive target gun... fwiw, mine is the 9 inch.....I'd go with the barrel closer to 7 inches... I know that but as I go shooting maybe once a month and one of my friends said he would reload the ammo for me if I wanted I don't think cost of ammo would be that high. if you have a friend that rolls his own and is willing to hook you up.....go for it! Just one question, you aren't buying from Jim's in fayetteville are you? Dear god no. I go in there to fondle their FS2000 till they moved it onto the wall. Their prices are stupid high and the clerks are idiots. I had to ask... Jims sucks. If you are in the Bragg area, I would suggest Ed's in southern Pines. They are fair and helpful and not te least arrogant and condesending...I bought my SRh from Ed's for about $250 less than Jims quoted... |
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Figure out your use expectations. I bought a 5.5 inch version and it works well for carry a lot and shoot a fair bit. I keep putting it up for sale now and then since I would prefer to put the money towards a 4 5/8 version since I wind up being more of a carry a lot and shoot a little person. I highly recomend looking for someone in your area selling one used, they are easy to check out for serious wear and these are hard to hurt firearms and I know from trying to sell mine that used must sell well under new prices. A while back I got a hunter version with a 7.5 inch barrel and a scope on it. Depending on hunting laws you get into barrel length requirements so keep that in mind depending on what you want to mess with. I tend to wind up loading ammo to something around 44special specs or a bit more than that but under most 44mag loads. I like a chunk of lead moving decently but I am not a big fan of huge recoil. And that also affects my choice on barrel length somewhat since more barrel adds in weight but if I am not trying to get whopping speeds out of the chunks of lead then shorter barrels are not as big a deal to me. My 5.5 inch super black hawk has taught me a lot. I figure the 4 5/8 version will be a lot more flippy with high recoil loads but losing an inch on the barrel can mean a lot while carrying depending on what you are doing and how you carry it. The 7.5 inch is nice for range use, it would never be used for anything other than range or hunting or specific varmints that I would lump into the hunting category but due to legality varmints are a tad different than game animals so there we go. |
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In almost 5 months I'll be 21 and my mom asked me what I wanted and I said I wanted a Ruger Super Blackhawk so we went to the gun store today and looked for one and the dealer asked me what length of barrel I wanted. The only .44 I've ever shot was my cousins so I called him to ask what length his barrel was and he could not tell me because he sold his gun a few months ago. So I now ask the members of Ar15.com for help on barrel length. A .44 magnum is a nice addition to a large collection. You are just starting. Unless you plan to hunt with it, you should re-consider the choice of something that has such a limited practical application. |
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I once had a Ruger Redhawk with a 7 1/2" and it was one of the most useless handguns I've owned. Too heavy and long to be practical. Have you seen/handled the GP100 (.357) with a 4" barrel? Great gun. I had a 6" and I had wished I had bought the 4" For a first handgun I would buy something more practical and cheaper to shoot but that's just my opinion. |
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They don't make a six-inch. 4 5/8, 5.5, 7.5 Get one of the new Bisley Flat-tops in .44 special. Roll your own ammo. All the power you will ever need. Big revolvers are useful with 4 inch, 6 inch, or 8 inch barrels, or thereabouts. Gravehunterzero +1 on Pachmyr grips if you buy a gun with the stock wood grips; the wood grips will pinch your hand if you shoot from a rest and the Pachmyr's cushion your hand better. If you plan to carry the revolver in a holster, I prefer 4 inch (or thereabouts ) barrels for better drawing from the holster in an emergency. I carry my 6 inch guns in a cross draw holster when I'm hunting.
Ammo is affordable by shooting lead bullets, and light loads for plinking stretch gunpowder. You should also consider loading .44 Special for general purpose ammo. |
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Mine is 7.5" and I love it. For a big bore, it is quite pleasant to shoot, and accurate as I have ever seen a handgun. With iron sights and 240 grain handloads, I was still able to put 5 of 6 rounds into a paint can at 100 yards.  Once.  Great gun. Gave me a new appreciation for wheel guns. |
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Smith 6" if you are going to carry it more than shoot it.
Ruger if you are going to shoot it alot &/or hunt w/ it. I killed my 629, just absolutely shot the hell out of it & not hot handloads either. I then replaced w/ a super blackhawk & had Bowen classic arms work it over. Toughest revolver known to man. I run 21 grains of H110 under a 300 hardcast flatnose & can whack a 5 gal bucket @ 100 every time & I do mean whack. That said, I still need a 4" smith to carry 
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In almost 5 months I'll be 21 and my mom asked me what I wanted and I said I wanted a Ruger Super Blackhawk so we went to the gun store today and looked for one and the dealer asked me what length of barrel I wanted. The only .44 I've ever shot was my cousins so I called him to ask what length his barrel was and he could not tell me because he sold his gun a few months ago. So I now ask the members of Ar15.com for help on barrel length. A .44 magnum is a nice addition to a large collection. You are just starting. Unless you plan to hunt with it, you should re-consider the choice of something that has such a limited practical application. True. That makes so much more sense when you consider that the cheap factory ammo is $33/box, you're really buying an incredibly impractical firearm. That said, I vote 6-1/2" like my S&W 629. 
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Quoted: Quoted: Since your Mom's buying ... Ask her for a Smith & Wesson Model 29 with a 6 inch barrel. And get a Rockchucker or a used Square Deal B, You'll need it. 6.5" is better. http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/imakechips/smith%20and%20wesson/100_1581-1.jpg Bah. What do you know? 6 inch is better. 
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A big +1 for a 6 inch barrel. I bought this and love it, but it's just not practical. http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/msc182/IMG_1191.jpg That's an 8 inch barrel. |
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I'd go with the 7.5" myself I have a Dan Wesson .44 that has a 8" barrel, and for a target/hunting gun in such a large caliber, there is no reason to go with the shorter barrel. Weight and sight radius both work in your favor here. |