Aw man, now there's a gun I've had a love/hate relationship with for the better part of twenty years. I've owned three, two Pugs like yours with the barrel shroud, and one of the original style with exposed ejector rod. I'm always on the verge of buying another, most recently at a gun show this past Saturday. I love the idea of those big .429" slugs in a gun barely larger than a J-frame .38. It's just that I had some bad experiences with my examples. Trigger actions were heavy and gritty in all three. Some very careful polishing improved the grittiness but the pull weights never improved with use. The ejector shroud on one of the Pugs came loose and had to be epoxied back into place. (What can I tell you, I was a poor college student at the time.) Yet even with all the problems I had with my guns, that damn little .44 keeps beckoning me.

Best of luck with your gun. Be sure to try Federal's 200-gr. LSWCHP. It was the most accurate load in all three of my guns and that soft bullet expands nicely in water-filled milk cartons and soaked newsprint. I'm confident it would do the same in some lowlife who chose the wrong guy to mug.