The .44 S&W Special seems to have fallen into obscurity. For most folks, it’s a practice round for use in .44 Magnum Revolvers when you don’t feel like shooting full-house Magnums.
In and of itself, the .44 Special is a great cartridge with a history that just crossed the hundred-year mark. It came about in 1907 as a longer and hotter version of the .44 Russian (sold overseas beginning in the 1870s). S&W stretched the case from 0.97″ to 1.16″, and the resulting round was accurate, effective and very easily controlled.
Performance is similar to the .45ACP, but the .44 has a slight edge. 200gr bullets reach median velocities of ~870ft/s and dump 336ft/lb of energy. The perceived recoil of the .44 is marginally less than its .45 caliber companion.
So why isn’t it as widespread as its brethren? Blame Elmer Keith. He just couldn’t leave a good cartridge alone. He pushed the .38spl to its limits, and when the guns couldn’t handle it, he lengthened the casing, dumped in some rifle powder, and the magnificent .357 Magnum was the result.
He did the same thing with the .44 Special. He knew a good cartridge when he saw it, and he started pushing the bullet weights and powder charges up. The end result was the .44 Magnum, introduced in 1955 and made (in)famous by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies. The .44 Special slowly faded into the background.
Still, good cartridges don’t die easily, and the .44 Special still kept its popularity among cowboy-action shooters and others who could appreciate its merits. There’s also the issue of controllability.
The .44 Magnum really tests an average-sized shooter’s abilities. The ballistics are certainly Biblical, dumping 707ft/lbs of energy at 25 yards, but the blast and kick are such that it’s not a viable round for self-defense or marksmanship unless you’re a pretty big guy. I’m 165lbs, and although I can appreciate it, it’s a little unwieldy for me.
The old .44 Special does a remarkable job, and in all but the lightest snubnose revolvers (those Charter Arms monstrosities spring to mind), it’s a joy to shoot. It’s certainly loud and theatrical, but the kick is invigorating rather than punishing.
Normally, it would make sense to buy a revolver chambered for the Magnum cartridge if you want to shoot .44 Special. However, S&W made the 696, which is something of a commemorative model, in a limited run. It’s a 3″ L-Frame, similar to the 686, but chambered for the .44 Special.
So, why not just get a .44 Magnum? Size. The larger N-Frames just don’t fit of balance as naturally in my hand as the medium L-Frame. I had a chance to shoot one of these, and it was love. A few birthday donations (you did remember, right?), and I was able to get one.
The gun’s accuracy is marvelous. Those two to the right were me. It takes me a bit to “find the trigger” in DA. Unlike most wheelgun shooters, I don’t use the full distal joint. I’ve got long, skinny fingers, so I use about half of the pad of the finger, which gives me a bit more control. The subsequent eight shots formed a nice 2″ group at 12 yards. I haven’t done enough SA shooting to judge, but after cleaning up some grime from under the sideplate, the trigger is smooth and crisp.
Yep, I’ve got a new carryin’ iron.
The holster is from Tom Dyer of Saguaro Gunleather. He did for me in less than a week, and yes, that’s a real Mercury dime on the tension screw.
The grips are Black Ash Burl laminate by Don Collins.
Jeff over at MadOgre also has some nice things to say about this model.