gk2410
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 29
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Post by gk2410 on Mar 8, 2012 14:52:11 GMT -5
Based on the readings in this and other forums, the 44 special is still a popular round - at times achieving a cult following. I've been discussing a build with Turnbull in that caliber, but over the last few weeks have been looking for ammo at both gun shows and retailers in my area. I've found only a few boxes, when the shelves are full of everything from the common centerfire calibers, including 45 Colt, up to the 500 S&W. Is it just that the round isn't popular in my area (N/E OH)  or are the ammo companies just not producing a lot? I can always roll my own, but some day this will go to one of my sons, and I don't want it hanging on the wall as a relic, with no available ammunition to shoot. I've got to make a decision real quick if I'm going to change the caliber of my build... |
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JM
.375 Atomic
Posts: 2,424
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Post by JM on Mar 8, 2012 15:05:22 GMT -5
Its all sold out! LOL.
Not really... Its a cartridge that you will have to reload. Somewhat like the 41 magnum. You rarely see it on any shelves.
~JM~
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Post by eisenhower on Mar 8, 2012 16:08:02 GMT -5
I've considered a build such as you're contemplating and my research tends to reveal .44 Special is really a cartridge that exists today almost solely because of reloaders. As a factory offering, it's really nothing "special" and only seems to show its inherent worth in the hands of those who reload. So for "off-the-shelf" usefulness, not a great cartridge to wrap a custom project around. But if you reload, it's a real peach.
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COR
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,522
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Post by COR on Mar 8, 2012 16:19:38 GMT -5
"...exists solely because of reloaders..."
It exists because of men like Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton, John Taffin and Callshot (most recently). We reloaders just keep the brass available from all the major companies. Those other great men are why we are still talking about it in 2012.
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Post by rjm52 on Mar 8, 2012 19:09:45 GMT -5
If you are looking for a popularity contest based factory ammo availability, the .44 Special is actually one step lower than a .41 Magnum. There are now more .41 loads available than .44 Special as far as Winchester, Federal, Remington and CorBon are concerened. But if you don't mind ordering ammo there are lots of custom makers like Buffalo Bore, Georgia Arms, Reeds Custom ammo and more that make very good loads for the .44 Special. And really if you look at .45 Colt it isn't much better
But I would still go for the Special....
Bob
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Post by cherokee on Mar 8, 2012 19:29:21 GMT -5
You need to teach your sons to reload so they can roll their own like Dad.
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robl
.375 Atomic
These were the good ole days!
Posts: 1,415
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Post by robl on Mar 8, 2012 21:56:39 GMT -5
Hey, guys don't tell him any more about the .44 special, leaves more for us.
Yeah that .41 mag, THAT'S the cat's whiskers...
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Post by Doc Barranti on Mar 8, 2012 22:25:30 GMT -5
You need to teach your sons to reload so they can roll their own like Dad. +1!!!!! |
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gk2410
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 29
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Post by gk2410 on Mar 9, 2012 7:48:39 GMT -5
;DThis has been fun. You guys are making me WANT to have this gun built in 44 special just to see what I've been missing. Seriously though, while I have the means and the time to load my own for the 44, I don't know what my sons will be able to do down the road. I've got a couple 45 Colts and now I'm thinking that a build with an extra acp cylinder might be more practical... I've posted a couple of my 4" Turnbulls on this forum previously, and have decided on a 5" with a full ejector rod housing ( ...don't laugh, I like the look of the flush cut barrel and housing on the 4 5/8, but my state dictates a 5" minimum barrel for hunting...) so I was just looking to do something different again.
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cubrock
.401 Bobcat
TLA fanatic and all around nice guy....
Posts: 2,836
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Post by cubrock on Mar 9, 2012 8:31:23 GMT -5
;DThis has been fun. You guys are making me WANT to have this gun built in 44 special just to see what I've been missing. Seriously though, while I have the means and the time to load my own for the 44, I don't know what my sons will be able to do down the road. I've got a couple 45 Colts and now I'm thinking that a build with an extra acp cylinder might be more practical... I've posted a couple of my 4" Turnbulls on this forum previously, and have decided on a 5" with a full ejector rod housing ( ...don't laugh, I like the look of the flush cut barrel and housing on the 4 5/8, but my state dictates a 5" minimum barrel for hunting...) so I was just looking to do something different again. Others have done the same thing re: a 5" barrel with full-length ERH. Looks pretty nice, if you ask me. |
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Post by Lee Martin on Mar 9, 2012 9:42:31 GMT -5
Not to sound like a broken record, but reloading is the only way to go. Short of premium ammunition, the factory stuff is way lethargic. My 44 Specials almost exclusively get 250 grain Keiths. Low-end is 6.0 of Green Dot. Upper-end is 14.5 of 2400. After years of shooting the old round, I've never had to a need to use anything but those two. -Lee www.singleactions.com |
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45c
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 24
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Post by 45c on Mar 9, 2012 11:06:48 GMT -5
For some unkown reason I never had the hankering for one. Got plenty of 44mag's gonna have to get some rounds and try them out in one of my 44mags. See what all the hoopla is about. 45c
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Post by Lee Martin on Mar 9, 2012 11:35:36 GMT -5
The hoopla around the 44 Special is the fact it can be housed in a smaller frame. There's nothing really magical about it. Hell, shooting Special in a 44 Magnum just feels like.....well, reduced 44 Magnum. -Lee www.singleactions.com |
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Post by Mountaineer on Mar 9, 2012 12:50:46 GMT -5
There's something... well... special about the .44 Special.
I have several fine handguns. I enjoy each immensely. But there's more than simple function, utility, or even aesthetics to a firearm. There are some guns that spur the imagination, somehow transporting you to another time and place. The .44 Special does that for me. Perhaps it is because of all those cold evenings reading Skelton when he wrote for Shooting Times. Or pouring over Sixguns by Keith. Or more contemporaneously, the musings of Taffin. There's just something about the .44 Special that makes me feel connected to these good, honorable men, and quite frankly, to a simpler time.
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Post by CraigC on Mar 9, 2012 15:10:19 GMT -5
The .44Spl is really a handloader's cartridge, always has been.
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or are the ammo companies just not producing a lot? I can always roll my own, but some day this will go to one of my sons, and I don't want it hanging on the wall as a relic, with no available ammunition to shoot. 
