Five-Shot 44-Caliber Revolvers From Ruger, S&W, and Taurus
The medium-frame 44-caliber revolver, whether chambered in 44 Special or 44 Magnum, is a great outdoors revolver, often used for defense against animals. We agree that this is a formidable combination, but it also demonstrates formidable recoil, perhaps a step beyond what's necessary to do double duty as a personal-defense round day to day.
To see how a trio of wheelguns would do when pitted against each other at the range, we selected the Ruger GP100 1761 44 Special, a Smith & Wesson Model 69 Combat Magnum 10064 in 44 Magnum and a Taurus Tracker, also in 44 Magnum. All are stainless-steel five-shooters, weigh within a few ounces of each other, and have similar features. The Smith & Wesson Model 69 Combat Magnum is a new version with a 2.75-inch barrel and round butt. The Taurus Tracker 44 Magnum has a 4 inch barrel. The Ruger GP100 chambered in 44 Special is a relatively new introduction, being introduced in 2016.
With an overall length of 7.8 inches and an overall height of 5.7 inches, the 35.8-ounce loaded Smith & Wesson is the most compact and easiest to carry. The 44 Special-chambered Ruger GP100 exhibited one of the finest accuracy performances we've seen, shooting 1.7-, 1.6-, and 1.5-inch average groups with three loads. The Taurus Tracker delivered the highest velocities and energy with two of the three 44 Special loads and both 44 Magnum loads we used — in particular the Winchester Super-X 44 Magnum 240-grain jacketed hollowpoint, which ran at 1288 fps and produced 883 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.
The 44 Special revolver is an outdoors mainstay. Savvy outdoorsmen appreciate the accuracy and modest recoil of the 44 Special. The 44-caliber bullet, particularly a 255-grain semi-wadcutter, offers plenty of mass and has good sectional density that translates to deep penetration at less than Magnum velocity: 1000 fps isn't slow for a heavy revolver bullet. While there are small-frame and ultralight revolvers designed for defense use, a medium-to-heavy-frame 44 Special will safely handle loads that move the cartridge into deer and boar territory out to 50 yards. For protection against bears, feral dogs, and big cats, the 44 Special with heavy loads is adequate. The 44 Magnum is even better if big Western bears are part of the problem. But it is difficult to carry a 46-ounce Smith & Wesson Model 629 loaded handgun on a daily basis. When fly-fishing or hiking, this is a heavy weight on the hip. A medium-frame revolver should offer all of the power we need for animal defense at close range. It is also all of the recoil an occasional user may care to handle. This same revolver isn't too bulky to conceal for personal defense, and with proper loads, it will make a good personal and home-defense revolver. The major manufacturers make this happen by offering five-shot revolvers chambering the 44 Special, allowing the shoehorning of the 44 into a 357 Magnum-size frame. The relatively short barrel and hand-filling grip makes for a revolver that is fast into action. These revolvers are intended for use at relatively short range and the demands on accuracy are not great. However, we found that these handguns are quite accurate. We were concerned with the shooters' ability to control a 35-ounce 44 Magnum revolver and used a variety of loads to test our fears. We found three capable revolvers that will tax the skill of any shooter to be all he or she can be. Not surprisingly, most of the firing was done with the more genteel 44 Special ammunition, which offered better control and less banging than the 44 Magnums.
A Brace of Snubby 44 Specials: Taurus takes on Charter Arms
Light, Powerful .44 Revolvers: Taurus Tracker Gets A+ Rating
Big-Bore Revolvers: For Power, Choose Rugers Super Redhawk
In this article we evaluate three guns that make no excuses for their girth. The Smith & Wesson Model 21-4 is a straightforward, large-frame revolver chambered for .44 Special only. Its .45 Colt brother, the Smith & Wesson Model 25-13, is slightly more modern, adding adjustable sights. The Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan was fit with a longer cylinder, and together with its heavy frame, it is capable of firing .454 Casull as well as .45 Colt ammunition.
Our focus in this test was personal defense from humans and not bears, so we left the Casull rounds at home, but we did test an extra-heavy .45 Colt load from Atlanta Arms and Ammo formulated specifically for Ruger and Thompson Center firearms (
For our .44 Special rounds we chose 165-grain JHP rounds from Cor-Bon, Winchester's 200-grain Silvertip HP rounds, and 240-grain Truncated Cone Jacketed ammunition manufactured by Atlanta Arms and Ammo. Test distance was 25 yards from a sandbag rest. We fired single action only to collect hard data, but fired on steel targets double action only to evaluate rapid-fire capability. Limited to six-round capacity, we wanted to know which guns offered the right mix of power, accuracy, and speed. Here's what we learned:
Versatile Four-Inch Forty-Bore Revolvers: Big Snake Charms Us
Smith & Wesson's $833 Model 610 10mm/.40 S&W is a slick shooter, but the $1000 Colt Anaconda in .44 Special/.44 Magnum is better than ever, in our estimation.
More Booming Revolvers: This Time, a .30-30 BFR Struts Its Stuff
We hate to admit it, but we've been had. All this time we thought that the revolvers from Magnum Research in the May issue were in fact the true BFRs — Biggest Finest Revolvers. These guns weighed in at 76 ounces and measured nearly 16 inches in length. But along comes two BFRs that are more than 2 inches longer and weigh almost a full pound more. Now we suppose that when it comes to the .45-70 and .450 Marlin guns reviewed last month, the "B" in BFR merely stands for bigger, not biggest.
But this month we step up to two rifle cartridges chambered in our test guns, the .30-30 Winchester and .444 Marlin. Besides being a well-known rifle cartridge, .30-30 ammunition is cheap and plentiful. If we numb our hands and wrists while shooting, at least we won't stun our wallets. In the .444 Marlin revolver, we wondered how gun, and shooter, would stand up to this big, straight-walled cartridge.
We got our guns from the Magnum Research Custom Shop, so there were variations in what we tested and what's available in factory production. The .444 Marlin BFR offered by Magnum research has a round, non-fluted cylinder. Our test .444 had fluting, but was otherwise a production model. The .30-30 Win. BFR (available from Magnum Research Custom Shop, Contract Mfg. Inc., 1594 College Rd., Baxter, MN 56425, telephone [218] 824-0080) is a custom chambering which costs $1,400. The Custom Shop has developed a number of custom calibers that are not available in production revolvers, such as the .218 Bee, .45/90 Win., .38-55 Win., and .375 Win. They are all $1,400. The guns are built to order with special caliber engraving on the frame. "Magnum's Custom Shop is newly created and seeks to fill a niche for shooters who want something other than the standard BFRs," said Jim Tertin of Contract Mfg. Inc.
Big-Bore Snubbies: Taurus and Smith & Wesson Compete
We pit Taurus's small but weighty .45 ACP against S&W's bigger but lighter .44 Special and find two carryable revolvers with plenty of stopping power but surprisingly mild manners.
Big Bore Ultra-Light Revolvers: The Ultimate Carry Answer?
Faced with deciding which is the best handgun caliber or action design for self-defense, the traditional answer was once to carry the biggest gun you could handle. Then, in the age of concealed-carry permits, the answer increasingly has become carry the biggest gun you can conceal. Now enter downsizing. The conventional carry wisdom now reads the best gun is the one you have with you.
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Durability Test Results? Our Favorite Wheelguns Come Through With Flying Colors
[IMGCAP(1)] At Gun Tests we constantly seek ways to follow up on the service life of the guns we test. When possible, we track the very pistols and long guns that appear on these pages by keeping in touch with their owners, which in some cases are our testers but more often are readers who have bought actual test guns. Another way of tracking the reliability and satisfaction that a firearm can bring is to contact gunsmiths, retail outlets or the operators of public shooting ranges who add them to range rental-gun fleets.
We recently had occasion to test several revolvers previously reviewed and recommended in these pages with an eye toward gathering data about their longevity, a topic GT...
Five-Shot .44 Special Wheelguns: Powerful, and Sometimes Painful
The .44 Magnum's baby brother round doesn't get a lot of attention, but the .44 Special has a lot to recommend it. We see how it performs in the Taurus 445ULT, Smith & Wesson 396, and Charter 2000's Bulldog revolvers