Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .44 Remington Magnum revolver

Oops I did it again. I sold my only .44 Magnums that I had and now I have all this ammo sitting around and nothing to shoot it in. I NEED a .44 Magnum revolver. I have had the S&W 29, 629, 69, Ruger Super Blackhawk and a Dan Wesson Pistol Pack. I am really leaning towards a new Colt Anaconda with a 6” barrel. It looks hell for stout. I will probably stick a Leupold 2x scope on it. Anyone have one?

Something like this? I hadn't thought about selling but your add pushed me over the edge. Sorry for the smudged up cylinder pic. Those are Bear Paw grips.

Knowing it would have limited use, I went with a Ruger Super Blackhawk with a 7 1/2" barrel. Great Whitetail revolver, and with its heavy duty construction, you can really load it up.

My buddy has a Anaconda in layaway. Hope to check his out in a couple of months when he gets it paid off.

I have one in the 8 1/2 and it's a dang nice revolver.

I like my Anaconda. Slick action and great double action pull. Single is heavy and needs a trigger job, but I've heard that is to meet Maryland's drop laws and easily remedied. Mine is probably the second most accurate .44 magnum I've ever fired and I've shot and owned a lot of 44s in that it's probably my favorite caliber. The first most accurate being a Freedom Arms Premier Grade.

Down side is it is one big, heavy revolver.

The ol lady told me to get a new Python and Anaconda, both 6"..........to have a set.
Already got a beater Python blued 6" and Superblackhawk 7.5" 3 screw.
I don't shoot either enough to justify "upgrade".

Now, if a 629-3 six or four inch comes along reasonable, might ADD that to the crap I don't use LOL

I have one of the newer mfgd Anacondas, 6"bbl, puts my old Redhawk and the 29 I used to have to shame. DA shines on this model, SA is way too stiff, Colt blundered with the SA pull, other than that, no complaints. Stupid accuracy with stock gun and any factory stuff I put through it so far. Going to reload for it one of these days, should yield good results with handloads as well. Sights are solid, easy to see, the included Factory Hogue grip helps a ton with recoil, but ugly as hell on that shiny gun. Colt built it to shoot, not leave in a drawer like my Dad's old '68 Python. Buy it and enjoy it, you'll be glad you did.

Don’t be silly, get a Colt.

What is wrong with a Ruger Redhawk? I’ve got three and there is nothing I would trade them for.

One would be hard pressed to beat a Redhawk for a one and only .44, provided he was actually going to shoot the heck out of it, and with a wide variety of loads. They will handle pretty much any type of load out there. In fact the Redhawk has a cylinder that is just a bit longer than even the Super Blackhawk. I don't care for the phrase "over built", but Redhawks are definitely built to last lifetimes.

the Redhawk or the Blackhawk are both built well never seen one with a twisted frame but i have with a couple of other brands.

Ive got the new model Anaconda and could not be happier. Single action trigger needs work, but is very accurate. Still working on cast bullet load. 300g xtps go into 1” at 50 yards

That's pretty serious! 1" at 50 is darned good.

Downside to the standard (not Super) Redhawk is getting a good, reliable single-action pull. The Super Redhawk is easier to get a good trigger pull and has much better grip options.

I like Redhawks but have found the Super Blackhawk to be significantly better at standing up to shooting tens of thousands of full-power loads. Back when we were doing a lot of long-range shooting with revolvers the Redhawks, both standard and Super, would loosen up and start unlocking allowing the cylinder to roll backward after 20,000 or so rounds of max loads, which back then was a couple of years use with published loads that were a little hotter than now. I never had a Super Blackhawk loosen up as easily as a Redhawk. Though, I do believe the Redhawk will likely stand more total pressure than a Blackhawk and does have a longer cylinder for those long bullets.

The new production Anaconda has a longer and bigger diameter cylinder than either a Redhawk or old Anaconda. Time will tell how they will hold up but Anacondas are big, stout revolvers and if anything, maybe a little too big to easily belt carry though I haven't tried yet.

My ideal collection of .44s is a 4-5" 629 or 5.5" Blackhawk for carry and moderate loads, a 7.5" Super Redhawk for scope use, and a 6" new Anaconda for heavy loads. I suspect a new Anaconda would for most prove to be the most accurate of these options. For a one and only .44, I would go 7.5" Super Blackhawk or Bisley. At different times, I've gone both of those routes.

I don't know about the new Anaconda's, but there's NO way I'll be talked out of my old 4" version.
Even if I could retrieve it from #1 son!

Yep, I agree !

Never had any issue getting a good SA pull on a Redhawk; the DA is tricky due to only one spring, but its functional.
The Super, in my opinion, is a bit of an abomination. It does have a more positive trigger return and DA spring over the Redhawk, but that doesn't make up for its lack of aesthetics.

The Redhawk has two cylinder locks at fore and aft and there isn't a way to mechanically unlock them simultaneously, as they lock in opposing directions and the cylinder latch opposes both by 90 degrees. All but the crane latch in opposite of rearward recoil, unlike the Smith and Colt 44s.

The Colt, in particular, has an excessive weight cylinder latch that may force it rearward, unlocking the cylinder.
Of course single actions are devoid of cylinder latches and lock with the bolt and hand.
A Redhawk, lockwork wise, is double of any other single action or double action.

I have no idea about the new Anacondas, but lockwork wise they appear no different than the first iterations.
The first ones were between the Smith N frame and the Redhawk for frame size, bolt notch protrusion and about the same for forcing cone thickness as the Smith.

Thank you, Hawk. Interesting information.

I'm not sure how the lockwork compares between old and new Anacondas, but the new ones have a longer and larger diameter cylinder than the old ones. A good bit longer (and larger) than a Redhawk in fact. I only have a Super Redhawk left because ergonomics and trigger work for me better than a Redhawk. In comparison to the Super, the Anaconda is a larger gun than the Super, almost too large.

Regarding lockwork, the Redhawk and Super Redhawk may be double other guns, but I have had or been around mutliple Supers and at least one standard Redhawk that started unlocking between 10-20,000 hot loads. I can't remember one instance of experiencing that with a Super Blackhawk.

I do think a 5.5" Redhawk (along with a 6" original Python as a close second) is possibly the best looking revolver ever made, but I like the Super better between the two. Pretty is as pretty does.

I love my mid 90’s 8 inch anaconda. If i bought a new one I’d go with a 4 inch anaconda to compliment it.