Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .44 Remington Magnum revolver

You boys are talking about two different “unlocking” mechanisms. Cylinder latch is the mechanism that one manipulates to swing cylinder out to load. Cylinder lock is the notch and corresponding bolt that locks the cylinder in place while firing.
Best regards
F01

You guys talked me into trying an Anaconda. Ordered the 4.5” version. Figure it’ll be nice to shoot it alongside the other Super Blackhawk’s for comparison.

Thats interesting information, regarding the new Anacondas.
If the frame hasn't increased in size along with the cylinder, its probably an explanation why the new one is not and will not be made in 45 Colt.
I would be interested (and happy) if the frame allowed the 45 Colt to be chambered eventually without the crane cutout of the forcing cone the original 45 Colt Anacondas had.

Regarding the Rugers, both Redhawks: I'm trying to understand how a gun that has positive retention of all locking areas, opposite of recoil and inertia "shoots loose", while a gun of less cylinder displacement, less frame displacement and fewer mechanical locks doesnt "shoot loose" with the same loads.
That also doesn't take into consideration of bolt notch position; the Blackhawk always being the weaker link.
Theres no way, mechanically, a Redhawk frame distorts while a Blackhawk frame doesnt.

Just got a 5" 629 Classic tonight, can't wait to shoot it

I suspect the New Anaconda has a bigger frame than the old ones but don’t have an old one to compare. It just about has to be longer in that I believe the cylinder is now pretty long at 1.905” in length (and bigger diameter too). Mine is a large revolver.

I don’t particularly remember the Redhawks shooting loose as evidenced by more end shake or side-to-side play with the hammer back. It’s that the lock would come out of the bolt notch on the cylinder upon firing and the cylinder would rotate free on high-round count guns.

I don’t know the physics of what’s happening, but suspect the basepin arrangement of the Blackhawk stands up to heavy usage better with less deflection (bolt notch moving away from lock in recoil) on high round count guns than the mechanism on a Redhawk (or S&W), but that is a guess. I also suspect the heavier frame and larger cylinder of a Redhawk would stand more pressure than a Blackhawk but that is another guess.

Back when, my dad and I both were shooting a lot of IMSHA so were putting a lot of rounds through them. Even after shooting IMSHA, my only rifled, centerfire into my late 20s was whatever .44 I had at a given time and being my only hunting gun, got shot a lot in the earlier years. I don’t remember using anything but max charges of 296 and 240-330-grain bullets, primarily cast.

Regarding IMSHA, many people shot a lot and most that shot revolvers were using Dan Wessons or Blackhawks and later Freedom Arms. I’ve never fired a DW so not sure if they had trouble but they seemed to hold up fine.

My colt anaconda is a tack driver as stated above. The single action trigger pull is too heavy but it shoots. Some 1 inch or so 25 yard bench rested 6 shot groups. Been trying to get a deer this season with it but none good enough to pull the trigger yet.

Good luck with it!

Somewhat off topic, but after over a 20 year hiatus in reloading, I dug all my equipment out of storage recently and set up for it again.

I've been loading up all sorts of old once-fired brass lately, in storage for many years. In the past few weeks, I've loaded up hundreds of the thousands of once-fired-cases that I've found in storage, all different calibers (found in sheds and other storage places, in old dusty containers). I've loaded up lots of .45 Colt and .38 Special since getting back into it.

Just last night, though, I loaded up all the .44 Magnum once-fired-brass I could find in storage, which was only 58 cases. I'll have to order some virgin brass for it.



240 grain Kieth-Style lead SWC over 6.5 grains of Unique. Should be a nice, moderate recoiling, load. About like a hot Special.

In a 44 Special that is just barely a warm load. In the Special, Alliant shows 6.3 gr of Unique at 822 fps with a 240 LSWC. In the 44 mag they show 7.0 gr Unique under the same bullet going 899 fps. 6.5 gr ought to realistically be a 44 spl equivalent in your Mag cases. Great load either way, my standard in the Mag used to be 7.5 gr Unique under a 240 LSWC. Accurate enough to break clay pigeons all day long at 75 yards. Love those Missouri bullets!

Thanks for the recommendation.

My Pleasure. I too have been on something of a 44 mag hiatus, Just snagged myself a couple of 92 carbines and several new 44 RNFP molds and 3000 gas checks. Expect to busy busy the winter while I load up for the 44.

For whatever reason, Power Pistol is more readily available in my neck of the woods, so it has replaced Unique, at least for the time being. Works well too!

I've had four lever action carbines in .44 Magnum over the years. Currently, I have none. There are a couple I'd love to have back, though: My Browning Model 92 and my Rossi Saddle Ring Carbine, both bought in the 1980s. Back then, neither had any safeties on them. They were made exactly according to the original Winchester Model 92 blueprints. The Browning was made to a higher standard, but the Rossi wasn't bad either, and (fortunately) didn't come with the hokey puma medallion on the receiver, as some of them came into the US with.

i did some comparisons on different brand revolvers in 44 Rem. mags , the strongest frames were all Rugers , Colts ,Freedom arms , do some reading on Buffalo ammo company they explain why. i do own 2 - 44 mag that are a poorer frame strength brand revolver ,i have also seen a couple that frame was twisted on the revolver Buffalo ammo company did say these companies have weak frame revolvers and not to use their better grade bear ammo. i was shocked to find this information but now won`t buy those brand revolvers so i made a few calls and they all agreed those revolvers from those companies the frames are weaker . sorry but it is the truth,Pete53

I've got a super Redhawk 7 1/2 inch barrel and a plain redhawk 4 inch barrel.. bunk bed on the tough as a and extremely reliable

When I was in the business I never once saw a twisted frame but then this could be a simple matter of terminology used by some here. I worked on lots of 44 mag S&W’s, trigger work on Blackhawks and Super Blackhawks on one or two RedHawks. One common feature of most 44 mag revolvers is low round count. People buy them cause it’s a 44 Mag but most don’t shoot them enough to wear them. I worked at one gun shop that I swear always had eight or more under the counter and we finally just stopped taking them in. None had been shot enough to worry about. So in the 80’s and 90’s you could pick up like new 29’s and Blackhawks for around .50-60 cents on the dollar.

Never ever seen a 44 mag Redhawk with health problems or a Super Blackhawk. Never worked on a Colt Anaconda but have repaired and serviced a number of 29’s and 629’s. The Smith & Wesson design where hot loads are concerned and lots of them ( 20K +-) will develop end shake. If the gun has been shot a lot with full power loads it can get to the point where it doesn’t pay to fix. The end shake and other typical issues is the result of frame stretch, not twisting. Though I like Smiths because they balance well, fastest lock time and ability to really slick up, the design has some inherent weaknesses. The removable side plate reduces a lot of frame metal and rigidity, there is no way around it. But it really only comes into play with hot ammo like the 44 mag or 357’s in K-frames. The 686 ‘L’ frames solved this. They also suffer a bit from a weak cylinder ratchet design. No side plates on the Rugers or Colts.

If I were in the market for a DA 44 mag revolver I’d spend a lot of time seeing if it fits your hand then grips. I for one can’t get used to a Redhawk as the frame and grip design are too big for my hands. The SA Blackhawks will work for just about anybody.

Good Luck
Rick

Im going to add a 4 inch 629-4 (pre lock) to the classifieds if anyone is looking...

TRH

6.5 grains of Unique w/a 240 SWC is likely to produce poor accuracy. It is simply too low of a powder charge. Definitely not even close to a hot .44 Special. You also have to bear in mind that load manuals tend to use long barrels or unvented test barrels to obtain chronograph numbers and you are not likely to get anywhere to close to published speeds.

This is not my pic, but a pic from another forum. It however illustrates a highly accurate, actual "hot" .44 Special, and what the cartridge is truly capable of in the hands of an experienced loader/shooter.

That paragraph is spot on. Kudos.

Excellent advice all around..

I had a Redhawk and had the same issue - it just didn't fit me. But the Blackhawks or Super Blackhawks fit well and are built like tanks.. Very hard to hurt 'em..

I won't load anymore till I've tested it at the range. Thanks. It is listed as a starting load, however, in my manual.

Damn! I went to retrieve my old Chrono (Krono?? Crono?? Can't remember how they spelled their brand) unit, intending to bring it to the range with the .44 Mag load in question, and it's not where I thought it was. Haven't seen it in many years, but I thought I knew where to find it. Oh well. Are they still in business?? How much is a new one?