Shot this buck on Oct. 12th at 142 yds with a 197 gr. Bradshaw/Martin cast bullet. Bullet went through both lungs & exited, buck buckled in the back end & almost went down, he started to turn around & I shot again but missed & he started running straight at me for 10-15 yds & fell over in the stubble.
Dick

Outstanding! That bullet powder coated is very impressive, especially in the 357 Maximum

Damned fine shooting, especially at that yardage. Fine work!

I like it, nice work!

Fantastic!

Great shooting and write-up as always.

Nice shooting. Can we get a pic of just the bullet?


Okie John

Very cool as usual Dick! How hard was that cast? What was the velocity?

Okie, here is a photo of some of the bullets, they are designed without a crimp groove so you deep seat them & crimp over the top driving band just slightly & it works great! We need to keep after Lipsey's to pressure Ruger & I think they will bring the 357 maximum back in stainless. We need a long range, low recoiling revolver & this is the one.

Here's a 3 shot group I shot a few days before opening day of deer season at 75 yds, shooting left handed because of surgery on my right thumb, these guns & this bullet really shoots.

Not sure on the hardness, I cast these bullets a couple of years ago but probably about a 10 BHN & the velocity usually runs about 1470 fps from the 10.5" barrels. I've probably taken about 8-9 deer now with the Maximum & I think 3, maybe 4 antelope, its THE six gun for long range work & easy recoil. We're wanting Ruger to build it in stainless & also pre drilled for a scope mount. Just have to keep asking.
World champion David Bradshaw did most of the testing on the original Maximums & he designed this bullet & he's all in on Ruger bringing the Maximum back.

Dick

Great shooting, Dick!

Great shootin pardner! That’s an Idaho heart shot.

Ya, that way I don't have to track them through all of those thick trees you see Curt.

Dick

Great Job and excellent info Dick... Congrat's!!!

Bravo! I'm becoming a believer in this cartridge.

I have a .357 Maximum, but in a 26" rifle not a revolver. I wouldn't mind a stainless Ruger to go with it.

The velocity increase with 16" more barrel is pretty impressive. I have a few of those bullets to try also, I need to shake a leg. So far the 200gr. RCBS FN and Lee 200gr. FN have returned good performance with velocities in the 1800fps neighborhood, as well as the 180 XTP. It's definitely gonna get some "air time" this season. Please pardon my showing it off.

Ruger won't bring it back out. The reason they quit making them was because of top strap cutting and throat erosion.

I had a friend several years ago who used one to shoot IHMSA. He sent it in to Ruger and they kept it,...sent him a check for the purchase price.

I don't know if they still would do that. But if you want to keep it you better not send it to Ruger for anything.

The top strap cutting was a non-issue as it stopped soon after it started.

They new that before producing the 357 Maximum revolvers because it happened on the 2 prototypes.

Good job on the buck! I like handgun hunting reports!

John is correct, there was very minor top strap cutting & then it stopped & most of that was by guys that were hot rodding light weight bullets. A few gun writers jumped on this right from the start, not knowing what they were talking about & they killed a very good cartridge. For those that shoot 158 gr bullets or bigger it's always been a non issue but the damage was done. Take one of these guns with 180 gr bullets & it will last a life time of hunting & do it at distance & with recoil that your granddaughter can tolerate.

Dick

The 375 SuperMag is another cartridge that does the low recoil/long range bit well from a revolver.

Did a fair bit of shooting with one with a 230 LBT LFN along with a 357 and a 180 FN.

https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/ruger-357-maximum/

"Although factory testing included firing tens of thousands of rounds of commercially loaded cartridges, along with a variety of specially formulated handloads, in several production revolvers, problems subsequently developed with barrel erosion, as well as erosion of the topstrap…which led to withdrawing the Maximum revolver from the production line."

And, as mentioned, Ruger will keep any .357 Maximum Blackhawks that get sent to them for any type of repair or maintenance. A friend of mind found out the hard way.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-357-maximum-too-hot-to-handle/

Ruger's long-framed Blackhawk was first to market in two barrel lengths. Within a few weeks, the company got so many complaints, they halted production and never resumed. Somewhere around 7,500 guns were made. Most were returned to the factory and their purchase price refunded.

I will agree that firing "tens of thousands" of rounds can erode a barrel, isn't that possible with any caliber? World champion Silhouette shooter David Bradshaw did most of the original testing of the 357 Maximum for Bill Ruger & he is still shooting #18 with great success. He's also the one who designed the bullet I mentioned. But if there is someone more knowledgeable than him, perhaps they can speak up. And yes the 375 Supermag is a dandy caliber also.
Dick

Dan Wesson decided to roll with it, or saw something different and continued to make 357 Maximums years after Ruger disbanded their Maximum frame, also being investment cast.

I believe it was a concern, but I believe over time the issue has been proven much ado about nothing.

HawkI, of course you are correct as usual. It was the light weight bullets with ball powders for the most part that shot down the Maximum but it's possible it will never return, too bad if that's the case but I do know there are a "couple" of industry people interested, all I can say. All we can do is hope. Many said Ruger would never bring out a 5 shot 480 either!

Dick

Nice shooting. Nice gun. Also a classic though discontinued mount if I am seeing correctly .. redfield 3-ring? I had one on a 10-1/2" .44 with a 4x Leupold at one time.

I'd love to have a Ruger .357 Maxi. Stainless would be nice.

Regarding top strap flame cutting, I really don't see why the .357 maxi would be any worse than the .454 Bisleys. Big charges of spherical powder at high pressure should be big charges of spherical powder at high pressure. It would seem to me they must have resolved it 'cause the .454s are still in production.

Non-357 Maximum with 357 Max performance... John Taffin did extensive testing with the then new Freedom Arms 353. He loaded 357 magnum ammo in the FA-83 to equal and exceeding the 357 Max! Yes this is 357 magnum ammo that would grenade just about any other 357 magnum revolver.

However, with careful reloading you can have your SS 357 Max revolver...it just costs one hell of a lot more than a Ruger.

Dick, congrats on the deer!

It doesn't take 10s of thousands of rounds to erode the forcing cone of a magnum revolver barrel.

You're the one that said it, not me. CraigD, I was shooting with Bob Baker one day & he told me the velocity he was getting with his 357 magnum FA & I was shocked by what he told me. I shot it for about an hour one day at Raton, New Mexico. He had taken an antelope at a very long distance a few months earlier with it with one shot. Not sure how long the brass would last but for sure his loads were faster than my 357 Maximum. Extremely accurate & tight tolerances make things happen.

Dick

Bill Ruger, Jr. and David Bradshaw shot the first 2 prototype Ruger 357 Maximums with load that ran 70 to 75 thoussnd PSI and shot cases of them. They knew about flame cutting the top strap but it stopped rather soon after it started and produced them anyway. Bill, Jr. and David tried to talk Bill, Sr. out of stopping production.

This is not 100% correct

How many does it take?

I guess it depends. But about 2000 rounds will cook the rear of a .44 magnum Blackhawk barrel pretty good. But .44 magnum Blackhawks don't gas cut the top strap very much.

On the other hand, S&W magnum revolvers don't cook the forcing cone of the barrel very much but they gas cut the top strap pretty quick. .357s are worse about than .44 magnums. The worst gas cutting I've experienced on one of my revolvers was a S&W 686.

Not very many people really put a lot of rounds through firearms. Playing the IHMSA game will give you a good idea what lots of shooting does to a revolver when you're shooting high pressure ammo.

The gap between a cylinder and a barrel is a very hostile environment when shooting 35,000 psi ammo.

Industry standard pressure on the Maximum is 40,000 psi.

I have been looking a buying a Henry single shot rifle and having it rebored to 357 max. Low recoil but still deadly on the muzzle end of the rifle. It would meet the new straight walled cartridge specs for a couple of states, MD and DE.

Personally I would try to find a 357 Magnum Henry single shot rifle and rechamber it.

I'm a huge fan of the 357 Maximum and wish it was factory available. Unfortunately without factory ammo I don't think it will happen. Also, the 350 Legend has cemented itself into existence so much that S&W has chambered revolvers as such.

All of the Urinary Olympics aside, congrats on the fine casting, coating, loading, and shooting!

What's that weigh?
It looks like a dandy sneaking around gun.

I don't know how many rounds I've fired through this 357 Maximum, I've owned 4 of them & all have shot well except one spit a lot of powder out the cylinder gap. Even it shot well but it was annoying. The one I have now probably has 3500-4000 rounds through it & you can see from the left handed group at 75 yds above that it still shoots just fine. I don't shoot ball powders through it & I fully expect it to last a life time with fine accuracy. I have no idea whether Ruger will ever make them again or not but I think there were lots of lessons learned from the first go around.
A stainless gun sure would be nice, we will just have to wait & see. Handgun hunting is more popular than ever & I still think a low recoiling, long range gun has it's place, and from what I've read on several other forums a lot of hunters feel the same way.

Dick

This thread is the perfect example of people regurgitating information they read on the internet and in magazines, then repeat it as fact, without having any personal, first hand experience with the subject matter.

This whole (and I am paraphrasing here) "you can't do that, as the topstrap cutting and barrel erosion will be too bad." is the perfect example. People without any firsthand experience simply parrot what they read elsewhere and it has become "Internet fact".



Idaho1945 actually does has firsthand experience and decades of it proving that the "Internet fact" is simply wrong, but people want to argue with him.
Referring to an article in a magazine means very little. Anybody can write an article, and these days, pretty much anyone does, most of whom should not, due to the fact that they are generally ignorant of their subject matter. Usually they are repeating what they have heard, without going out and getting some first hand experience. The cycle of erroneous information continues..

Bristoe,

How many thousands of rounds of .357 Maximum have you personally fired through Rugers?

Not what you read about, or your friend claimed he fired, but you, personally fired?

If Ruger decided they wanted to produce new .357 max guns, and if top strap erosion was truly a significant issue, beyond cosmetic, Ruger could take a page from S&W and use a replaceable blast shield, such as the ones seen on the Scandium Model 329.

This reminds me of someone at the bottom of a mountain telling someone else that it is impossible to climb a mountain, while the other person is already sitting on top.

SMH

Amen Mackay

But then again I never thought I’d see Bristoe post anything hunting/shooting related anyway. Seems all he knows how to do is be a curmudgeon and hole up in a hotel when the weather gets bad. Guess he doesn’t know how influential Dick and the guys are with Lipsey’s and if they clamor for it, their track record shows that there’s a pretty good chance it’ll come to fruition.

And congrats Dick on the buck. How’d the rest of the boys do on the elk?

I would love to be able to say a little bit more about this but I can't. I would also like to show the video of the Montana white tail I shot at 123 yds facing me but don't know how. One shot kill & went right down. Would also like to show the photo of the one I shot at 180 ys & the one at just under 220 yds but if you weren't there you wouldn't believe it anyway. Both one shot kills.
Mbogo2106, one of the other grandson's got a 6X6 bull this morning, it closes tomorrow. They are out there now, getting it out, I'll try to show photo's tomorrow, thanks. As I was reading John's reply I got this photo of another one of my grandson's with his 5X5 bull, 750 yds ranged with his 280 Ackley Improved, 2 shots, both were hits.

First photo is a buck taken at just under 220 yds with the 10.5" 357 Maximum & 173 gr Keith bullet, second buck was at a range 180 yds with a 180 gr cast bull. The antelope was on a Utah depredation hunt at 155 yds with a 180 gr cast bullet. The doe mule deer was on the same Utah depredation hunt at 136 yds with the 357 Maximum & the same 180 gr cast bullet. This was with 2 different Maximums. I have a lot more, plus the video.




Dick

Very believable Dick. The 194 grain Bradshaw Martin bullet powder coated at 10-11 brinel expands and holds together like a bonded bullet and would be very deadly.

Very nice and great shooting on the buck in the 1st post.

I'm assuming the 173gr Keith performed well for you also? I have a bunch loaded with 2400 and they shoot great out of my 6 inch Security Six. I've been threatening for years to use it on deer.

So why do you think Ruger puller them from the market and refused to send any back that were sent if for service?

As I recall, it wasn't just top strap cutting. There was also a problem with forcing cone erosion.

Idaho1945,
Dick, I sent you a PM.

That is funny.

I have fired considerably more than 2,000 rounds through a couple different .44 Magnum Rugers, and I did not "cook the barrel/forcing cone of either.

I know this one is definitely past that.





Reference S&W's, same deal, I have a couple that have seen considerably more than 2,000 rounds, and while they have some very minor cutting it gets to a certain point and pretty much stops. Basically it is a non issue. It gets made into a huge thing by people who do far more reading and arm chair pontificating than they ever do actually getting out and shooting. I would venture to guess most will never shoot 200 rounds through their .44 mags in their entire lives.

I can tell you for a fact that a tall plastic Folgers can will hold 550 rounds of 240 grain .44 magnums rounds, which were emptied in a relatively short period of time. Shooting revolvers long range burns up a lot of ammo.



These are targets going out to (if I recall, its been a couple years) 500 or so yards.









This old 29-2 has seen multiple thousands of rounds over the last 25+ years and is completely serviceable. The forcing cone is not cooked and the top strap while there is very minor cut, it is simply cosmetic and is of no consequence whatsoever. The fact is that I could shoot thousands more and it will be fine. I plan to in fact.

Odds are it will need a minor tune up to clean up a little cylinder play long before anything else, as is typical with S&Ws that have been shot a lot.






Getting out and shooting thousands of rounds and getting real, first hand information and experience will always trump reading and theory.

Bristoe,

Dan Wesson issued two barrels with their 357 Maximums/357 SuperMags. I had one, it never necessitated barrel #2, despite as much H110, LilGun, 1680 and Rl 7 crammed in the cases. Barrel #2 got sold unfettered with the gun.

The gun was bought used and 3k rounds were sent down its tube while it was here for about ten years or so.
It collected one deer and was a good time on the 200 yard plate; boring at 100.
It never fired a bullet under 180 grains and never saw a jacketed round in the same time frame.

This is just a guess, but Ruger's warranty hasn't and still doesn't apply to handloaded ammunition; that's not to say they haven't covered such, but belligerent reloaders not heeding advice regarding the cartridge and gun probably had more to do with the ceasing of the arm than anything. Let's face it, the silhouette revolvers of the era weren't sent back because they were knocked out of commission with Remington fodder....

Sticking a jacket from obturation (especially with light soft cores and rough cones) is a reality most experienced reloaders are aware of and choose to avoid. That doesn't include all reloaders. I'm sure some still try to run 200gr. 45 Colt Silvertips in their Casulls as fast as they can.

FWIW that Bradshaw bullet seated deep inside the case probably cut down on the gas cutting and erosion; the case being a heat sink while the top pressure and temperature is inside the case instead of at the forcing cone/cylinder gap.

I know from talking to David Bradshaw that when Bill Ruger was still alive & Bradshaw was doing most of the testing for the new 357 Maximum that Bill had him do all kinds of tests, including rapid fire testing where the barrels would get very hot, just to see how much wear & tear the barrels could take. David punished the barrels pretty hard & it took a great deal of shooting to create noticeable wear on the forcing cone & also the wear on the top strap would start & then cease right away, it really wasn't a factor unless you shot very light weight bullets with ball powders.
In other words you had to set out to abuse the gun on purpose to actually make it happen. Shooting normal weight bullets, the wear was minimal. Again David Bradshaw was a many times world champion & him & Bill Jr did almost all of the testing on the Maximum. Bill Sr. pulled all of the guns out of production because he didn't want to have any controversy over what a few uninformed writers had put out there, end of story.
On another note when I was shooting USPSA for several years & had shot my way to #1 in the nation in "A" class revolver I shot 54,000 that year through a S&W 610 which is a 10mm revolver. I cast every single one of those bullets & they all made major power factor. Not as hot as a 357 Maximum or a 44 magnum but it was also a lot more rounds! The following year I shot 34,000 through the same gun & I was shooting all over the western US. I was also shooting in winter leagues in Arizona & twice I won the Rocky Mountain Regional Championship in ICORE at FT. Collins, Colorado, all using the same gun. In Arizona I was shooting 2 matches a week with the same S&W 610, all major power factor loads.
At this point the gun had to have at least 125,000 rounds down the barrel & it was still winning matches at the highest level, I hardly ever cleaned it except for the cylinder, it didn't need it. How much wear & tear does a gun get when it's approaching at least 125,000 minimum? My gun was fine!

Dick

And that right there is why Idaho1945 is the Boss!


The phrase "know your audience" comes to mind once again..

Then your experience is different than those who chose Model 29s to compete in IHMSA.

There's a reason why you quit seeing Model 29s being used for IHMSA competition although early on they were popular for the revolver class.

I note from a previous post of yours that you advise keeping .44 magnum loads for the S&W Model 29 moderate. That undoubtedly explains why yours has held up in the manner that you claim.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...tthread/Board/26/main/919195/type/thread

Shoot a couple thousand of Elmer's loads through it (250 grain hardcast SWC, 22 grains 2400) it and get back with me.

I have [bleep] 23 grains of 2400 with 250 hardcast and even faster loads with H-110/296
You are not speaking from experience

If you would have been to those matches back in the day like I was and had shot the factory loads of the day you would know that the factory loads were loaded from 1450 to 1550 FPS for 250 grain factory loads

Shooting 40 to 80 round matches plus a 800 to one thousand rounds a week for practice took it's toll on a M-29 by creating end shake and tune up were in order just as Mackay_Sagebrush posted

Face it Bristoe,

You are desperately grasping for straws..

Having to search years old posts, and then cherry pick only part of a post in a desperate attempt to save face, reflects poorly and says something about your integrity.


Here is the whole post you selectively only chose to post part of:




Stick with 10 grains of Unique and a 240 grain cast SWC type load or the equivalent and you will be G2G for many thousands of rounds.

This old -2 has had many thousands of rounds, and it still is fine. When it was my only .44 I ran heavy loads through it, but they were maybe 3 to 5% of the rounds fired overall. The N Frames are not nearly as "delicate" as internet and gunshop myth has made them out to be. No, they will not take many thousands of full house 300+ grain loads, but the very vast majority of owners are never going to shoot that many hot loads in their lifetime anyways.



Stick with standard 240 grain loads for 95% of your shooting and use the heavy loads sparingly and you will most likely never have a problem. Even then, correcting some endshake is not too tough, and it is an extremely rare gun that has been shot to the point of being not repairable.


That post is as true today as it was then.

If you shoot thousands of full house 300+ grain loads, it will cause excessive wear.

Stick with standard 240 grain loads for 95% of your shooting and you will be fine. Pretty simple,



This reminds me of someone trying to tell locals all about what it is like to live where the locals live, even though that person trying to tell the locals all about it, has never lived there or even visited.

You are simply out of your depth.

It's not about "depth". It's that you shoot "poot" loads out of your Model 29s so they won't loosen up,..as you described.

Like I said,..put 2000 of Elmer's loads through you Model 29 then get back with me. When only 3% of your loads are full power, you're unqualified to makes judgments on how long a .44 magnum revolver will hold up.

10 grains of Unique is actually not a .44 Magnum load. It's a .44 Special +P. Unique is far too fast burning to construct full power .44 magnum loads.

Read my post I've shot those loads even up to 23 grains in my M-29s. You haven't,

OK Bristoe, tell us how many mod 29's you've shot loose with Elmer's loads ie. "a couple thousand of Elmer's loads....250 grain hardcast SWC, 22 grains 2400."
If ya haven't, then time to quit digging and move on, cuz yer gettin' annoying for no other reason than to be annoying, that's for another forum.

where can one purchase these bullets at?

One. I bought it to shoot IHMSA. The first indication is that they won't cycle double action. The frame stretches enough that the pin that holds the cylinder locking lug gets moved out of position enough that it doesn't drop down soon enough and won't release the cylinder.

I got it functioning again by removing the side plate and reaming the hole in the side plate that the lug pin fits into. Opening up the hole allowed the locking lug to move back enough that it was properly timed again.

In 1977 I put on the first Handgun Silhouette match ever held in Idaho along with Elgin Gates help. We shot the match in a field next to my house along the river & had about 75 shooters. Many of them were shooting S&W 44 magnums using heavy loads. One of them was a shooter named Joe Hollifield & his loads were hot! It was only a half match (20 targets) because that's all I had made at the time. A couple of weeks later we had the first full, sanctioned match at Blackfoot, Idaho with a full 40 rounds & I think there were 99 entries, which at the time was a new national record. Again, there was Joe Hollifield with that model 29 S&W, and he won revolver class.
We shot all summer at 3 different ranges, with some of us traveling out of state to shoot. Later that year we had the first ever state championships at the Blackfoot range & by that time there were several guys that had over 2,000 rounds of heavy loads through their model 29's, you weren't going to take those rams down with a mild load in any revolver, 44 magnum or not.
A shooter from Boise showed up named Ben Wetzel, he owned Idaho Leather & he was entering revolver class with a Ruger SBH 44 magnum. We started visiting & I ask him to wait until Sunday to enter & to come to my range & work out his sight adjustments, he didn't have them past the pigs at 100 meters. So we drove back to my place & shot that Saturday afternoon & got his sights down pretty good, Ben was a good shooter.
We went back on Sunday & Ben entered & I was his spotter, later that day Ben was the first state champion Silhouette shooter in Idaho, he beat Joe Hollifield. The guys shooting S&W model 29's weren't having accuracy problems & many of them had several thousand rounds down the barrel at that time, the problem they were having was, the sights wouldn't track consistently, and it took them quite a while to figure it out. The Ruger 44's were more consistent on the sight adjustment over a long period of time.

Dick

I used feeler guages under my M29 for consustent sight adjustment

A hair under 6 pounds.

Y'all realize of course that the case dimensions of the .357 Maximum equals the dimensions of the late 19th century .35-30 Maynard cartridge. There's a guy, a friend of a friend, who's reported to have stamped his new .357 Maximum rifle barrel ".35-30 Maynard" as an inside joke. There usually isn't much new under the sun.

How can sights that are adjusted by a screw not stay consistent? Are the screw threads getting farther apart or closer together?

You sure you owned one?

Yes. I also understand the concept of screw threads. A 1/4-20 screw has 20 threads per inch. If you rotate it exactly 20 revolutions into a 1/4-20 threaded hole, it will move exactly 1" in a lateral direction.

It's not a difficult concept.

Micrometers work in the same manner.

OK, so what was the load and round count? How much did the frame stretch out of spec.? Did you have issues with gas cutting ie. weakening the frame, forcing cone going wonky etc. etc?

You described cylinder endshake but not the way to correct it

You have no concept of precise sight adjustments on the M-29. The SBH had precise click adjustments, the M-29 did not

Well I just explained what was happening, if you don't want to believe it that's up to you, I told it just like it was. I'm done with your endless nonsense.

Dick

Very cool revolver, bullet, and use Dick.

gnoahhh that's a sweet rifle as well.

I've been playing with the .357 Max in a 21" contender carbine using the 180 A-frame. Youngest has really taken to it and is planning to use it this year. With a weaver base, Seekins 1" rings, and a 4x Leupold it's just under 5 lbs 15 oz. It's stainless and plastic so I won't deface the thread and post pictures of it....unless it's with the youngest and a deer.

My understanding Elgin Gates himself wrote extensively about every manner of revolver of the silhouette game and how Dan Wesson and Ruger were of the few found durable enough for it. I believe he rated them on accuracy, durability, sights and another thing or two. Could get the book back to borrow.

In his book he describes Smiths literally falling to pieces on the line. I would state they did from abuse and neglect, but have seen the action that dates back to the last century devoid of compensating for repeated inertia exposure that simply did not exist at inception, not pressure.

"Elmer" loads are famous for setting the cylinder latch rearward, the direction it operates. Have seen gunwriters declare them unsafe despite being fired from a Ransom, where the cylinder magically unlatches with heavy bullets and loads.

Bottom line, to me at least, is there is a window based on inertia rather than pressure, that seems to be the limitation of N frame Smiths.

Elgin Gates was the creator of every SuperMag cartridge, none of which failed to be chambered in a factory revolver after Ruger ceased production.

When someone who's "expertise" amounts to referring to google, and is debating the people he is in the thread it just makes me shake my head.

I had shot 2,000 rounds of what would be the equivalent of "Elmer's load" quite a few times over before I was 25..

By the time I was 30 I had learned my lesson and realized that there was no need to shoot a 240/250 at 1,400 FPS when the same bullet at 1,100 FPS still goes all the way through a Mule deer.

"Poot" load. GMAFB..

Your comment:


"you're unqualified to makes judgments on how long a .44 magnum revolver will hold up."

That coming from you Bristoe is truly funny.

If Idaho1945 had said it, I may be inclined to listen, as he is an absolute Master of his craft, and he is likely to teach me a thing or three I may not know.


You... Keep reading what others have done and try and pass that off as your own knowledge base.

Yeah. I started shooting IHMSA in the late 70s and it was already common knowledge that the Model 29s wouldn't hold up to the number of rounds fired when competing in IHMSA. (both practice and competition) I've shot in quite a few matches in Central Kentucky and Southern Ohio. I've seen a lot of Dan Wessons, Rugers, and an occasional Seville revolvers being used in big bore revolver class. But never a Smith and Wesson .44 mag.

The large frame Dan Wessons were the dominant revolver both in accuracy and durability. I sometimes shot a 5 1/2" Blawkhawk .44 mag with the small grip frame just for the fun of it. I had a lot of fun with that revolver. It's the one I burned the forcing cone out of. In fact, the erosion reached all the way to the edge of the barrel. I usually shot Elmer's load but sometimes shot the gas checked RCBS 44-240SIL bullet quench cast from straight WW alloy. 2400 was my primary propellant but I also occasionally used H4227. In fact, at the time H4227 was the most popular propellant with those shooting .44 mags in big bore revolver class. But I liked cast bullets and 2400,...not because those loads were more accurate. It's just how I liked to do it.

Most used jacketed bullets and H4227. I used Elmer's load.

Congratulations,very nice, and a cool revolver

If this thread doesn't make you want to shoot something in the face, nothing will.

I have Nosler #4 here; "Handgun Tips From A Champion"

*Consider S&W M29/629 a "mid-magnum". Reduced loads-midway between .44 Special and 44 mag-greatly extend service life.

I personally agree with it.


The lockwork of the M29 goes back to the turn of the last century. It differs none in size or strength between a K or an L frame until the last endurance package upgrades were completed, which was years after silhouette sport waned.

Back to the primary subject; I think as time waned and primarily Dan Wesson kept the 357, 375 and 445 SuperMags in action, the top strap cutting proved not to be a long term issue and maybe that's all that's needed to bring back the Maximum frame.

On another note; does anyone know why Starline produces .414 SuperMag brass when (if my memory serves me correctly), Dan Wesson made very few of them and I can't imagine TC chambering many barrels for such?

But they don't make brass for guns chambered in the several thousands?