Help me make a choice of 44 Magnums

[coyotehunter]

I am looking for a new 44 Magnum. I currently have a 6 inch Anaconda with a 2X leopold and a 10 Inch Desert Eagle with with a 2.5X7 Burris on it. The Anaconda is a dream to shoot and works great. I have shot a few deer with it. The DE is a handful and while it is fun at the range it seems to have too many little problems for me to trust it as a hunting gun.

I want to buy a new 44 Magnum to hunt with. I want a longer barrel then the 6 incher on the Anaconda, I want more weight up front. I will be willing to trade off the two I have to get this one gun so price is not a problem. The gun will be scoped to hunt whitetails with.

I thought I would run this by some of you folks to see you pros and cons on the choices.

Now the choices.
1) An eight inch ported Colt Anaconda.
2) A Ruger Redhawk super or regular with the longest barrel I can get.
3) A new Ruger Blackhawk Hunter with the Bisley grip.

I am leaning toward the Anaconda because the one I have shoots great and the Trigger is a dream. It doesn't matter if it is single or double action. I shoot them both and each has it's pros and cons. I don't need to reload fast, I will not be getting in a fire fight with a deer.

Any feed back I can get would be great.

[Silencer]

You need a Smith & Wesson. If I were you, I would get the 629 Birdsong Stealth Hunter. It has a 7.5" magna-ported barrel and it's set up for hunting. Just what you're looking for.

Hey, I've got an Anaconda six incher too, but if you've just got to get another .44 handgun pass on the S&W and get a Redhawk.

Don't see why you need anything but the Anaconda to hunt with, it does the job don't it.

But that's like saying I only need one gun...yeah, right.

Them Colts is getting darn right pricey ain't they.

Do you hunt with one of them long shoulder'belt holsters.

Jim

[45Smashemflat]

Love that Custom Shop Smith..........

My Redhawk is great, and you can probably get what you want and not swap out the other two....

[coyotehunter]

GunGuy,
Yes the Anaconda is fine but I would like the added barrel length of the 8 inch and the porting to go with it. I was just wondering what everyone that of the comparison between the Colts and the other two listed. I owned a 357 Redhawk years ago but never shot it much. I traded it for the Anaconda I have in 6 inch now.


Yep, Shoulder hoster is the only what to go when carrying something that big.

[Smokin Guns]

Welcome to TFF 'yotehunter!...only got a Ruger in .44 Mag....but i likes it!!!...

[stash247]

RUGER REDHAWK; you can't break it!
I've got smaller than average hands, and the stock grips are great; fat in the middle, where my hands are, but small enough to get around.
Lots of larger(and much larger) grips available.
Stout as a stone; **** that would tie up a Smith or a Colt goes right thru a ruger like salts thru a goose.
Heavy, guilty as charged; still, a whole lot lighter than a rifle, at no big handicap in power.
That's my vote!

[VIPERGTSR01]

i say go for the Super Redhawk ....never will fail ya

[delta13soultaker]

When I was 16 I traded my best friends dad a Savage .270 for a Ruger Super Blackhawk and had that pistol ever since.

I had the choice between a slightly older Anaconda with rubber grips and the practically new Blackhawk with 7 1/2 inch barrel, plus I'd done a whole lot of bragging about that .270. So we did what any experienced traders should do and went down to the fence line to test fire.

I really really liked the way that Colt looked, but the first time a blasted a soda can off a fence post at about fifty paces with iron sights I knew that I couldn't turn down that Ruger. Not to mention that the recoil in the Ruger wasn't much more than a brisk muzzle flip. I think I actually checked a shell to make sure it really was the mighty and feared .44 mag.

Well anyway, after walking back and forth about 400 yards to verify that the .270 really and truly only shot about 12-14 inches low at 400 yards(hell of a lot better than a 30-30), the deal was done and I had a .44 mag Super Blackhawk that liked 240 grain Remington ammo.

It's probably the only SA revolver I'd ever recommend over a DA revolver. Its balance and simplicity make it highly accurate and more than make up for slower follow on shots.

P.S. Desert Eagles should be left in Hollywood where they belong.

[Smokin Guns]

I added this "Johnny Dangerously" Pistol to my keepers list this month..."Long live the Ruger Super Redhawk and The Smith & Wesson Custom Extreme"...

Either one of these would be my choice...at this moment...

[inplanotx]

Well, I have the Redhawk in 41 Mag with a 2x scope. Love it. My 44 Mags consist of a Nickle Model 29 6" and a Blackhawk Bisley in 7 1/2" barrel. I love that Bisley! Simple gun and you really have to work at it to break it!

[gpostal]

A lot of people are not aware of the redesigned model 29, I got one of the first of five thousand, they were redesigned to shoot heavy loads 300 grain hot-loads, with a full under lug over size cylinder latch, and hammer, with a combat style trigger

But I do like the ruger super redhawk

[inplanotx]

A lot of people are not aware of the redesigned model 29, I got one of the first of five thousand, they were redesigned to shoot heavy loads 300 grain hot-loads, with a full under lug over size cylinder latch, and hammer, with a combat style trigger

That's what I keep the Blackhawk for! Never been a redesign for it!

[Tony Mig]

I've been seriously thinking about trading my Beretta 96 in for a Ruger Super Redhawk, just can't decide if I want to go with .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, or the model that shoots both the .454 Casull & .45 Long Colt.

I'll probably go with .44 Magnum, like the .357 Mag that also shoots .38 Spl's, the .44 Mag also shoots .44 Spl's, and that simplifies reloading.

[stash247]

Go fo the .45. In the Redhawk, the .45 Colt will out perform anything the .44 mag can do. >45 Colt loads were and are worked up with the thin chamber walls of the 1873 Colt revolver in mind.
The Redhawk, on the other hand, will digest safely, most all the stuff I put thru my 1894 Win trapper, also in .45 Colt.
I'm not telling you to just go crazy, but where thr Redhawk is concerned, there's more in the bag, than in the book!
Watch for pressure signs, and go slowly, but the Redhawk in .45 is the powerhouse, without any "magnum" BS.

Go with the Redhawk. Ruger has them overengineered as far as safety goes and they do shoot. I have a .44 mag with a 2 power scope and I can safely say that I have never regretted that choice. Uncle Mike's makes a sling for big scoped pistols called the "Bandolero" works very well with my redhawk. I favor 300 grainers in my .44 mag, I just like the added weight for a bigger hit.


my $.02

swede

Though I've never owned a Ruger Redhawk I would opt for it. This is because of low price and engineering integrity.

However, I am satisfied with my Colt Anaconda six inch .44 mag.
but not sure if they still make them and the prices are out of sight.

I cannot see where the .45 Colt cartridge can be safely loaded as hot as the .44 magnum.

Jim

[Smokin Guns]

cannot see where the .45 Colt cartridge can be safely loaded as hot as the .44 magnum

...

Not sure of all the Tech. details, and I don't reload. I can say there is a world a difference between those two cartridges though...

[stash247]

The .45 Colt is a bigger case, with a bigger hole (.429 vs .452) out front.
Put it in a rifle, or a revolver, where pressures are equal, and it is obvious that more powder+ more bullet= more down range performance.
Read the post---- the .45 Colt has been limited, for years, by the weakest (COLT) firearm in which it was/is chambered.
The Redhawk is at least TWO quantum leaps from the proginator, the 1873 Colt.
The Colt was a good arm, in it's day, and a good one today, considering it's limitations, due to design.
But, the Redhawk, in all it's variations, is a much better, stronger, more reliable arm. Loaded anywhere near it's limits, it willCONSISTENTLY out-perform anything short of a .454 Casull.
Please remember, the Balloon head brass that the .45 Colt began with, is archaic and obsolete; Modern brass has a solid head. And, the limiting factor, where pressure is concerned, is no longer the case, but the cylinder, in the case of revolvers!

Stash247, I see where you are coming from on the modern stronger revolvers handling the stronger .45 Colt loads.

But, have you ever split a modern .45 Colt brass in half length wise, then do the same to a .44 magnum brass. The bottom area of the brass known as the web (wish I could draw a picture here)
is the area around the thickness and above the internal location of the primer flash hole.

The .44 magnum brass is obviously thicker in this web area and can handle more pressure...I say this from having some experience with hot rodding .308 brass cut down to .937 OAL and used in my wild cat .44 caliber pistols like the Colt 1911.

Before pouring in the nitro fuel on the .45 Colt find out how much the brass is rated for psi. Contact the people who make the brass...they must have some specs on it.

I am too lazy to do it myself.

Jim

[LDBennett]

Years ago I went to my local gun store to buy a 44 Mag pistol. The candidates were a Ruger Bisley Blackhawk and a S&W 629. I had the dealer lay both on the counter top. I then picked each up and handled them, checking the trigger pull and operating the action in single action mode (the only mode I ever use). The differences were massive. The finese of the S&W was beaming out at me while the Bisley looked like a shovel next to the Smith. The trigger on the Smith absolutely put the Ruger to shame. I was so convinced before this "test" that I wanted the Ruger I had pre-bought the trigger spring kit for it. But I could not buy it after this side-by-side comparison. My Smith perks along after these ten+ years, a beautiful working gun. Never bought the Ruger but I keep looking at them (that old West nostalgia, I guess).

[merc]

There is no doubt that the Colt .45 has a place in every gun cabinet. I love my Colt
BUT-There is no way ballistically that the .45 can compare with the .44 magnum.
The .44 mag is designed as a killer hunter round is outperforms most cartridges.
It is truly the one caliber that you can hunt anything with and be confident that it will do the job.
Can't say that I would want to shoot a bear with a .45
Get the Magnum

[LDBennett]

Merc:

If you buy over the counter ammo for a 44 mag and compare it to over the counter ammo for the 45 Long Colt, you are perfectly correct. But the 45 LC ammo is designed to be fired in a gun made in 1873 not 2004. New guns like the Colt Anaconda, the various Rugers, and the Casull can use reloads that can easily match the 44 mag in performance. In the Speer Reloading Manual #12, pages 551 and 568 loads for 300 grain hunting loads are shown. The 44 Mag must be loaded to 40,000 CUP (a measure of pressure used by the industry) to get beat by the 45LC by 6 feet per second in velocity. The 45 LC is only loaded to 25,000 CUP which will surely increase the longevity of the 45LC gun over the 44 mag gun. Since the pressures are lower there is no need to be concerned by the above claim that the 45LC brass is less robust. It doesn't need nearly twice the pressure to attain equivalent performance.

LDBennett