So I got to thinking...what's the point of a short barrel .44 mag?

[BehindBlueI's]

Nope....There are no practical reasons and there is no benefit other than "cool", "big flame", "Gun guys are weird", etc......However, It is tough to find a .45 acp in a revolver that short and although one can find compact 1911's with that short of a barrel there can often times be reliability issues with the compact 1911's or if perhaps one prefers revolvers over semi autos for their weapon of choice while cruising the back country...I AM trying BBI...

OR WAIT!!!!! One has a .44 magnum lever gun and wants a companion compact gun to go with it???????

Maybe I just want to be a "Cowboy BB"...

[video=youtube;glb2U6y-GdU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glb2U6y-GdU[/video]

You're talking to the guy who stays qualified on 2 revolvers for duty carry. I get it.

For strict "cool factor" I'd carry my 3" GP100 Wiley Clapp every day. If it didn't get dark at some point in my shift, I'd probably still carry it on duty as I'm nearly as fast on first shot with it as I am with my P220. Followup shots, of course, are a bit slower.

 

[6mm Shoot]

Your question the way I take it is one better than the other or just why a 2" barrel? Ruger makes a 2" 454. I see no reason for that or any 2" barrel in a revolver. I would rather shoot a 3" 38 special than a 2" barreled 357. The 2" 357 has way to much recoil for any advantage you get over a 3" 38 special using 148 gr wad cutter. The 3" is so nice to shoot and accurate. Also very deadly.

I shoot a 629 4" barrel and get 1000 FPS with my loading. It is a mild loading but better than anything you can get in a 44 special. I also have a 629 with a 8 3/8 barrel that runs 1300 FPS load and will take down just about any thing that walks in the US with in 100 yards. Because of the extra weight it is a very nice load to shoot in that gun. I have put more than 100 rounds in a day through it with no ill effects. I wouldn't want to put 6 rounds through a 2" 44 mag with top loads. I see no fun in that at all. Now the 2" 454 would be just, brutal. To each their own. Also I see no place where using 2" barreled revolver is going to give you an advantage over a 4".

To answer your question. I see no reason for a 2" barreled big revolver. If you are asking which is better the 44 or 45? It is claimed that the 45 is more versatile. I like the 44. It is what has worked for me for years. Then I don't shoot the single actions.

 

[Leo]

.

Do low pressure cartridges lose less velocity out of shorter barrels because low pressures are easier to build up quickly?

That is reasonable. The .45acp uses a pretty fast powder that hits the low pressure peak pretty quickly. A few grains of Clays, which is a pretty fast shotgun powder for light target use, is perfect in the .45acp. That fast of burn becomes unstable in high pressure cartridges, like blowing up guns kind of unstable. To push the .44 pressure well over 30,000 it takes a slow powder like my favorite, 29.5 grains of AA#9. It takes a while to burn up that slow of powder, but it is controlled and stable.

When are you buying your new revolver?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

That is reasonable. The .45acp uses a pretty fast powder that hits the low pressure peak pretty quickly. A few grains of Clays, which is a pretty fast shotgun powder for light target use, is perfect in the .45acp. That fast of burn becomes unstable in high pressure cartridges, like blowing up guns kind of unstable. To push the .44 pressure well over 30,000 it takes a slow powder like my favorite, 29.5 grains of AA#9. It takes a while to burn up that slow of powder, but it is controlled and stable.

When are you buying your new revolver?

Lol. I'm really just trying to learn for the sake of learning. No purchase planned at the moment.

 

[Drail]

I have been tinkering with S&W revolvers for years in .41 and .44 magnum. With the correct handload a 4 in. revolver will do anything that needs doing. You just have to find the right powder and bullet weight. I found a .41 load for my 4 in. M 57 that will SPLIT bowling pins in two. Nothin wrong with a good 4 in. Read Elmer Keith's book Sixguns. That old man figured all of this stuff out before most of us were born.

 

[Dr.Midnight]

It's got a neat beat and it's easy to dance too?

Gun cranks are not practical people....When you take away the "it's fun" and "it's cool" factor you can eliminate most firearms...What's the practical reason for a K 31 Swiss rifle? What's the practical reason for a Kentucky long rifle? There are folks on here that think if one carries a revolver for defense they must ride a horse to work and that the revolver has no place in the firearms stable....

I like big ass snubbies...I have a Smith Lew Horton 24-3 snubbie in .44 Special that I adore...Not because it's practical but because it's beautiful, fun to shoot, and if I ever carried the big old thing it could be used to defend my life....

Sometimes it's just fun to see a big old flash come out of a big framed, short barreled revolver......It just kick starts my heart....

IMHO of course brother......

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Lol. I'm really just trying to learn for the sake of learning. No purchase planned at the moment.

Some sexy S&W model 25s on GB right now. 4" nickel. ..more money than I want to part with but so sexy.

 

[sparkyfender]

I love my 3" S&W 629.

It is just cool, and beautiful to boot.

Yes, it is a bit of a bear to touch off with full house loads, lots of recoil and muzzle blast........ but fun.

Great to carry around in the country fields and woods. Also kind of cool to load up with .44 specials and tote around in town.

Practical? Maybe not, but that's okay.

 

[oldpink]

Unless you want your gun to double as a high intensity strobe light and noisemaker, I can't see any practical purpose for it.
I see these "Alaskan" revolvers with ridiculously short barrels supposedly with the virtue of being lighter for carry where encounters are possible with Ursus arctos horribillis, but it just seems totally silly to me that anyone concerned about such things would be concerned about carrying a proper 6" barreled .44 Magnum.
People rarely conceal carry .44 Magnum, and not just because of the recoil/size/weight of such guns, but because more standard rounds intended for two-legged varmints -- including 9mm, .45 ACP, .357 Magnum, .40 S&W, 10mm, .357 Sig, and some others -- are actually statistically more effective in that capacity than the mighty .44 Magnum.
I was at the Wilbur Wright shooting range several years ago, sighting in a new red dot sight on my own Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt, when I couldn't help noticing the guy in the lane next to me struggling with his own revolver.
I finally asked what he was doing, and he said that he had just bought his first ever handgun for deer season, and that he was having a tough time dealing with the recoil well enough to adjust his sights at the 25 yard range we were using.
The gun was a 3" barreled Ruger Redhawk in .454 Casull!
That's not the sort of gun even an experienced handgunner would look forward to shooting.
Out of pity, I let him shoot a few of my own loads out of my Blackhawk, which are no pipsqueak loads by any means (250 grain JHP moving along at 1250 FPS), and he found those much more manageable.
I told him he ought to get himself several boxes of factory .45 Colt ammo to shooot through his Redhawk until he was comfortable with that, then move up to .454 loads only if he can effectively handle them.
If .45 Colt loads were his limit, I told him to just stick with those for deer, as they're more than adequate in that capacity.

 

[Hawkeye]

Y'all are jsut wrongheaded here. You are trying to justify a snubbie .44 Mag with logic. YOu forget the power of MARKETING! I think its primarily a marketing ploy to see more revolvers, particularly in the "wilderness" oriented market. But that's just me.

 

[flightsimmer]

When I used to work at a shooting range and I would sweep down the floor at the end of the day, I would sweep up a big pile of unburnt powder and light it off so it wouldn' t cause any problems in the trash.
Those short barreled guns just waste powder.

 

[indiucky]

You're talking to the guy who stays qualified on 2 revolvers for duty carry. I get it.

I KNEW you were a Cowboy too!!!!!!

 

[mammynun]

I bought my .44mag Alaskan for the fun factor, and because Indiucky wouldn't (and won't) shut up about how great revolvers are. Both the Alaskan and Indiucky have met my expectations, though my standards for Indiucky are decidedly lower.

 

[indiucky]

I bought my .44mag Alaskan for the fun factor, and because Indiucky wouldn't (and won't) shut up about how great revolvers are. Both the Alaskan and Indiucky have met my expectations, though my standards for Indiucky are decidedly lower.

 

[357 Terms]

Poking around BBTI and the like,

Ballistics by the inch is BS when it comes to revolver data.

They (for some reason) include the OAL of the cartridge into the overall barrel length, so their data for a 3in 44 would actually be a 1.4 in revolver barrel.

 

[ModernGunner]

I consider 4" to be the 'snubbiest' big caliber suitable for EDC.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Ballistics by the inch is BS when it comes to revolver data.

They (for some reason) include the OAL of the cartridge into the overall barrel length, so their data for a 3in 44 would actually be a 1.4 in revolver barrel.

You mean they are acting like the cartridge is in the barrel and not in the cylinder?

Ah, looking at their real world weapon for 3" it looks like they are often using a derringer style weapon, so that would make sense.

 

[VERT]

You mean they are acting like the cartridge is in the barrel and not in the cylinder?

Ah, looking at their real world weapon for 3" it looks like they are often using a derringer style weapon, so that would make sense.

Tecnically that makes the most sense. A semiauto measures the barrel from the back of the chamber. If you measure a revolver in the same manner look where you end up. Of course there is some lose of pressure around the forcing cone with a revolver. But comparing a 2" snub revolver to a 2" micro auto is not really apples to apples.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

I'm a thinkin' that iffin' ya wanted a .44 SPECIAL, it'd be because you like to make big holes and just LOVE to hunt scarce ammo.

Iffin' ya want a .44 MAGNUM, I'd say ya just hate your wrists.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm a thinkin' that iffin' ya wanted a .44 SPECIAL, it'd be because you like to make big holes and just LOVE to hunt scarce ammo.

Iffin' ya want a .44 MAGNUM, I'd say ya just hate your wrists.

I reload so not a big concern for me.

I'm thinking of selling my SAR-1 AK now in case I do find one I want. Watching them on gunbroker for awhile to see if market price makes it worth it.