S&W .45 revolver

This style of wheelgun comes up every year or two, usually as a limited run at one of the distributors. I think an even sweeter wheelgun is the L-frame S&W in 44 Special. Sort of souped up Cheif's Special Model 60.

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S&W 396
 
mwerner, I wonder what kind of muzzle velocity they get out of that snubbified 625. A 2" barrel, plus the length of the chamber, minus a little for the cylinder gap...it's probably close to the performance of the shorter semiautos.

Sid Post, I bet those 396s are pretty harsh to shoot. I think I would prefer the 696 that was made from 1998 - 2001. I'm partial to 3" barreled revolvers, and that one was all steel, so it would have been easier to shoot. Unfortunately, I didn't buy one, and now they're getting rare and expensive.
 
Sid,

I have to go with you on this one. If I had the money (Harley payments may get a might big here soon) I would go with the 396, myself.

First, I've long been a .44 fan. I darn near wore out an Elmer Keith edition of 'Sixguns.' I cast and reload the actual Keith design 429421, the one with the square cut lube groove. I wore out one 29 shooting metalic silhouette. My wife still shoots her Charter Arms Bulldog in 44 SPL.

I think a properly loaded .44 will do evrything, more accurately, than a .45 ACP in a revolver. Granted, this is a defense revolver, but we all plink. And I do have that 1,000 pounds of linotype!
 
half a ton of linotype? Whad'ya do, rob a printer? Hehe, I used to get all my lead for free. My dad worked at...National Lead...

He used to bring home 5-pound pigs of straight lead; I'd get buckets of wheelweights from several different service stations. (they'd just give em' away.)
Mixed 50-50, I got good bullets with no barrell leading, and you couldn't beat the price.
 
Mwerner,

No, like all good bullet casters, all my alloy is scrounged, as well.

I did work in a building next to a printer who was going out of business, and I 'rescued' several 42 pound pigs. I also scrounged some really big, and more importantly OLD, truck wheel weights, with plenty of arsenic and antemony in them.

Through some trades and barters I got some pure tin ignots, and some solder bars and rolls of solder.

A friend, a retired sheriff, procured a plumbers pot and a burner that 'whooshed' like a rocket engine! We had to wear head-sets! We smelted +600 pounds, but kept most of the purer alloy bars, and poured the rest into Lyman ignots.

I like big bullets. My Hensley & Gibbs 10mm mold is 200 grains, my .452 mold is 230 grains, and my 429421 mold is 255 grains. I am planning on a 405 grain flat point for my .45-70 Marlin; I did however get a box of the same 405 grain slugs (a box of 500), beautifully cast I might add.

As you can imagine, there are many filled coffee cans in my gunroom.
 
When it comes to guns and engines, just remember~~

There is no replacement for displacement!
 
I refer to this as the "safe" theory. If a safe drops on your head, it doesn't have to be moving very fast....
 
I like the large calibre cast bullets for other reasons.

First, I can use the same bullet my whole life, because I make them. If your favorite bullet goes out of production, you have only what is in storage. Example, I heard that the tip of the Nosler partition was changed. The magazines say that this was in the interest of accuracy, but my gut tells me that they found a cheaper way to make that bullet.

(This also allows me to shoot firearms that are out of production.)

You feel self reliant. I can make bullets, I understand how to make wildcats, I can sharpen my own knives, I have enough lead, brass, and powder and primers to last at least one decade, perhaps two. To be sure, Feinstein's army might try to find me and seize the goods, but much of the stuff like loading dies are twenty years old. Most of the firearms I have purchased are from friends with basement FFL's who purge their records every five years as per statute.

Large calibre linotype bullets don't have to expand to reliably kill game. The meplat is already the size of an expanded hollowpoint. Big hole in one side and out the other, two blood trails.

I may never have to fire a shot in anger. I tossed a loaded cartridge (and mine are beautiful, brass like gold, lino like silver) to friends, and most gasp. I don't think even harden crooks and ninjas care to face bullets that pierce like drill rod.

edit: BTW, they are cheap. I can practice even when unemployed which has happened.
 
Originally posted by tarsier
Sid Post, I bet those 396s are pretty harsh to shoot. I think I would prefer the 696 that was made from 1998 - 2001. I'm partial to 3" barreled revolvers, and that one was all steel, so it would have been easier to shoot. Unfortunately, I didn't buy one, and now they're getting rare and expensive.
Click to expand...

Yep, those 696's were sweet and wish I had one today. This was the closest current production pistol I could find. As far as being harsh, you might be surprised. Non-Magnum rounds have a different recoil profile and I find them more forgiving in lightweight pistols. For a carry pistol, like this one, acceptable. Is it a plinker and general fun gun? No.

Harsh recoil is subjective though. I shoot pretty good hand cannons and find the worst to be 357 Magnum 125JHP's out of a Ruger Security Six. With 38+P's, it's a real tame pussycat to plink with but, 44 Mag's out of a standard wheelgun don't bother me either.
 
Sid,

I wish I would have gotten a 696 myself. I did enjoy a two-inch 629 I had. It was made from SW factory for regular dealers after the success of the Lew Horton series 24's. I couldn't fire really tight groups with it, but it wasn't for lack of trying. It was just fun.

I do have a soft spot in my heart for handguns "carried a lot and shot a little." They are the guns you carry, they are the guns that actually may save your life. Sometime this year I'm going to look for a Colt Commander as a rotation firearm to my Glock 27 (another great gun.)

I think a Mountain 44 or that 396 would make a great camping gun, which is my take on it over its use for defense. If a guy could handle the recoil enough to be proficient, a reloader with a 396 could do everything with just one gun.
 
Damn that thing is sweet! Too bad I already have more bills than money at the end of the month.

I'm a huge fan of the Smith 625 in ACP chambering. excellent defensive loads available, mild recoil, incredibly accurate, and I can shoot all the loads that my wife and my buddies can't cycle in thier autos, so lots of free ammo. It seems like one of those guns everyone loves or hates.

what can I say, big bore revolvers simply kick a$$!!:D
 
i had a 396 once

could only shoot 200gr or less .44 special

i found it fairly harsh to shoot and i shot it poorly...my brother in law could shoot some nice groups with it though

the titanium cylinder was a pain to clean

it is not as harsh as those lightweight 357s though
 
Bandaidman,

Was the 396 limited to 200 grain bullets because of the length of the cylinder, or by the choice of rifling twist?
 
as far as i can recall...the 396 was limited to that size because a bullet that has heavier than that could become unseated when another round was fired....thats what the book said
 
Bandaidman,

Yes, I've heard of the problem. Usually it is with bullets with a light crimp.

Under hard recoil, there is not enough crimp to hold the bullet in the case. The bullet 'jumps the crimp,' or they refer to it as 'bullet pull.' In fact, they sell a tool, much like a plastic hammer, that allows a reloader to 'pull a bullet' to correct a mistake. The rim of the case is clipped to the rear of this hollow hammer, and then the hammer is struck on a solid surface. Basically the brass makes a sudden stop, and the bullet and the powder continue into the front of the hammer which catches the contents.

In a firearm, the process is backwards. As the gun is fired, the revolver jumps backwards, and the bullet 'stays where it is.' The problem then is that the bullet sticks forward outside the cylinder, and sometimes ties up the revolver.

The heavier the bullet, the more the inertia, and the easier it is to jump a crimp.

Also, SW cylinders are sometimes shorter than Ruger cylinders. A heavy, long bullet that fits in a Ruger might be too long to chamber in a Smith cylinder. My 429421 mold makes a bullet that comes right to the cylinder mouth. Some LBT designs are just too big and long.
 
Buy a Webley Mark VI! They launched a 260-grain "Manstopper" bullet -a lead cylinder with a deep hollowpoint and a hollow base - at 630fps. Simultaneous auto ejection of all 6 empty cases; currently-available brass; cheap military surplus revolvers.

Britain conquered the world with big-bore handguns. Now we shoot 9mm...

maximus otter
 
Hehe- when I was in Germany, back in the 60's, we could pick up those big ol' Webleys for about 35 bucks. A lot of em' had been converted to .45 ACP, and needed half-moon clips, just like the S&W and Colt .45 ACP revolvers.

A rather homely weapon, but impressive!

I only had one problem with bullets backing out under recoil; firing cast bullets in .45 Auto Rim in one of the above-mentioned S&W M1917 revolvers. I was using a hefty charge of 2400 at the time. Increased the crimp pressure a bit, and no more problems.
 
I'd love to git my forepaws on one of those Brazilian 1917s I tend to recall seeing 'em for about $150 or so. be a neat lookin' beat around gun.

Although the Scandium Smith still causes uncontrollable salivation. I was almost hurt when the author called it "ugly" in the review of it. I think it's a piece of functional art...:D
 
If only I had held onto mine. Used to be (1966 or so...hehe) you could pick up nice 1917s and Colt "New Service" revolvers at the gun shows for about 50 bucks. I eschewed the .45 acp/half-moon clips combo, and instead got dies for the .45 Auto Rim, the rimmed version of the ACP. Used to load the readily-available Speer 200gr lead semi-wadcutters over 7gr of Unique, which made for a very fine shooter indeed. Those big N-frame Smiths had nice, smooth triggers and rather rudimentary sights...Always wanted one of the nicer Target versions. (1955?)

Hehe- sold one to a fellow officer who "knew a guy" who would chrome-plate it for him. I had my doubts, but didn't say anything. He showed up at the academy one day, and was out in the parking lot with a mallet, trying to get the cylinder open. Seems the "guy" was an automotive bumper-plater sort, who simply hung the weapon on a wire and put it into the tank.... Looked pretty, though.
 
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