The .44 Special ain't so special?

American Handgunner, July-August, 2009 by Mike "Duke" Venturino

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The .44 S&W Special ain't so special. That may be heresy to some, most notably some gun'riters who almost genuflect at the name. But it just ain't so great. In regards to the criterion by which revolvers and their cartridges are judged, the .44 Special can't do a single thing many others do just as well--or better. Or better?

Not only will I say the .44 Special ain't so special I will even say it was never needed. Because--for most of their concurrent production periods the .44 S&W Russian was loaded to the same ballistics as the longer .44 Special. That was with identical 246 grain, lead, roundnose .429" diameter bullets at 755 fps. The only difference between the .44 Special and the .44 Russian is that the former's case length is 1.16" and the latter's is .9".

So why did the .44 Special develop such a strong mystique? Because of gun'riters like Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton. Elmer used that extra case capacity so he could load it HOT; as in hot enough to lift the topstrap off of some test revolvers. Skeeter liked to load it much milder; as in about 900 fps with 250 grain bullets. His reason for favoring the .44 Special so much was he considered it inherently accurate. But crusty old Charlie Askins had an individualistic streak in him. He wrote the .44 Special was never needed because there was already the .44-40. Atta-boy Charlie!

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Revolver accuracy is a combination of factors like barrel quality, forcing cone smoothness, cylinder chamber mouths matching barrel diameter and other tidbits. Those are all factors in the handguns themselves. Then with the cartridge there are things like proper size bullets of proper temper of alloy for the pressure level desired, bullet lubricant, powder of proper burning rate for the pressure level desired, a concentric crimp applied evenly around the case mouth and much more. The most finely crafted revolver cannot shoot accurately with poorly constructed ammunition, and perfectly made ammunition cannot deliver precision from an improperly manufactured revolver. The idea of "inherent accuracy" from a revolver cartridge is a myth.

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The Myth

The reason for that myth's existence is just that sometimes the handgun maker's engineers and the ammunition maker's engineers happen to spec things out so they mate well. That has occurred much more often with revolvers and ammunition for the .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum and .44 Magnum than it has for the .44 Special, .45 ACP/.45 Auto-Rim or .45 Colt.

I have a S&W Military & Police .38 Special dating from the late 1940s. From a machine rest with .38 Special 148 grain full wadcutter factory loads, that worn-looking old gun will group five shots in about an inch at 25 yards. It is superbly accurate. Its barrel is .357" and its chamber mouths uniformly measure .358".

Conversely, the only handgun I sold because it was dismally inaccurate was a handsome, nickel-plated Colt SAA .44 Special with 4%" barrel. That thing wouldn't keep five shots of any factory load or handload inside 4" at 25 yards, likewise fired from machine rest. I discovered the probable cause for its bullet-spraying tendency, though. Being of fairly early 3rd Generation manufacture, for some reason Colt saw fit to drill its cylinder with .435" chamber mouths. Firing bullets of .429/.430" through .435" chamber mouths and into .427" barrels (Colt's diameter for all .44 caliber barrels) is a sure recipe for poor groups.

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Me? .44 Special?

Now, before some of you guys start sharpening your hatchets let me fess-up that for years--even decades--I bought into the .44 Special myth. I just perused my hand-jotted records of all the handguns I've owned starting in 1966 and there were 21 .44 Specials listed. They run the gamut from those little Charter Arms five-shooters to all the legendary S&W N-frame double actions, through several Colt SAAs and on to one of the latest--the Smith & Wesson/Clint Smith collaboration. That one was called the Model 21-4 Thunder Ranch Revolver. At this writing I still have six; none of which have been kept because they are "special" in regards to shooting, but because they are special in regards to collecting or for sentimental reasons.

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Back in January 1980 1 was so enthused upon learning of a S&W Model 1950 Target .44 Special with rare 4" barrel for sale I drove nearly 400 miles round trip on extremely icy roads to grab it before someone else did. It wasn't that special. In fact it was the first of four Model 1950 Target .44 Specials (Model 24s) and one stainless Model 624 I have owned, and none shot that great. Right now I have one of S&W's brand new Model 24s on loan and it doesn't shoot that great either. Sorry boys.

Saying a revolver doesn't "shoot great" isn't the same thing as saying those .44 Specials shot terrible. They all grouped fair to middling, say 2.5" to 3" five-shot, 25 yard groups, or occasionally a 10- or 12-shot group of about the same size. It's just that such groups are nowhere near grounds for a "special" accuracy reputation. In my career I've tested many far more accurate handguns, and I'm talking ordinary off the shelf types, not custom jobs.