Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Ain’t sO spEciAl Continued from page 51 and you will see why in the next sentence. At the first shot the triplelock’s cylinder fell open. Perplexed, and not very intelligently, I fired another round. The cylinder fell open again and that ended my use of such hot .44 Special handloads forever. The old six-shooter wasn’t damaged — luckily. Today’s .44 Special handloaders can go to the latest Speer Reloading Manual #14 and find any number of suggested loads with 250 grain bullets that go upwards of 850 to 1,000 fps. And of course milder ones too, for duplicating original ballistics and general fun shooting. And here’s one last fact about the .44 Special’s lack of special-ness — that was in sales. Revolvers chambered for that caliber have never set sales records. From 1908 upon introduction by S&W, until 1966 when they dropped it completely for the first time, they sold less than 50,000 .44 Special revolvers. Those included such famous versions as the triplelock (1st Model .44 Hand Ejector), 2 nd Model, .44 Hand Ejector, 3 rd .44 Model Hand Ejector (Model 1926) and 4th Model Hand Ejector (Model 1950 Target, Model 24 and the Model 1950 Military, the Model 21. Let’s just look at details of just the last two models. Between 1950 and 1966 only 5,050 of the Model 1950 Target .44 Special were made and exactly 1,200 of the fixed sight Model 1950 Military were made. Colt Single Action Army revolvers were even more sparse as .44 Specials. Colt only made 506 chambered for .44 Special between the cartridge’s introduction and the SAA’s first demise in 1941. Colt’s other revolver that was chambered for .44 Special was the DA New Service. I have no idea how many of those were made as .44 Specials but I can say I’ve seen more as .44-40s. Many more Colt SAAs were made in 2nd and 3rd Generations from 1956 to present as .44 Specials, but due to my earlier experiences with them I will buy no more. In that type of handgun give me a .44-40 any day. For DA revolvers make mine a .45 Auto-Rim such as the new S&W Model 22 also Thunder Ranch Revolver. Among non-magnum, big bore, handgun cartridges that one shines. The .44 S&W Special isn’t a bad cartridge, and with a few exceptions the handguns made for it haven’t been bad revolvers. It’s just that neither cartridge nor handguns deserve any kind of “special” reputation. Among big bore handgun cartridges and their revolvers they’re just a sort of mediocre, middle of the pack, combination. Heresy? Nope, just the truth. 96 The Last Straw Order Your Copy While Supplies Last! U.S. ONLY $9.95 (outside $17.95) Call Toll-Free Mon-Fri 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. PST Order at www.americanhandgunner.com A LOOK INSIDE: 888.732.2299 P.O. Box 502610 San Diego, CA 92150-2610 * • Improvised Weapons for Self Defense • Using Cover Properly • Non-Lethal Protection • CommonSense Concealed Carry • Gunsite Basics • Plus Much More WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST 2009