View Single Post
Old January 28, 2009, 04:10 PM   #7
Jim March
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 14, 1999
Location: Pittsburg, CA, USA
Posts: 7,417
Quote:
Really? I consider the old three-screw to be almost the best revolver ever made (aside from the Colt SAA).
There's nothing wrong with the three-screws per se.

OK, let's look at the history of the Ruger 44.

The first ones were built on a mid-size frame same as the 357 model, and with the smaller Colt SAA-size grip frame. That gun didn't work very well - not strong enough AND the grip was too small.

The 50th Anniversary 44 is basically that early gun, but built on the large frame instead of the mid-frame for safety. Grip frame is the small one.

Subsequent three-screw 44s were built on a larger frame making them plenty strong enough. Most shipped with the larger "dragoon squareback" grip frame. After '63 (don't know exact year) Ruger built some 44Magnum SBH models with shorter barrels and the XR3-RED grip frame, which splits the difference between the Colt-size grip (XR3) and dragoon squareback. Those shorter-barrel SRH variants seemed to work well enough for most folks and when it didn't, people would run big rubber grips.

That covers the three-screw era. Were there good 44Mags built in that time frame? You bet. But the very first one wasn't a good idea on two counts: not strong enough and the grip was too small. There's no need to buy into one of those mistakes (small grip frame) today.

Understand, I have that same small grip frame now on my NewVaq357. And I love it - but it's right on the ragged edge of control for very hot 357s (which in turn are about double the felt recoil of actual 1873 loads in any caliber). I would NOT want to shoot 44Mag with them for love or money.
__________________
Jim March
Jim March is offline  
 
Page generated in 0.02176 seconds with 8 queries