Nightcrawler is an unrepentant Wheelgunner. He’s also an advocate of the .44 Magnum. NC sent one gun off to S&W’s Performance Center for special tuning. The other one, with the short barrel is a gun that S&W gave him as a replacement for a previous .44 Mag that he sent in for repair… which turned out to be unrepairable. So they gave him some options and he picked this one. It’s a great little gun. Looks sexy. But is exceptionally unpleasant when firing. The wood grips are just gorgeous, but do not belong on a .44 Magnum firing full power loads.
He is more man than I. I had a 4″ Smith .44 and sold it after 100 rounds.
I fired 3 rounds out of it… didn’t want to fire anymore. The longer gun, was very shootable and accurate. I hit the 200 yard coyote target with no problem once I found the hold.
I love NCs 629.
I carried a 2.5″ 629 for quite a while, wood for carry and some range time.
Pachs for extended range time.
I sold it for a profit and now my carry .44 Mag is an Astra Terminator with a 2 5/8″ barrel.
The grips make ALL the difference.
I like the Pach compac grips as a compromise of carry and range.
Jim
I’m all about the .44 magnum as that’s the caliber that broke me in on big bore handgunning. I still have my SBH (4 5/8″ bbl w/older round trigger guard) and have well over 1000 rounds through her. Some day I will get a Ruger Alaskan in 454 Casull.