I.m toying with the idea of getting a 44 mag. I would like to know what would be the best barrel length. I have always liked Rugers and S&Ws,I havn't shot any other brands. This will be used for deer and hogs. What are some of your favorites and why? thanks

Yow25, my favorite is one of my (5) S&W 629 classics. I like the 5" the best as a belt gun and 6 1/2" and 8 3/8" scoped, but my 4" and 3" are a hoot to shoot. The TC Contender in 12" Hunter is well balanced and my Ruger SBH 4 5/8" does real well for close up shots. If I had to choose one to keep, it'd be the 6 1/2" Clasic with the unfluted cylinder and my 2x Leupold on top, because my vintage M29 6 1/2 1968 gun sits in my safe telling Dirty harry stories! Oh, too many 44's, so little time!

4" Colt Anaconda or 5" Ruger Redhawk for carry/open sight work. Bisley Hunter for scoped work. I also find the Blackhawk 44mag pretty nice for carry/open sight work.

My favorite 44 is a Ruger Super Redhawk with a 9.5" barrel. Very accurate and fun to shoot. The long barrel points and handles well.

I like (love) my Ruger S Blakhawk Hunter. I have a Taurus Ragin Bull Its been to the factory 3 times for the same little spring. I haven't been real impressed with their customer NO service either.

Yo Yow! Welcome to the fine and pleasant madness that is handgun hunting addiction! You started off with one of the best contriversies, barrel length. The rules of thumb are simple, less length = more muzzle blast & less velocity. Less velocity = reduced projectile effectiveness. Too much barrel length makes a gun more accurate, but also unweildy. In layman's terms, start with 6" and hunt for a few months, then go up or down from there to fit your own situation.

D'Keyman ( non sibi sed patriae, not self but country)

I knew mine had to be a Ruger, and just didn't know which 44. SO I saved as much money as possible and bought the SRH first, with a 2x Leupold...

Then, I got the bug for the single action, (I also got an Old Army, and a SS.) Then had to buy this one: ca 1984

I removed the rubber Hogues on it and bought some camo Lett's...
I love them both!!!
MIke

I don't have a .44 but do have a Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter in .41 and would go the same for a .44. The Bisley grip handles recoil well and points very naturally, grip fits hand like a glove. If a double action is a must it would be the Super Redhawk 9-1/2" hands down. Again, very comfortable grip and points naturally. JMO, Rod. [image]http://[/image]

i guess mine is the redhawk in 7 1/2". i like the handy feature of swinging the cylinder open to load/unload the double actions. i'd still kinnda like to have a blackhawk hunter model though.

I enjoy all my 44 mags. But I think right now my favorite is my SBH Stalker from Magnaport. But then it could be the SBH Predator or the S&W 629 PP. Oh heck I like them all.

Like many here, I've owned quite a few 44mag handguns in my time. My favorite Contender was a 10" stainless with a 2-6 Bushnell Trophy scope on it. Sold it when I went broke once... <sigh>

My favorite 44mag Revolver is my Smith 629 with a 6" barrel. The 5" barrel is also excellent. IMO the 4" is too loud and sacrifices too much velocity and aything longer than 6" is too unwieldy for hunting due to difficulty in carry and weight.

For carbines I really like my Winny Model 94 Walnut Trapper with Williams Aperture sight.

Long live the 44mag.

$bob$