Alfa revolver chambered in 44 magnum. Company of large revolvers Magnum.44 and his friends. When size matters

Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum, or simply Magnum.44, is a revolver developed in the mid-1950s for the most powerful .44 Magnum cartridge. This weapon is very popular, it is loved by directors in Hollywood and the creators of computer "shooters". "Forty-fourth" Magnum can be safely called the most famous revolver in the world, it enjoys the greatest popularity in its homeland - in the United States of America. In Latin, the word "magnum" means "large", "large". Magnum.44 fully justifies its name - today it is the most powerful serial revolver in the world.

Initially Magnum.44 was created as hunting weapon. It is believed that the .44 Magnum bullet is quite capable of knocking down medium-sized game (for example, deer), but there is information about the successful use of this ammunition for hunting buffalo and even bear.

More than that, though, the Magnum.44 helped Hollywood producers chase record box office hits. Thanks to the brilliant performance of Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" police detective, the .44 Magnum revolver has gained wide popularity. There are numerous Magnum communities in the US.44.

There are several modifications of the 44 Magnum, they differ in barrel length. Despite the fact that this revolver gained fame and popularity thanks to the fictional police detective Harold Callahan, this weapon is not favored by the police and other law enforcement agencies. Because of him big size, excessive ammunition power and strong recoil.

History of the Magnum .44

The history of the Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver began in 1955. This weapon was developed by well-known shooter, hunter and Smith & Wesson engineer Elmer Keith under a very powerful .44 Remington Magnum cartridge. Initially, the design of the revolver was based on the ability to withstand high pressure during the shot. Of all the revolvers of the renowned company, the 44th Magnum has the most durable frame.

Cartridge .44 Magnum was originally designed for hunting. Elmer Keith took the .44 S&W Special cartridge, created back in 1907, as a basis and worked on it for a long time. After lengthy experiments, he managed to find such a bullet weight at which its initial speed was 460 meters per second. During the tests, the new cartridge was able to provide bullet energy twice as much as that of the .357 Magnum ammunition. The company's management was satisfied with the results of the research, and decided to start industrial production of the cartridge. The only trouble was that at that time Smith & Wesson did not have free production facilities for the production of a new cartridge. I had to look for partners.

The release of the cartridge was taken up by the equally famous American company Remington Arms, so the cartridge in the future received the full name .44 Remington Magnum. Well, the incomplete and most popular is .44 Magnum.

The .44 Magnum ended up being slightly longer than the .44 S&W Special it was based on. Later, various modifications of this cartridge were created.

The revolver, designed for the .44 Magnum cartridge, was called the Smith & Wesson Model 29. However, it is also often referred to simply as the .44 Magnum.

Dirty Harry

This weapon was not very popular and in demand for a long time. Only a few hunters and sports shooting enthusiasts bought it. This was until 1971, when the first film about the brutal guy Harold Callahan, a San Francisco police detective nicknamed "Dirty Harry", was released. This character hated paperwork, and in his work relied more on a huge .44 revolver than on the wisdom of the code of criminal procedure. Callahan was played by the brilliant Clint Eastwood, and the Smith & Wesson Model 29 was chosen as his weapon.

After the screening of this film, both Clint Eastwood and the Magnum 44 revolver turned into real cult figures for Americans. The 44th Magnum began to sell out rapidly, which allowed the manufacturing company to sell more than half a million units of this weapon of various modifications. It should be noted that before filming the film, Clint Eastwood practiced shooting from the .44 Magnum for more than a month. Therefore, on the screen, he easily and casually controlled this weapon.

Description of Magnum .44

The Smith & Wesson Model 29 is a classic American double action revolver chambered in .44 Magnum. Due to the power of the ammunition used, it has a reinforced design.

The extraction of cartridge cases occurs simultaneously according to the most common principle today: the drum leans to the side, and then the shooter removes the cartridge cases from the chambers using an extractor.

Magnum 44 has multiple barrels. Initially, there were three variants of weapons: with barrels 6½ inches long, 8⅜ and 10 inches long. Later, "short-barrels" were added to them - 4 (102 mm) and 6 inches (153 mm).

Naturally, the weight of the weapon depends heavily on the length of the barrel.

The revolver was originally designed for the cartridge .44 Magnum, however, the design of the revolver (lack of a bolt and magazine) allows the use of other 44-caliber ammunition. The .44 Magnum can even be fired with black powder ammunition such as .44 Russian or .44 Special.

The sights of the revolver are open, they consist of a front sight and a rear sight, which are coated with a phosphorus coating. To partially reduce recoil, the revolver has a heavy and comfortable handle.

44 Magnum has a double-action trigger, the drum of the weapon has a capacity of six rounds.

Advantages and disadvantages of Magnum .44

Like any other weapon, the Magnum 44 revolver has both significant advantages and certain disadvantages.

The revolver was originally designed for hunting, but sometimes it is bought for self-defense, sports shooting, or just to create a cool image. One thing to keep in mind when buying this weapon is that the 44 Magnum has a very tough temper, comparable only to the character of its famous owner "Dirty Harry" Callahan.

This revolver has a very harsh recoil. If you have a weak hand, then using the .44 Magnum will be very difficult (up to a blow to the head). However, severe appearance a pistol can also scare off the enemy. If not, then one accurate shot will be more than enough. The massive design allows you to use the 44th even in hand-to-hand combat.

Seriously speaking, the main advantages of weapons are:

• excellent accuracy;
• the possibility of using it as a second hunting weapon;
• very powerful cartridge with good penetrating and stopping action;
• the possibility of using other 44-caliber ammunition;
• a threatening appearance that has a strong psychological impact;
• high reliability of the weapon.

Of course, the .44 Magnum also has serious drawbacks that you need to consider before purchasing this revolver. The most important of them is a significant return, which will easily "knock out" the hand of an inexperienced shooter. Also, you are unlikely to be able to conduct high-speed aimed fire from the Magnum 44. The sound of a shot is deafening, and the flash can blind anyone. The revolver is very heavy, the lightest modification weighs over 1,220 kg. In addition, the 44th is quite bulky and not intended for covert wear.

It should also be noted that both the revolver and its ammunition are quite expensive. However, the .44 Magnum is not only a weapon, but also an image element, which, as you know, is more expensive than money.

It should be noted that the .44 Magnum cartridge is also used in other types small arms. Among them are such recognizable pistols and revolvers as the Desert Eagle, Colt Anaconda and .44 Magnum Ruger Blackhawk. Almost all of them fit the definition of "pocket howitzers".

Specifications Magnum .44

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

This is a classic .44 revolver for all time. It was designed by Smith & Wesson engineer chambered for .44 Remington Magnum Elmer Keith in 1955. The .44 Remington Magnum cartridge was chosen by Elmer specifically for the new Magnum, since its design initially assumed the ability to withstand higher internal pressure than conventional revolvers. Below is a classic Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum with a 6½-inch (165 mm) barrel. It is the strongest-framed, six-shot revolver of any Smith & Wesson revolver that started the history of the 44 and is still popular today.

And this is a Magnum barrel with an 8- and 3/8-inch (214 mm) extended barrel. Also - Model 29 .44 Magnum

Initially, there were three 29-model 44 Magnums: with barrel lengths of 6½ inches (165 mm), 8 and 3/8 inches (214 mm) and with the longest barrel - 10 and 5/8 inches (270 mm). Later, models with a short barrel - 4 inches (102 mm) and a model with a barrel of 6 inches (153 mm) were added to them. All .44 Magnum models offer excellent accuracy with any barrel length.

Although, of course, the longer the barrel, the more accurate the revolver. Therefore, the Magnum with a ten-inch barrel offered the best accuracy and the least recoil force. The Model 29 .44 Magnum is also one of the most accurate revolvers made by Smith & Wesson in its history.

Cartridges .44 Remington Magnum

The .44 Magnum cartridge was based on the .44 S&W Special 1907 cartridge from earlier revolvers, which was ideal for Elmer's experiments. Elmer eventually found the ideal bullet weight for the .44 Magnum at 240 grains (approximately 16 grams), allowing muzzle velocity in excess of 1,500 feet (460 meters) per second. During testing, the .44 Magnum provided twice as much bullet energy as the .357 Magnum cartridge. Smith & Wesson was satisfied with the results achieved and decided to find a partner to produce the .44 Magnum on an industrial scale. They became the company Remington. Elmer agreed with Remington to launch a commercial version of his new experimental .44 Magnum cartridge, and Smith & Wesson were asked to make a new revolver for it.

The .44 Magnum cartridge, which received the new name .44 Remington Magnum, has become slightly longer than the original .44 Special cartridge. Subsequently, they created various options cartridge .44 Remington Magnum, or simply .44 Magnum.

Ballistic performance (average values ​​according to Buffalo Bore Ammunition and DoubleTap Defense LLC) of some of the .44 Magnums:
Bullet weight and type: 200 grains (13 gr.) JHP; muzzle velocity: 1,282 ft/s (391 m/s); bullet energy: 760 ft lbf (1,030 J).

Bullet weight and type: 225 grains (15 gr.) XPB Lead Free; muzzle velocity: 1,500 ft/s (460 m/s); bullet energy: 1,124 ft lbf (1,524 J).

Bullet weight and type: 240 grains (16 gr.) Bonded JSP; muzzle velocity: 1,500 ft/s (460 m/s); bullet energy: 1,200 ft lbf (1,600 J).

Bullet weight and type: 320 grains (21 gr.) WFNGC HC; muzzle velocity: 1,300 ft/s (400 m/s); bullet energy: 1,201 ft lbf (1,628 J).

Bullet weight and type: 340 grains (22 gr.) LFN +P+; muzzle velocity: 1,325 ft/s (404 m/s); bullet energy: 1,533 ft lbf (2,078 J).

Cartridges .44 Remington Magnum

The .44 Magnum cartridges were produced, and the revolver developed for them by Smith & Wesson was designated the Model 29. It should be noted that other existing .44 caliber cartridges can be used in this revolver: 44 Russian or .44 Special.

So, by 1955, everything was done, the legend was born, becoming a notable phenomenon in the gun world. But the new revolver has not yet gained general popularity. It wasn't until 16 years later, when the cult film Dirty Harry was released in 1971, that starring Clint Eastwood made the Model 29 .44 Magnum world-famous.

Dirty Harry

Almost everyone associates this weapon with Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry. In the punk episode, Harry talks about this revolver as the most powerful revolver in the world, and it is this statement, and the 44 Magnum's certainly very spectacular appearance, that has greatly affected the public imagination.

Frame from the film "Dirty Harry"

Magnum 44 Dirty Harry

Many people still think so. Although this statement is not entirely true, since the most powerful revolver in the world was actually the old Western-style 5-shot Single Action S&W Model BFR454C7 .454 Casull revolver, which was created in 1959. This revolver, however, was only made to order in a small batch, meaning that the Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum was still the most powerful mass-produced revolver.

Smith & Wesson Model BFR454C7 .454 Casull

Thus, the .44 Smith & Wesson Magnum was indeed the most powerful pistol in the world for only four years: in 1955-1959. After the Dirty Harry screening, every 44 Magnum on sale sold out in a matter of days, and Smith & Wesson was flooded with requests for more revolvers. Thus, without knowing it (in the case of the film), the company captured a whole niche in the arms market, which exists today.

Below is a modern Model 629 44 with a shortened 4-inch barrel and a rubberized grip (wooden on the classic models).

The Model 29 .44 Magnum is forever associated with Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry: just type Magnum 44 in any search engine and a frame from the movie where Dirty Harry holds it in his hand will surely appear. By the way, you may be surprised to learn that Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, John Wayne and Paul Newman turned down the offer to play the role of Dirty Harry in turn. Clint Eastwood was actually the latest choice for the role, and he accepted. Eastwood chose the Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum for his role - even though the company did not have this revolver in production at the time. The Magnum for the film was actually assembled from spare parts at their factory in Boston, Massachusetts. Before filming, Eastwood spent a month practicing with this Magnum, which allowed him to get used to the recoil and to freely handle the weapon. After the screening of the film, he increased his acting popularity to absolute megastatus... along with the revolver. Subsequently, many of those who refused regretted it. Pictured below is a nickel-plated Model 29 .44 Magnum. This particular revolver was made in 1956.

And this is a modern Smith & Wesson Performance Center Model 629 Hunter .44 Magnum with an optical sight

When size matters

The weight of the largest bullet in the .454 Casull WFNGC HC cartridge is 400 grains (26 grams); muzzle velocity: 1,400 ft/s (430 m/s); bullet energy: 1,741 ft lbf (2,360 J). But this is not the limit. The .454 Casull cartridge is an elongated and redesigned version of the .45 Colt cartridge and is a very powerful cartridge. It is capable of accelerating a 240 grain (16 gram) bullet to a muzzle velocity of 1,900 ft/s (580 m/s), providing it with 2,000 ft-lb (2,700 J) of energy.

Ballistic characteristics (averages according to Hornady and DoubleTap Defense LLC) of some of the .454 Casull:

Bullet weight and type: 240 grains (16 gr.) XTP JHP; muzzle velocity: 1,900 ft/s (580 m/s); bullet energy: 1,923 ft lbf (2,607 J).

Bullet weight and type: 300 grains (19 gr.) XTP JHP; muzzle velocity: 1,650 ft/s (500 m/s); bullet energy: 1,814 ft lbf (2,459 J).

Bullet weight and type: 335 grains (22 gr.) WFNGC HC; muzzle velocity: 1,600 ft/s (490 m/s); bullet energy: 1,904 ft lbf (2,581 J).

Bullet weight and type: 360 grains (23 gr.) WFNGC HC; muzzle velocity: 1,500 ft/s (460 m/s); bullet energy: 1,800 ft lbf (2,400 J).

Bullet weight and type: 400 grains (26 gr.) WFNGC HC; muzzle velocity: 1,400 ft/s (430 m/s); bullet energy: 1,741 ft lbf (2,360 J).

Cartridges .454 Casull 240 gr XTP by Hornady

In terms of bullet energy and velocity, this .454 Casull cartridge even surpasses the most powerful pistol cartridge Desert Eagle from Israel Military Industries .50 Action Express (Expansive): bullet weight 300 grains (19 grams); muzzle velocity: 1,550 ft/s (470 m/s); bullet energy: 1,600 ft lbf (2,200 J). In the very same maximum equipment, the .50 Action Express cartridge is capable of issuing several greater value bullet energy is up to 1,800 ft lbf (2,440 J), and still falls short of Hornady's .454 Casull.

Greg Brush, who shot a full-grown grizzly bear (the bear first started) with one shot while fishing in Alaska with a Ruger Super Redhawk .454 Casull revolver with a shortened barrel

Ruger Super Redhawk .454 Casull

Ruger Super Redhawk .454 Casull with scope

Other .454 Casull revolvers

Freedom Arms .454 Casull

Freedom Arms .454 Casull with telescopic sight

Taurus Raging Bull Model 454

Taurus Raging Bull Model 454 with telescopic sight

Mateba Model 6 Unica (Can be loaded with .357 Magnum, .38 Special, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, .45 Long Colt)

Mateba Model 6 Unica with scope

An even more powerful cartridge is the .460 S&W Magnum. This is the longest and most powerful version of the .454 Casull cartridge.

Ballistic performance (average values ​​according to Buffalo Bore Ammunition and CorBon) of some of the .460 S&W Magnums:

Bullet weight and type: 200 grains (13 gr.) DPX; muzzle velocity: 2,300 ft/s (700 m/s); bullet energy: 2,350 ft lbf (3,190 J).

Bullet weight and type: 275 grains (18 gr.) DPX; muzzle velocity: 1,825 ft/s (556 m/s); bullet energy: 2,034 ft lbf (2,758 J).

Bullet weight and type: 300 grains (19 gr.) Jacketed Flat Nose; muzzle velocity: 2,060 ft/s (630 m/s); bullet energy: 2,826 ft lbf (3,832 J).

Bullet weight and type: 360 grains (23 gr.) Lead Long Flat Nose; muzzle velocity: 1,900 ft/s (580 m/s); bullet energy: 2,885 ft lbf (3,912 J).

Bullet weight and type: 395 grains (26 gr.) Hard Cast; muzzle velocity: 1,525 ft/s (465 m/s); bullet energy: 2,040 ft lbf (2,770 J).

Cartridges .460 S&W Magnum 395 gr Hard Cast by CorBon

.460 S&W Magnum revolvers

Smith & Wesson Model 460XVR ES (Emergency Survival Kit)

Smith & Wesson Model 460XVR

Smith & Wesson Model 460XVR with telescopic sight

But this is not the limit. The most powerful handgun cartridge to date is the .500 S&W Magnum.

Ballistic performance (averages from Hornady, Cor-Bon, Winchester, DoubleTap Defense LLC and Ballistic Supply) of some .500 S&W Magnums:

Bullet weight and type: 300 grains (19 gr.) FTX LEVERevolution; muzzle velocity: 2,075 ft/s (632 m/s); bullet energy: 2,868 ft lbf (3,888 J).

Bullet weight and type: 350 grains (23 gr.) JHP; muzzle velocity: 1,975 ft/s (602 m/s); bullet energy: 3,031 ft lbf (4,109 J).

Bullet weight and type: 400 grains (26 gr.) JHP PTW; muzzle velocity: 1,800 ft/s (550 m/s); bullet energy: 2,877 ft lbf (3,901 J).

Bullet weight and type: 500 grains (32 gr.) JSP/Hard Cast; muzzle velocity: 1,500 ft/s (460 m/s); bullet energy: 2,500 ft lbf (3,400 J).

Bullet weight and type: 700 grains (45 gr.) Hard Cast; muzzle velocity: 1,200 ft/s (370 m/s); bullet energy: 2,238 ft lbf (3,034 J).

The revolver cartridge .44 Special (10.5 × 29 mm R), developed by Smith & Wesson on the basis of the very successful .44 Russian as a standard ammunition of their new at that time, is not very popular these days. However, this old cartridge is considered by many shooters, hunters and gun historians in the US to be highly underrated and deserving of more attention from gun manufacturers. The famous American manufacturing company agrees with this opinion. firearms Ruger, located in the city of Southport (Connecticut), having started mass production of the GP100 revolver chambered in .44 Special in 2017.

Cartridge

The .44 S&W Special was introduced to the general public in 1907. It was created by lengthening the .44 Russian case from 24.6 to 29 mm in order to obtain more volume for the powder charge, in order to achieve a higher muzzle velocity and muzzle energy of the bullet as a result. The original powder charge.44 Russian from smoky ("black") powder provided a bullet weighing 16 grams with an initial speed of 230 m / s with a muzzle energy of 420 J.

Unfortunately, the ballistics of the new cartridge simply duplicated the speed and energy of the old bullet. With the advent of smokeless powder, it became possible to replace black powder in a new cartridge with a new smokeless one. Smoke powder left a large number of solid products, heavily fouling the barrel and mechanisms of the weapon with soot, imparted to the bullet a relatively low initial speed and formed a thick cloud of smoke when fired. Smokeless powder was devoid of these shortcomings. In addition, the .44 Special with smokeless powder proved to be as accurate as its predecessor, the .44 Russian.

The .44 Special cartridge was probably at the peak of popularity in this caliber at the time when the famous American shooter, hunter and gunsmith Elmer Keith began to write about his experiments using lead bullets with a flat nose (semi-wadcutter) and powerful powder charges in 1950s. He turned the target cartridge into a hunting cartridge and proved it effective on a wide range of revolver hunting game, making sure that ammunition manufacturers offer powerful revolver cartridges for hunters.

However, the manufacturers, not without reason, were afraid that someone would sooner or later load new powerful cartridges into the barrel of one of the old 44-caliber revolvers, which was originally designed for much less powerful loads. An oversight by the owner of the weapon would lead to a rupture of the drum with the possible injury or even death of the shooter. Accusations in this case threatened the manufacturer, both in the form of damage to reputation and in the form of lawsuits from the victim or his relatives.

Instead, Remington lengthened the case by another 3.1 mm to prevent the use of a new cartridge with a powerful charge of gunpowder in older revolvers that were not designed for it. This is how the .44 Remington Magnum cartridge, or simply .44 Magnum, was created, presented to the public in 1955, which later became widely known in popular culture thanks to the movie "Dirty Harry" with Clint Eastwood in leading role and famous quotes from it. You can learn more about the revolver, and about yourself in the relevant articles on our website.

Revival.44 Special and new Ruger GP100

It should be clarified that .44 Special cartridges can be safely used to fire revolvers chambered in .44 Magnum, which certainly kept this cartridge from disappearing from gun catalogs and gun store shelves all these years, as many prefer to train in shooting with lower power cartridges and less expensive. But only a few bought revolvers designed only for firing the .44 Special cartridge.

AT recent times cartridge .44 Special is becoming more and more popular, for several good reasons. More and more revolver enthusiasts have come to understand that the .44 Magnum cartridge is in many cases unnecessarily powerful, and the weapon under it is already very bulky and heavy. Such shooters wanted a more compact and light weapon chambered for a less powerful cartridge, but of the same caliber.

Another key factor fueling the return of the .44 Special is the previously mentioned ability to fire .44 Magnum revolvers as well as the longer chambers of .44 revolvers. The advantage here is significantly less recoil when firing, less wear on weapon parts and lower cost of cartridges.

In addition, due to the growing popularity of the shooting discipline "Cowboy Action Shooting", where sports shooting made from replicas of "cowboy" weapons from the Wild West era, firing cartridges of those times, the number of devoted supporters of the .44 Special cartridge also began to grow.

As a result, the famous American company Sturm, Ruger & Co. introduced the flagship model of their line of double action revolvers - GP100, chambered in .44 Special. By the way, in addition to double-action revolvers, the company's products include bolt-action rifles, self-loading, automatic and single-shot rifles, shotguns, self-loading pistols, as well as single action revolvers. Yes, the GP100 model is far from cowboy-themed, but there is a certain audience of shooting enthusiasts who are interested in the GP100 series revolver in this caliber.

The first revolver of the . Since then, the line of these revolvers has been constantly updated with new designs, differing in caliber, drum capacity, barrel length, sights, handle, surface treatment and other details. The version chambered for .44 Special was presented to the public in 2017, 32 years after the appearance of the first model in this series.

The GP100 is a reliable double-action trigger revolver that has its own "army" of fans among gun and shooting enthusiasts in the United States of America. Yes, and outside of this arms power, whose arms market is the main goal of any arms manufacturers from different countries world, there are owners and lovers of this beautiful stainless steel revolver.

The Ruger GP100 revolver, chambered in 1761 chambered for .44 Special, with a short barrel length of 76.2 mm, is equipped with an interchangeable front sight with a green fiber-optic light-collecting insert and adjustable horizontally and vertically micrometric fully sports type. This is a multipurpose revolver. It's compact enough to be carried discreetly under loose clothing or in a special bag, with the right .44 Special ammo for self-defense.

Arms and society

This revolver is also well suited for use as a self-defense weapon against dangerous predators on hikes in the wilderness. Hunters, tourists, fishermen or travelers can appreciate the merits of this revolver, both as a primary weapon and as a secondary one. Short barrel and short sight line probably don't make it the best choice as a primary hunting revolver for hunting large game, but it works well as a weapon for taking on wounded animals.

There is a wide variety of ammunition available on the US market. Buffalo Bore releases cartridges with 16.5 g Keith-type bullets with a muzzle velocity of 305 m/s. This equipment option is suitable for deer hunting and for self-defense against dangerous animals up to 136 kg. For self-defense in urban conditions, Hornady FTX Critical Defense cartridges with a 10.6 g bullet are suitable, when fired from a Ruger GP100 having an initial velocity of 291 m / s and a muzzle energy of 453 J, as well as having a small recoil when fired.

Of course the best way The test of the weapon is to shoot it. It's even better if you can legally buy this weapon and practice with it. Unfortunately, most of the readers of this article live in countries where gun laws prohibit citizens from even owning short-barreled combat weapons, let alone carrying them in self-defense. Of course, this is a serious infringement of human rights on effective self-defense, protection of loved ones and other people, as well as property, from the encroachments of criminals. In addition, the possession of weapons by citizens with the proper level of weapons culture and civic consciousness is an effective barrier to any dictatorship.

In this regard, far from everything is simple in the countries of the former socialist bloc. Such components as weapons culture and civic consciousness, alas, are still at an extremely low level, which is the result of a number of reasons, the consideration of which is beyond the scope of the article about weapons and cartridges for them. Nevertheless, supporters of the “legalization of the short barrel”, the return to citizens of the right to normal self-defense weapons, should by no means give up, because there are excellent examples of the Baltic countries and countries of Eastern Europe. But back to the revolver.

Technical features of the GP100 caliber .44 Special

Trigger pull when firing in single action mode with a pre-cocked trigger is 2 kg. This effort is optimal for shooting in this mode, as it provides a sufficiently high accuracy with the required level of safety. When firing by self-cocking, the trigger pull is 4.4 kg. This is an excellent indicator, at the level of modern revolvers. Here I recall the monstrously heavy self-cocking descent from the widely known in the post-Soviet space, which can exceed 7 kilograms. The Ruger GP100 revolver is a simple weapon to shoot in any mode.

The GP100 caliber .44 Special is made of stainless steel with polished surfaces. Unlike the same manufacturer's newfangled cheap "LCR" and "LCRx" series revolvers, which use aluminum alloy and plastic parts, the GP100 is an all steel revolver as strong as a bank vault. If used for training with factory cartridges with light bullets and without powerful charges of gunpowder, this revolver can serve several generations of its owners.

In addition to the “1761” version, Ruger offers the GP100 caliber .44 Special in the “Lipsey's Distributor Exclusive” and “Talo Distributor Exclusive” versions, which differ in longer barrels, surface treatment, sights and drum capacity. The revolver discussed in this article Spanish "1761" due to its small dimensions is the most versatile.

One of the main features of Ruger revolvers is the push-button latch of the drum. This feature is as convenient as the sliding latch used by most owners of modern revolvers, used in Smith & Wesson revolvers. Along with other revolvers of the GP100 series, executions in the .44 Special caliber have a drum that is hinged to the left for loading, unloading and extracting spent cartridges. The fixation recesses of the drum in five-shot versions are located away from the chambers, due to which the drum is able to withstand heavy loads when firing cartridges increased power.

Trigger mechanism of hammer type, double action, with a drummer placed in the frame. Wherein interesting feature is that the trigger mechanism is assembled in a separate unit and is removable, like the Soviet TT pistol, which is made for easier maintenance. The role of the fuse is played by the transmission lever. It ensures that the trigger contacts the firing pin only when the trigger is pulled.

It has been common for man to arm himself since the Stone Age, when he first picked up a club. And moralizing about the use of weapons is always ambiguous. Objectively speaking, the quality of weapons created by a certain civilization speaks of the level of its development. And many technical inventions are first used in the military field.

And today we will talk about one such technical miracle, namely, a revolver Smith & Wesson Model 29, also known as the Magnum 44. This most powerful "cannon" is capable of knocking down a deer or a buffalo and even a bear with one shot.

And it was this formidable weapon that helped Hollywood productions achieve record box office receipts. It was used by Dirty Harry himself! This is probably the most famous gun in the history of cinema. Everywhere, even in the Kalahari Desert, if you say the words “My home is my fortress”, you will be understood. The 60s, which were marked by hippies, gave way to the 70s with their increased crime, and film lovers got to know a harsh policeman who was used to upholding the law with the toughest and most “dirty” methods.

Revolver "Smith - Wesson model 29 Magnum", is the embodiment of the idea of ​​the most powerful pistol. The idea was brought to life by the shooter and hunter Elmer Keith, one of the engineers of the famous Smith & Wesson company, in 1955, and 16 years later (in 1971), with the appearance on the screen of Clint Eastwood and his "Dirty Harry", this revolver became the most sought after weapon.

The Americans began to rapidly buy up these weapons. In total, half a million revolvers of this model were produced. However, the .44 revolver that Dirty Harry was armed with is the most inappropriate for self-defense purposes in his house. Many people forget that this model of weapon throws up sharply when fired. Shooters with a weak hand, this revolver often hit the head when fired ... But when you pull it out, your enemy may run away from fear. However, if he didn't run away, you'd be better off hitting him in the head with this revolver than shooting him, because you can't handle his recoil. But if you still hit the first shot, you have nothing more to fear ...

In addition to a very solid return, the disadvantages of this model also include: a strong flash when fired and a fairly powerful sound, high-speed shooting is almost impossible to aim, a solid weight (more than 1 kilogram and 220 grams) and, finally, the relatively considerable cost of both the revolver itself and and "consumables" (that is, ammunition).

Well, the advantages can be safely written down: excellent accuracy, lethal force of ammunition (at the same time, the revolver can be loaded with almost any cartridge of the appropriate caliber), the ability to use it for hunting and, finally, a solid and intimidating appearance, which undoubtedly provides an additional psychological advantage .

Carabiners chambered for a revolving cartridge have the same long history as the revolvers themselves chambered for a unitary cartridge. From the moment of its appearance to the present day, the main niches for the use of such carbines were self-defense and hunting for small game. In the future, entertaining shooting was added here.

The appearance of carbines chambered for cartridges, originally created for short-barreled weapons, was facilitated by two factors. Firstly, both then and now, the relatively short revolving barrel did not allow full use of the energy of the powder charge; secondly, hand-held shooting has always been less accurate than shooting from a weapon with the same sights and barrel, but with a shoulder stock. Recognition of this fact came back in the era of muzzle-loading weapons, which led to the appearance of first single-shot pistols, and then capsule revolvers with detachable butts.

With the transition to unitary cartridges, the situation remained the same: for those who want to improve the accuracy of shooting, many manufacturers of revolvers, including well-known ones such as Colt or Smith & Wesson, produced both detachable butts for conventional revolvers and revolver carbines with an elongated barrel and a fixed or detachable butt.

However, revolving carbines had a number of serious shortcomings, directly arising from the revolving scheme. This is, firstly, the limited capacity of the drum: as a rule, no more than 5-6 shots. But back in time civil war in the USA (1860s) a number of carbines with a magazine capacity of 10-12 or more rounds were created, such as Henry, Winchester or Evans carbines.

Secondly, the revolving scheme implied the inevitable loss of some of the powder gases in the gap between the barrel and the drum, which worsened the ballistics and became especially noticeable with increasing firing range.

And thirdly, the breakthrough of powder gases into the gap between the drum and the barrel threatened to scorch the shooter's hand with the traditional grip of the weapon with the left hand on the forearm. Therefore, a magazine carbine became a completely obvious and logical step in the development of weapons. Such a carbine provided the owner with a confident defeat of a target at a distance of up to 100 meters, far beyond the capabilities of a conventional revolver, while no separate type of cartridge was required.

One of the first-born in this direction was the legendary American company Winchester, which released in 1873 a complex of a carbine with lever reloading and an underbarrel tubular magazine and a new cartridge, which received the designation .44-40 Winchester Center-Fire, or easier .44-40.

This cartridge had a bottle-shaped brass sleeve with a protruding rim, was equipped with 44 grains of black powder and a .44 caliber lead bullet weighing 200 grains (2.85 g and 13 g, respectively). The muzzle velocity of such a bullet from a 24-inch (61 cm) Winchester rifle barrel was about 360 m / s, which gave a muzzle energy of about 870 J.

This was quite enough for self-defense or hunting for small game - numerous deer - at short and medium ranges. Very soon, revolvers for this caliber appeared on the market, including such legendary models as the Colt M1873 Single Action Army or Smith & Wesson No. 3. The Colt Lightning carbine was also produced under the same cartridge, which had a reload using a movable forearm.

The idea turned out to be surprisingly fruitful, and by the beginning of the 20th century, a whole range of carbines chambered for revolver cartridges (or vice versa, revolvers chambered for carbine cartridges, as was the case with p. 44-40) were being produced in the USA. The range of running calibers extended from .32-20 WCF (with a bullet weighing 7 g at an initial speed of about 270 m / s) to the already mentioned .44-40 and .45 Colt.

The leaders in this niche were lever-action carbines (we usually call them carbines with a Henry bracket), produced primarily by Winchester and its main competitor in the market for such carbines, Marlin firearms. Model 1892 Winchesters, designed by none other than the legendary John Browning, and Model 1894 marlins have become, in fact, the classic weapons of the conquerors of the Wild West.

The small mass of weapons and cartridges for them, the interchangeability of cartridges between carbines and revolvers, combined with the impressive capacity of magazines at that time and the rate of fire, became important advantages for people who had been away from civilization for a long time and in the neighborhood with not the most friendly Indians or bandits.

The considerable popularity of such carbines is evidenced by the fact that Winchester carbines of the 1892 model for a variety of revolver cartridges were produced in the USA from 1872 to 1941 with a total circulation of one million copies. But then came the second World War, and the place of "cowboy" carbines on the production lines of American arms companies was taken by army self-loaders and machine guns. Nevertheless, the demand for such weapons did not disappear anywhere, and various manufacturers of copies of hard drives began to “close” it.

The first copy of the 92nd Winchester was the Spanish El Tigre carbine, produced under an agreement with the Winchester company by the Eibar company Garate, Anitua y Cia from 1915 to 1938. These carbines were widely used by the Spanish police and civil guards, were used during the Spanish Civil War, and were also exported, primarily to Latin America.

However, after General Franco came to power, the production of "tigers" was curtailed, and fans of the 92nd model were left to be content with the secondary market of "used" weapons.

The situation remained that way until the early 1970s, when the Brazilian company Amadeo Rossi S.A. began production of copies of the Winchester-92 under its own name, since the patents for the design had long since expired.

The first Rossi 92 rifles were only chambered in .38 Special/.357 Magnum, but over time Rossi's 92 range has expanded with new calibers, new configurations, and performance options, including a modern stainless steel variant.

Both the "historically correct" .44-40, as well as .45 Colt, .44 Magnum and .454 Casull appeared in the range of calibers.
Marlin, which initially stopped production of the 1894 in the mid-1930s, resumed production of the improved 1894 S in the mid-1960s and continues to do so to this day.

It is clear that today no one shoots the "classic" black powder cartridges so popular in the Wild West, except for a few "cowboy-style" shooters who are hungry for maximum authenticity.

Since the second half of the 20th century, newer revolver cartridges, originally created for smokeless powder, have occupied a dominant position in such carbines. The only "old man" who successfully survived the transition from black powder to smokeless powder is the .45 Colt cartridge, so beloved by the Americans, which was born in 1873.

Thanks to a heavy lead bullet of a decent caliber, this cartridge provides excellent stopping power "short" both on thin-skinned game and overly aggressive bipedal uprights, and modern smokeless powders increase the reliability of the weapon, reduce the need for cleaning it and allow you to "accelerate" the bullet to characteristics unattainable with black powder.

Equally popular is one of the most versatile revolver calibers of the 20th century, the .357 Magnum cartridge developed in 1935. Since this cartridge was originally created as a high-powered ammunition, it can accelerate a 9-mm bullet from the barrel of a carbine to very decent speeds - up to 550 m / s or more, depending on the mass of the bullet.

These characteristics provide muzzle energy at the level of 1500-1800 J, which is more than enough for a wide range of game, including wolf and the much-loved white-tailed deer in the USA. The effective firing range of such a cartridge from a carbine reaches 100-150 meters. For lovers of hunting "hotter" there are options for carbines chambered for .44 Magnum and even .454 Casull, providing muzzle energies of the order of 2000 and 3000 J, respectively.

Such energy with an impressive bullet caliber allows you to hunt serious game, including elk and wild boar (of course, at ranges corresponding to the caliber). It is not for nothing that carbines chambered for this cartridge are considered ideal in the United States for hunting in dense thickets, due to the versatility of the weapon and the ability to quickly fire a second shot or even several if the first shot did not allow you to cleanly take the prey or if the hunter had to face several wild boars.

In Russia, the choice of revolver cartridge carbines is limited to the products of the Brazilian company Rossi - Model 92 variants for all major calibers: .357 Magnum / .38 Special, .44 Magnum, .45 Colt and .454 Csaull / .45 Colt. The variants, which specify two calibers respectively, allow you to shoot both types of ammunition, which is convenient for training. Less powerful cartridges .38 Special and .45 Colt give less recoil (especially noticeable in .45 / .454 caliber) and are cheaper, which allows you to get more shots for training or just for entertainment purposes for the same money.

At the same time, one should not forget that even a relatively low-power cartridge. 38 Special from a 50-centimeter carbine barrel with a 10-gram bullet gives out up to 500 J of muzzle energy, which is enough for hunting birds, small game or for short-term self-defense.

The main problem here is the choice of cartridges. In fact, now on the market there are cartridges of these calibers from only one manufacturer - the Brazilian company Magtech. They have a very decent quality, but the price is biting due to the ruble exchange rate, especially for more powerful magnums.

So far, the only available alternative is .357 Magnum cartridges manufactured by the Tula Cartridge Plant, however, they appeared on the domestic market relatively recently, and it is too early to talk about the experience of their use.

The rifles themselves are offered in several finishes, with steel or stainless steel parts and round or heavier octagonal barrels. The stock is made of wood. Barrels in calibers .357/.38 and .45 have a length of 40 or 50 cm, in calibers .44 and .454 the length of the barrel is only 50 cm.

Underbarrel tubular magazines are loaded through a spring-loaded door on the right side of the receiver and can hold up to 10 rounds. The trigger mechanism provides convenient control over the state of the weapon, and an additional fuse located on top of the bolt and, when turned on, the blocking drummer, further increases the safety of handling weapons, especially in the field.

Shooting from weapons with lever reloading requires minimal getting used to, mainly due to the need to clearly extend the index finger beyond the trigger guard during reloading, and within the capacity of the magazine provides a very decent rate of fire.

The author of these lines for several years happy owner Rossi 92 carbine in the "stainless" version, chambered for .38 / .357, with a 50 cm barrel. The total shot from the carbine exceeded 500 rounds, while there was not a single delay or misfire due to the fault of the weapon.

Due to the personal preferences of the owner, this carbine was not used for hunting, however, the author knows people who successfully hunted wild boars with similar .454 caliber carbines.