DW .44 magnum Silhouette?

[rdcinhou]

I'm considering added a .44 magnum to the collection.

Anyone have comments on the DW Silhouette in .44 mag?

[Tyerone]

No DW experience, but in retrospect, I wouldn't have purhased the 9.5 inch barrel version of my Ruger Super Redhawk .44.  I guess for true long range shooting with iron sights, the sight radius would be a feature, but sans a wee bit more bullet velocity, the negatives outweigh the benefits in my hunting and general target shooting applications.  The sight radius advantage is totally negated if going with a scope or red dot.

A smaller barreled option would so much handier, maybe 5.5 to 6 inches would be long enough.  In fact, a single action only such as Ruger's blackhawk or maybe a Colt Single Action Army in .45 Colt would have been a better choice.  I pretty much exclusively shoot the Ruger in SA after thumbing the hammer back.

One other advantage to the long barreled "hand rifle" as I call it is the cool factor.  Placing it next to the NAA mini is a contrast for sure!

[Ron M.]

I'm not familiar with the Silhouette in 44 Mag, I have the 357 Super Mag/Maximum version and have shot the 44 Super Mag version. I wouldn't hesitate to use any of them for hunting. If you load a quality 300gr hard cast gas checked Keith style bullet you should be able to take any animal under 400 pounds at 80 to 100 yards. If you don't reload, the Buffalo Bore 305gr long lead flat nose is an excellent choice. If you want to beat the heck out of your hands, the Buffalo Bore 340gr +P+ will do a fantastic job on any game animal.

[rdcinhou]

Thank you gentlemen for the replies.

I lost the auction for the DW Silhouette that I was looking at on Gunbroker.

It wasn't the only one listed, but it was the only one that lingered in my target price range--getting my attention.

A few weeks ago I rented a Ruger .44 magnum at my range using my Fivestar points--just to see if I could handle it.

My initial impression was that "maybe" I didn't want a .44. 

But then I watched some videos about the "proper" way to grip a high-power revolver and it convinced me otherwise.

Maybe I'll find another in the months to come.

[M1A4ME]

.44's, with factory or purpose built reloads will have a lot of recoil compared to the guns most of us regularly shoot/post about here.

There are some things that affect how that recoil feels to you or affects you.

One is the way the grip is made.  Another is what the grip material is made of.  One is the weight of the gun.  One is the barrel length (maybe more muzzle blast/concussion vs. recoil).

I have three .44's.  A Ruger Super Blackhawk with a 7&1/2 barrel.  A S&W M29 with a 4" barrel.  A Dan Wesson with a 10" heavy/vent rib barrel/shround.

The Ruger kicks upwards sharply, compared to the other two (how the grip is made and what it's made of - wood grips).  The S&W kicks more backwards (first) and upwards (second) and has the nice soft Pachmayr grips on it.  The Dan Wesson is the factory wood grips and kicks the least of all out of the three (still more to the rear than upwards due to the grip design and the weight - and maybe length/weight of the barrel??).

The Dan Wessons, older ones, like mine, had a reputation for being great long range revolvers tough enough to handle heavy loads for years of shooting in competitions.  I'm not saying the new ones are different, just saying that 20 to 30 years ago, that was the reputation of the Dan Wesson .44's.

The Dan Wesson's (again, speaking of the older ones as I have zero experience with the new ones) have a tremendouse versatility to the not available on any other brand/model of revolver.  Grips, sights, barrels/shrouds are all easy/quick to change based on what you're going to do with the gun that day, that range trip.

If you get one, be sure to share the pictures.

[Stojanovich]

Never owned one but used to see them (a lot) at IHMSA matches during the mid-1980's.  Totally stout.  They were designed to be extremely competitive with Ruger, with the same kind of durability to stand-up to very 'warm' match loadings.  I used a S&W Model 57 (8 3/8") and later a Model 29-3 Silhouette but, shot a couple of matches with a friend's DW and did OK with it.  The only big difference I noticed was that the barrel-cylinder gap was more pronounced in the DW, possibly due to its barrel interchangeability.  It caused a bit more flash and a slight loss in muzzle velocity (ahhh, the early days of chronographs) compared to the Redhawk and Model 29 but, not enough to impact overall effectiveness at long range.  Great revolver, though.  I wouldn't hesitate to add a nice one to my collection.   

[M1A4ME]

The Dan Wesson should be totally, absolutely, user set up/adjustable for barrel gap. 

When set up "properly" you use a factory supplied feeler ga. to insert between the barrel and cylinder with the barrel screwed in by hand touch the feeler ga.  Then you set the barrel shroud on the frame, then you screw the barrel nut on the end of the barrel and tighten it pretty snug (don't know that there's a torque setting since the factory wrench is just a small one handed t-handled looking thing.)

I see no reason why you couldn't set it anywhere from a couple thousands out to six thousands, depending on how it shot best for you.  Also, no idea how the barrel gap adjustability might affect wear/erosion where the barrel throat starts - but the barrels are easily user replaceable so it's not as big an issue if it does erode faster.

My S&W 586 is around 0.028" or so (pretty close) and was still a tack driver after 3 or 4 thousand rounds (need to get that thing out of the safe and shoot it and take some "electronic" pictures, too.)  One of the reasons why, when people say 125 grain hollow points are "bad" for .357's I just smile, as that was about all I shot in it.  It came from the factory even tighter - it would begin to drag the face of the cylinder on the back of the barrel just before you got a box of ammo through it.  I used a file and stones and feeler gauges to open it up just enough to function with 3 or 4 boxes of magnums through it (actually it never did get dirty enough to drag, so it's not like I had to keep opening it up, I just got it opened up a little more and then squared it up.)

[andrew1220]

I've got a DW 744 with 6" and 2.5" barrel assemblies along with an EWK muzzle brake. One of my favorite guns to shoot. 44 mag is plenty of power/recoil for my needs. I don't have any desire to get a larger caliber pistol. I shot a S&W 500 and it hurt to shoot.

[bugboy]

I have a 744 that I have owned for 25-30 years. I bought it with a 6" barrel and then picked up a 4"VH. Since 4" and 6" were pretty close I traded the 6" for an 8"VH.  8" for hunting and 4" for carrying. I have some hot loaded 300 gr Sierra semi-jacketed soft points loaded up in case I think I'm going to need BIG POWER.