Gentlemen, I posted this question on the pistol shooting site and got no answers, so I am trying it here. I am looking to buy a quality .44 special revolver for shooting reloads. There seem to be more S&W 624 revolvers for sale than model 24s. Is the quality of the 624s as good as that of the blue model 24s? Can anyone suggest any other .44 special revolvers that would be as accurate as the SW 24/624s? Thanks in advance for any information you can furnish. Docjones41

My 624 in 6-1/2" is a fantastic lead bullet slinger. Its preferred bullet is a 215gr SWC.
The fit and finish is very good, and a simple spring kit (Wolff) has the trigger as nice as desired, though it was decent as purchased.
I know of no other quality 44 Special (DA) other than the 24 or 624's.
Good luck!

The S&W 24s and 624s were limited runs, but I think that about the same numbers (5,000?) were made of each version in 4" and 6.5". I have owned a couple of each configuration and currently have a 624 with a 5" barrel. I really like it, but it is a heavy revolver to carry around. The S&W 696 is a nice 5-shot with a 3" barrel, but I would have preferred if they had had a 4" barrel in the S&W 19/66 style. Rossi and Taurus also made double action revolvers in 44 Special, but I don't consider either Rossi or Taurus in the same league as S&W. I usually have Ahlman's in Morristown, MN, tune my revolvers. Their pistolsmiths are better, IMO, than the guys at S&W.

Jeff

Howdy Doc,
Both S&W standard .44s, the M24 and the M624 were essentially limited runs with some special versions done for specific jobbers. I own both guns and can tell absolutely no difference in performance. There was an earlier M24 that draws a serious price premium these days, but a "current" production gun, one made in the 1980s thru the early 1990s can still be had at a reasonable price. They are available with 3", 4", 6 1/2", and possibly a 5" barrel. Mine are both 3" models.
LLS

I have one of the Lew Horton 3" 624's. It is my favorite DA revolver. It's the last thing more than a few pigs saw too.

Hog Killer

Back in the middle 80's when the production of these pistols began after being discontinued since the 60's, I went on a buying spree. I have one 6.5" M24, one 6.5" M624, and two 4.0" M624's. All fine pistols.

I my memory is correct S&W made 2500 4" M624's and 5000 6.5" M624's. I think the total production of the blued M24's was 5000, I don't know the number of 4 inchers and 6.5 inchers.

Is there any differences between the blue pistol and the stainless pistol? Not on paper in my opinion. And the inherent accuracy difference between the 4†versions and the 6.5†versions is zero. Both are equally accurate, maybe the extra sight difference adds something past 50 yards, but not out to fifty yards in my opinion. The blue M24 I have has a partridge front. The Stainless pistols have ramp front sights. The bluing on the M24 is just fantastic. Almost a piece of art. And it will wear. You have to treat a beautiful blued pistol carefully or you will rub or scratch the bluing off. And it won't come back. Scratch on the stainless M624 and you can polish out the scratch with that red colored emery cloth called Crocus Cloth.

I have fired the 6.5†version about a 1000 rounds, the M24 about 300 rounds. I have fired one 4" M624 about 5-7,000 rounds. It is now a little looser, the trigger has worn to a wonderful light pull. It is still a very accurate pistol and has absolutely no problems. The hammer and the trigger are actually carbon steel with some sort of silver metal finish on them. I remember asking S&W about it, but I forgot what it was. Anyway all my S&W's 44 Specials have excellent trigger pulls.

Since these pistols were made in the middle 80's there is no essential differences in "quality" between the two. You have to decide what "quality" means to you. For me it means fit, finish, machining, and metallurgy, tightness, trigger pull, sight alignment, and a few other things that I can't think of right now.


I recommend the stainless pistols because of the ease of taking care of them.