I have been looking at the Smith & Wesson Mountain Gun in .44 Mag and was wondering if anyone on here has one? I went down to our local Sportsman's Warehouse yesterday and felt on a bunch of handguns for packing while traveling the wild country. They had one of the Mountain Guns and it felt pretty good. How is the recoil out of a 4" barrel? I also thought the Taurus Tracker felt nice and it was even ported, however after reading reviews both off this board and others it would seem my money would be better spent going with the Smith&Wesson. Has anyone ever sent a Handgun in to get it ported? If so where did you send it and what would that cost. I am leaning toward the .44 Mag for a couple of reasons. I like the idea of being able to use snake loads, 44 special, 44 Russian and also if the urge ever overcame me the .44 Mag for the bears. I also always try to look down the road and for re-sale purposes I would have to believe it a bonus to have it in this chambering. As always and comments or advice is always welcome. Thanks for any time you can give me!

WS

Did I ask a tough question or did I ask a dumb one?

I have a 2 1/2 inch L frame 686 that's ported and I'm very happy with the result. There's actually more muzzle rise with the less powerful .38 Special loads than with the full tilt .357 loads. It's got a ton of muzzle blast with .357 loads, but I don't think the porting made the situation any worse. I seem to be in a minority, but I'm a big fan of mag-na-porting.

http://www.magnaport.com/company.html

I'm not sure that it really reduces recoil as such, but it definitely reduces muzzle rise and thus perceived recoil.

Basically, you asked a lot of questions, with variability in the answers, and quite frankly, some of the questions sound like the voice of inexperience.

First, if you are going to shoot full tilt 44 Mag loads in that Mountain Gun, muzzle flip will be substantial, and the noise level is considerable. You don't mention whether you are an experienced handgunner or not. Recoil tolerance, in my opinion, is something worked up to. If you aren't accustomed to large bore revolver recoil, it can be quite educational, to say the least, and plain scary to some.


Secondly, there are several places that will do porting, Magnaport being probably one of the more familiar. But porting a revolver typically reduces the resale value, and if you are going to port it, you would be better off handloading it down, as far as I am concerned.
(And the question about porting the Mountain Gun may be why your post hasn't had any answers...)

Lastly, I am not sure you can load 44 Russian cartidges in a .44 Mag, but even if you can, I see no reason to do it. Again, handload down.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the help. Yes I am green as far as shooting revolvers. I have basically no experience at all with them. I am on the other hand proficient with XP-100's and Contenders in many of the bottle neck cases. I also have some of my bigger calibers set up with a brake (That's where the question came from). Part of my indecision is based on not wanting to find myself in a year needing to up or down grade. As long as you are saying load them light and build up I think I will be just fine. Thanks again for stepping up to the plate and taking a swing at it for me. I very much appreciate it!

WS

One word of caution with the 44 mag., if you want light loads do not use Win. 296 or H110 powder. These powders are meant for near max loading and can blow up your gun if you try to load with reduced amounts of powder. Use a different powder for your reduced loads. I would also stay away from the maximum loadings with the S&W for reliability reasons. The cases tend to stick in the cylinders making for hard case extraction. This is the last thing you need for use as a survival weapon or bear gun.

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I would also stay away from the maximum loadings with the S&W for reliability reasons. The cases tend to stick in the cylinders making for hard case extraction.

Not in mine they don't...

I have a .44 Magnum Mountain Gun and I have Mag-Na-Ported a 4" 629 in the past. My impressions are as follows. The 629 Mountain Gun is best used with loads suitable for the .44 Special as loaded by Keith and Skelton to name a couple. I see 950 fps to 1100 fps with Unique or Blue Dot being a couple of the best choices. Save the 300+ grain bullets for occasional practice with "bear loads". The good news is that a 240 grain at 1000 fps, about 10 grains of Unique with standard large pistol primers, works fine for most everything shot of "I wish I had a shotgun with slugs or big bore rifle" situations. The weight is back in the hand farther than a standard weight 629 4" and is some four ounces lighter. I find smooth small grips not to be at their best with heavy loads but fine with .44 Special loads, if you are considering maximum concealability. The Magnaports are muzzle flip reducers all right but the slots gather lead and the push is just more straight back. Personally I'd rather have the two-hand muzzle flip that the abrupt straight back variety. The Pachmeyer wraparound round-butt grips absorb recoil well but are a little more bulky than open strap small aftermarket wood grips. I find the Hogue finger grove grips poor for concealment. This revolver is a special compromise when less power in not an option but frequent carry is.

I've been running a S&W M629 Mtn Gun since the second batch was made. I run "specials" - a 240 SWC @ ~900 fps - most of the time. A case can be made for choosing the 45 Colt version if you're not going to run this cracked bat at full power. Recoil is snappy with full speed ammo. It is great gun to carry much and shoot little. I carried it in Alaska loaded with 300 gr Federal Castcores; had to crank the rear sight all the way to bottom and accept a seven yard zero. These days if I wanted a reasonably handy shooter I'd get the Ruger Bisley in stainless with a 4-3/4 barrel and for a carry gun I'd try the S&W M329, the ultimate in a holster it and forget it bush gun. I'd pass on anything ported or comp'd as I've lost enough of my hearing already. $0.04

The Mountain Gun in 44 Mag has become the woods cary gun for my wife and I.

They are a little thumpy with heavy 44 Mag loads. Actually the 240gr loads seem more "painful" than the 270 and 300gr loads.

You do not always have to use full power loads, but when you need them, or MAY NEED THEM, the recoil is not that bad.

I can highly recommend one.

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Originally posted by Doubless:

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I would also stay away from the maximum loadings with the S&W for reliability reasons. The cases tend to stick in the cylinders making for hard case extraction.

Not in mine they don't...

None of mine either.

Ruger's 4" Redhawk is also hitting the dealers shelves, might be worth a look. It is a liitle heavier than the S+W but the weight would also help tame the recoil.
I've been having good luck with moderate .44 mag and special loads using Hogdens Universal Clays powder.

I bought one of the 4" 500 smiths. With factory 400gn JSP ammo it is not too bad to shoot. I found mine used(5 rounds) on Gunbroker for well under $700 and then had it shipped to a local dealer. The dealer here has a $20 transfer fee. The same gun on the dealers shelf was closer to $850.

I am an avid Ruger fan. That said, if I were limited to one handgun, my 629 Mountain Gun would be it. A great compromise of power and size, recoil and weight. You can fire anything from light wadcutters for practice and plinking to 300 grain thumpers for bear protection (however unlikely). As many have stated, 240 grains at about 1000 fps is great for just about anything.

If you're not wedded to double action, a short barreled Ruger Blackhawk is about as handy a trail gun as you could want. I've been considering the .45lc/.45acp convertible. It provides tremendous flexibility. I already own a number of .45 autos and .45lc revolvers.

A few other comments: Forget the porting. It's loud and you'll mostly shoot lighter loads anyway. I agree .44 mag is the way to go. You can do alot with the .45lc, .454, .500, .460, etc., but try buying ammo at Walmart or most smaller gunshops.

The Mtn Gun will be at it's best with medium loads and yes save the big loads for emergencies. And HELL NO, as to muzzle blast coming from a Magnaported barrel, it's an EFFING urban myth perpetrated by folks who never have tried them. Magnaporting has no more noise or muzzle blast than any factory hot load out of an unported barrel. Get the Mtn Gun and have it Magnaported, you'll never be sorry.

I don't have one but I do have a lot of expiriance shooting one. I think there great and a good carry size for bear protection. I've loaded them really hot and had no problems with extraction.
I carry 5&1/2" rugers in .44 and .45 and a 6" FA .454. Much less comfortable to carry than the mountain gun but I also hunt with these and I like the longer sight radious.
The longer barrels also allow for a faster recovery on follow up shots but that is only a factor with double action revolvers.
The only reason I don't have a mt gun is because I aleady have so many revolvers.

I have 6 MGs total... Two M657 .41 Magnums, one M629-3 pre-Mountain Gun, one M629-6 pre-IL, one M625 .45 ACP pre-Mountain Gun and a M625-? pre-IL .45 ACP. They are all great shooters.

The M657 .41 Magnums can be shot with any factory load without much pain...not so with the .44 Magnums. The best factory load for them is the Speer 200 grain Gold Dot HP Short Barrel Load...1080 from a 4" and a deep HP bullet.

If you don't need big time Magnum performance look at the M625 .45 ACP...lots of great loads, mild recoil and if you need to spice things up you can also shoot .45 Super in them...
Bob

I have the Mountain Gun and if I had to have one handgun period, that would be it. It is accurate and powerful, but not so much to cause a distracting flinch. I have harvested whitetail with it, but carried it more than shot it, in the field.