Mag-na-port's S&W
Mod. 69 .44 Magnum

The S&W Mod. 69- A Warrior’s Fighting Spirit

American Handgunner editor Roy Huntington takes an inside look at Mag-na-port’s S&W Model 69 .44 Magnum, he dubs The Haka!

The Maori warriors of New Zealand are legendary for their fighting spirit. Part of the mystique is the war “Haka” — a traditional ancestral war cry, more challenge than dance, used to intimidate enemies on ancient battlefields. Picture huge, tattooed warriors, armed to the teeth with spears, shields and clubs, stomping, pounding, shouting, glaring, poking out their tongues grotesquely, daring their enemies to fight — or run.

Today though, a Haka might be performed at a funeral to honor a cherished departed friend, a comrade in arms killed in battle, to welcome respected guests, or to acknowledge a great achievement. Look it up on YouTube.com to get an idea of what we’re talking about here. I promise it leaves a lasting impression.

During WWII the Maori Battalion’s service against the German forces in the Mediterranean became legendary. After one successful bayonet charge in the North African campaign, Germans seriously began to fear them, calling them “scalp hunters.” The Maori soldiers were without mercy — and to attack, attack, attack was their mantra.

The Maori Battalion gained such respect by the allies they were often used as the spearhead unit during assaults. Bernard Freyberg, the General Officer Commanding the 2NZEF (including the Maori Battalion) commented: “No infantry had a more distinguished record, or saw more fighting, or, alas, had such heavy casualties, as the Maori Battalion.”

No less an enemy than General Erwin Rommel (who faced the Maori Battalion in North Africa) said this: “Give me the Maori Battalion — and I will conquer the world.”

Such are the roots of the Haka.

Pedigrees

Mag-na-port’s craftsmanship and the Maori’s penchant for aggressive fighting against their enemies has resulted in this eye-catching S&W Model 69 .44 Magnum. While the 69 is a great field revolver — light enough to tote (34 oz.), but heavy enough to be steady — I think its forte is as a defensive/fighting handgun. Compact, but still able to handle full-power .44 Magnum loads, more modest .44 Specials and even CCI shot cartridges, this versatility gives the original design legs. But, even competency in a category can be improved upon.

When I first chatted with Ken Kelly of Mag-na-port about this gun, I basically told him I pictured it as an “all-the-time” gun, not a safe queen. If someone needs a serious trail pistol, back-up in Alaska, a “final-word” defensive gun, or “every-day-carry” to be relied upon, I think the L-Frame Model 69 is a nearly perfect starting platform. Mag-na-port’s sage modifications give it panache — and hone usability.

I turned Mag-na-port loose on the base gun with those few general thoughts, and when I saw the final result — the stout, “tattooed” look — the Haka’s powerful legacy leapt to my mind. And Haka! it became, heartily endorsed by Ken Kelly at Mag-na-port.

The Model 69’s character covers more than just a basic palate of options. The adjustable sights assure zeroing to your favorite load, the round-butt means easier carry and the 2.75″ barrel is long enough for balance yet short enough for convenience. The base gun also incorporates many features S&W has introduced over the past 10 years or so.

The barrel looks “solid” but is actually sleeved or shrouded. There’s a longer barreled version available (4.35″) and since this is based on S&W’s classic L-Frame, it’s pretty much indestructible. From my own experience shooting it, you will wear out long before the gun does. Being compact and relatively light, the downside of this convenience is shooting full-house .44 Magnum loads tends to be attention-getting. I think the real way to go here is to use a stout .44 Special and something even milder for fun and trail use.

S&W has had to design in a “ball-detent” lock at the junction of the crane and the frame. It’s a bit like the old “Triple Lock” third lock-up point, only this simply takes the place of the normal forward lock where the ejector rod used to “snick” into a detent. This model drops the forward detent, substituting the ball-detent. It seems to work just fine and I think in all honesty does a better job than the old system.

In spite of all these features, I challenged Ken to dig deeper and come up with improvements.

And he did.

Haka! Is Born

Mag-na-port is famous for their excellent hand work and built their business by inventing the Mag-na-port process of barrel porting, lowering recoil and muzzle flip. The process works, and tens of thousands of guns have been modified over the years. The business grew under Ken’s dad, Larry (who founded the company) and for many years since Larry’s passing, Ken has continued to develop the company. Today’s Mag-na-port is as modern as you could ask for, staffed by hard working, smiling people, all delivering amazing work in handguns and rifles. I think it’s also good to know Mag-na-port basically “invented” modern big bore snubbie revolvers — well before there were any factory offerings. So there’s that too.

The Haka! got the full porting treatment for sleeved barrels and a “Velvet Hone” soft bead blast finish. Ken’s team did their “Mini-Bob” to the hammer spur, making it handier and less “grabby” when under clothing. The trigger got a full radius and the hammer, trigger, latch and screws were matte blued. They used their EDM process to cut and inlay a white outline on the rear sight blade, then custom fit and installed a bright orange front blade.

The base gun also experienced Mag-na-port’s famous complete action job. Checking headspace, cylinder gap, smoothing internals, removing creep, lightening trigger pull, timing work, forcing cone tuning and numbering chambers are among the specific touches there. Can you say “night and day” from the original factory gun?

Adjusting the muzzle crown squares things off and often really contributes to better accuracy. Ken also used the magic of EDM machining to cut a series of vertical cut-outs in the barrel shroud (Maori ritual scarring?), pierced the trigger guard to help identify “Tribe Mag-na-port” — ending with a bold trio of robust black stripes around the cylinder. I upped the ante some by changing-out the factory rubber grips with a set of Concealed Carry Boot Stocks from Kim Ahrends.

The result is a revolver you can identify as yours at a glance — even from across a room. There’s no doubting Mag-na-port did the work, or whether the Haka! is up to any task undertaken.
Because it is.

Doing Battle

In the spirit of being a fighting pistol, I loaded the Haka! with full power Winchester 240-gr. .44 Magnum loads right off the bat. I also admit I might not have entirely thought things through at that point. I have a 10″ heavy steel plate hanging on chains about 20 yards downrange from my back porch. The first round not only smacked my hand hard enough to smart but at least sent the plate dancing too.

Since I still had feeling in my hand, I sent four more rounds in about as many seconds downrange, leaving the plate swinging — and me flicking my hand at my side while doing the “this hurts” dance. That’s similar to the spider web dance, but keeping the muzzle safe at the same time and saying things like “Ouch” and “Oh goodness, that hurt” and “My, my, I’ll think hard before doing this again” is part of the drill.

Or at least words to that effect.

Donning a shooting glove I shot a bit more of the heavy stuff — I know, I know, sometimes it takes me a long time to learn — but honestly did finally realize enough was enough. Can the Model 69 shoot full power .44 Magnum loads? Certainly, and in a pinch, a hard cast 240 at 1,100-1,200 fps is possible, and would likely save your skin. And I predict you wouldn’t hear a thing or feel a single bit of recoil.

But in the real world, would I shoot the stuff in this gun for fun? Again?

Nope.

You ever hit a steel post with an aluminum baseball bat with no gloves on? It’s sorta’ like that. Don’t ask me how I know. I can’t imagine this without the Mag-na-porting too, by the way. Call me sissified, but also call me still able to use both of my hands without spilling my coffee from the shakes.

In a more sane world, I shot a “mild” but highly effective .44 Magnum load from Black Hills, their HoneyBadger. It’s a 160-gr. solid copper fluted bullet chronographing at an honest 1,425 from the 2.75″ barrel. As fire and brimstone as this sounds, recoil is manageable since it’s a lighter 160-gr. bullet. I think it’d stop just about anything walking on the planet.

Their sort of matching .44 Special HoneyBadger — a 125 with the same bullet design — flew at 1,135 fps from the short barrel. It was exceptionally fun to shoot, not to mention very accurate. I’ve seen the gel work on it and it penetrates deeply and reliably. For me, I think I found my main load for the Haka!

I ran some other .44 Special loads and found just about anything in the 240-gr. range at less than 850 fps to be okay, if not always entirely enjoyable to shoot. The classic 246-gr. lead round-nose .44 Special load chrono’d around the 625 fps range. I could actually see the bullet go and was tempted to race it to the target. But it was great fun to shoot, I’ll admit.

Accuracy was typical S&W style, and characteristically big-bore excellent. Say, 1.75″ (Black Hills HoneyBadger .44 Special and about the same for their cowboy load at not quite 700 fps) to about 3.5″ for the uglier .44 Magnum loads — mostly due to me gritting my teeth and likely shutting my eyes just before the big noise.
My 100-yard steel torso target got tired of being wanged. Bang, clang, bang, clang more often than not was the drill. Easy-peasy comes to mind when using the .44 Special loads. A fun thing is you can often watch the big bullets sort of lope in before hitting the steel at this distance. I kept laughing out loud at that. Who needs a flat-shooting magnum anyhow?

So?

So, it’s fun, that’s what. As I always say, sell off some of your commodity guns and put the money to work on something really fun, likely to hold its value — and even grow — and will deliver a complete lack of buyer’s remorse. These sorts of projects also tend to cause you to grin for no apparent reason, and at inappropriate moments. Pair it with a beautiful, practical holster — like the flapped field paddle rig by Purdy Gear, shown — and the grin will extend from ear to ear.
Thanks Ken, and thanks Mag-na-port. The Haka! helps to make the Huntington family sleep more soundly at night in these semi-scary times. I have to admit, the idea of a Maori warrior standing guard duty does have merit.

For more info:

www.magnaport.com
Ph: (586) 469-6727

www.smith-wesson.com

www.purdygear.com
Ph: (706) 692-5536

www.black-hills.com
Ph: (605) 348-5150

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