The Era Of The .44 Part II:
Single Actions
There are many great handgun cartridges such as the .357 and .41 Magnums, .45 ACP, .45 Auto Rim, .45 Colt and .454 Casull but none capture my soul and spirit more than the .44s: the .44 Russian, the .44-40, and especially the .44 Special and Magnum.
Mention the words “Single Action,” and most shooters will automatically think .45 Colt. However, .44 single actions came first. The first centerfire big bore single action was the S&W .44 American of 1869. The .44 American used a heeled bullet with the smaller part of the bullet fitting inside the case. The Russians ordered S&Ws and soon made a very important change. The two-step diameter bullet of the .44 American was changed to the standard uniform diameter bullet we still use today as they ordered Americans in .44 Russian. Colt began doing both Richards and Richards-Mason Conversions on 1860 Army percussion sixguns, turning them into .44 Colts. In 1872, the first Colt offered to the military for possible acceptance was the 1871-72 Open-Top chambered in .44 Colt. The .45 did not come along until 1873.
New Frontiers
I am a big fan of single-action sixguns and especially Colt New Frontiers. In the early 1960s, Colt must’ve looked at the Ruger Blackhawk and decided to offer their own adjustable-sighted, flat-topped single action. The result, the New Frontier, is not only very practical but one of the best-looking Colt Single Actions ever offered. I have no idea if the old adage “Good things come in threes” is correct; however, it seems to be so when applied to New Frontiers, they have definitely come in threes for me.
The Second Generation run in the 1960s, as far as .44 Specials go, totaled only 255 pieces, almost split evenly between 5½” and 7½” versions — there were no 4¾” .44 Specials produced. The Second Generation New Frontiers lasted from 1961 to 1974; however, the Third Generation version was only produced from 1978 to 1982. The former all have a four-digit serial number, while the latter New Frontiers are marked with five digits. The Third Generation .44 Special New Frontiers may have only lasted three years; however, this time, over 3,500 were produced. As one might expect, the Second Generation .44 Specials command a much higher price and, generally speaking, are much nicer sixguns.
A Special … Special
I received a call from my friend Jim Martin. Jim is an expert in fast draw and gun spinning, a top-notch tunesmith when it comes to Colt Single Actions, and is the guy who re-built the Great Western .45s, which appeared on the first cover of the first issue of GUNS in January 1955. Jim had recently tuned and tightened a 3rd Generation 7½” New Frontier .44 Special and informed me the owner said it wouldn’t shoot. I have enough contacts to hear about many .44s for sale and I can be selective and only choose those which I think are real bargains; this was a real bargain! “He will sell it for $600 …” and that’s where I immediately interrupted him and said, “I will take it!”
I had a pretty good idea why it wouldn’t shoot and made arrangements for it to be shipped. It arrived the next morning, and within an hour, I had it shooting one-hole groups. Martin had done a magnificent job tuning it to perfection and tightening up the cylinder by installing an oversized bolt.
When I received it, the first thing I noticed was the rear sight was cranked high enough it was obvious the previous owner had been shooting 200-grain bullets, which were probably intended for the .44-40 and also probably sized at 0.427″. The latter is precisely why it wouldn’t shoot. Using plug gauges, I found the cylinder throats of the New Frontier to be a uniform 0.433″. Shooting 0.427″ bullets through such a cylinder is a guarantee of mediocre accuracy. The largest bullets I had loaded in .44 Special cases measured 0.431″ and over 7.5 grains of Universal, they and the “new” New Frontier shot superbly.
At Long Last
That was the first of a trio of .44 NFs over a short period of time. Next came a replacement for the .44-40 I couldn’t afford to buy 30 years ago. Actually, Colt sent me two 4¾” test guns in 1981, and I didn’t have the money to buy them, so I had to pass. These are relatively rare revolvers also, with only just over 500 being made with this barrel length. Later, I got a call from Cliff’s, one of our local gun stores, telling me they had something they thought I would be interested in. When I saw it, I was definitely interested but I just knew the price would be way too high; it wasn’t! My friend Tony Kojis fitted one-piece ivories, and after 30 years, I had a .44-40 New Frontier 4¾” Perfect Packin’ Pistol.
A Great Western
Over the course of more than four decades I had only seen one Great Western .44 Special for sale. Great Western was the first company to replicate the Colt Single Action beginning in 1954 with their guns all-American made in the Great Western facility in Los Angeles. They had many problems with quality control in the beginning and at various other times before they disappeared in 1962. Then the rule of three kicked in, and three .44 Special Great Westerns came through my hands, two of which had to be completely rebuilt.
One, a 4¾” version found at Cabela’s, was inoperable, and it took a couple of months, but they finally sold it to me for what it was actually worth. It has now been rebuilt to perfection. The one exception was a like-new 5½” version perfectly timed and fitted. I might have been content to keep it as is; however, doing a little trading with Jim Martin found me with several Colt Single Action barrels. For whatever reason, Colt changed the thread pitch on their barrels from 20 to 24 tpi in going from Second to Third Generation Single Actions. The latter is perfect for custom sixguns built on Ruger Blackhawks; however, Great Westerns are the old-style thread pattern. Martin re-cut the threads on a 12″ .44 Special Third Generation Buntline barrel, and my local gunsmith Tom Cripe at Buckhorn installed it on the Great Western, resulting in an excellent shooting Buntline Special.
Double Eagle
Finally, we come to one of the neatest little sixguns in existence. USFA has purchased many of the names formerly used by Colt. One of those is Double Eagle. In the late 1980s, Colt brought out a double action 1911-style semi-automatic in both .45 ACP and 10mm called the Double Eagle; it didn’t last long. USFA’s Double Eagle is a traditional-style Single Action with a 3½” barrel and rounded grip frame. I normally don’t get real excited about single-action sixguns with this style grip frame, however, this one feels and looks so good it is a major exception. Add the beautiful case-colored frame contrasted with the deep blue of the rest of this little sixgun and it had to go to Roy Fishpaw for ivory grips. Normally, there are better choices for a self-defense sixgun than a single action. However, I don’t believe I would feel the least bit handicapped armed with this .44 Special.
I have started passing out sixguns to family members, giving my son and grandson each two Ruger 7½” .44s, a 25th Anniversary Shootists Holiday Bisley .44 Special and a Hunter Model .44 Magnum. I expect .44s will be part of the Taffin Family well into the future.