Wait. What? Yet another size frame for a revolver platform you say?
When the LFrame S&W revolver was invented I had already been shooting thousands of rounds through KFrames. If we needed something bigger, that’s what our NFrames were for. S&W touted it to be able to digest .357 Magnum loads with more endurance than the KFrame. That didn’t interest many of us at first, as most of us thought the .357 magnum round was the perfect RIFLE carbine round or at least a heavy hunting handgun or single shot Contender round. A few of us simply did not shoot the .357 Magnum rounds out of carry revolvers. Just too much percussion, noise and kick for responsible and accurate shooting in my book. We could shoot .10MM, 41 and 44 Magnums out of NFrames that was more pleasant than 357 Magnums out of J, K, or LFrames. Having no editor to please I can say what I believe without being fired. Try that Gunny Magazine.
Going neck to neck with the expensive, hard to get, fragile Colt Python, the S&W L Frame proved far superior on the range with millions of rounds under it’s belt in range time. For a thorough story on this 1980 new frame check out The Smith & Wesson L-Frame Story - RevolverGuy.Com.
This review is about the rare 5 Shot Model 696 in .44 Special. This particular one belongs to my lifelong friend Big Starr. Try finding one of these at your local hardware store. This 3 inch full lug barrel with standard length ejector rod shoots like a dream. I know, I know, “it only holds 5”. That has been enough to get me through a long life and many travels and I must say after all, who wants to be the first 5?
First the 44 Special Round. As my friend Brian Pierce wrote in his piece “Pet Loads” on page 38 0f the August 2022 issue Handloader (my favorite magazine) Handloader Magazine, the .44 Special is a descendant of the .44 Russian. Improved in 1907 this round remains even more improved ballistically today. In the picture left to right we have a 44 Magnum case, a .44 Special Case, a loaded 240 hard cast load, an Acme coated 240 Grain bullet and a Remington 240 Grain JSP bullet followed by a recovered Remington bullet dug out of the clay behind a piece of oak 2 inches thick. Now the ballistic boys will want to point out the charts and graphs and trauma tails of the newer more efficient superior rounds of today. I do agree it is nice to have so many to choose from but none come with a 115 year history and most of them do not have the ambience of nice big pieces of brass going into the charge holes. Plus the .44 Special was born here in America. NATO who?
Now this gun is no light weight. Model 69 | Smith & Wesson (smith-wesson.com) Tipping the scales at over 35 ounces this gun is harder to carry but easier to shoot than many of the micro pistols on the market today. From the very early days, it has been my belief that good guns require good holsters. Good holsters require good belts. This is the secret to carrying in a way that is comforting. Now this rig is not as inexpensive as a nylon or a kydex container, but it will last a lifetime. Many times I witness the shortcuts taken by casual gun owners that skimp on their gun garage. The good news is most of the guns have drop safeties built in so a few gravel marks or embarrassment is the only cost of poor equipment. Hopefully. My double lined leather belt is 1 ¾ inches thick and my Galco IWB open muzzle reverse out re enforced mouth holster has smooth leather around the gun for a swift and silent presentation and I can use various barrel lengths with no problem.
This S&W 696 is from 1996. It has no dash as Smith was already using the improved yoke system with the bigger plunger yoke screw as shown in the picture when they introduced this limited run. Also this gun uses a standard length ejector rod being as it is a 3 inch barrel. Shorter ejector rods can hinder faster reloads if needed. This gun has a pinned front sight blade as well and is something that should be on all revolvers for ease of regulating POI for whatever load one wants to run with.
One of my favorite things to do is to practice my long range shooting with short barreled handguns. As a matter of fact, as a younger Trapper Jim, Big Starr and I used to sit on the hillside and take pot shots at the 1947 Dodge Desoto rusting away in the lower pasture some 300 yards away. Back then we used our Super Blackhawks. I wonder what ever happened to that ventilated tin can on wheels. I wish I would have had this gun then but today we can just ring our steel plates with this snubby and call it a day.
Handloading and factory fodder makes todays .44 Special special. The various .429 bullets that are available cover a large range and handloading is very easy with today’s powder. Bullseye, Unique, Sport Pistol, Green Dot and American Select are all great powders for the .44 Special. I tend to stay with American made powders since this is my Homeland and Hercules (now Alliant) has worked well for me. There is much reloading data to be found on the 44 special. In addition to my reloading manuals, I use https://loaddata.com/ as well.
One year at Bend me over at the River Conservation Club during our many revolver only matches I used a 5 shot 696 when the craze was for Baughman conversions and open guns being expanded to 7,8, and even 9 rounds. I did not win that match but records show I placed well against all those that shot more, missed more.
Like most things today, the instant gratification crowd, won’t be getting into revolvers any time soon. Video games that only allow 5 rounds are not very popular it seems. It is also not the preferred choice for Active Shooters. Street carry with this outfit is cautionary. It is not for everybody. Fast and accurate revolver shooting takes commitment and determination to develop a good skill set. Sound familiar?
I enjoy shooting this medium sized revolver and it is well made and will last a very long time I think. I am not sure why this model was discontinued but one only has to look at the lineup from manufacturers today to see where the market is. The tail has certainly wagged the marketing dog. Wait. What?
See you on the Range
Trapper
When the LFrame S&W revolver was invented I had already been shooting thousands of rounds through KFrames. If we needed something bigger, that’s what our NFrames were for. S&W touted it to be able to digest .357 Magnum loads with more endurance than the KFrame. That didn’t interest many of us at first, as most of us thought the .357 magnum round was the perfect RIFLE carbine round or at least a heavy hunting handgun or single shot Contender round. A few of us simply did not shoot the .357 Magnum rounds out of carry revolvers. Just too much percussion, noise and kick for responsible and accurate shooting in my book. We could shoot .10MM, 41 and 44 Magnums out of NFrames that was more pleasant than 357 Magnums out of J, K, or LFrames. Having no editor to please I can say what I believe without being fired. Try that Gunny Magazine.
Going neck to neck with the expensive, hard to get, fragile Colt Python, the S&W L Frame proved far superior on the range with millions of rounds under it’s belt in range time. For a thorough story on this 1980 new frame check out The Smith & Wesson L-Frame Story - RevolverGuy.Com.
This review is about the rare 5 Shot Model 696 in .44 Special. This particular one belongs to my lifelong friend Big Starr. Try finding one of these at your local hardware store. This 3 inch full lug barrel with standard length ejector rod shoots like a dream. I know, I know, “it only holds 5”. That has been enough to get me through a long life and many travels and I must say after all, who wants to be the first 5?
First the 44 Special Round. As my friend Brian Pierce wrote in his piece “Pet Loads” on page 38 0f the August 2022 issue Handloader (my favorite magazine) Handloader Magazine, the .44 Special is a descendant of the .44 Russian. Improved in 1907 this round remains even more improved ballistically today. In the picture left to right we have a 44 Magnum case, a .44 Special Case, a loaded 240 hard cast load, an Acme coated 240 Grain bullet and a Remington 240 Grain JSP bullet followed by a recovered Remington bullet dug out of the clay behind a piece of oak 2 inches thick. Now the ballistic boys will want to point out the charts and graphs and trauma tails of the newer more efficient superior rounds of today. I do agree it is nice to have so many to choose from but none come with a 115 year history and most of them do not have the ambience of nice big pieces of brass going into the charge holes. Plus the .44 Special was born here in America. NATO who?
Now this gun is no light weight. Model 69 | Smith & Wesson (smith-wesson.com) Tipping the scales at over 35 ounces this gun is harder to carry but easier to shoot than many of the micro pistols on the market today. From the very early days, it has been my belief that good guns require good holsters. Good holsters require good belts. This is the secret to carrying in a way that is comforting. Now this rig is not as inexpensive as a nylon or a kydex container, but it will last a lifetime. Many times I witness the shortcuts taken by casual gun owners that skimp on their gun garage. The good news is most of the guns have drop safeties built in so a few gravel marks or embarrassment is the only cost of poor equipment. Hopefully. My double lined leather belt is 1 ¾ inches thick and my Galco IWB open muzzle reverse out re enforced mouth holster has smooth leather around the gun for a swift and silent presentation and I can use various barrel lengths with no problem.
This S&W 696 is from 1996. It has no dash as Smith was already using the improved yoke system with the bigger plunger yoke screw as shown in the picture when they introduced this limited run. Also this gun uses a standard length ejector rod being as it is a 3 inch barrel. Shorter ejector rods can hinder faster reloads if needed. This gun has a pinned front sight blade as well and is something that should be on all revolvers for ease of regulating POI for whatever load one wants to run with.
One of my favorite things to do is to practice my long range shooting with short barreled handguns. As a matter of fact, as a younger Trapper Jim, Big Starr and I used to sit on the hillside and take pot shots at the 1947 Dodge Desoto rusting away in the lower pasture some 300 yards away. Back then we used our Super Blackhawks. I wonder what ever happened to that ventilated tin can on wheels. I wish I would have had this gun then but today we can just ring our steel plates with this snubby and call it a day.
Handloading and factory fodder makes todays .44 Special special. The various .429 bullets that are available cover a large range and handloading is very easy with today’s powder. Bullseye, Unique, Sport Pistol, Green Dot and American Select are all great powders for the .44 Special. I tend to stay with American made powders since this is my Homeland and Hercules (now Alliant) has worked well for me. There is much reloading data to be found on the 44 special. In addition to my reloading manuals, I use https://loaddata.com/ as well.
One year at Bend me over at the River Conservation Club during our many revolver only matches I used a 5 shot 696 when the craze was for Baughman conversions and open guns being expanded to 7,8, and even 9 rounds. I did not win that match but records show I placed well against all those that shot more, missed more.
Like most things today, the instant gratification crowd, won’t be getting into revolvers any time soon. Video games that only allow 5 rounds are not very popular it seems. It is also not the preferred choice for Active Shooters. Street carry with this outfit is cautionary. It is not for everybody. Fast and accurate revolver shooting takes commitment and determination to develop a good skill set. Sound familiar?
I enjoy shooting this medium sized revolver and it is well made and will last a very long time I think. I am not sure why this model was discontinued but one only has to look at the lineup from manufacturers today to see where the market is. The tail has certainly wagged the marketing dog. Wait. What?
See you on the Range
Trapper
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