JT
BBBG
Wednesday, February 09, 2022, 12:36

Big Bore Belly Guns Part III
Campfire Tales by John Taffin
Double Action Big Bore Belly Guns Today
As mentioned Smith & Wesson was the first manufacturer to offer .357 Magnum double action Big Bore Belly Guns with the original 3-1/2” .357 Magnum in 1935 as well as the 2-1/2” Combat Magnum 30 years later. One of my bedside sixguns is the 3”, fixed-sight, heavy-barrel Model 65 .357 Magnum fitted with Herrett’s Detective stocks. S&W has offered the Model 627, an eight-shot .357 Magnum with a snub of a barrel, as well as a 3” Heavy Barreled Model 629 stainless .44 Magnum and the same basic gun in the blued Model 29 version. I found the latter, or I should say Diamond Dot found ours at a local gun shop.
Local gun shops are great places to find BBBGs and two worth looking for are out of production Smith & Wesson L-frame .44 Specials. The Model 696 is an all-steel, 5-shot, heavy-barreled .44 Special and this one is also equipped with Herrett’s Detective stocks while its companion Model 396 Mountain Lite is the lightweight version. Due to its much lighter weight this one is equipped with finger-grooved rubber grips for controllability. Both are fed diets of factory loads or handloads using the Speer 200 grain Gold Dot JHP.
Taurus also offers or has offered several versions of BBBGs with my most used being the 3” stainless steel Model 441. This five-shot .44 Special has been tuned to perfection by Bill Oglesby and also fitted with high visibility sights consisting of a V-notch rear sight paired up with a large bead front sight. This is my office gun always in easy reach while I am working at the computer. It is loaded with the same ammunition used in the Bulldogs and Smith & Wesson .44 Specials.
Most of the belly guns described thus far are mainly for every day carry, however there are some that are exceptionally comforting when traveling off the beaten path sagebrush, foothills, forests and mountains. Ruger offers what is probably the most powerful factory produced double action BBBG that being the Alaskan Model with a 2-3/4” barrel and chambered in .454 Casull. It is definitely a handful and the finger grooved rubber grips are highly appreciated. If one does not need the extreme power of the .454 it is also offered in .44 Magnum. Ruger just recently began offering two new .357 Magnum Big Bore Belly Guns in the 3” GP-100, and the smaller sized 2-1/4” five-shot SP101. The latter is a handful especially, however if ever needed in a serious situation the recoil will not be noticed. A third BBBG is their high-cap belly gun, the eight-shot, 2-3/4” .357 Magnum Redhawk,
My friend the late Larry Kelly of Mag-na-port, who originated the porting process, was also a pioneer in offering Big Bore Belly Guns. In the early 1980s he began offering Combat Mini-Magnum Conversions on Smith & Wesson double action sixguns such as the Model 29/629.44 Magnums, Model 25 in .45 Colt, the .41 Magnum Model 57, in fact any N-frames. Barrels were cut from the frame end as well as the muzzle end resulting in a 2-1/2” to 3” barrel length. After the barrel was cut it was given a special deep dish crown, fitted with a new Baughman-style front sight, and mag-na-ported. For easier handling, the grip frame was round butted and fitted with Pachmayr Compac grips. This conversion is still offered by Larry’s son Kenny who is now quite successfully heading up Mag-na-port and he also offers this conversion on the Colt Anaconda.
Gary Reeder offers a full line of double action BBBGs such as the Alaskan Survivalist chambered in .44 Magnum or .45 Colt, the aptly named Urban Survivalist in .44 Special, and Da Brute which offers the largest calibers in any BBBG, namely .475 and .500 Linebaugh, as well as Reeder’s original cartridges, the .500GNR and .510 GNR. Gary is willing to make any double action BBBG based on a Ruger Redhawk or Super Redhawk in any chambering which is safe. He starts with the basic Redhawk or Super Redhawk, however the original cylinder is replaced by a brand-new custom five-shot cylinder.
Single Action Big Bore Belly Guns Today
As mentioned earlier Colt has offered the Sheriffs Model sans ejector rod in all three generations, however it is no longer cataloged. USFA also offered an excellent nickel-plated Sheriffs Model but this is also a dead end as they have closed their doors and are now officially out of business. However, all is not lost as a custom sixgunsmith can turn a standard model into a Sheriffs Model by shortening the barrel, removing the ejector rod housing, and also cleaning up the side of the frame which has the receptacle for the ejector rod. EMF offers their Great Western II in a 3” Sheriff’s Model chambered in .45 Colt or .357 Magnum. Cimarron Firearms offers their 3-1/2” Thunderer complete with the ejector rod and offered in .45 Colt, .44-40, .44 Special, and .357 Magnum. Taylor’s & Co. version is the Runnin’ Iron which is also offered in stainless and in .357 Magnum and .45 Colt.
Freedom Arms offers the finest factory produced single action sixguns ever and their Model 83 was at one time offered with a 3” barrel without an ejector rod in .454 and they currently offer the Model 97 in .45 Colt or .44 Special with a 3” barrel, ejector rod and round butt. Buffalo Bore offers standard pressure Heavy Loads for both cartridges with 240-255 grain Keith-style bullets at 1,000 fps. A short-barreled Model 97 in either chambering with Buffalo Bore loads will handle most situations which ever arise this side of Alaska.
Gary Reeder also offers custom single action BBBGs such as the Backpacker in .45 Colt or .44 Magnum and the Ultimate Back-Up in .41GNR. Just as with his double action offerings Gary can make anything which is safe using a five-shot cylinder on a Ruger Blackhawk platform. Gary turned Diamond Dot’s 7” Schofield Model .45 into a 3” Border Special complete with engraving and mastodon grips. Ruger from time to time has offered shorter-barreled sixguns mostly through selected distributors, however I have had a couple Vaqueros, both .45 Colt and .44-40, converted into BBBGs by shortening the barrel and fitting them with Birdshead grip frames. Two other favorite single action BBBGs are a Ruger Blackhawk converted to .44 Special with a 3” barrel and a .44-40 Italian replica single action given the same treatment, except in .44-40 by Milt Morrison. Both are very easy packing little big .44s.
That brings us down to the task of actually choosing a Big Bore Belly Gun from all the many options which have been mentioned. I could certainly get by with any of the single action or double action sixguns discussed. However, what would be my best choices? Actually, as mentioned, we have two categories to consider. One is that of a sixgun which would be used primarily for self-defense while traveling in civilization while the other would be for utilization far from the beaten path where it might be needed against tough, nasty four-legged critters which bite, scratch, gore, or stomp. For the first category from the used gun list I would go with a .357 Magnum 2-1/2” Smith & Wesson Model 19/66. It is easy to conceal, very portable, sufficiently powerful with a large list of ammunition options. Looking at the new gun market my choice would be the relatively new 3” version of the Ruger .357 Magnum GP100. The Ruger GP has been offered for several decades in 4” and 6” versions and has proven itself to be utterly reliable and virtually indestructible.
For traveling foothills, forests, and mountains I would go with something larger depending upon just where my feet would take me. There are larger cartridges offered than the .454, however in my Golden Years this is the upper end of my ability to handle a sixgun well. That leaves me with the choice of the Ruger Alaskan 2-3/4” chambered in .454 and fitted with rubber finger grooved grips which I find absolutely necessary for handling the power of the cartridge in this relatively small sixgun. This same gun has also been offered in the easier handling ,44 Magnum
Life is full of trade-offs. For me at least the longer barrels are much easier to shoot, however the shorter barrels are much easier to pack and definitely quicker into action. As in so many cases we pay our money and we take our choice. That choice is highly subjective