.44 special in Ruger Redhawk 5.5"

[nasem]

I just bought a ruger redhawk 5.5" (used with almost new condtion) for $470 Out-the-door

I was wondering, is it OK to fire those lead slugs of .44 special in them?  .44 mag loads will also be used alot, but my father is not a big fan of too much recoil so I wanted him to use the ligher load .44 special

by the way, I don't reload and I don't intend to for the time being (too busy with school and work)

thanks folks

[warrior1]

yes sir you can use the 44 special loads in your redhawk. just be sure to scrub out the cylinder before switching
to 44 mag.

[nasem]

is it becuase I'll have one nasty barrel full of lead that will need hours to clean... right ?

[Graybeard]

No not at all. Notice he said CYLINDER not barrel.

Any time you shoot a shorter round in a long chamber there will be a bit of crud that builds up at the end of the shorter case. You want to remove it before firing the longer rounds. At least that's the theory. In a gun with tolerances like a Ruger it's not really as big a deal as it is in a revolver like the FA guns with super tight tolerances. Still it's a good practice to develop.

[Old Griz]

If you fire the shorter .44 Special cartridges first, it will leave residue in the cylinder. The ends of the longer .44 mag cartridges will be pressed against this residue and stick. This makes it harder to eject the empty brass. So you will either have to clean the cylinder after shooting the Specials, or shoot the magnum rounds first, and then shoot the Specials.