the bullet selection issue has to do with the cylinder length of the mdl 97s.
FA suggests max OAL of 1.6" for use in the 97's. The 45Colt case is ~1.28", this leaves ~.32" for the "nose to crimp groove length" of the bullet. The 44 spcl case is ~1.16" leaving ~.44" for the nose to crimp groove. in most cases this limits the 97 in 45 to ~250gr SWC. Usually most Keith style bullets won't fit the 97 in 45. Most bullets with weights greater than 250 grains give trouble fitting in the 45's cylinder without trimming brass or crimping over driving bands. this makes the number of 45Colt bullets with the required shorter nose to crimp groove length becomes a bit limited.
44 bullets with nose to crimp groove lengths of <= .44 are a bit more common. ~250 gr keiths do fit. LFN LBTs will work.
SOME people let this subject sway them away from the 45.
I chose the 44 spcl................HOWEVER, guess what i shoot in it? ~250 grain keiths. is there really a difference between a ~250 gr. keith and a 250gr SWC out to ~50 yards?..........i doubt it. second, you can find published "Ruger only loads" for the 97 in 45. FA states the 97 will handle "Ruger Only Loads" published in popular reloading manuals as long as the OAL is <= 1.6"........for the 97 in 44, i'm trusting works like Keith, taffin, skeeter, peirce, etc.
I am 100 percent satisfied with my purchase. Had I bought the 45Colt, i'm sure i would be just as happy. At times i second guess myself and think i should have went with the slightly larger diameter 45 over the 44. I doubt any animal would ever notice the difference though. I know of no piece of paper or gong i've shot yet that has been able to tell me differently
I do suggest getting the factory action job. it makes for one sweet little trigger.
I recently HELD a 3-1/2" 97 with the round butt. Just kind of felt like something was missing while aiming it. I'm happy i chose the regular butt. It seems to fill out my hand a bit better and offer a bit more stability (probably all in my head though)............However I can see where the round butt would contribute to a 97 being a bit more comfortable/out of the way as a packing pistol.
This probably doesn't say much for my shooting prowness, but I shoot my 4-1/4" 97 just as poorly as I shoot any other revolver, up to 5-1/2" rugers.
Off hand, out to ~65 yards i miss the same gongs about the same number of times with the 97 as i do with other longer barreled revolvers.
To me, the 4-1/4" 97 balances great. it's a great gun and i haven't shot any of my other 44 spcls since receiving my 97 this past january (i believe it was january).
~c.r.
