.44 magnum, is it practical????

H

Half-Price Assassin

New member
i have some cash, and i am thinking of getting a Glock 21, or a Smith & Wesson 629 Classic .44 magnum. but i am not sure if a .44 magnum is something i should buy. i want it for home defense, but is this something i could shoot well one handed and half asleep if i had to shoot an intruder at 3am?? can this gun be fired with one hand, or is that just a clint eastwood thing? is the recoil insane? i asked a guy at work, and he said it kicks really hard, and one handed shooting is out of the question. i heard stories from range master say that they know plenty of guys that have bought .44magnums, shot 3 rounds, and sold them with a box of 47 rounds, is this true too? i guess i want a gun with stopping power, i have a bunch of 9mm's, and one .40sw. so should i just go to a Glock 21, or get the, "Mother", of all stopping power handguns?

thanks for any replies. :)
 
Just because it is a magnum you don't have to load it with magnum ammo. You can always load it with .44 spl cartridges. To be honest though you have no experience with the magnum big bore so you should leave it alone since you are looking for a defensive handgun.
Look for someone at the range shooting a .44 mag and ask them to let you fire a couple of full power rounds. That should quickly answer your questions.
 
.44 good for defense. One-handed? No.

Howdy,

The .44 magnum is a useful self-defense and hunting revolver. With it you have the capability to use the milder .44 Special round; less velocity and recoil. This would be a good self-defense round for the house. The .44 magnum rounds would be pretty much for hunting. Too much velocity and risk of over-penetration for self-defense in a house.
As for one-handed fire, that's difficult to imagine with a gun weighing over 50oz! They're fun to shoot and expensive to feed. Great intimidation value if a bad guy ever DOES get in your house!

Larry C.
 
44 Magnum for home defense is not a wise choice. I am a lover of Magnum handguns but you take great risks in such power in closed in environments. Are your children in the other room? The 44 mag will penetrate walls and possibly kill the people you intend to protect. Your 40 S&W is a better choice.

As to 1 handed 44 Magnum firing. I have done it with DA and it isn't the easiest thing to do accuarately but it can be done. Easier with a SA but a follow up shot is slower too.

If you just want a magnum, them the 44 is a wise choice. It's mild by todays standards as the 454, 480, 500 have all dethrowned it for most powerfull but don't take that to mean the 44 Magnum is tame by any means. With full house loads it can be quite the handfull. I've reached my limit after 50-75 rounds of the hot stuff. The 44 ammunition is the upside as there are many different factory loads in all power ranges available. You can also shoot 44 Special.

If you load your own you are probably better off going with a 454 Casull/45 Long Colt. Even MORE power and you can download the 45LC. Gives you the largest power range at a very affordable price. 45 LC is ballistically identical to 44 magnum with a larger bullet and lower operating pressure.
 
I am no expert on .44 magnums. I shot one, once. I used to own a .44 Mag Winchester 1894 rifle. I have a .357.

I just read Bill Jordans "No Second Place Winner" book. It was his very well considered and experienced opinion that a .44 mag was not desireable because even the best shooter can not quickly recover and get off a second shot with the gun.

He was stuck with the .357 which he considered as good as he could get but which he records as very slightly underpowered. But he was very enthusiastic about the .41 which he thought to have a much power as a fellow could accurately manage. When the book was being written the .41 was just out of the collaboration stage between gun makers and ammo makers.
 
Just my opinion, but in my view, your best bet is with 9mm/40S&W/.45ACP in semiauto, or .38 Special+P/.357Magnum lite in revolver. If you want to improve your odds, I think you want to focus on increasing your proficiency with the weapon, not the size of it.
 
I'd still pick ANY revolver over a semi as a first/HD gun. You can be 3/4 assleep and still work a revolver. Pick-up, pull trigger. A semi takes some thought about safeties, slides, mags, SA vs DA, jamming etc. A big bore revolver like a 29 is a good choice, you just need to be realistic about ammo choice. load it with 44 specials and it'l be an excellent HD hand gun ( and have less felt recoil than the glock)
 
Even better option

If you really want the mother of all stopping power handguns, I'd get this .500 S&W:
170231_large.jpg


Clearly more effective for home defense than that pantywaist .44 Magnum. :p

P.S. After you miss all 6 shots, it will make an awesome implement for pistol-whipping, with over 5lb of steel - think that little 22oz Glock can do that??? :eek: You can't pistolwhip bad guys with Tupperware, only a real man's gun can do that :p :D :)
 
Not to mention the muzzle flash. You probably would be blinded for the second shot! That's why the highway patrol backed off from carrying the .357. Muzzle flash blindness at night.

One of the funniest things I ever remember at a public range was when a guy comes in with his pretty girl friend. This macho guy had rented the largest gun available at the counter, a .44 mag revolver. He cranks the target out to about 7 yards, braces his whole body against the table,holds the gun in two hands and takes 6 rapid double action shots, gun flying everywhere. He cranks the target back to impress his girlfriend and there was not one hole on the big sillouette target. LOL. LMAO ---to myself of course. He had the big gun and me only shooting a .22 2inch groups one handed at 50 feet..
 
2nd the vote for revolver over semi when you are half-asleep

2nd the idea of a .357....

Still ROTFLMAO on the 44 range post....

Seriously I love to get a 629 myself, but unless you live in bear country or plan on using it for hunting, the 44 mag is overkill for HD. (unless you don't like your next door neighbor either). If you hit the BG squarewith the .357 you won't have to worry about the BG anymore.

My 2 cents...
 
In one episode Dirty Harry was discussing loads with his partner (played by Tyne Daly) . He told her that he used loads that were like those of a .357- in the heavy .44 it gave him a lot of controllability.
 
It's kinda like, "am I satisfied with putting a 1/2 inch hole through both sides of someone, or would I rather put a 1/2 inch hole through them, the wall, the other wall, the door, the mailbox, and the car." Then again, people use shotguns for HD all the time. By comparison, the .44 is mild. Btw, stopping power and handgun don't really belong in the same sentence, fwiw.
 
contrary to popular belief, the .44 mag will not take your hand off. i got a ruger redhawk a couple months back in said caliber, and my first time out to the range was not so bad. i'm used to much smaller sight radii, to the tune of maybe 4" compared to this one's 7+, so at 10 yards i was no ace but easily kept them all in a COM-sized circle. granted it would be a different ballgame under stress, fire quickly in double-action (although DA isn't so bad either), but i wouldn't discourage you unless you've got ridiculously long hallways. the .44 is noticeably louder but i wouldn't say you'd black out from sound overload or anything. i dunno, it's a fun gun, and if i had time to hesitate in a SD situation, i'd definitely give the redhawk a glance. i do keep one speedloader filled with 240gr gold dots, and another with federal 300gr. in reality i know i'd just grab the .40 and give the 9mm to a family member if possible, but there will always be the desire to go dirty harry on some BG's butt. if i was ever in an open carry state and in such a mood, i definitely think that'd be my first choice to show off once i get more proficient with it.
 
In addition to the S&W .500, another gun I can recommend for plinking and home defense is this little BFR in .45/70:
BFRrifle.jpg


As you can see, the barrel is long enough to significantly close the distance to the bad guy and thereby improve practical/tactical accuracy. :D
 
In general I think revolvers tend to be better as a 1st HD gun but not all semi-autos are hard to work. I pretty much use my Beretta 92 as a HD and sometimes as a camping gun that is back up to either a .308 rifle or 12ga. shotgun with slugs. I don't the .44Mag is a good self-defense weapon because of muzzle flash, excessive noice and impulse and recoil. The .44Mag was never designed to be an urban personal defense round. Its a backwoods cartridge. Put it this way, from my experience a .44Mag with hearing protection on is almost as loud as a .45ACP without hearing protection. When standing next to someone shooting a .44Mag it vibrates your chest. You might be as scared to fire off another shot in a SD situation as you are of the BG. .357Mag is pretty good but still has a lot of muzzle flash. I would just stick with your 9mm and .40 guns for HD. Get the .44Mag for backwoods hiking and camping. Every serious handgunner has to have a .357Mag revolver though. Its the most versatile handgun cartridge ever made. Its powerful enough for backwoods HD yet you can shoot lighter loads for plinking and HD and even shoot .38spl, which is cheap and easy to find. While you can use .44spl in a .44Mag revolver it isn't exactly easy to find and costs nearly as much as .44Mag ammo.
 
The 44 mag is too much for HD but there are some excellent 44Spl loads that perform well such as the Win Silvertip.That has been redesigned and expands nicely!
 
My own personal opinion says that the 44mag. is a very good choice. They come in all sizes and weights. You can get a snub nose or a ten inch barrel. They can shoot monster rounds or the 44 spl pussy cats. I plink with my magnums. I shoot full house loads. The 44spl's are almost laughable, yet effective. If you have a chance, try to shoot a couple of different style .44's. There is a great deal of difference in perceived recoil between them. I have a 9mm also. I prefer the .44.
kid
 
Like others have said, the .44 Special would be a good choice for home defense, but I wouldn't go full-bore Magnums.

As to your friend saying that .44 Magnum rounds are uncomfortable to shoot, you'll just have to try them out and see. I'm only 5'9" and about 170lbs, and I shoot full power Magnums a lot - sometimes one-handed. It's not the killer everyone says it is. With two hands, it's just fine, no big deal at all. With one hand, it's naturally a little more of a recoiling kick, but still, not unmanagable by any means. Like anything else, you get used to it.

The .44 is one of my favorite guns. Lots of fun and lots of options. :)
 
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