.44 magnum or .44-40?
- Thread starter Alden
- Start date
- Status
Trigger Finger
New member
While the 44-40 is a good cartridge the 44 magnum is much more powerful.
This is true if you buy the ammo. I would estimate that the 44 magnum is about two to three times more powerful. If you buy the ammo there is no comparison. If you reload you can increase the 44-40 up to much higher power levels but still not as potent as a 44 magnum. You have to carefull what you shoot the 44-40 out of, older guns can't handle very high power levels.
You can reload the 44 magnum to higher power levels than you can buy or you can download the 44 mag to 44 special levels or slightly less than a 44-40.
This is true if you buy the ammo. I would estimate that the 44 magnum is about two to three times more powerful. If you buy the ammo there is no comparison. If you reload you can increase the 44-40 up to much higher power levels but still not as potent as a 44 magnum. You have to carefull what you shoot the 44-40 out of, older guns can't handle very high power levels.
You can reload the 44 magnum to higher power levels than you can buy or you can download the 44 mag to 44 special levels or slightly less than a 44-40.
The difference is pressure, the 44 Magnum can be loaded to high pressure. The 44-40 is an older low pressure round.
The 44 Magnum will push a 240 gr pill around 1,500 fps, more from a carbine.
The 44-40 will push a 200 gr pill around 1,200 fps.
Now, both are really pistol rounds, and any animal you shoot will not be able to tell the difference. But 44 Mag is a lot cheaper, and more common.
Jimro
The 44 Magnum will push a 240 gr pill around 1,500 fps, more from a carbine.
The 44-40 will push a 200 gr pill around 1,200 fps.
Now, both are really pistol rounds, and any animal you shoot will not be able to tell the difference. But 44 Mag is a lot cheaper, and more common.
Jimro
You can buy .44 magnums at Walmart. That sells it for me. Pair that with a Colt Anaconda and you have a heck of a set. But then, I also don't own a 44-40...my three 45 long colts are expensive enough.
Of course, the aforementioned logic is coming from a guy who shoots a Five-seveN and a Walther PP Super whose rounds are hard to get and impossible to get.
Of course, the aforementioned logic is coming from a guy who shoots a Five-seveN and a Walther PP Super whose rounds are hard to get and impossible to get.
Trigger Finger
New member
Iron Man, how do you like the PP Super? I have been trying to get one for quite awhile. Ammo would be a problem but these are one of the very best looking Walthers I have seen.
OK, so if it's that much less powerful than the .44 mag, yet it was once the most common round used in lever guns and has taken countless deer, I'm thinking economically and practically that a .44 magnum lever gun should suite my needs perfectly. I live in Florida, I mostly just shoot at the range, but when I do hunt, I don't take long shots, ever. Really, I just never have. Is thick and brushy where I hunt, and we mostly see hogs and small deer.
So, .45-70 ammo off the shelf (and you can't find that one at Walmart, where I buy most of my ammo) is about $30 for 20 rounds. .44-40 is probably about the same, I'm guessing, whereas .44 magnum is around $33 for 50.
Big, big difference there.
So, .45-70 ammo off the shelf (and you can't find that one at Walmart, where I buy most of my ammo) is about $30 for 20 rounds. .44-40 is probably about the same, I'm guessing, whereas .44 magnum is around $33 for 50.
Big, big difference there.
The 44-40 has a terrific history. It's the cartridge that won the west.
However, aside from nostalgia, there is no advantage at all to the 44-40. The 44 mag is much more powerful, uses stronger brass, is easier to reload, the dies are carbide and components are easier to find and cheaper. Aside from that there's not much to recommend it.
However, aside from nostalgia, there is no advantage at all to the 44-40. The 44 mag is much more powerful, uses stronger brass, is easier to reload, the dies are carbide and components are easier to find and cheaper. Aside from that there's not much to recommend it.
Consider a few things...
The .44-40 began as a black powder pistol round, launching its slug in the 900fps range. The case is a slight bottleneck, and the brass is thin. Modern ammo is loaded to pressures and velocities safe in the old black powder guns.
Yes, it gains in performance when fired from a carbine, all pistol rounds do.
The .44 Magnum is a modern handgun round, loaded to a much higher pressure, launching its bullets in the 1200-1600fps range, depending on weight and load. It is a straight wall case, and designed with magnum pressures in mind. Fired from a carbine, it is significantly more powerful than the .44-40 in a similar carbine, just as it is in a handgun.
True enough, no animal will know the difference with a good shot, but the higher velocities of the .44 mag make it easier for the shooter to make a good shot at longer (for the class of round) ranges.
The .44-40 began as a black powder pistol round, launching its slug in the 900fps range. The case is a slight bottleneck, and the brass is thin. Modern ammo is loaded to pressures and velocities safe in the old black powder guns.
Yes, it gains in performance when fired from a carbine, all pistol rounds do.
The .44 Magnum is a modern handgun round, loaded to a much higher pressure, launching its bullets in the 1200-1600fps range, depending on weight and load. It is a straight wall case, and designed with magnum pressures in mind. Fired from a carbine, it is significantly more powerful than the .44-40 in a similar carbine, just as it is in a handgun.
True enough, no animal will know the difference with a good shot, but the higher velocities of the .44 mag make it easier for the shooter to make a good shot at longer (for the class of round) ranges.
I reload both the 44 mag and the 44-40. I shoot the magnum rounds in a Henry and the 44-40 rounds in a Winchester model 92. The 44-40 shells are much thinner, therefor they are not capable of holding as much pressure as the magnum round. Both use the same bullet. The older shell can be squeezed together somewhat with just your fingers/thumb. You can't do that with the magnum round. The 44-40 cost more and can only find them online.
Brass does not hold pressure. The surrounding steel does.
(EX: I regularly use "thin" 32-20 brass in my 30 Carbine Rugers -- at 357 Mag pressures)
That said -- and as the owner/feeder of several 44-40s and 44Mags -- The 44Mag wins hands down/running away as the One-Cartridge-Does-All.
44-40 for nostalgia, fun, and pretty good on small-game through close-in whitetail.
44 Mag when your life depends on it.
(EX: I regularly use "thin" 32-20 brass in my 30 Carbine Rugers -- at 357 Mag pressures)
That said -- and as the owner/feeder of several 44-40s and 44Mags -- The 44Mag wins hands down/running away as the One-Cartridge-Does-All.
44-40 for nostalgia, fun, and pretty good on small-game through close-in whitetail.
44 Mag when your life depends on it.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
The factory loads for the .44-40 are safe in the early firearms. Colt SAA, for example. Loading toward .44 Maggie pressures could easily create a handful of scrap iron.
Might be okay in a modern-steel lever rifle.
Lot of difference between guns designed around 12,000 psi "back then" and today's 35,000 psi of the Maggie.
Might be okay in a modern-steel lever rifle.
Lot of difference between guns designed around 12,000 psi "back then" and today's 35,000 psi of the Maggie.
ligonierbill
New member
I don't believe anyone is making a firearm chambered in 44-40 that is designed for anywhere near .44 Mag pressures. I suppose you could get, say, a custom chambered Ruger No. 1 and try it, but you would be in uncharted territory. As has been stated, the old 44 WCF is strictly a replica/cowboy action/nostalgia round. Here's some data from a couple of mine:
NEF Handi Rifle/240 XTP over max published H110/1,852 fps
Uberti copy of Winchester 1873/200 cast over Unique/1,270 fps
Now, within 100 yards, a deer probably won't know the difference. I have seen that HR put a big hole completely through a deer. The '73 isn't going to do that, but 140+ years of history says it will be lethal.
NEF Handi Rifle/240 XTP over max published H110/1,852 fps
Uberti copy of Winchester 1873/200 cast over Unique/1,270 fps
Now, within 100 yards, a deer probably won't know the difference. I have seen that HR put a big hole completely through a deer. The '73 isn't going to do that, but 140+ years of history says it will be lethal.
The Winchester 92 and clones will do it and much, much more. The 44-40 can be loaded to .44 mag pressures but the cases won't last long. The .45 Colt can be loaded above .44 mag pressures. Walmart here used to sell 44-40 but it was 45.00 bucks per 50 rounds. I have a 44-40 and like it better than .44 mag but that's just nostalgia. The .44 mag is the better cartridge but I wouldn't hesitate to make a 100 yard shot on a deer with my 44-40. I imagine the 44-40 has taken just about as many deer as the 30-30.
ligonierbill
New member
I forgot about the '92. Indeed, there are replicas for sale chambered in .44 Mag. Ironically, I bought my first 44-40, a SAA clone, because I do load .45 Colt to high (but still published) "Ruger only" levels. I went with the .44 to eliminate the possibility of dropping one of those nuclear 45s into a pretty cowboy gun. You're still on your own, as far as I know, in loading 44-40 over spec. Or has somebody run some numbers?
- Status