I'll chime in as being in the "it all depends on your location" group.
If I lived in or frequented an area where I'd have to face Grizzly/Brown Bears, then I could see having a .44 Mag. If I were doing any sort of handgun hunting then I could see having a longer barrel .44 Mag.
But I don't live anywhere near Mr Grizzly and I have no real desire to go where he is. For that matter, where I frequent, there just aren't any bears. Or, if there are, they are only Black Bears (which can be handled with a properly loaded .357 Mag). And I really don't have any desire to do any handgun hunting. Not saying that I have no intention of having a handgun on my hip while hunting, but I don't intend to use it as my primary hunting weapon. Thus, I really don't see the need for the extra performance that the .44 brings.
But that is just me. Others may have those needs, and for them the .44 Mag may be just the ticket.
For me, I can't envision anything that a large frame .44 Mag revolver would do for me that a medium frame .357 Mag revolver wouldn't also do just as well, but in a lighter and more convenient package.
The .357 Magnum gives me ample performance to handle my foreseeable needs. It also gives me the ability to shoot .38 Spl, which is nice since that means I can load up extra light wadcutters for pleasant low recoil plinking & target practice. It may not cover all conceivable needs for everyone, but it covers all the needs I have in a center fire revolver. YMMV.
FWIW, for those who do need the extra performance that the .44 Mag provides, I happen to believe that if you are going to go up to a large frame, high performance big bore revolver, then you really should be considering going with a .454 Cas instead. IMHO, there isn't anything that .44 Mag/.44 Spl does that .454 Cas/.45 Colt doesn't do better.
The point I was trying to show is that some of the high powered, +P .44 loads are nearly equal to the 454 Casull in muzzle energy.
While this may be true, you are comparing hot .44 Mag loads to conventional .454 Cas loads. If you were to push the .454 Cas in a similar manner, there wouldn't be such a favorable comparison. The thing is, in your initial comparison, you are overclocking the one and not overclocking the other. In the long run, which is the better choice? The .44 which is operating outside of its design parameters, or the .454 Cas which is operating within its design parameters?
Yes, it is true that if all you are needing is bear protection and aren't planning to shoot the load on any regular basis, then you can get by with the hot .44. But for any regular basis shooting you'd be better off with the .454.
I tend to agree with you on the ear splitting crack of the .357. I suppose the particular frequencies that are strongest in .357 must be some of the worst for the human ear.
Yeah, "conventional" high velocity .357 Mag loads do have a really pronounced "Crack" (more like a rifle than a handgun is how I think of it). But not all of them. For instance, my handloaded "Bear Loads" (Black Bear, that is) aren't all that bad, and they are actually pretty warm loads. But they are heavy for caliber bullets that aren't going as fast. 180 gr Wide Flat Nose Hardcast, and they have more of a "Boom" than the typical .357 Mag "Crack", which isn't a bad thing. As I understand, the reason for the ear splitting "Crack" is because they are significantly supersonic, and the crack is the sonic boom.
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Reading 44 AMP #91, I find that I agree.
IF you need the extra performance that the .44 Mag requires (as I enumerated above), then that is the better one for you. But if not, then the economic factors that 44 AMP cites means that the .357 Mag is the better solution, especially if you actually shoot it in any significant manner. This is just as significant if you handload (as I do) or if you shoot only factory ammo. On a per round basis, .357 Mag/.38 Spl is cheaper to shoot than .44 Mag/.44 Spl. The smaller caliber round requires fewer resources per round for the handloader, and for the factory load shooter there are additional economy of scale factors that mean that per round prices of the more popular smaller caliber round is significantly less expensive.
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Another factor that may matter to some is that if you have a hunting carbine in either of the 2 calibers, then the desirability of having a revolver in that same caliber increases, all other factors aside. Especially if you are a handloader. Thus, if I hunted with a .44 Mag carbine then it makes sense to have a corresponding .44 Mag revolver alongside. Same thing with .357 Mag.
oh yeah, it can also shoot the same (deliciously light shooting wadcutter) ammo as my wife's .38 special, and I can pick up a 300 rd brick from Cabela's (of .38 +p JHP) for $140.
Yeah, I know what you mean (and yeah, SWMBO also has a .38 Spl, and that factors into the great .357 Mag vs .44 Mag debate). But, when reading your post, I still had to gasp. Good Lord, $140 for 300 rounds of .38 Spl +p JHPs? GAH! I know, factory loads for SD and all. But for stockpile or practice, man, I can beat that up one side and down the next as a handloader. Seriously, if you shoot enough so that you are hunting down deals like that, then you need to start reloading. And when you do, you'll beat that price all to H E Double Hockey Sticks in the long run.
