.44 Magnum vs .45 ACP

W

WheelGunRealGun

New member
I found this "short barrel" .44 Magnum ammo. (It's more like a .44 Special)

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/64...num-200-grain-jacketed-hollow-point-box-of-20

My question is, wouldn't a .45 ACP be more powerful in terms of terminal ballistics?

The .429 caliber, 200 grain bullet going 1,075 fps vs a .452 caliber 230 grain 900 fps bullet.

The .45 ACP has 11% more meplat too, doesn't it? Is this significant?

Can you get a .44 Special to be as powerful as .45 ACP?
 
It's a reduced velocity loading designed for someone who already has a 44 mag and would like to use it for SD.
Otherwise, as you noted, there are many better options out there.

Jim
 
It's a reduced velocity loading designed for someone who already has a 44 mag and would like to use it for SD.
Otherwise, as you noted, there are many better options out there.
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like what? .45 ACP?

I'd really like to know if that .44 magnum "short barrel" load is as powerful as .45 ACP
 
Assuming the 44 is strong enough, handloading hotter is possible. But barrel length is important too. Commercial ammo is usually measured on a 5 inch barrel or so, but that snubnose ammo is built for shorter barrels. We would have to test 45acp ammo out of a 2" barrel for it to be fair.
 
Here is data, also from Midway USA, for comparison and determining which is more powerful:

Speer Gold Dot short barrel 200 gr 44 Magnum
Muzzle Velocity: 1075 fps
Muzzle Energy: 513 ft. lbs.


Speer Golf Dot 230 gr 45 ACP
Muzzle Velocity: 890 fps
Muzzle Energy: 405 ft. lbs.

Lots of variables in ammunition and it's powerfulness. I have loaded 44 Magnum with 44 Special loads. For example 220 gr FPJ at 900 fps and 400 ft lbs. A pussycat round for the magnum case.
 
You're overthinking this stuff and you're talking six of one, half a dozen of the other, in real life those two loads would probably give very similar terminal performance. If you want more "power" there's plenty of other .44mag loads out there that will deliver.
 
WheelGunRealGun:

I never shot anything but jack rabbits with a .44 magnum; however, I have shot a wild boar with the .45 acp. I used a Hornady 200 grain XTP loaded to 1020 fps from my Smith 625. I was hunting with dogs so my shot was point blank. The bullet hit the hog in front of the shoulder and ranged diagonally, taking out three inches of neck bone, for ten or twelve inchen lodging under the ear and behind the jaw bone on the opposite side. The 45 acp is an adequate self defence round. I have reason to belive that a .429, 200 grain bullet at 1075 would giive simular reults. I think it's six of one and a half dozen of the other.

Semper Fi.

Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
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But what load of .44 Special (or magnum?) will equal a self defense load of .45 ACP in terminal ballistics?
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As WC145 said, you can argue all day about the minutiae of one load versus another in .44Spl and .45ACP, since none of them are exactly the same. That said, the .44Spl SD loads from Buffalo Bore, Cor-Bon, Doubletap, Hornady, and Speer are basically equivalent to any high-quality .45ACP SD load in real-world effectiveness. The differences amount to splitting hairs.

Additional Notes:
  • Virtually any quality .44Mag SD load will send most .45ACP loads crying home for their mama. ;) This is generally true with any barrel length under virtually any conditions, but the tradeoff is noise and muzzle blast. .44Spl SD loads are largely marketed to .44Mag owners who wish to use their revolvers for SD without worrying about noise and flash levels that approach naval artillery. :eek:
  • .45ACP factory ammo is generally cheaper and far more widely available than .44Spl. However, the difference largely evaporates if you handload.
 
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You can find answers to your question by researching ammunition, bullet, powder manufacturer's web sites. Also, reloading manuals have a great deal of information.

SD definition depends on the user's perspective. For most, ball ammo in 45 ACP is perfect. For others a hollow point .357 magnum travelling supersonically is preferred.
 
The loading in question is a very light .44 Magnum load. It is labeled as a "short barrel" loading not because it attains maximum velocity from a short barrel, but because it produces much less recoil that full-power loadings (a concern due to the lighter weight of guns with short barrels) and because it is loaded with a bullet that will still expand well at reduced velocities. Speer's 210gr and 240gr Gold Dot .44 Magnum loadings are much more powerful than anything in .45 ACP or the "short barrel" .44 Magnum loading though they will have greatly increased recoil and penetration.

Meplat is also pretty meaningless in an expanding bullet. The important considerations in an expanding bullet are total penetration depth, final expanded diameter, and rapidity of expansion. Meplat is mainly a concern with flat-nosed non-expanding bullets like FMJ or SWC used for hunting large and/or dangerous game.
 
The advantage of the short barrelled 44 mag with full mag load for self defense is. If you miss you will blind your oponent.
 
Can you get a .44 Special to be as powerful as .45 ACP?
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That's been the ongoing joke about my Bulldog all these years that I've owned it. It carrys like a J frame, but hits like an O frame. Almost. It's closer to a 44 Special than it is a Mag. The difference is only on paper.
 
Several questions you must ask before a .44 Magnum .vs. .45 ACP is answered.

1. Exactly what is the 'short barrel' for the .44? 2 inch, 3 inch?

2. Is the .45 ACP load also shot in the same barrel length and chonoed from it?

3. What brand of ammo in the .45 are you comparing it against?

Now if we are talking about a 2.5 inch Ruger Alaskan compared to a 5 inch GI .45 acp using +p 230gr slugs, well yea the .45 is more powerful.

But if the .44 is a 3 inch then the velocity on the .44 goes up a bit. If the .45 is a 3 inch Colt Defender well the velocity goes down quite a bit.

If I wanted to use my 4 inch S&W 629-1 for HD, then that 200 grain load at 1,075 fps would sound like a better deal than my buying a .45 ACP just to use a bit more powerful ammo.

Deaf
 
Deaf Smith said:
1. Exactly what is the 'short barrel' for the .44? 2 inch, 3 inch?

2. Is the .45 ACP load also shot in the same barrel length and chonoed from it?

3. What brand of ammo in the .45 are you comparing it against?

Deaf
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I almost asked these questions yesterday, but then I realized all the answers were readily available if you read between the lines a little.

All your answers can be found here:

http://www.speer-ammo.com/ballistics/ammo.aspx

Speer short-barrel .44 vs Speer 230gr .45acp

1. Exactly what is the 'short barrel' for the .44? 2 inch, 3 inch?

It was tested from a 4" vented barrel.

2. Is the .45 ACP load also shot in the same barrel length and chonoed from it?

It was tested from a 5" barrel.

3. What brand of ammo in the .45 are you comparing it against?

Speer

What is most important though is what Webleymkv mentioned earlier, that short-barrel ammo is reduced flash, reduced recoil ammo, not ammo that burns powder faster to maximize muzzle velocity from a short barrel. As such this whole line of thought is pointless as the wrong things are being compared to start with.
 
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