44Magnum The Most Versatile Handgun Caliber

Mike's just pulling your chain, he's so old that he's still trying to get used to the idea of smokeless powder.
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The first time Mike was asked "how well can you shoot that 44 on your hip" he pulled out a Walker, if that tells you anything. ;)
 
Well, now, here are some of my .44 Magnums, with a couple of .44 Specials creeping in:



And, should that not be enough:



My observation has been that the .44 Magnum outshines the .357 Magnum by a considerable margin in range. The .357 bullet just doesn't hold up at extreme ranges to deliver the goods. And the .45 Colt is fine when you need more than 300 grains of lead to thump something, but if you want a fast stepping long range varmint load, I still find the .44 Magnum king.

There. That's my observation.

Bob Wright
 
I guess I'm going to disagree as well... when my father in law 1st started grooming me to manage his collection after he died, I bought one versatile handgun, & one rifle... the handgun, a stainless 4" GP-100 in 357 Mag... the rifle a stainless Ruger 77 in .243... if I had to pick most versatile over again today, I might opt for a 7-08 ( wasn't a commercial cartridge when I started )in the rifle, but handgun I'd do the same over again... & this said from a guy who loves big bores, & has kinda become disenchanted with the 357 over the years...

however my disenchantment stems mostly from factory ammo ( see... I reload close to 70 different calibers, & the 357 is so... uh... common ) but since you are talking versatility, Trailboss & a cast bullet, can make the 357 into a prime rabbit & squirrel gun... as much as I like the big bores, the hunk of lead just seems wasted on mister bunny... with a big heavy bullet loaded hot, I'd be comfortable on bears "almost as big, as I'd dare with the 44

... add to this the new high capacity cylinders on some of the 357 platforms... & availability of ammo & components, I'm sticking with the 357 for versatility... ( but today I'm carrying a 45 Colt, just for fun )
 
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I PREFER the 45COLT with which I can do everything the 44MAG can do and do it at 25% to 33% less pressure. Furthermore, the 45 slug is a whole lot bigger than the 43 slug.
 
"I PREFER the 45COLT with which I can do everything the 44MAG can do and do it at 25% to 33% less pressure. Furthermore, the 45 slug is a whole lot bigger than the 43 slug." -Wil Terry

Well, for years some guys have been over loading the 45 Colt to levels it was never intended to achieve and claiming it equaled or surpassed the 44 Magnum. I suppose this may be true if using a huge revolver to contain these dynamite loads. I look at it the other way around: since the 44 Magnum already exists why try to turn the 45 Colt into one?

As for the comment about the 45 slug being "a whole lot bigger," um, at .452 vs. .429 and 250 grains vs. 240, it's not really all that much bigger. But if you enjoy hot rodding your 45 Colt, go ahead and knock yourself out.
 
I'm not that fond of versatile. If I could satisfy myself with a few versatile handguns I would have no excuse for the number I own. The problem with the perfect niche handgun is that may not be the one in your hand when you need it and you have to make do. As an example, I had been a month out, pushing toward the Arctic coast of Alaska, my only handgun a 4-inch 629-2, which I justified as a necessary backup for my rifle in case of a bear encounter, or a situation where I lost my kayak in a rapid and had to make it out with what was on my body. I was running out of food and one night in camp I decided to pop a ground squirrel. I reasoned that I needed to check my Smith for function after carrying it for a month. At 30 feet the Keith 265 grain cast bullet took his head off, and I was happy for the 4 ounces of meat. The downside was that my shot announced my presence to the world for miles around, even though I doubted I shared the country with another human, but you never know. If I ever get to go back to that country I will also carry a 22 revolver of some sort, figuring that with a few 22 CB's that I can get more than the weight of the sixgun and the ammunition in food without announcing my presence for miles.
 
"I PREFER the 45COLT with which I can do everything the 44MAG can do and do it at 25% to 33% less pressure. Furthermore, the 45 slug is a whole lot bigger than the 43 slug." -Wil Terry


I'm sorry but you are incorrect. The .45LC will not do everything the .44mag will do for you.

With the .45LC you can't say, "Go ahead punk, make my day!" :D :D

I solved the problem, I have one of each. :D
 
I think versatility has to take into account not just the performance, but the availability of the weapons and loads for it.

The difference in concealability of a 4" 357 mag and a 4" 44 mag is almost nil, but the power difference between the two is great. If you go smaller than a 4" barrel, then you lose almost all of your versatility.

The difference in power between a 44 mag and a hot-loaded 45 Colt is almost nil, but the availability of revolvers heavily favors the 44 magnum. Ammunition and reloading components favor the 44 as well. If you say the 45 can do everything the 44 can do at less pressure, then the same can be said of the 475 over the 45, and the 500 over the 475. But each one of those steps takes you farther away from versatility.

In my mind, and in my experience, the 44 Remington Magnum is the versatility king.
 
THE 45COLT WILL DO ANYTHING A 44MAG CAN DO PERIOD ! This has been PROVED in the ballistics lab many times over now. GO READ !!!
Furthermore, it does it a a lot less pressure, a lot less recoil, and a damnsite less noise. It can also do it in guns the same size as the 44MAg and be lighter to tote because of the bigger holes in theBBL and cylinder. THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS IN THIS MATTER PERIOD....
And so it goes
 
If I ever get to go back to that country I will also carry a 22 revolver of some sort, figuring that with a few 22 CB's that I can get more than the weight of the sixgun and the ammunition in food without announcing my presence for miles.
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Or you could simply carry a dozen 120gr .433" round balls loaded over a few grains of 'fast pistol powder'...

:D
 
Actually, I'm so impressed by the .44 Magnum....

That I can't be bothered to own one.

If versatility is truly in in the eye of the beholder, then for me it has absolutely NO virtures to recommend it.

I don't hunt with a handgun, so it's of no use to me there.

I'm not impressed with a handgun's sheer physical size. That said, I own numerous N-frame S&Ws, none in .44 Mag.

It's too big to be truly adequately concealed.

I'm not one of those individuals whose greatest sense of accomplishment firing a handgun comes from firing the one that kicks most.


That's just the short list of why I find the .44 Magnum to be lacking, and why it's very likely I'll never own one.


That said, yes, I know, you CAN fire .44 Special cartridges out of a .44 Magnum, which addresses some of the issues that I've raised above.

But I know of an even better way to address that issue.

Buy one of these, a Smith & Wesson 24-3.

262378060.jpg
 
Well, for years some guys have been over loading the 45 Colt to levels it was never intended to achieve and claiming it equaled or surpassed the 44 Magnum. I suppose this may be true if using a huge revolver to contain these dynamite loads. I look at it the other way around: since the 44 Magnum already exists why try to turn the 45 Colt into one?
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The only reason it wasn't intended to achieve "those" levels was that those levels were not attainable way back then. It's a very easy matter to load a Ruger Blackhawk up with loads that will match, if not beat, the .44 magnum... without exceeding any pressure limit, or creating dynamite. It's just ballistics.
Of course, you wouldn't want to put a modern, higher pressure load in an 1800's design/strength Colt revolver, any more than you would put a modern "Marlin only" 45-70 load in a trapdoor Springfield.
If nobody (Elmer Keith) had pushed the envelope on the old, mild .44 Special, we wouldn't even HAVE the .44 Mag to be discussing.
The .45 Colt is a very versatile cartridge, capable of everything from mouse loads to dangerous game. How you load it is your choice.
 
"Well, for years some guys have been over loading the 45 Colt to levels it was never intended to achieve and claiming it equaled or surpassed the 44 Magnum. I suppose this may be true if using a huge revolver to contain these dynamite loads. I look at it the other way around: since the 44 Magnum already exists why try to turn the 45 Colt into one?"

You DO know how the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum cartridges were conceived, don't you?

By men like Elmer Keith and Phil Sharpe "overloading the (.38 Special or .44 Special) to levels (they were) never intenended to achieve..."

So, your argument, instead of supporting the .44 Magnum, actually diminishes the reason for its existence.
 
Versatile cartridge??? Yes. Obviously a round that can be handloaded from mouse fart to "very" hot and heavy is more versatile than a cartridge that can only go from mouse fart to "kinda" hot and heavy. It's a no brainer. Using that argument the true mega boomers of today are more versatile than the .44m too but I don't see anyone touting them as being the "most" versatile. A versatile cartridge does not make a versatile gun which is where .44M guns are severely lacking. Just plain and simply due to the power and recoil of the .44M you have to have guns built heavier and more stout than those of lessor cartridges. Law's of physics and all that.

Unless someone is after true BIG game or that BIG game is after them than any and all advantages of how the .44m and/or larger cartridges MIGHT be versatile are out the window and quickly become negatives. We haven't even gotten into cartridges for the non-reloader which puts the .44M near the bottom of the heap due to it's properties.

You like the .44M and reload it up and down the scale.....we get it and are happy for you. I do the same with the .32H&r and .357M. But don't excuse versatility with usefulness for the average Joe. Like I stated above, by your reasoning the .454c is more versatile. I don't see you dumpin your .44 and getting a .454 or larger.
 
'True, including blowing up quite a few old guns into which it will fit.'

Given that the .44 Mag will easily fit in some of the old Spanish revolvers imported into the US postr WW I, and given that people did that....

You do the math.
 
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