My got my first .44 Magnum in the sixties. It was a Flat-top Ruger Blackhawk with a 5 inch (or so), barrel. I hurt my hand to shoot it. Shot it anyway for years with 23 grains of 2400 under a 236 grain hollow point Lyman 429421...for years. Finally found that, unless hunting deer, there was more joy in shooting the same bullet with 7.0 grains of Unique (Hercules)...a mild .44 Special level round. After that, hardly shot magnum loads again. Therefore, if you do not expect to hunt with it, take advantage of my experience and just get the .44 Special...no point in getting or shooting the magnum...it will be a better choice for everything save, hunting. On the other hand, if you think that you are going to get into hunting with it, by all means get the magnum. I would not take the advice of those who state that you should go with the .44 Magnum because you can shoot both .44 Magnum and .44 Specials in it...a jack of all trades is almost never the master of any. .44 Magnum guns are usually on N-frames and/or have long barrels. A .44 Spl. can now be had in the L frame, and usually have four inch or shorter barrels.