Between the .44 Magnum, .454 Casull or the 10mm, which caliber is the best choice?

Between the .44 Magnum, .454 Casull or the 10mm, which caliber is the best choice?

  • .44 Magnum

    Votes: 31 38.3%

  • .454 Casull

    Votes: 7 8.6%

  • 10mm

    Votes: 43 53.1%
  • Total voters
    81
  • Poll closed .
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"Revolvers that shoot .454 are VERY large. Unless it's meant to be a "bedside" gun..."

The thought of a 454 as a bedside firearm - WOW! I would consider this an extremely poor choice for a variety of reasons.
 
You use it to 'WyattEarp' the bad guy. :rolleyes: ;)










Up`til the OK Corral, Earp rarely if/ever used a firearm
other that to club someone over the head with it.
 
Between the .44 Magnum, .454 Casull or the 10mm, which caliber is the best choice for personal protection against human threats?
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When Jack Fullmer and Dick Casull developed the 454 Casull it was intended as a handgun hunting round for medium to large game. It was chambered in the Freedom Arms 5 shot revolver originally.

The same is true for Elmer Keith and the 44 Magnum. Keith's intent, as he said often enough, was to develop the round for longer range hunting purposes and extend the power of the handgun. He already had the rounds he considered optimum for personal self defense.

Of the three choices the only one designed for self defense against humans was the 10mm. Jeff Cooper thought it optimum in that role. Though we could point out that, for several reasons, he never left the 45acp behind.

You have descending levels of power involved here, at least potentially, in the 3 rounds chosen. Which means differing levels of ability to control the gun and differing levels of ability to shoot the piece accurately at speed, those being critical for self defense. For the overwhelming majority of folks the 10mm would be the only one of the three that would come close to that. There are folks that can shoot the 454 and 44 well and fast...but they are few. You can download the 44 Mag to manageable self defense levels, but then why not just choose the right tool for the job in the first place? While some may do that, down load the 44 Mag for gunfighting purposes...again they are few.

In any case, what ever the purpose, always choose the most powerful caliber and ammo that you can handle well, in a gun you can handle well, with a good bullet designed for the task. For self defense, for some that will be 10mm or 40S&W for others 9mm, .380 or 45acp.

tipoc
 
10mm hands down. some can hold 15 rounds and have you seen the ballistics on some "real" 10mm loads from buffalo bore and underwood in 135gr and 155gr loads. Simply amazing.
 
I'd have no problems with any of the 3, IF PROPERLY LOADED. The 44 and 454 loaded to hotter 44 Special or 45 Colt levels would be pretty darn good. The guns are really bigger than necessary, but the loads would work. Full power loads in either are just too much for human threats.

Same advice with 10mm. Even downloaded to 40 S&W levels it is more than adequate. With hotter loads and heavy bullets it is closer to short barreled 44 mag power levels than most realize.

It comes down to the platform. Most 454' are simply bigger than I want to lug around unless in Brown bear country and then I'd rather have a rifle. Some 44's aren't too bad and can be versatile. But 10mm is my choice between the three. Smaller lighter guns with adequate power for any human and most animal threats IF LOADED PROPERLY. Greater mag capacity is never a bad thing either.
 
jmr40 said:
I'd have no problems with any of the 3, IF PROPERLY LOADED. The 44 and 454 loaded to hotter 44 Special or 45 Colt levels would be pretty darn good. The guns are really bigger than necessary, but the loads would work. Full power loads in either are just too much for human threats.

Same advice with 10mm. Even downloaded to 40 S&W levels it is more than adequate. With hotter loads and heavy bullets it is closer to short barreled 44 mag power levels than most realize.

It comes down to the platform. Most 454' are simply bigger than I want to lug around unless in Brown bear country and then I'd rather have a rifle. Some 44's aren't too bad and can be versatile. But 10mm is my choice between the three. Smaller lighter guns with adequate power for any human and most animal threats IF LOADED PROPERLY. Greater mag capacity is never a bad thing either.
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That's basically what I was thinking regarding a particular cartridge. Maxed out rounds may be fun to occasionally shoot at the range or for hunting but I would not carry around any of these calibers with a maxed out round for self/ home defense purposes. Right now I am kind of leaning towards the 10mm because of the much larger capacity and marginally better concealment.
 
Let me get this straight. You shoot a 2 legged varmint with a 44mag or 454cas you worry about follow up shots?

How much damage to the COM is done with one shot? Not enough to put 'em down?
 
I am a .44 fan. .44 mag is about as big bore as I care to get, I don't find any enjoyment out of shooting a .454, just to much for me. As for the 10mm, I think it is a great round and alot of fun to shoot to let you know your alive..:D.
 
Let me get this straight. You shoot a 2 legged varmint with a 44mag or 454cas you worry about follow up shots?

How much damage to the COM is done with one shot? Not enough to put 'em down?
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You're assuming perfect accuracy which is a poor assumption in a self defense situation.
 
You're assuming perfect accuracy which is a poor assumption in a self defense situation
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They have six shots, not one, and full .44 or .454 don't need perfect placement. Not saying you can shoot them in the toe and it stop them (but it might), just a COM hit, or two, should do the trick.

Deaf
 
large caliber doesn't necessarily mean a person is going to instantly drop when hit--I've seen a guy shot with a 45 acp that did a complete pass-through (which often happens with 44's as well) and he took off running just like a deer can even when hit the vitals.
 
I prefer the 44 magnum over the others. Loaded with a purpose specific load it works very well. I have a Smith model 69, which is a 44 mag built on the L frame. Even full power loads are very controllable, I believe the lower bore axis VS the N frame is responsible for that.

Fast follow up shots are a breeze. Someone said "if you are proficient", if you are not proficient you have no business carrying ANY gun.
In my 44's for SD I prefer light for caliber bullets moving @ 1300-1500 fps. That should give you adequate penetration and with the right bullet some fragmentation, which cause more wounding.

My favorite is the 200 grain Speer Gold Dot loaded over Win 296. I know all about reloads for self defense.:eek: If they are not illegal, then there is no relevance and if you act with negligence nothing you use will save you. In over 3 decades in LE I have never heard of a case where the load used was an issue beyond identification purposes (beyond the few cases we ALWAYS hear about).
 
I voted 10mm because:

1st (and most important), of the 3 calibers listed, I own this one.

2nd, even in the lowest capacity platform (1911, which mag holds 9), you get more shots than the revolvers.

3rd, it will conceal easier.

4th, it can be loaded to 40SW levels for recoil management and faster follow up shots, or loaded "for bear", depending on your needs or taste.
 
Of those calibers, two are typically loaded with bullets more appropriate for hunting than self-defense and are generally available in firearms with limited capacity and in configurations more suited to hunting than self-defense/concealment. That should make it a pretty easy choice.
Let me get this straight. You shoot a 2 legged varmint with a 44mag or 454cas you worry about follow up shots?

How much damage to the COM is done with one shot? Not enough to put 'em down?
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If you can carry it and shoot it without falling down or losing your grasp on the weapon, and as long as it does not fire rocket-type ammo and/or explosive rounds, then it can fail to stop with a torso hit. There's no guarantee of a one shot stop from any handgun caliber.
 
^^^Very true, deer can run a LONG way with no lungs or heart before giving up! And that's after begin hit by a rifle much more powerful than 99% of ANY handguns out there.^^^

I have always thought deer and humans pretty similar in terms of "toughness" as pertaining to taking a round from a firearm. The only shot (if lucky enough to hit your mark) that guarantees instant incapacitation is to a major part of the central nervous system, IE: brain, brain stem, spine in the neck.
 
.. have always thought deer and humans pretty similar in terms of "toughness" as pertaining to taking a round from a firearm.
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I kind of have to say yes, and no, to that one. Physically, there is some correlation, mentally, there is none.

Deer don't know they have been shot. They may know something happened, and its time to get the heck out of there! Or they may not even realize they have been shot. I have seen both responses, and which one you get is flip a coin time.

With humans its also flip a coin time, but humans have the complication of KNOWING (subconsciously at least) what getting shot "means".

Anytime the physical hit does not incapacitate the target, the mental hit takes over, until the physical damage (blood loss, etc.) changes that, again.

Some people will simply collapse because "they got shot", no matter what their desires, their subconscious mind, trained by a life time of watching TV, takes over, briefly, anyway, and they drop.

Others don't seem to notice, and others essentially go into berserker mode, to get you (Or get away) before dying...

The mind play tricks with humans that generally don't apply to animals.

There are only two things that stop a person, their own choice (conscious, or not) and physically preventing the brain from sending signals to the rest of the body. (this covers both blood loss and nerve damage).

One or two large caliber hits COM often works, but NOTHING is guaranteed!!! People have even run away after taking two 12ga slugs to the chest. (they didn't run far, but they did run!, If their choice in that situation had been to pull a trigger, rather than run, they could have done it)

The only magic bullets are on TV and movie screens!
 
I voted 10mm. I have an EAA Stock 10mm and a Desert Eagle 44 magnum.

The Desert Eagle is a ridiculous gun while the EAA Stock is a fine shooting normal full-sized gun. Also, 44 magnum in a revolver is out and out painful to shoot and it takes me too much time to get back on target.
 
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