Deaf Smith
New member
This is as far as I go with Magnums.
Deaf
Deaf
Just a friendly question, what is your experience with big bore handguns, .44Mag and larger???
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So, have you shot a 454 Casull? You ought to go through a box of 20, or 50, before you buy one.
300+ grain 44 Magnum +P. Even a 45 Colt has a bear defense Load, 45+P 300+ grains.
... I felt the 460 was less abusive in its recoil than the .454 Casull. If I had to choose between the two right now to defend myself against a bear tomorrow, I'd pick the 460, just because I'm pretty sure I can shoot it faster.
To be precise, there is no such thing as a .44Mag +p or .45 Colt +p.
"+p" is a SAAMI spec, and is currently only applied to 9mm, .38 SPL, .38 Super, and .45ACP.
Heavier then standard pressure loads are "+p" in fact, but you cannot call them +p unless SAAMI give their approval. One ammo maker briefly made .45 Colt +p ammo, until SAAMI stepped in, and said they could not use that marking, because there was no SAAMI .45Colt +p rating. (potential lawsuit)
After that the maker marked its heavy load "for use in modern firearms only"
Black bear are not armor plated fire breathing demons from hell, in most places, a 300lb black bear is a BIG bear. They are not particularly difficult to kill, and anything from a .38 special on up will do it.
What they are, is difficult to HIT in a vital spot when moving. A bear that is actually attacking moves pretty quick, and choosing one of the hand cannons (.454/.460 etc.) effectively means you are most likely to only get ONE SHOT, because of the recoil and the time involved. Me, I prefer something a bit less recoil, allowing me the (remote) possibility of more than one shot, and the ability to hang on to the handgun FOR that shot.
There is no SAAMI standard for those designations but there are loads in those chamberings that exceed SAAMI pressure standards and that is the reason they are marked as such. I'm all for whatever markings are necessary to keep those loads out of the wrong guns.To be precise, there is no such thing as a .44Mag +p or .45 Colt +p.
Still here! Shot a friend of a friends Ruger Alaskan who came to town and was waiting to try it! It definitely shootable. I personally wouldn't go over the 5/6 inch barrel mark (so it could still stay in the defense category and not be so long).
That being said - I will need to practice a lot to get decent quick draw double action shots. A heavy double action pull sure feels heavier when you are anticipating a round like that! I see how 6 rounds can help over 5. The slow push of a 460 recoil I can't speak to but it sounds interesting (I do favor 45 over 9 for this regard). I think I'll move toward the 454 Toklat and fire heavy grain hard cast rounds - giving that more hefty push recoil over a hard snap.
I do want to shoot the 460 but the guns are so few and far between.
There is no SAAMI standard for those designations but there are loads in those chamberings that exceed SAAMI pressure standards and that is the reason they are marked as such. I'm all for whatever markings are necessary to keep those loads out of the wrong guns.