The .44 magnum- legal to use in self defense?

.44 Mag

Seth,

A .44 is a hell of a gun. If you are truely wanting to defend you living quarters you would be much better off with a tactical pump action shotgun I belive than a handgun. Not only is it powerful, but aim is less of a factor and it is much easier to place a shot in the chest than with a handgun. Remember you want to stop what the attacker is doing and if you are shooting a .44 cannon it may be hard to put more than one shot to the chest quickly. (Ever see Pulp Fiction) If you plan on shooting at least weekly practice with it you may get good enough to unload every shot into an attacker but few of us have time for that. If only we were all Dirty Harry. Anyway if you are dead set on a handgun, or if you will be concealing a weapon, I would get something less powerful with an effective man-stopper ammo. Maybe even a semi-auto if you feel you would be comfortable with one.

Anyway my personal defensive handgun is a .45 1911 Kimber TLE II with a extened magwell, night sights, and Crimson Trace laser grips. Not only is it awesome looking, it is super-accurate and has yet to jam on me. I am a proud father.
 
In addition to using the .44 Special loads mentioned above, you might also consider using some of the "Cowboy" loads for the .44 Magnum. They operate in the .44 Special range, and you don't need to worry about deposits in your cylinder from the shorter brass cases of the .44 Special.
 
I think a 4" 629 or 29 is a superb revolver capable of very much indeed.

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My favorite is the blue 29, but the stainless 629 is a little more practical from a finish standpoint.

ProLoad makes a .44 magnum defense load which they label "Lite". It's a 200 gr. Gold Dot bullet which will fly at about 1050 fps from a 4" tube. That's not particularly fast, nor overly powerful. But is is certainly very potent for defense use! The 200 gr. Gold Dot is designed to fully expand and penetrate optimally at about 950-1000 fps, so the ProLoad lite .44 magnum load is perfect for defense. Much milder than full-house .44 magnum loads which I do not enjoy nor shoot much of at all.

I say go forth and find yourself a nice 29/629 with a 4" tube and discover the wonders of .44 magnum. But you really owe it to yourself to get into reloading because you can tailor make some very enjoyable loads for this caliber. Personally I would not choose a .44 special as I feel they just don't have the poop I would like to present to a bad guy. The ProLoad .44 mag Lite is significantly more potent than a .44 special, but still much milder than a full-house .44 mag load. I think it is perfectly defensible as a defense load because you can clearly demonstrate that it is a "reduced power" load, which was made to be safer and more effective for defense with the .44 magnum caliber.

I also shoot a 4" model 25 (.45 Colt caliber) with a very similar defense loading... Georgia Arms .45 Colt "Deer Stopper" which is a 200 gr. Gold Dot bullet moving at about 1050 from a 4" tube... very, very similar to ProLoad's .44 mag. Lite. My 25-5 looks virtually identical to my 4" 29-2 shown above, except the holes are even bigger! And the pressure in .45 Colt is lower than .44 magnum due to the larger case size and larger bore diameter.
 
I carried a Model 329 airweight 44mag for some time. It was ideal in many way, given its weight and power. I loaded it with light magnums or 44spc+Ps. My issue was the expense of the ammo. It is tremendously more than 38spc and thius cuts down on range time significantly.
And yes, with a full power load I would worry about over-penetration. Also indoors I would worry about my hearing. Once I shot about 3-4 boxes of full hosue magnums through an 8 3/8" Model 29. Even with hearing protection outside my ears rang for an hour afterwards. I cant imagine touching one off indoors.
 
Seth,
With your background only in air soft guns, I'm going to buck the tide of opinion here & suggest that a .44 Magnum is a poor choice for a first "real" "serious" gun.
If you're looking for something to use in self-defense, a good .357 is much more practical for a number of reasons.
Buying a .44 Magnum to use lower level loads seems to me to be moderately pointless.
I would suggest you learn and earn your wings on either a good .38, or a good .357 starting out with .38 loads.
I would also suggest that a .44 Magnum is more of an advanced handgunner proposition. If you're not going to use the power of a .44 Mag, I think you'd be better off with something smaller, more portable, and more manageable.
Denis
 
Much as I love the big bore revos, DPris makes a good suggestion... you would be very well served indeed with a nice 3" or 4" GP-100 or 686.

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I do like the big bores, for many applications.
I'm old enough to have carried an S&W 25-5 in .45 Colt in uniform (and only gave it up for the new department-issued Glocks when I was forced to by official decree), I still have the 25-5 & still carry it out in the wilds on occasion, and I own a total of six N-Frame Smiths in .45 Colt and .45 ACP, and I've got three Ruger Vaqueros in .45 Colt, one in .44-40. Also have five 1911s in .45 Colt. One 4 5/8-inch Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt that's a "Duck When You Pull The Trigger 'Cause Here Come Da Gun" proposition with CorBon's .300-grain loads.
My midlife crisis gun is a Bowen-ized four-inch engraved Ruger Redhawk in .44 Magnum. It's the high country big hostile teeth & claws put 'em down NOW gun, with heavy Garrett loads.
I'm looking at keeping a loaner .41 Magnum after I get done with it. In big bores, that covers quite a bit of territory.
The gun I carry the most outdoors at the moment for general purpose use is a Ruger GP100 in .357 Magnum. It can handle light to medium duties from people defense to moderate black bear defense depending on the load used, the .41 Mag can handle bear & moose in my neighborhood, and the .44 Redhawk is the heavy artillery for rampaging elephants in the mountains of Idaho and the high timber of Utah when I can get up there.
I do realize that not everybody can afford several guns, and that there is a place for the .44 Mags. In my case, I worked up to them. I think most people who do use them also worked up to them.
My thinking, for what it's worth, is that it'd be even better for Seth to start out with a .22 revolver to learn the basics, then try a .38 or .357. A .44 Mag is not a beginner's gun. Practice ammo for .38s is much cheaper than either .44 Specials or .44 Magnum loads, a decent used .38/357 can be picked up much cheaper than a good .44 Mag. A mid-frame revolver is easier to carry holstered if the need or urge arises, muzzle blast with .38s indoors will be much more tolerable than any .44 Magnum load.
.38 and even .357 recoil levels are bearable and less inclined to induce a long-lasting flinch.
A Smith N-Frame is not always the most maneuverable package for many people, and I can say from experience teaching the .38 revolver that a mid-frame can be very portable, very shootable, very effective with the right load and good bullet placement, and there's a wide variety of grip configurations and sizes to fit the hand.
I can see if you only have the funds to buy one gun that you may want the ultimate "Do It All Gun" (which doesn't exist), but otherwise I've just never seen much sense in buying a .44 Mag to shoot low-level .44 Specials, a .357 Mag to shoot low-level .38s, and so on. Lots of people do, though. Frequently, the shorter cartidges don't shoot quite as accurately (I know, there are exceptions) in cylinders chambered for the longer rounds, and you run into the necessity of putting more effort into cleaning a .44 Mag or .357 Mag chamber if you regularly shoot shorter .44 Specials or .38 Specials, otherwise the longer rounds may not chamber if & when you do want to shoot them.
Seth, if you're still here, I'm not knocking the caliber or your interest, just suggesting you work up to it & don't make a .44 Magnum your first real handgun.
At the very least, go find one you can shoot on a trial run somewhere before you do buy.
30 years ago it was not real uncommon to find a very lightly used Model 29 (with maybe a dozen rounds fired through it) on sale after the original owner bought one because Dirty Harry made them look cool, but decided it was just a smidge too much in real life. Sorta the same deal today in the .454 Casull arena.
There are many better choices for home defense.
Denis
 
Dennis, I'm stil here, and I really appreciate the advice!

I understand the comments made about the .44 magnum being NOT a beginner's gun, so now here are a few options...

1) Start going to the range and firing .44 M29 rentals with my own ammunition of choice, then buying my own when I turn 21 (in about 5 months)

2) Buy a 4 inch SW M10 .38 4 inch square butt or a 2.5 inch M66 .357 mag as my "first" versatile gun, then practice with that.

This also may seem off-topic, but are FBI special agents allowed to carry their own sidearms when "not on the job," meaning, they could carry the M29 or a smaller .357 instead of the Sig P228 9mm when on vacation, etc?

Similar question applies to CIA agents, but I don't have a clue what their field/office agents use.

Also, Dennis, I read on Smith and Wesson's website that dry firing a .22 LR revolver will snap the firing pin off, but dry firing is safe on the larger revolvers. Any truth to this? Because I looooove dry firing. :eek:
 
Yes - dry firing a 22LR is bad - I called Browning about this when I got my 22 and they told me dry firing rimfire pistols is BAD BAD BAD.

I got a 4 inch .357 as my first gun and the reason I got it was because I wanted something fun to plink with, but was safe since it was going to be my first pistol and something that would have a high stopping percentage. But you can dry fire your revolver, I do it all the time, and the manual says its ok.

But the problem is - I think a revolver with a 6 or 6.5 inch barrel is aesthetically more pleasing, so I'm trying to decide whether I should have a new barrel put on my 586, or go with a 6.5 inch model 29.
 
Seth,
I still think your best option for the first centerfire gun would be either a .38 or a .357 revolver, either of the two guns you mention would do. You may find you don't shoot a short barrel as well as you do a four-inch barrel, but that's up to you. You may also have a hard time finding a 2.5-inch 66.
As far as I know, the Feebs are required to carry a duty-approved or issued handgun on and off duty. I've never seen any indication that other guns are carried.
The CIA is entirely its own ballgame, no idea what they do.
Seth, very few, if any, pros carry a .44 Mag as a duty or concealed gun. With full power loads it's not an efficient package for use on people; over-penetration, too slow on recoil recovery between shots, too big & unwieldy to conceal well or easily.
Dry firing a rimfire anything runs the risk of peening the rear outside face of the chamber and firing pin damage. Don't do it.
Excessive dry firing is not necessarily a good idea with any gun, and if you do it with a centerfire use snap caps.
I knew a competitor a while back who crystalized the hammer on his Colt Python after dry firing it a LOT, it shattered one day.
Denis
 
Pachmayer, among others, make and sell Snap-Caps, which are plastic "cartridges" with spring mounted "primers" for dry firing. Alternatively, one old home solution is to trim and glue pencil erasers into the primer pockets of some EXPENDED shell casings to use for dry fire. It is ALWAYS a bad idea to dry fire any rimfire firearm. Although manufacturers will tell you that some limited dry firing with their centerfires is acceptable, why do it when you can either buy a commercial product or make something yourself that protects your firearm?
 
The .44 can be made to do anything you want to do, on either end of the power spectrum. Unless you want to spring for a Titanium S&W or Taurus DA, it is going to be a little heavier than your typical .38/.357 DA. It is also usually going to be a little more expensive, as are its loading components. No big deal- it is the price you pay for a degree of versatility that the smaller guns can't touch.

Since I lean on the throttle a little and use the gun as a hunting implement, I find the 4" standard model 29 to be about ideal. But this is not all they're good for. I also have an ultra-light load (in mag cases) that propels a 190 SWC at maybe 400 fps, and is quiet enough that you can shoot it outdoors without hearing protection. That load has accounted for several varmints in the 10-15 pound class, and it will kill small game just fine. I can't imagine what I would need a mid-bore for, when I can do all this with my main-battery hunting revolver.

My old gun has been with me a long time, and has also been carried as duty gun. If I were starting fresh, I'd probably find a "pre-lock" S&W .44 Mountain Gun- and never look back. Any number of people will tell you to start with a .38/.357, but I won't be one of them. I did just that, and it didn't take me long to figure out that I wanted something more. The .44 turned out to precisely that 'something'.

If a .44 is what you want, then get one, and start reloading for it as soon as you can.
 
Sgt,
I've sat by for many years and watched that "Make One Gun Do Everything" philosophy promulgated.
There's a lot of people who do it, with varying degrees of success. Usually, the two calibers I see the most mention of are the .30-06 and the .44 Magnum in this context.
If you reload, you can assemble gallery loads for damn near anything. You can run a 110-grain bullet and go all the way up to a 220-grain bullet in the .30-06. If you only have one rifle, and if you reload, and if you don't mind dealing with a shifting POA/POI, and if you don't mind keeping track of components and powders, and if you enjoy reloading, and if you do a lot of shooting with that one rifle, I can see it as a viable proposition. Essentially the same with the .44 Magnum, and you could run anywhere from 200-grain bullets on up to 300+ grainers, again assuming you're willing to deal with all of the above.
My admittedly lazy view is that it's much simpler (and I do reload) and more efficient to buy a .22 rabbit gun, a .223 varminter, a decent deer rifle, and a buffalo buster for serious large critter protection, rather than try to make one gun do it all. That of course assumes that you actually need or use a gun for all those activities. I don't try to make my rabbit gun also bring down a charging bear. I prefer to find one load to meet the intended need or purpose of a particular gun, and stick with it. I don't have to worry about where it shoots relative to where it points, keeping larger stocks of components on hand in what's getting to be an overcrowded reloading room, keeping different loads straight, and so on.
Many people enjoy tinkering with loads, and that's a valid pursuit in & of itself. I'm not one of them. I reload for two reasons, one is to find what works best in my own guns, the other is professionally. I don't mind reloading, but it's a means to an end for me, and not one of the fun parts of shooting. Just a mechanical process to get me out to where the guns will be used, for whatever purpose.
If you do enjoy tinkering, and you do shoot a lot, that's great.
My suggestion for a beginner with no exposure to real guns remains the same. Seth's posts don't indicate that he's much of an outdoorsman, and I never encourage any newbody to jump in over his or her head right off the bat. He may or may not develop a real interest in shooting in volume, if he does that's great, if not, it's OK, too.
If he starts with a .38 and decides he wants more out of life, based on his own actual experiences and abilities, like you did, that's the way to do it. I'm getting something of a sense that his interest in the .44 Mag is maybe more glamor than practical, and he may never get into reloading. If those might be the case, a .44 Mag would probably be a waste of time & money for him.
When somebody talks to me about a first gun, I always ask what they want to use it for, and try to get a gauge on their level of interest & dedication. Sometimes people who don't know better get the wrong gun starting out, based on either mis-information or mis-perception, and the wrong first choice can color their shooting career for quite a while.
If Seth wants his .44 Mag just 'cause he wants one, fineroo. If he wants a good home defense and informal shooting gun, without the level of dedication required to get into reloading, and without the intention of using it in the normal contexts of a full-bore Magnum, there are still better choices.

Seth,
Good luck however you end up. My final suggestion would be to try one out, honestly evaluate what you'd want it to do for you, and look at how deeply you'd want to get into shooting (at least for a while, till your income allows more flexibility and more purchases).

Denis
 
Actually Dennis, I do have another handgun; the .40 S&W replaced the .357 in my handgun battery. You stated your case, and stated it well. I wasn't trying to change anybody's mind; just offering another perspective.
 
I know, and your perspective is a valid one that works for a lot of people.
I suspect you're the guy that wrote "101 Different Rainy Day Loads For The .44 Magnum". :D
For many reloaders, it's kinda like the old home chemist of a hundred years ago- they just like to experiment. Everybody has their own approach to shooting, and their own levels of participation and enjoyment.
It took me a long time to actually buy a .40, now I have two & never shoot 'em. I keep thinking maybe....someday....I might decide to actually carry one or the other when I get too decrepit to lug the .45 around. One's a Glock, one's a Walther. Never hurts to have reserves.
Denis
 
I suspect you're the guy that wrote "101 Different Rainy Day Loads For The .44 Magnum".
Click to expand...

Naah... I'm much to lazy for that. Aside from the aforementioned light load, I use one that scoots the 250 Keith at about 1300, and another (very rarely) "Rockies load" that gooses a 300 LBT just about that fast. Other than that? 210 Silvertips or 200 Blazer Gold Dots cover the anti-personnel applications quite nicely.

In fact, I am SO lazy that I recorded three sight settings that work for all the above, so I can get real close to zeroed with any of them with just a few clicks.

I will admit that I burned a many pounds of powder & lead before I arrived at this conclusion, though.
 
Dennis hit it on the nose right there. I have no clue what to expect regarding the recoil and power of the .44, I just know that I like the styling and the feel of it with the oversized Cocobolo walnut grips my .44 replica had. My main reason for embracing the .44 was due to the fact I thought it could be a "Versatile" do-it-all weapon, but as I can see now, that's not the case.

I'm not an avid outdoorsman at all, I live in the Urban area of Hawaii. I don't hunt, and there isn't any vermin to shoot at for miles and miles of my home, college, and workplace. Maybe the occasional rat or mongoose, but I didn't think it would be wise to obliterate the 2 rats living in the backyard with a .44 magnum 6 inch. :D

My whole reason for wanting to get into real firearms is because I love working on my replicas, which are modelled after the real thing as far as trigger and cylinder mechanisms. I enjoy target shooting as well, and of course, having them behind a display case just to admire as works of art and weapons to be respected.

So, if and when I were to aquire a handgun in 5 months, animals would not be on the other end of the barrel, as there aren't any to shoot at down here. Most likely would be a piece of paper at the firing range, and, God forbid, an intruder who wants my belongings to feed a drug habit. (Typical story out here....)

Ironically, there is a place called "Magnum Firearms" downtown that has a firing range. I'm going to try the rentals down there and see what I'm most comfortable with.

Until then, thanks for the help, I'll keep you updated as times passes. :D
 
With your background only in air soft guns, I'm going to buck the tide of opinion here & suggest that a .44 Magnum is a poor choice for a first "real" "serious" gun.
Click to expand...

+1. Sorry but for a novice that is too much gun for what you need. .44spcls while more managable are expensive and hard to find for the non reloader. Try renting a .357 first.
 
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