Why do a lot of people like the .44mag over the .454 ?

brasscollector said:
Likely has a lot to do with the fact that the 454 was a wildcat until the later 1990s. Ruger first chambered for the round in 1997. S&W first chambered for the 44 magnum in 1955 so it had a little bit of a head start :p.
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Freedom Arms model 83 has been available in 454 since 1983. They also offered factory ammo for it in 3 different flavors.

Jim
 
It's a recoil thing with me. I've had Ruger and S&W .44 Magnums, and have a Freedom Arms .454. Any of the factory or handloaded ammo I used in my .44s recoiled considerably less than any ammo I used in the .454. I did load the .454 down to ~1450 FPS with a 300 grain bullet, but still can't say I enjoyed the recoil. Could have loaded the .454 lighter yet, but I'd ordered an aux. .45 ACP cylinder with the gun, and use that for lighter recoil.

I ordered my FA gun specifically with the 4.75" barrel because I wanted something similar in size to my Super Blackhawk with barrel shortened to 5". Something that could actually be carried. I did not want a giant Horse Pistol. It may weigh an ounce or two more than a SBH, but if so the difference is not significant.

BTW, the factory Hornady 300 grain averages 1585 FPS, even in the short 4.75" barrel. I get my fill of that pretty quickly.
 
Just for the record I find it amusing when .44 Magnum users suddenly decide energy in a handgun is not relevant and recoil should be a major consideration.

I own neither.
 
I've got several S&W 29 / 629s, and a Ruger Redhawk in .44 mag. Also, a Taurus Raging Bull in .454. The .454 was carried a lot in Alaska while tromping around in brown bear territory. Pulling the trigger on a stoutly loaded 360 grain flat nose, hard cast bullet is pretty impressive compared to a 300 grain .44 mag.

If I were intentionally planning to hunt big game smaller than moose / bison / brown bear with a revolver, I'd likely favor the .460 S&W.
 
I have a 7 1/2" Ruger SRH in .454 Casull. I bought it when they first appeared on the scene. After shooting a few Deer & Elk with the Hornady 300 gr. loads I started loading warm .45 Colt loads. Still above factory .44 mag loads, but not nearly as punishing as those Hornadys were. The .45 handloads accounted for more critters without killing me.
 
I was thinking the same thing Lohman,,,,,,"Just for the record I find it amusing when .44 Magnum users suddenly decide energy in a handgun is not relevant and recoil should be a major consideration."
 
Never fired a casull but would be interested. Cost of 44 mag factory is under 50 cents a round, 454 is over $1. Since they're both revolvers there's no brass chasing involved so reloading should be preferred. I have a super redhawk 44 mag with a 9.5" barrel and for me its very tame and fairly enjoyable to fire. In almost 20 years I've put less than 250 rounds though it, all factory. I still have all but one case and I'm about to start handloading.
 
For one thing the .44 mag is ubiquitous as are guns and ammo. I've never seen the need for a super heavy, super powerful revolver. If one wants more power a light .30/06 is more portable and easier to hit with. Let's face it, the .44 mag is definitely a brute of a revolver & cartridge. Many factory loads have been "dumbed down" and best performance can be had with judicious handloads. I've killed deer as far as 90 yards with handloads fired in my Ruger SBH. In fact, I think the .41 mag is the optimum deer killer. Those huge guns are mainly a "macho" thing when you get right down to it.
 
Mostly because Dirty Harry didn't carry a .454 Casull. .44 ammo is cheaper and easier to find too.
The Casull was a wild cat until 1997/8 when Ruger chambered the SuperRedhawk in it, despite being born in 1957 but not heard of until 1959. No commercial firearms before '98.
 
T. O'Heir said:
The Casull was a wild cat until 1997/8 when Ruger chambered the SuperRedhawk in it, despite being born in 1957 but not heard of until 1959. No commercial firearms before '98.
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Sigh... do people not read all the post in a thread before commenting?
Again, Freedom Arms offered the model 83 in 454 since 1983 along with factory ammo....

Jim
 
Back before I bought my .454 I did a LOT of research on different hunting calibers.
I noticed that the .454 was almost twice as powerful as the .44mag.
This was a surprise to me, but still cant figure out why some people prefer the .44mag over the .454 when it comes to hunting......Is it a recoil thing?
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First, did you own and shoot a .44 Magnum BEFORE you bought your .454??

I'm betting you didn't.

Second, try reversing your question. Why do some people prefer the .454 over the .44 Mag when it comes to hunting??

For me, the amazing thing is that the .454 became popular enough to become a commercial round, and has managed to hang on, to date. Of course there is the surge of popularity that comes with the "new" and "improved" but once that wears off, what do you have?

Other rounds like the .475 and the .480 had some initial success, but today I don't think they are selling as well as the .454, and none of them comes close to the .44 Magnum.

The big ones, including the .44 Mag simply aren't for everyone. I well remember the days when it was very common to find a used .44 Mag in the used shelf, along with a box of ammo with 44 unfired rounds and 6 empties.

There are quite a few different makes and models of .44 magnums. Not nearly such a choice when it comes to the .454.
 
,,,,,,,,,,,"Those huge guns are mainly a "macho" thing when you get right down to it".

Hahahahaha,,,That's funny.

I don't take a knife to a gun fight.

When I hunt hogs I want to make sure I have plenty of fire power. Sure a .44 mag will kill a hog, but a .454 will reach out even farther, and do a better job. Most hunters know that.

And yes,,,I did shoot a .45mag before I bought a .454. Looked at the ballistics on the .44 and was surprised how much more power the .454 had.
THAT sold me on the .454
I shoot a 260Gr SJFN at 1800fps! and that's just factory loads...

I'm sorry if you don't like the .454,,,,but I do!
 
Hahahahaha,,,That's funny.

I don't take a knife to a gun fight.
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Sez the guy who takes a pistol to a rifle fight.:confused:

No seriously, how many people can shoot a .44 magnum under field conditions, no bench rest available, so well that the .44 magnum's bullet drop matters?
 
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I'll start with: I own a Model 29 6.5" 44 Mag and an X-frame S&W 460 Magnum.

When I got the X-frame I hand loaded ammo in all 4 "calibers" it can shoot: 45 Colt, 45 Colt +P(Ruger), 454 Casull, and 460 Magnum.

As you might imagine from a huge revolver with a muzzle break the 45 Colt loads were like shooting a 22 rimfire. Even the +P were like a mouse fart.

The 454 loads though, had a very sharp intense recoil. This is why I see most people don't like the 454 Casull. Many posts on the 454 mention the intense recoil as the #1 reason people favor some other cartridge over it. It's not the performance, the 454 is a beast and is better than the 44 magnum terminally IME. Especially if you are using hollow point bullets, the extra energy will be put to use.

Could you do just fine with a 44? Of course. I love mine.

The 460 Magnum actually is my favorite to shoot. Even though it greatly out powers the 454, it retains the smooth "push" recoil that many 45 fans love. That reduces flinching and make for better shot placement too.

My favorite load is a 400 grain hard cast bullet about 1800 fps. Accurate and nothing will walk away from that. The 240 grain at 2300+ fps ain't bad neither but will be louder and have more muzzle blast.

As for the get a rifle crowd: there are many places in my state that are "shotgun and pistol only" so no rifle is gonna help you there.
 
Going back to the original question of this thread, where the original poster wondered why people still buy .44 magnums when the .454 Casull is available, the answer is that the .44 magnum is "enough already" for most people's purposes.
It's just as powerful today as it was in 1955, back in the days before deer became bulletproof.
 
The big ones, including the .44 Mag simply aren't for everyone. I well remember the days when it was very common to find a used .44 Mag in the used shelf, along with a box of ammo with 44 unfired rounds and 6 empties.
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That's a good point, and still valid today.

Even the "lowly" .44 Mag still suffers from the same 'wishful thinking' of some buyers.

For example: Right now, there's an essentially brand-new .44 Vaquero in the display case of my preferred LGS. Next to it, three empty cases -- because that's all the buyer fired before deciding that they couldn't handle it.


I think it's still just as prevalent in the rifle world, too.
There are countless .45-70s, .444 Marlins, and Handi-Rifles and Rossi single-shots in nearly any intermediate to 'high-power' chambering that have just a few rounds through them.
And I still see .458 WMs, .338 WMs, various WSMs, and some of the RUMs, RSAUMs, and RCMs show up with less ammo fired than is necessary to even sight in a scope.


I have one, myself, that actually suffered a double dose of big bore anxiety.
A guy wanted one of these super-awesome .444 Marlins that he had heard so much about. His brother bought a Marlin 444 for him as a birthday gift in 2007. One round was fired, and he didn't like it. He went back to his .308 bolt gun.
The 444 sat in the closet until 2016, when it was given to the man's son.
The son took one look at the "giant bullet" and put the rifle up for sale at a surprisingly low price, because he figured most people would also be afraid of such a 'big' rifle.
 
For example: Right now, there's an essentially brand-new .44 Vaquero in the display case of my preferred LGS. Next to it, three empty cases -- because that's all the buyer fired before deciding that they couldn't handle it.
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You'd think that the LGS would have told the owner of that .44 Vaquero, "You do know that it will also shoot .44 special ammo, don't you?"

A .45-70 loaded with 10 grains of Unique behind a 350 grain cast bullet is reasonably pleasant to shoot also, akin to shooting a .410 shotgun.

Now if you really want a plinking load for the .44 magnum, try .433 diameter lead round balls for muzzle loaders with a case full of clean burning black powder substitute like Black Horn 209 powder.
There are no smokeless loads listed for .433 roundballs in .44 magnum but I bet a few grains of Trail Boss or Bullseye would do the trick.
A .433 lead round ball weighs about 122 grains.
 
disseminator said,,,,,,,"The 460 Magnum actually is my favorite to shoot. Even though it greatly out powers the 454.

Really?,,,,,,,,I sitting here looking at my Hornady ballistics book and the .454 has 1923FtLb at the muzzle,,,and the .460 has 2149FtLb at the muzzle.

If you ask me,,,,that's not a lot of difference................I have shot this gun plenty of times with one hand. (Taurus Raging Bull with a 8" ported barrel)

Just for the record, the .44Mag has 971FtLbs
 
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I have 460 Magnum loads up to 2700+ ft lbs energy. Is that enough more?

;)

How bout a 325 swift AFRAME at 1932 fps? (2693 ft lbs)
240 XTP-MAG at 2250 fps? (2700 ft lbs)
400 grain HC WFNGC at 1800 fps? (2877 ft lbs)

Trust me, it's more powerful.
 
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