Why do you love/hate the .44 magnum?

K

kcub

New member
I don't understand the .44 magnum's popularity. I know, Dirty Harry Callahan and all but it's not very fun to shoot compared to most other handgun calibers.

It's too bad Clint Eastwood didn't use a .41 (at least not advertised). It has all the power you need this side of Alaska with less recoil. But ammo is hard to find.

I love some of the .44 guns, the Super Blackhawk, The Colt Anaconda, and of course the model 29 S&W (prelock only please).

I have discovered that aluminum Blazer .44 mag ammo recoils less. And of course there's always .44 Special. I bet there has been more special fired out of these guns than magnums. But you don't as often see special ammo at the boxmarts so I don't know.
 
Never noticed much difference between the 41 and 44 recoil wise.
44mag has lower power loads available.
44 Special for practice.
Snake Shot.
Many more components if you hand load.
Fearsome high power loads.
Easier to find.
I've had several 41's but the 44 is more versitile for me.
 
I am blessed with a 29-2 and a 29-3. For me, full house factory loads are ok for a while. The recoil becomes a problem fairly early on. Hand loads and .44 special loads make the gun a whole lot of fun to shoot. Stiff loads of 296 will beat you and the gun up. I don't recommend doing that. Get a Redhawk if you really want to throw flame out of the muzzle .
 
In my .44Mag I have a gun potentially capable, with the supernatural gift of "reloading", of covering pretty much any role I might care to bestow on a firearm, with the exception of long-range shooting: Plinking/target shooting, SD, HD and hunting if permitted.

It is extremely versatile and I can load to any flavour up until its performance limits which exceed my tolerance of performance limits. Although, no to a point where I think the .44Mag is overkill for my needs.

Fabulous all-rounder!
 
Love? How about "like". The thing with the .44 Mag is you really need a pretty hefty gun with a good grip. I like my Redhawk (not "Super"), which Ruger designed specifically for the .44. They used to make a standard Blackhawk in .44, which is lighter, but I can tell you from shooting heavy .45 Colt loads from one, it's a handful. Think bruised knuckles. I am really warming up to the .41 Mag. A full house load is very manageable from a Blackhawk, and it's easier to carry than the big Redhawk.

Of course, we now have a number of revolver rounds that leave the .44 behind. Not for me, but they seem to be pretty popular. They all cost an arm and a leg if you don't reload. That's something I highly recommend.
 
It's a great round for a reloader and a great round for a handgun hunter, but for the person who just buys some factory ammo and shoots at a range for fun it can get quite expensive, quick.

It is a popular round which means that guns and ammo can be found for it almost everywhere.

It makes a great round if you want to pair a revolver with a lever gun or something similar.

I'm not huge into reloading anymore, so I don't really get into the caliber/cartridge. Just too expensive for me.
 
The second hand gun I bought as an adult was a Ruger SB 44mag with a 10 in bull barrel.
I had bought a Ruger SB 357 just a couple months prior and loved it and I was fast becoming a power junkie. I wanted bigger, bader hand cannons.
That was over 30 years ago.
I have loaded 44 mag well past the safe limits of the gun and the brass. I loved the 44 mag more than any other hand gun I shot.
I found that as a hand loader to be the most versatile big bore hand gun round out there.
You can change powder and bullet combo around to fit almost any need out there from light plinking to brown bear.
Today I am much older and prefer hot 44 spl loads. I have found that a hot 44 spl load will out perform a low charge 44 mag load.
I don’t shoot my 44’s as much as I use too but I still love them just the same.
 
I like the 44 magnum more as a rifle, lever action carbine cartridge.

In revolvers I prefer big bullets going at slower velocity. traditional 45 Colt and .455 Webley. Less recoil and still plenty deadly.

For serious hunting use in revolvers there are much better cartridges, 454 Casull and 475 Linebaugh. Maybe even hot-loaded 45 Colt in a good strong revolver.
 
The 44 mag was infamous after the Dirty Harry movies. Saw so many slightly used at shows years ago that I always wondered about it. But the whole big bore thing appealed to me. Time passes and I have owned a couple and later sold them with no real regrets. I got a 41 mag back in the mid-80's (M-57) primarily to use as a whitetail gun (and an upgrade in power over the 357 mag).

I compare everything to that and my findings were that I didn't need a 44 mag. Certainly the power differential was not significant and the recoil a bit more in in the M-29 vs M-57. But honestly, it is difficult for me to really tell and it has been a while since I shot them side by side.

I later wanted something a bit larger after the 454 started to become mainstream and chose the 480 Ruger at the time, I pretty much figured I wouldn't like shooting normal factory load levels in the 454. Got a Super Redhawk and scoped it.

The impetus for this purchase was I was wanting something more than the 41 mag, a larger bullet diameter, didn't feel the 44 mag was much of a change, and I wanted to scope the revolver. There were no good practical scoping options on an un-drilled M-57 and I didn't want to have it drilled and tapped for a scope. Got the SRH in 480; it was my first scoped revolver.

I could certainly tell a difference between the 41 mag and 480 Ruger factory loads. The 480 seemed to be the deer hunting caliber I was looking for and it had more flexibility built into for other larger game if I chose to hunt them with a revolver. I wanted something that I was comfortable reaching out to 100 yds if I was up to the shot.

So, I have no love or hate relationship with the 44 mag. I doubt I will buy another 44 for any reason at this point as I have no need for it and have multiple 41 mag revolvers. Frankly, regular shooting either the 41 or 44 mags with normal full house factory loads is not what I call pleasure. But it's fun at times. Have not been shooting the 41 much lately and loosing my touch to the point that I would not take it hunting without a lot of practice first. I still do carry my 4" M-57 Mountain Gun in the woods for the fun of it at times, but I wouldn't be much good at precision shooting with it.
 
At one time this was my Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum battery:



Divesting myself of DA N-Frames, only the 5" Full Lug remains in my battery.

But then, my accumulation of Ruger Super Blackhawks has grown considerably:



The .44 Magnum has proven to be, to me, an excellent round for field use, from groundhog to white tail deer. Also "killed" many steel rams at 200 meters or so.

The N-Frame S&W or Ruger Super Blackhawk are the largest revolvers I can comfortably carry and get into action with one hand, and don't give up a round to be a five-shot-loaded-with-four proposition.

If I didn't handload, there is no way I could have done the amount of shooting I have done over the years. When I was working, usually shot anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 rounds per year. Retirement has sort of cut into that schedule.

But for high velocity, flat trajectory at extended range, the .44 Magnum remains supreme, besting other cartridges with peak muzzle velocity and remaining velocity at distance. This for revolver cartridges in production guns.

I do enjoy the .45 Colt, make no mistake about that, but still have the .44 Magnum in high regard.

Bob Wright
 
.44 Special is probably the main reason I like my big heavy .44 mag guns. Although a full charge of H110 in .44 mag is awesome to behold....especially from a 2.5" gun.
 
I do not have long enough fingers to shoot 'N' framed Smiths double action like I prefer to do. Yeah I know I could cock and fire but I prefer to shoot double action revolvers double action.
;)
 
I don't enjoy the .44 Mag, I just use it.
Backup field gun in large critter territory, has a place.

I would not consider it a range toy. :)
Denis
 
I bought a Marlin 1894 in 44 mag many years ago 30+ so figured along the line may as well have a Handgun in 44 mag so bought s SBH and lately a 5.5 inch SBH I load a 205 cast bullet for practice and use Win 296 for hunting.
 
I'm with you on the recoil of the 41 Mag in Smith and Ruger. The only Smith 44 that was comfortable was the 8". My only 44 Mag left is a Ruger SBH and I still have a 657 and a Bisley 41 Mag. The 44 Spl and 45 Colt Blackhawks are now my favorites. I wouldn't begin to buy factory ammo for anything I shoot because I've been loading for 40 years. I'd rather spend that money on fishing tackle.
 
I am happy with the 357 Magnum, so I have not bought a 44 Magnum. But it is a great round that covers a wide range of applications.
 
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