Thoughts on 44 Magnum

[Jefferry404]

My 2 cents. Love the 44mag (have 3 FA, 3 Rugers,3 S&W). I tend to shorter barrels for packing. And I also like the 10mm Auto when packing in the spring. So thought to compare them.
A 5" 10mm 1911 ls 8.7" long, weighs 38oz vs a 2.75" Redhawk is 8.25" long, weighs 44oz. and is 0.5" wider.
At maximum pressure for both, using artificial barrel length for the redhawk of 3.25" to match pistol overall length, a 180gn 10mm has muzzle energy of 661 ft-lbs vs the 44mag of 582 ft-lbs (revolver loses energy due to the cylinder gap, 8/1000 for the Ruger) and comparable sectional densities.
For me, 44 mag carry barrel length greater than 4" and go with the 10mm when need more compact.

 

[Ridge Runner]

@Desaad

....... As for one-handed fire, that's difficult to imagine with a gun weighing over 50oz! They're fun to shoot and expensive to feed. Great intimidation value if a bad guy ever DOES get in your house!

I will need to weigh my 44 mag revolvers. However, my 44 mag Taurus and Magnum Research both have short barrels 4-1/2 and 4-5/8 inch barrels respectively. The Taurus is also Mag-na-ported. The Taurus, is a large DA S&W frame, it is especially comfortable to fire one handed with magnum loads. The MR by designed is heavier and made for 2 handed firing, but is relatively just as reasonably comfortable to shoot one handed with heavy reloads. In single action revolvers I much prefer the Ruger Blackhawk and Colt Peace Maker (although a 45 Colt) design.

I will concur, for me personally, that handgun barrels over 6-1/2 inches long are a trifle bit more cumbersome to draw, aim, and fire one handed.

Since I do reload for my 44's, and as with any caliber, it depends on one's costs of reloading components and type loads. Makes the 44 more affordable to shoot.

 

[RedTag]

Here’s my opinion, having carried revolvers in Alaska for many years. I don’t really like the .44 Magnum cartridge because in my opinion it’s not quite enough to reliably hunt anything larger than deer but a bit much for defensive purposes. Tried a couple and moved on. I have taken a moose with a .454 Casull and found that a good match for the task using 300-grain XTP. I carried the same for bear defense while guiding fishing trips and though never had to shoot a bear (yet) felt confident with it. I still wouldn’t recommend the Casull for defense in general as the recoil makes follow up shots difficult for most people. I practiced a lot, at considerable expense. I would say the same for anything above the Casull.
I like the concept of the .41 Magnum but it’s a non starter if you’re not into hand loading handgun cartridges, which I am not. I think a .357 Magnum or a 10mm with full power hard cast loads is actually a better choice for most folks wildlife defense needs as these are about the minimum to reliably ensure penetration but are relatively affordable and easy enough to practice with consistently, as such is needed to make the cns hits required to stop any animal charge.

 

[Jefferry404]

ordered hornady 44 mag new backcountry ammo.
Supposedly deep penetration but not sure bullet integrity against bone vs hardcast?

 

[HankBuck]

Here’s my opinion, having carried revolvers in Alaska for many years. I don’t really like the .44 Magnum cartridge because in my opinion it’s not quite enough to reliably hunt anything larger than deer but a bit much for defensive purposes. Tried a couple and moved on. I have taken a moose with a .454 Casull and found that a good match for the task using 300-grain XTP. I carried the same for bear defense while guiding fishing trips and though never had to shoot a bear (yet) felt confident with it. I still wouldn’t recommend the Casull for defense in general as the recoil makes follow up shots difficult for most people. I practiced a lot, at considerable expense. I would say the same for anything above the Casull.
I like the concept of the .41 Magnum but it’s a non starter if you’re not into hand loading handgun cartridges, which I am not. I think a .357 Magnum or a 10mm with full power hard cast loads is actually a better choice for most folks wildlife defense needs as these are about the minimum to reliably ensure penetration but are relatively affordable and easy enough to practice with consistently, as such is needed to make the cns hits required to stop any animal charge.

@RedTag - I like that you differentiate between the .454 Casull being good for hunting vs self defense - due to excessive recoil. I agree a handgun appropriate for Bear defense vs Bear “hunting” is different. In Bear defense your objective is Not to kill the Bear - the objective is to Save-your-life and Deter an attack…most handguns will do that so select one that you can operate effectively under extreme stress. Some very extensive studies have been done evaluating the effectiveness of handguns during actual Bear “attacks” (I believe nearly 60 attacks evaluated over a 20 year period) and calibers from .22lr & .380, 9mm up to .44 mag & .454 all proved effective “deterring” the attack. If I remember correctly the .44 mag was 100% effective and the 9mm 80% and even the .22lr was 60-80% effective (I wish I could attach the study but that exceeds my computer skills). Point is ANY gun is better then none and most are effective — some much more then others. MY measure of effectiveness would be if I “live to tell the story” and Not a photo of me standing over a Dead Bear.

 

[RedTag]

@RedTag - I like that you differentiate between the .454 Casull being good for hunting vs self defense - due to excessive recoil. I agree a handgun appropriate for Bear defense vs Bear “hunting” is different. In Bear defense your objective is Not to kill the Bear - the objective is to Save-your-life and Deter an attack…most handguns will do that so select one that you can operate effectively under extreme stress. Some very extensive studies have been done evaluating the effectiveness of handguns during actual Bear “attacks” (I believe nearly 60 attacks evaluated over a 20 year period) and calibers from .22lr & .380, 9mm up to .44 mag & .454 all proved effective “deterring” the attack. If I remember correctly the .44 mag was 100% effective and the 9mm 80% and even the .22lr was 60-80% effective (I wish I could attach the study but that exceeds my computer skills). Point is ANY gun is better then none and most are effective — some much more then others. MY measure of effectiveness would be if I “live to tell the story” and Not a photo of me standing over a Dead Bear.

This is true! Hunting big game with a handgun necessitates aiming for the heart/ lung vital area (center of mass) from 25 yards and beyond (possibly even 100 yards or more with a scoped revolver) which is the realm of the .44 Magnum for deer sized game or .454 Casull and up for bigger game. Defense from large animal attacks necessitates aiming for the central nervous system from well within 25 yards, so accurate shooting and speed outweigh power. This is just a lot easier for most people to achieve with a .357 Magnum or a 10mm, with the caveat that both use full power hard cast loads. I learned to shoot the Casull quickly and accurately but it took a lot of very expensive practice. The guns are enormous and heavy too. I would say the same for the .44 Magnum, if one is able to handle it quickly and accurately as their sensible upper limit then it would be a fine choice. For me, the .44 Magnum is simply a case of simultaneously being too much and not enough. Best regards

 

[lobo9er]

ordered hornady 44 mag new backcountry ammo.
Supposedly deep penetration but not sure bullet integrity against bone vs hardcast?

Ill be interested in hearing how that stuff works for you.

 

[buffybr]

I've lived and worked in grizzly country since I moved to Montana back in 1975. My first 3 years at a remote Forest Service Ranger Station in NW Montana, and since '78 off a county road 6 miles from Bozangles. We've seen grizzly tracks in the snow 300 yds from my house.

For many years I carried a Ruger SBH 7 1/2" .44 magnum while hiking, fishing, or hunting. In all of that time, I've only encoutered 3 grizzly bears outside of Yellowstone NP.

I saw the first grizzly bear while I was driving on a remote logging road south of Eureka, MT. It was feeding on some fresh green, early spring vegetation along a creek about 100 yds below the road. I watched him feed for about 10 minutes while I was still inside of my truck. I then got out of my truck and sat down on the edge of the road. I didn't sit there more than a minute when his nose went straight up in the air as he got my scent, and he took off running up the hill on the other side of the creek.

My next encounter with a grizzly was on a back country trail south of Big Timber, MT. The previous fall a horse had broken it's leg there and had to be put down. The next spring a grizzly found the horse carcass and claimed it. A local outfitter used that trail to take fishermen into wilderness lakes, and his packstrings had been charged by that grizzly.

So, as the Forest Service blaster, I was called to "remove" the dead horse (one of many that I had "removed"). One of the Ranger District employeees went in there with me, and when we got to the dead horse, the grizzly was there feeding on it. He ran away as soon as he saw us, and when we left, there was nothing left of that horse bigger than a Big Mac which the birds, coyotes, and that grizzly would finish off in a day or two.

My 3rd grizzly bear encounter was one year where two friends and I were hunting and camped at the end of a Forest Service road near West Yellowstone, MT. We had the quarters of 2 bull elk and a bull moose hanging in the stock rack in the back of my pickup. Before going to bed one night I went outside to check my horses, and no more than 10 yds from our tent camper, a grizzly on top of the road cutbank, woofed and clicked his teeth at me.

He had a radio collar and an ear tag, and we later found out that he had been a problem bear near Cooke City, MT and had been trapped and relocated to where we were camped. I had my Ruger .44 on my hip, and I fired one shot over his head with no effect from him. So I fired another shot into the trunk of a pine tree next to him, and again, he just stood there woofing and clicking his teeth at me.

So I holstered my .44 then bent down and picked up a golf ball size rock and threw and hit him with it. He then ran off into the darkness and we never saw him again.

I have since bought a stainless S&W Model 626 4" .44 magnum that I practice shooting it almost every week, and I have developed full cylinder length shotshells for it that I enjoy shooting Skeet station 8 clay targets with it.

As others have posted, while hunting in Africa, your PH is usually right by your side and carrying a large caliber rifle. Unless you actually want to hunt your African animals with a pistol, I don't think that it would be worth the cost and hassle of bringing a pistol there, just to have one with you.

 

[HankBuck]

I've lived and worked in grizzly country since I moved to Montana back in 1975. My first 3 years at a remote Forest Service Ranger Station in NW Montana, and since '78 off a county road 6 miles from Bozangles. We've seen grizzly tracks in the snow 300 yds from my house.

For many years I carried a Ruger SBH 7 1/2" .44 magnum while hiking, fishing, or hunting. In all of that time, I've only encoutered 3 grizzly bears outside of Yellowstone NP.

I saw the first grizzly bear while I was driving on a remote logging road south of Eureka, MT. It was feeding on some fresh green, early spring vegetation along a creek about 100 yds below the road. I watched him feed for about 10 minutes while I was still inside of my truck. I then got out of my truck and sat down on the edge of the road. I didn't sit there more than a minute when his nose went straight up in the air as he got my scent, and he took off running up the hill on the other side of the creek.

My next encounter with a grizzly was on a back country trail south of Big Timber, MT. The previous fall a horse had broken it's leg there and had to be put down. The next spring a grizzly found the horse carcass and claimed it. A local outfitter used that trail to take fishermen into wilderness lakes, and his packstrings had been charged by that grizzly.

So, as the Forest Service blaster, I was called to "remove" the dead horse (one of many that I had "removed"). One of the Ranger District employeees went in there with me, and when we got to the dead horse, the grizzly was there feeding on it. He ran away as soon as he saw us, and when we left, there was nothing left of that horse bigger than a Big Mac which the birds, coyotes, and that grizzly would finish off in a day or two.

My 3rd grizzly bear encounter was one year where two friends and I were hunting and camped at the end of a Forest Service road near West Yellowstone, MT. We had the quarters of 2 bull elk and a bull moose hanging in the stock rack in the back of my pickup. Before going to bed one night I went outside to check my horses, and no more than 10 yds from our tent camper, a grizzly on top of the road cutbank, woofed and clicked his teeth at me.

He had a radio collar and an ear tag, and we later found out that he had been a problem bear near Cooke City, MT and had been trapped and relocated to where we were camped. I had my Ruger .44 on my hip, and I fired one shot over his head with no effect from him. So I fired another shot into the trunk of a pine tree next to him, and again, he just stood there woofing and clicking his teeth at me.

So I holstered my .44 then bent down and picked up a golf ball size rock and threw and hit him with it. He then ran off into the darkness and we never saw him again.

I have since bought a stainless S&W Model 626 4" .44 magnum that I practice shooting it almost every week, and I have developed full cylinder length shotshells for it that I enjoy shooting Skeet station 8 clay targets with it.

As others have posted, while hunting in Africa, your PH is usually right by your side and carrying a large caliber rifle. Unless you actually want to hunt your African animals with a pistol, I don't think that it would be worth the cost and hassle of bringing a pistol there, just to have one with you.

@buffybr - reading your post—- on your 3rd Griz encounter I don’t understand your “tactics” of firing two (of your only 6 shots) to scare the bear and then “putting your gun in the holster” before throwing rocks?? I obviously wasn’t there but what was your “back up plan” if the ROCKs provoked a charge? Maybe you’re Fast-on-the-Draw or can sling a Rock like David vs. Goliath ? Plus you must’ve known that those EAR Tags often mean the Bear was a known problem…You enjoy excitement more then Me

 

[HankBuck]

Even if the pistol is equivalent to a .500 Nitro Express?

@DIRTYHARRYBALLISTICS - The weight & recoil of the S&W .460 XVR & .500 almost redefine these firearms from Handguns to “Hand Cannons” - too heavy to be drawn & fired quickly by most handgun shooters, unlikely to recover from recoil to get a “2nd shot” on target, and forget firing it with One hand. For all the weight and bulk of the BIG Smiths - might as well just carry an extra double Rifle and “saw the barrels off”.
There is a good Utube video of Jerry Michlick shooting a .500 S&W “Rapid fire” just as fast as he can pull the trigger, then the video repeats in Slow-Motion and you can see the “Shock waves Ripple his arms, shoulders, & face !”. After firing just those 5 shots Jerry says “that’s enough for me”. I own a S&W .460 XVR and bought it used - only 3 rounds had been fired thru it (2 chambers were “clean”. In 12 years I’ve fired about 30 rounds thru it ….just to say “I did it”, most useless firearm I’ve ever owned but a Novelty to say “yeah - I’ve got one”. As useless as it is - I might buy another “Boat Anchor” to match it —- the S&W .500. To me they are too much of a good thing - like a Woman with 88” triple FFF boobs !!

 

[EfRed]

I love my Ruger SBH. When the freezer is full I glo play with my six shooter and 340gr hard casts. They are devastating on plainsgame and ruin almost no meat. Same with Hornady 240gr XTP.

I think it was Elmar Keith who said: “you eat right up to the bullet hole…”

My only frustration is I do not shoot it enough. 8” gongs at 100yards are a breeze with a rest or tripod like the old Bogpod.

Lastly, an old fixed long eye relief Leupold 4x power worked very well and is great for load development, but of late I much prefer hunting with an Aimpoint Micro H1 on a small Wiggitiny rail that attaches to the milled out slot for the rear sight.

I however still keep my longer rail, Leupold 4x32 and QRW rings if I will be chasing game over greater distances.

My current dream is a 100kg plus bushpig boar at night over bait on a full moon night or with a very low intensity red dimmer.


View attachment 658854
View attachment 658855
View attachment 658856
View attachment 658857

I have one just like yours. My Dad gave it to me in the early 60's. Never hunted with it, but carried it over miles of sagebrush hills in central Washington. It's the most comfortable to shoot .44 Mag among all the Ruger and Smith offerings, for me. A lot of fun! It isn't a .454 Casull or a .475 Linebaugh. The .454 with a 260 at 1800 fps out of an FA revolver is like shooting a rifle, trajectory wise. The .475 is authoritative, my favorite among the big big bores. Out of a FA revolver, the recoil is big but not painful. With a 4.5" bbl, its handy and packable. A second shot is slow, for me, with any of these. If you're depending on one of these for backup, consider having it on a lanyard.

 

[EfRed]

Here’s my opinion, having carried revolvers in Alaska for many years. I don’t really like the .44 Magnum cartridge because in my opinion it’s not quite enough to reliably hunt anything larger than deer but a bit much for defensive purposes. Tried a couple and moved on. I have taken a moose with a .454 Casull and found that a good match for the task using 300-grain XTP. I carried the same for bear defense while guiding fishing trips and though never had to shoot a bear (yet) felt confident with it. I still wouldn’t recommend the Casull for defense in general as the recoil makes follow up shots difficult for most people. I practiced a lot, at considerable expense. I would say the same for anything above the Casull.
I like the concept of the .41 Magnum but it’s a non starter if you’re not into hand loading handgun cartridges, which I am not. I think a .357 Magnum or a 10mm with full power hard cast loads is actually a better choice for most folks wildlife defense needs as these are about the minimum to reliably ensure penetration but are relatively affordable and easy enough to practice with consistently, as such is needed to make the cns hits required to stop any animal charge.

Also, a semi-auto can be handled with one hand, either hand, without losing your grip. A single action revolver requires a loss and regain of grip for follow-on shots. I prefer the 10mm Glock 20 for that reason. Faster, better control, less chance of dropping it or having it squirt out of your hand if bloody.

 

[buffybr]

@buffybr - reading your post—- on your 3rd Griz encounter I don’t understand your “tactics” of firing two (of your only 6 shots) to scare the bear and then “putting your gun in the holster” before throwing rocks?? I obviously wasn’t there but what was your “back up plan” if the ROCKs provoked a charge? Maybe you’re Fast-on-the-Draw or can sling a Rock like David vs. Goliath ? Plus you must’ve known that those EAR Tags often mean the Bear was a known problem…You enjoy excitement more then Me

That incident was 40 years ago and I was obviously younger and probably dumber. I guess my "back up plan" would have been to draw and shoot before he got to me. I only picked up and threw one rock, and throughout that incident, my left hand held my flashlight.

Prior to and after that incident every black and grizzly bear that I've encountered, except one, the bear ran away as soon as it saw me.

The one exception was the time that a black bear had attacked one member of our Forest Service trail maintenance crew. I was part of the response team. The FS LEO gave me his AR 15 and he and a Sheriff's Deputy both had their shotguns. Somehow I led the team up the trail with the LEO and Deputy right behind me. We got the the injured man who had climbed to the top of a very large Spruce tree, and when we got to him an hour after he was first attacked, a black bear charged us. The LEO, Duputy, and I all fired at the same time, killing the bear.

After we got the injured man out of the tree and had administered first aid to his bites, I saw a little bear cub of the year running through the brush. Evidently the trail crew had gotten between a mother bear and her cubs, and she was just protecting them.

I then felt bad for killing the mother bear, and when the cup climbed a tree, I climbed up after him and caught him. The next day, FWP took dogs to the scene and caught another cub. They took both cubs to a wildlife rescue center that took care of the cubs for two years, then released them back in the forest.

 

[DIRTYHARRYBALLISTICS]

@DIRTYHARRYBALLISTICS - The weight & recoil of the S&W .460 XVR & .500 almost redefine these firearms from Handguns to “Hand Cannons” - too heavy to be drawn & fired quickly by most handgun shooters, unlikely to recover from recoil to get a “2nd shot” on target, and forget firing it with One hand. For all the weight and bulk of the BIG Smiths - might as well just carry an extra double Rifle and “saw the barrels off”.
There is a good Utube video of Jerry Michlick shooting a .500 S&W “Rapid fire” just as fast as he can pull the trigger, then the video repeats in Slow-Motion and you can see the “Shock waves Ripple his arms, shoulders, & face !”. After firing just those 5 shots Jerry says “that’s enough for me”. I own a S&W .460 XVR and bought it used - only 3 rounds had been fired thru it (2 chambers were “clean”. In 12 years I’ve fired about 30 rounds thru it ….just to say “I did it”, most useless firearm I’ve ever owned but a Novelty to say “yeah - I’ve got one”. As useless as it is - I might buy another “Boat Anchor” to match it —- the S&W .500. To me they are too much of a good thing - like a Woman with 88” triple FFF boobs !!

For folks that arent large frame people, i'd imagine that the big magnums are useless as they're beyond their ability to control. I've been shooting my .460 since 2008. So much so that the compensator has terrible amounts of wear and needs replaced. I now own a .500 Bushwhacker, and ive already gone through over 100 rounds with it. The recoil of the .500BW is double that of the .460, and while its a monsterous gun, in my hands, it just doesnt feel unreasonable. I have a video i posted on my youtube shooting my .460 with 1 hand, and it was just casual. I'm 6'4" and 220lbs. So while i'm not a huge guy, i'm larger than average. This definitely plays a role in my ability to handle recoil, but a bigger part is knowing how to handle it and practicing with it. Also on my channel, i have the owner of a gun store shooting the .500BW, and it flips out of his hands and the front sight strikes him on the head. I have another short video of me shooting it the same day and you can see it just looks normal or casual. Ive shot over 40 of the .500BW in a day, and literally hundreds in a day of the .460. Neither made me feel like thats enough for me. Again, the big difference is experience with magnums. I can certainly draw my .460 in very short order and place 5 shots in about a grapefruit sized target. Which isnt amazing shooting, but its definitely lethal and functional shooting. With the .500bw, the draw would be notably much slower, as it has a 14" barrel, but i'd easily have my first shot dead on, and every shot thereafter would probably be within a 12"x12" target at 15 yards. Again, not gonna win any comps that way, but definitely going to stop whatever threatens me that way. If you want, look up my handle from here, on youtube and you'll be able to see my channel and the videos i'm talking about.

 

[HankBuck]

That incident was 40 years ago and I was obviously younger and probably dumber. I guess my "back up plan" would have been to draw and shoot before he got to me. I only picked up and threw one rock, and throughout that incident, my left hand held my flashlight.

Prior to and after that incident every black and grizzly bear that I've encountered, except one, the bear ran away as soon as it saw me.

The one exception was the time that a black bear had attacked one member of our Forest Service trail maintenance crew. I was part of the response team. The FS LEO gave me his AR 15 and he and a Sheriff's Deputy both had their shotguns. Somehow I led the team up the trail with the LEO and Deputy right behind me. We got the the injured man who had climbed to the top of a very large Spruce tree, and when we got to him an hour after he was first attacked, a black bear charged us. The LEO, Duputy, and I all fired at the same time, killing the bear.

After we got the injured man out of the tree and had administered first aid to his bites, I saw a little bear cub of the year running through the brush. Evidently the trail crew had gotten between a mother bear and her cubs, and she was just protecting them.

I then felt bad for killing the mother bear, and when the cup climbed a tree, I climbed up after him and caught him. The next day, FWP took dogs to the scene and caught another cub. They took both cubs to a wildlife rescue center that took care of the cubs for two years, then released them back in the forest.

@buffybr - YOU are a very “kind & considerate” person - to even be thinking about those Cubs when you had NO choice and HAD TO kill that “charging” Sow….Not something that would’ve been in the front of my mind, I would’ve been rattled for awhile at having been charged by a Bear with “Bad intentions” and you were thoughtful enough to consider those Cubs. I hope that Guy “up the Tree, that had been attacked by that Bear —— APPRECIATED what you risked to save Him