Can You Handle The .44 Magnum?

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Zeke38

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
66
Location
Idaho
Great packin 44 ! 250grain SWC 10.0 Unique and 1100fps, superaccurate and enough for anything that lives around here. I should add 2400 loads for deep woods carry. Grips by Herrett!
 

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vlavalle

Single-Sixer
Joined
Apr 10, 2022
Messages
261
Location
Chandler, AZ
A 250gr bullet with a MV of 1100 fps generates only 672 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy (ME), which is on the rather low end of the scale of .44 Mag ammo. I am not sure what "...lives around here" means for game where you are, but this would have a tough time taking down large deer. Keep in mind, the the .44 MAG preloaded ammo goes all the way up to 1,544 ft. lbs. of ME. A .357Mag goes up to 907 ft. lbs. of ME. So, you can see that 672 ft. lbs. of ME is pretty low.
 

45acpskng

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 3, 2021
Messages
15
I'm a recent 44mag convert, have always been a 357mag guy myself. I shot other people's 44's thru the years, even owned a 454, as handgun recoil never bothered me much. I recently picked up an unfired, older '81 Marlin 44mag, thought I should have a revolver for it, bought a minty '84 Redhawk 7.5" stainless gun in the box. I now have a bnib 2021 Colt Anaconda 6"bbl. Damn cartridge is contagious, and YES, the most versatile of ALL the magnum rounds!
 

vlavalle

Single-Sixer
Joined
Apr 10, 2022
Messages
261
Location
Chandler, AZ
Interesting.
I generally shoot my own full power loads through my Redhawk, but right now I'm working through a rotator cuff injury, so my jury is still out.
FWIW, my all time favorite gun is my stainless 5.5" Single Six. Love that little guy.
Do you have anyidea about your own loads for its fps and what size bullet are you shooting? I can run these numbers thru my ballistics file and give you the power rating. At 7.5" of barrel it should be quite powerful! My .357Mag is only 6.5".
 

varminter22

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
275
Location
Nevada
I think it depends on how you define "handle".

I had a Super Blackhawk that I had shortened, Magnaported, action work, and reblued. Very nice. (Actually sold it to a gent on this forum.) And I've fired the S&W M29.

Sure, I can handle a very limited number of rounds of full magnum .44 loads.

But beyond a few rounds, it certainly wasn't fun. And frankly, I've never lived anywhere that a .44 Mag would be necessary. My S&W M24 and two Blackhawks in .44 Special are much more pleasant and practical (and even then, they don't get shot a whole lot.)

And for USPSA/ICORE/steel plates/bowling pins shooting, the full power .44 Mag most certainly is not appropriate. To those that claim otherwise, I challenge them to come to a match and shoot 200 to 300 (or more) rounds in a one-day match. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think there would be very, very few that could "handle" that many rounds of full house magnum loads in a day.

Does the .44 Mag have a place and a purpose? Of course it does. Just not for me.
 

man7sell

Bearcat
Joined
May 18, 2022
Messages
17
Location
Snohomish WA
My 44 Magnums like to shoot them all. I reload 240gn FN with 20gn Ramshot Enforcer at around 1400 fps. Not too hot, all very manageable.
 

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Onty

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 17, 2000
Messages
491
Handle the .44Mag? No problem. Like too? Not really. The Skeeter load 7.5g Unique pushing 240g SWC in .44Spec is just perfect for me. I just chrono'ed (is that a word?) mine last weekend. 1050fps average (15 rounds) out of the 5 1/2" barrel .44Spec BH. Std Dev of ~16. Very accurate load too in my revolver and will do everything I need doin' . I load 8.5g with same bullet in the .44Mag case for a pleasant shooting 44mag. I am finding in .45 Colt and the .44s, I like the 900-1000fps range of velocities for all my general purpose shooting.
I second that! As a matter of fact, I even use to shoot 45-320 at about 1050-1100 fps, just for fun. Later on, I went to 44-255 at 1100-1200 fps. Still found bit too much after about 50-60 rounds shooting half scale silhouette. Settled on 41-210/220 at about 1100-1200 fps in Bisley, could go all day long, no tingling in hands.

Don't get me wrong, I LIKE 44 Magnum and always will. I have now 7.5 Bisley, SBH 5.5 (converted to Bisley) and 7.5 Redhawk.

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Selling now blue 7.5 Bisley and Redhawk, and looking for S&W 626 classic DX. However, for daily shooting, I agree that Skeeter's load is hard to beat. Despite I think I will go to 41 Bisley (hopefully with fluted cylinder,) when going back to silhouette.
 
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Joined
Jun 19, 2006
Messages
4,247
Location
Midwest Illinois
I've owned 3 Redhawks, 2 Smith 629's, 3 Super Redhawks and 1 TC Encore all in 44 Mag. I currently have two SRH's, a 9.5" and a custom 5". They are pleasant to shoot. The Smith's just hurt to shoot for me. The Redhawk's were fine as long as they had grips covering the backstrap. The Encore was fine, except the lever to break it open hit my knuckle.
I got some weightlifting gloves at Wally World that are padded and they are very helpful. I am looking for another 44 rifle now. I had a Marlin and a Ruger 96 that I foolishly sold.
 

375supermag

Blackhawk
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Messages
553
Ho...
I have been shooting .44Magnum handguns for decades with moderate and full power loads without any undue problems.
My son shot his first handguns when he was 8 or 9 and by the end of that summer had worked his way up from .22LR through .357Magnum to full power .44Magnum loads albeit in small numbers...maybe 10-20 rounds per session.
He is 28 yrs old now and regularly shoots full power loads in .357Mag, .41Mag and .44Magnum handguns with no complaints.
The .44Magnum revolvers we shoot are a S&W 29 Classic Deluxe, Dan Wesson stainless, two Ruger Super BlackHawks and two Virginian Dragoons. We generally shoot at least twenty rounds of moderate loads in each revolver and then about five full power loads in each revolver.
We follow the same routine with .357Mag and .41Mag revolvers. We limit the full power loads in the S&W and Uberti clones to limit wear on them but many times shoot as many as 50 full power rounds through my BlackHawks, SuperBlackHawks or Dan Wesson revolvers.
We only shoot full power loads through my .357Maximum and .375SuperMag revolvers and usually shoot as many rounds as we have loaded...usually 50 or 100 rounds divided between us.
 
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Messages
7,095
Location
Richmond Texas USA
I have shot S&W Model 29, Ruger Super Blackhawks BUT the best IMHO is the Dan Wesson Vent Heavy Barrel. I would qualify with the Sherriff's Dept. with factory loads no problem. My wife and 13 YO Son could shoot it no problem.
It was also the best quality of the 3


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