.44 Special Vs…44 Magnum – Is.44 Spl Good for Anything?

There are many reasons why a.44-caliber revolver is better than a.44 Magnum. Or is.44 Magnum better than.44 Magnum? .44 Magnum is superior to.44 Magnum in some areas, but the reverse is also true. Although the Special was often overlooked by its larger brother, that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. .44 Special (left) and.44 Magnum(right). Photo: Wikipedia..44 Special. The Original Flying Ashtray.The.44 Special, or rather.44 Smith & Wesson Special, is essentially a slightly longer.44 Russian case filled with smokeless powder. Comparison of a.44-caliber cartridge. Photo: Wikipedia. The original load of.44 Russian consisted of a 246-grain bullet measuring.426 inches and 23 grains of black powder. It was capable of traveling at a speed of 750 feet per seconds and generating 310 foot-pounds energy. The cartridge was first developed in 1870. It quickly gained popularity because of its high accuracy and power. They decided to update their most well-known large-bore cartridge. The S&W Number 3 new model in.44 Russian. Photo: Wikipedia. There were some initial problems with propellants so they extended the case to accommodate a little more powder, but little else. The result was the same velocity using the same 246-grain round nose lead bullet. This bullet is affectionately called a Flying Ashtray because it is large and slow. The.44 Special was introduced in 1907 and was known for being precise, controllable and powerful enough to be used for many purposes, including law enforcement and shooting sport. The.44 Magnum: Because Some.44 Shooters Got Bore! The genesis of.44 Magnum was an assortment of gun nuts, cowboys, and tinkerers who were not satisfied with factory loads. They discovered that the.44 Special had a large case capacity relative to its performance. They were called the “.44 Associates” and they produced hot loads of.44 special for different purposes. Elmer Keith was the ringleader. He worked up a lot of.44 Special for various purposes. They could withstand more pressure. Keith and Remington partnered in the creation of the.44 Remington Magnum. This sat a 260 grain bullet in a longer case, and propelled it up to 1,200 fps. The first cartridge was released in 1955. It was followed by the S&W.44 Magnum, later renamed the Ruger Blackhawk and the S&W.44 Magnum. The FBI standard of 12-18 inches penetration in ballistic gel through four layers of denim is satisfied by loads for both.44 Special or.44 Magnum. The ballistic gel test results for the 44 Magnum Magnum were compared to a 5-inch revolver or a 16 inch carbine. Source: AR15.com tests by Dr. Gary Roberts. The FBI dropped the 10mm Norma load partly because it had less recoil. Partially, police departments across the country have been switching to 9mm over.40 S&W in the past 20 years. Even the gunfighting gun writers of that era often admitted that.44 Magnum was too kicky. Bill Jordan, a Border Patrolman, also said the same thing in his book No 2 Place Winner. Col. Charles Askins stated that “.44 Magnum” is a man’s gun. However, he later wrote that it and the.41 Magnum were too heavy for long-term use. Delf “Jelly”, Bryce, who was a.44 Special soldier for most of his career, switched to a S&W Magnum 3.5-inch when he started working for the FBI. A U.S. soldier fires a.44 Magnum Desert Eagle during a competition that demonstrated the high recoil. Photo: Wikipedia. The unwieldy recoil of the.44 Magnum makes it a poor choice for two-legged threats. A.44 Magnum with an extended, non-expanding, deep penetration projectile is the best choice for a backup gun in grizzly territory. Hunting:.44 Special vs..44 Magnum A 240-grain average load of.44 Special has an average range of 80 yards on a target six inches in diameter, while a projectile loaded with.44 Magnum can reach 120 yards. MPBR comparison of the.44 Special and.44 Magnum. Photo: ShootersCalculator.com.While .44 Special is more than serviceable for medium to smaller game at modest distances, the reality is .44 Magnum has such a good track record that you might as well not bother. .44 Special Vs..44 Magnum: Sport Shooting.44 Special is a popular choice for SASS/CAS events due to the wide availability of factory-loaded ammunition. However, be aware that lever-action rifles can be fairly ammunition-sensitive. The shorter case of the.44 Special can cause feeding problems in some.44 Magnum carbines. (Winchesters are the most likely to have this problem). Not all loads will shoot to sight. Because of its flatter trajectory and higher power, the.44 Magnum is preferred for metallic silhouette shooting (such IMSSU events). Both are great for bowling pin shoots. However, the.44 Special will give you faster splits. A single-action Ruger Blackhawk in the.44 Special is a good choice for Cowboy Action shooting or similar events. Photo: Wikipedia. Other revolver events are dominated the medium bores. Jerry Miculek may run his.44 Magnum faster that you think, but you still have to remember that you are not Jerry Miculek. His competition handguns are usually chambered to.38/.357, or 9mm for someone with that skill level. Here we go into the weeds about bullseye accuracy. There are many variables that can affect mechanical accuracy. However, there is a known phenomenon where shorter cases can degrade accuracy. This could be due to gas inefficiency or a longer jump from the leade. It has been observed in.38/.357 and.44 Special/.44 Magnum guns. The accuracy of.44 Mag is slightly better than.44 Special in certain weapons, but this will likely not be apparent to most shooters. If you are really unsure about which cartridge to choose, the best option would be to get the.44 Magnum and figure which.44 Special loads shoot well to the sights without losing accuracy. This will give you the best of both worlds. If you had to pick, get a magnum if your intention is to do magnum stuff. Don’t buy one if not. Since the 1950s, there has been a steady supply of lightly used.44 Magnum revolvers. This gives.44 Magnum an advantage in revolver selection. But, keep in mind that you might soon find yourself joining the ranks with many others who have traded in their revolvers after experiencing the recoil. Ruger offers a few 5-shot GP100 models and the Blackhawk Bisley (.44 Special), which is a subtle nod towards Elmer Keith’s Revolver No. 5. There are a few reproduction single action revolvers in the.44 Special, mostly Bisley SAA clones. Elmer Keith’s Revolver Number 5 “The Last Word” in the.44 Special. You can see more of Elmer Keith’s collection auctioned off by James D. Julia. Charter Arms still makes the Bulldog in.44 Special, including 2.5 inch and 4-inch models…but Charter Arms guns, Jeff Cooper stated, are best to be carried often and shot little. A Smith & Wesson Model 21 and 24 are the best options for vintage.44 Specials. However, there are still some Triple Locks available and Colt New Service guns. There are many options for.44 Magnum revolvers. Smith & Wesson and Colt, Ruger, Ruger, Korth, Taurus… the list goes on. Both.44 Special as well as.44 Magnum have their pros and cons. The former is a good choice for self-defense but it’s not the best option given the available options. Although the latter is an excellent hunting round capable of dropping elephants, it may not be the best choice for you. However, there are many small revolver options available, even if most of them will be second-hand. If you are able to handle the recoil,.44 Magnum can still be a great hunting revolver. However, it all comes down to how you intend to use it. Both cartridges have their place in self-defense, hunting, and sport shooting. But it all depends on what you are using the gun for. The.44 special may not be as popular as it used to be, but it is still very useful. Next Step: Get your Storm Tactical printable target pack62 printable MOA targets with DOT drills – Rifle range in YARDSThis amazing target pack comes from Storm Tactical and contains 62 printable targets for rifle and handgun range usage. Target grids and bullseye sizes can be found in MOA. Get Free Targets