Is a .45 Colt better than a .44 mag?

[DSJohnson]

Just listed as out of stock Alliant still catalogs it on their website.


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[Seniorman]

My hunting partner has used his Ruger .44 Magnum several times to kill bull elk here in Idaho. He uses a 290 grains Beartooth Bullets hard cast LBT Gas Check bullet. I do not remember his powder but he doesn't load it so hot it is a fire breathing romper stomper... nor is it even close to being a "squib" load. Just works for him and shoots through a bull elk. www.beartoothbullets.com can fill your needs.

If I were going to Alaska hunting moose with my Ruger SBH .44 Mag., that is what I'd use.

Good luck on your hunt. Take plenty of pictures.

[kyratshooter]

Just listed as out of stock Alliant still catalogs it on their website.


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Just part of the general scarcity of components we have endured since Sandy Hook. I have not found any Alliant shotgun or pistol powder anywhere for over 5 years. No Bullseye, no Unique, none of the "Dot powders" that used to be the staples of the reloading world.

Hodgens pistol powders are about as scarce.

Rifle powders are generally available.

Every time I post that I get replies that there is a ton of it at the LGS down the road in Pipsqueak, PA. I could never get anyone on the forums to give me the name and contact number for any of those well stocked LGS they had just down the road.

It is where you find it, and if you do find it you better buy it now because it will not be there tomorrow!

DSJ, I still use wheel weights for hard cast bullets. I have always used them straight and dropped them out of the mold into a bucket of water. I do that to most of my cast bullets, it makes them feed in the auto-pistols a little better and seems to cut down on leading. I have not noticed a change in them much.

When I buy them scrap there is always a good portion that are the "stick on" weights and those get separated for use in the muzzle loading guns. They are nearly pure lead.

[hunter63]

After this thread I started looking around.....
Most wheel are aluminum of "mag" or steel mag style.....not many of the old steel wheels around that used the clip on weights.

Saw a guy at the gun show selling lead in a coffee can 20 lbs wheel weights, some bulk lead and piping....about a $1 a pound....or $20 buck can.

Got one 5 gal bucket of processed once (melted, cleaned, dossed and made into #2 ingots) or pure lead.
and 2-5 gal buckets or "alloy" weights that have been processed as well.

So I'm good for a while.....but something to be on the look out for........

Last show most Hodgen brand except H4895, was a good supply....I mostly use H110 for pistols.
Have some Dot powders left about a pound of each....

[kyratshooter]

I can still buy it scrap for $0.25 per pound. I buy a half bucket every now and then when the pile gets low.

I only buy a half bucket because I can't pick up a whole bucket!

It took me forever to find a scrap dealer that sold lead in my area.

Back in 1977 I bought a 55 gallon barrel from a tire shop. That will drag down the back of a Toyota Hilux pickup! That barrel lasted me for about 5 years of heavy shooting.

[sjj]

editing....

[hunter63]

I'm a bullet in the bucket of water dropper as well......Heard it hardens up the bullets.

I do pre -heat the spru's, before adding them back to the melt pot, though.... after I fish them out of the water.
Does get exciting at times with a drop of water, in the hot lead.

[Wildthang]

Kyrat is sooooo lazy, he is going to break both of his ankles some day..................( page down )

























When all of that lead falls out of his azzzzzzz..................LOL

[Hummer70]

Forgot to add one thing. On the Ruger single actions, I know two guys that decided to shoot theirs one handed from the hip in a fast draw scenario. Both went to the ER to get their foreheads sewn up. I don't think the Red Hawk would do this but the Super Blackhawks and gave at least two I know of headaches.

[kyratshooter]

Kyrat is sooooo lazy, he is going to break both of his ankles some day..................( page down )

























When all of that lead falls out of his azzzzzzz..................LOL

Hey, I resemble that remark.

Just keep in mind that half a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights is pushing 100# and I have already had 3 back surgeries!

I get the guys at the scrap yard to put them in the vehicle and when I get home I wrestle them onto a 2 wheel dolly.

As for the recoil??? I don't mild 44mag recoil nearly as bad as 9mm in an ultra compact.

Besides, there is a different comfort level with the .44 which comes with the knowledge that your "plinking load" is a 240 grain bullet hovering around 1100fps, and it is still accurate.

Makes things all warm and fuzzy.

[hunter63]

My .44 is a Bisley model with that style grip, fit's my hands better.

Had a Dan Wesson that was Magna ported, that came in a trade......that actually seemed to have more recoil than the Ruger.....But the grip seem to be "stretched out"....if that makes any sense.
Friend wanted it, so down the road it went....and he was a limp wrist shooter,....was scared to death of that gun.

I am a big fan of the Pachmayr's on the .357's....that recoil seems "sharper" than the .44's.

You have to be able to hold on to them for any kind of control....so fit is important.

[crashdive123]

Forgot to add one thing. On the Ruger single actions, I know two guys that decided to shoot theirs one handed from the hip in a fast draw scenario. Both went to the ER to get their foreheads sewn up. I don't think the Red Hawk would do this but the Super Blackhawks and gave at least two I know of headaches.

I often shoot my Super Redhawk one handed. While I often practice one handed shooting with all of my handguns, I believe the Super Redhawk has less recoil than many of my smaller caliber handguns. I don't own a Blackhawk, but with only 4 or 5 ounces difference in weight I am surprised that there would be such a difference.

[randyt]

Never owned a 44 mag, a couple lesser powered .44s and a couple 45 colts. One in a S&W 25 and one in a ruger blackhawk. A 44 mag is on my "gotta have" list.

[hunter63]

The Ruger Bisley Super SBK was the second hand gun.....everyone should own one.
First was the Ruger Single Six, they look the same, sorta as long as they are not side by side.....

After a day at the range...was cleaning them, DW got home from somewhere, both were on the table at the same time.

She was putting stuff away, and causally says..."I didn't know you had two of those....."?.....Busted!....LOL
Of course that was the old days.....

[natertot]

I often shoot my Super Redhawk one handed. While I often practice one handed shooting with all of my handguns, I believe the Super Redhawk has less recoil than many of my smaller caliber handguns. I don't own a Blackhawk, but with only 4 or 5 ounces difference in weight I am surprised that there would be such a difference.

I have the New Model Blackhawk (made in 1973) chambered in .357Mag. I have shot some pretty hot rounds out of it single handed and my forehead is still intact. I am using the factory wood grips on it too. Maybe .44mag/.45LC models are different?

[Rick]

My hand went numb just reading this thread. I can't spend much time banging away with a .357. I'd probably just throw down a .44 and walk away. You are better men than me that's for sure.

[kyratshooter]

It has more to do with the stock design, gun weight and recoil impulse than male fortitude or muscle power.

I have a 2" 5 shot small frame S&W in .357. It is pleasant with .38spl standard loads, it stings with .38+p and putting full charge .357 in the thing I would consider insanity. I bought it for my wife so if she ever needed ammo, and I was not around, she could go into a Walmart an ask for .38 ammo and anything they gave her would fit and shoot.

The .38+p that sting in the snbbie are powder puff loads in my model 19.

I have complained many times about the pain inflicted on me by my Pf9, while I shoot the same rounds from full sized service pistols and never even feel the recoil.

Anyone that has ever fired a 1911 in stock form and then installed a pinned beavertail grip safety and slightly wider grips will notice an immediate change in the recoil transfer.

Same with the .44. Just changing grips can turn the experience around and there is a huge difference between the grip of a single action and a double action revolver. Some prefer one over the other and some want rubber grips on the DA or smooth grips on the SA and others reverse that preference.

One major problem with the .44 is that when most folks let someone with no experience shoot their .44 they stuff it with the heaviest loads they have just to get a few giggles by hurting the other guy. In turn the newbie is soured on the .44mag an never understands the full potential of the round.

A .44 magnum startup load kicks about like a .45acp and has an extra 200fps. That slight increase in velocity ups the energy level hugely. So the math is in favor of the .44 instantly.

If you can handle a 1911 you can shoot any .44mag startup load and if you still need to work up you can start with .44specials. Even downloading to the .44special you still have a load equal to the .45acp (+- a hair) with the ability to step up to the moose stomping loads if necessary.

If you reload it is the ultimate in offering "options". Load it light, load it heavy, load it with cast bullets, load it with jacketed soft points or hollow points, load it with smokeless modern powder or load it with black powder an it is still formidable. It will stop a bunny rabbit or it will stop a car, and if you are Clint Eastwood you can blow the car clean off the ground, roll it on its side and set it on fire.

Everyone needs a .44 magnum on their bucket list!

[Old Professor]

I have finally found a .44 Mag revolver that does not kick so much that I am reluctant to shoot it. It is the Taurus Tracker 4 inch PORTED! I have previously owned several 44 mag revolvers, both single and double action. The Taurus kicks less than other ported 44 mags I have owned or shot. Now I do shoot .44 specials most of the time, especially for practice, but if I am bush wacking or hunting big game it is loaded with heavy .44 mag loads. In most cases that is a solid copper hollow point. However in bear country (like checking my bear bait) I use a hard lead flat nose +300 grain bullet. I no longer reload so I buy these loads from the custom loading companies like Double Tap, Buffalo Bore, or Grizzly. I do not shoot enough of these heavy loads for the price to be a concern. One load I find my self repeatedly going to is the Winchester Wild Boar Load. All copper hollow point, penetrates well, recoil very manageable in my Taurus tracker. I really consider my self a handgun hunter and enjoy taking game with a hand gun.

[DSJohnson]

I have owned a 44 mag of some kind since about February of 1972. I got the okay to buy a Ruger Super Blackhawk from my father on my birthday that year. I bought a used 3 screw 7 1/2 inch blue Super Blackhawk within the week. It had gotten wet while a gentleman carried it in a leather holster and most of the finish was gone and there was just a little bit of heavy rust on the end of the barrel when I bought it. I paid $65 for it and got 44 loaded rounds with it. I also got the 6 empty pieces of brass. the gentleman had bought it new in 1968, took it to Montana while he went Elk hunting. He shot it six times before he went hunting and had never shot it since. I have shot several different brands and models of 44 mags and I love the cartridge. I have a S&W new Model No. 3 chambered in 44 Russian and a Charter Arms Bulldog in 44 Special and my Model 29-2 with a 6 1/2 " barrel. I put a set of Pachmayers on it the day I got it in 1975. For a very short period (less than a week) I owned a 5 shot single action custom built pistol by John Linebaugh on a Super Blackhawk frame. It was chambered for a .429 slug using cut down 444 Marlin brass.
I have shot, I am pretty sure, in excess of several hundred, maybe even over a thousand rounds of full house factory Remington 240 grain semi jacketed hollowpoints using the one hand method. I have shot my Model 29 over 100 rounds in just a couple of hours many times and have never experinced any numbing or soreness in my right hand at all.
I wrote all that to say this. My favorite load for any 44 is usually about 12 grains of Unique, a large pistol primer, and a hard cast 240 grain semi-wadcutter. I have shot some very heavy loads over the years and I have also introduced probably in excess of 50 folks to the 44 mag. I never thought it was funny to put a full house load in the hands of a novice revolver shooter and never saw any gain or profit in it either. I like folks to walk away from any shooting experience with a positive attitude. I have never seen anyone hit in the forehead with a revolver except on YouTube. The S&W44 mag is an excellent hunting round for the QUALIFIED handgun hunter.

[DSJohnson]

DSJ, I still use wheel weights for hard cast bullets. I have always used them straight and dropped them out of the mold into a bucket of water. I do that to most of my cast bullets, it makes them feed in the auto-pistols a little better and seems to cut down on leading. I have not noticed a change in them much.

When I buy them scrap there is always a good portion that are the "stick on" weights and those get separated for use in the muzzle loading guns. They are nearly pure lead.

Kyrats, I think the wheel weights nowadays are a different alloy because they seem to be "more" brittle and when I shoot Them at iron gongs and heavy iron targets they shatter much worse than they did say 20 or 30 years ago. I still use them but for some reason I just don't think they are the same. No science to back that up, by the way.

I quench all my cast stuff in water also, well except for my round balls of course.

I was extremely fortunate about 35 years ago. Southwestern Bell Telephone, at that time, used pure lead tubing to encase their main trunk lines and also had special "splicing" kits that had used a pure lead tube that could go as big as 6" and 36" long. I was working for a sub contractor for Bell and got to "salvage" any "damaged" lead for free. Then just about the time I found another job the local SWB Maintenance Superintendent told me that they, SWB, was going to a different system for all their buried lines. He asked me if I wanted all the lead at their yard. Needless to say I spent several Saturdays hauling pure "thumbnail soft" lead to my house. I ended up, over the course of the next winter, casting well over 1500 one pound ingots out of that deal. I hoarded that pure stuff for my muzzle loaders for like 20 years and had not even used 100 pounds of it so I started doing some trading with a few friends with some of it. I still have 500 or so pounds of it.