I am starting to think I may not need a 44 Mag revolver. I have a 44 Special Ruger Flat Top that will do almost any thing I want a revolver to do. That along with a large frame Ruger 45 Colt, a 357 S&W 686 and a 41 Magnum Freedom Arms. I can hand load the 45 Colt to equal the 44 Mag. Also, lately I have been down loading more and more the 44 Mag. I used to load 10 Grains of Unique and a 240 Grain hard cast for many years for a every day load but as I age my artheritic hands do not care fo it much. Ireally wonder if I will use it much any more.

Any hard core shooter NEEDS one, or more.

I used to think that the advantages of the .44mag were the variety of very good gun models that it was available in, and the wide selection of factory ammunition that is available for it.
Yes you can load the Ruger .45Colt to equal or exceed it, so in that regards you could do without the .44mag. For that matter the .41mag is pretty close to the .44mag.
In reality if you handload the .45Colt could replace all of the guns you listed, but that doesn't mean you don't need any of the others.

Nt

Never considered such a load in the old Colt. WOW!!!!!!!!!

As far as something a .44 can do which a .45 cannot. That and extreme sectional density. On the speedy load a friend clocked over 1900fps out of his long tom SuperRed. Both of which approach .30-30 rather than .45-70. Explosive load even with XTP. Jacket and core separate into flat quarter sized discs. A deer hit behind shoulder drops as if snatched to ground. A deer hit in shoulder likely scampers off a 3-legged deer. Would think quite effective in densely populated areas due to terminal effect coupled with low chance of over-penetration.

I hold the opinion that the 44 Mag is the basic handgun. Turn the thing around and look at it from the other end.

The 44 Mag will do anything the 44 Special can do and more.
The 44 Mag will do anything the 41 Mag will do and more.
The 44 Mag will do anything the 357 Mag will do and more.
The 44 Mag will do anything the 45 Colt will do and more unless you are using "Ruger only" loads.

So the questions isn't, do I need a 44 Mag, when I have all these other guns. The question is, do I need all these other guns when I have a 44 Mag.

I own many handguns of various calibers, but I am not getting rid of my 44 Mags. They would be the last ones to go as with them I can cover what any of the others can do.

and the retail gun business will collapse under it's own weight in a year.
I closed a lot of gun sales with the phrase "You're needs and your wants are two differnt things. You can live with out your needs for a while".

why you don't.

I got a .44 Mag early on (a 629-1 4"). I find that the normal load in .45 Colt or .44 Special or .41 Mag Police load is really all I need. I do have the Redhawk to handle the 300 gr. loaded out. Hell for stout that and more than these others and I would carry every day if I lived with Mr. Grizzly. I don't.

PS - of course you might find out that you need the .44 Mag and not anything else. It is still your call, at least for a while yet.

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Sincerely,

Hobie

Sheesh. Act as if there were nothing between .41 and .45.....

I couldn't imagine being without a .44 mag!

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Of the Troops & For the Troops

I started w/ the 45 Colt and have never felt the need for a 44.
from plinking to pig the 45 has been able to fill all the large caliber holes I need in a hunting / woods running / target shooting firearm the 45 is perfect in MHO.

No. Just thinking. Almost always gets me in trouble. But thank you.

Art

on the money. Load it up or down carry it for defense ot hunting shooting competition, like Bowling Pins, ICORE , Informal, local combat matches, plink, punch nice round holes into small clusters, etc.

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Of the Troops & For the Troops

I own no 44s of any stripe. I have 22s, 38/357s and 45s. In this I suspect I am an ascetic, at least in this group. And a 9mm Glock, which just flat works.