This post is not intended to flame anyone, especially flat top since he and I are friends off forum. I offer the following just to present an opposing view here, but one I have heard many times in my life, and one with which I agree.

I guess I am the minority here maybe, but if I buy a .44 magnum, you can bet I'll be using magnum loads in it. It doesn't hurt a darn thing, and I take exception to the claims to the contrary. Sure they will wear the gun more quickly than a mild load, but few of us ever fire enough rounds in a lifetime with one gun, to wear it out. Why buy a bigger gun, then nueter it with weaker loads than it was designed for?

I use mid-range loads all the time, but when hunting, I use full on loads. If you can't shoot accurately with your gun and it's factory designated load, then you shouldn't even consider taking it to the woods to kill something that you may only wound instead due to poor shooting.

I have no quarrel with those who water down their loads to hunt, but I do get miffed when someone tries to tell me that I am doing damage to my gun by using the load it was designed for, or that it is more than needed. If we followed that logic, we would all be using a sharpened stick fired from a longbow, since it will kill a deer just fine if you stick it in the right place.

This is America, and freedom to choose and use what we want is what makes this country so great.