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Old 12-27-2010, 09:50 AM
RidgwayCO RidgwayCO is offline
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Jimmymac46, I agree with you about trying to make a round something it's not. If a certain caliber doesn't have enough power for you, then get a bigger caliber.

IMHO however, the .44 Special has been hobbled since its inception with artificially weak factory rounds. Heck, the .44 Special was originally loaded to the same specs at the .44 Russian, even though the .44 Special has a longer case. That the "standard" factory round in .44 Special is a 246gr LRN bullet at an advertised 750 fps (which often won't chronograph close to that number), is bordering on criminal. The thought is that these rounds are kept weak due to the numerous old guns out there with questionable steel and/or heat treatments.

But for a modern gun, with modern heat-treated steels, there's no reason to accept such pitiful performance. Elmer Keith and others ("The .44 Associates") showed the promise of the .44 Special, and Skeeter Skelton, John Taffin, and Brian Pearce have kept the flame alive. I've loaded thousands of .44 Special rounds in the 250gr/950fps class, and my revolvers haven't been damaged in the least. For the record, they range from an 18oz S&W M396 Mountain Gun to a 45oz Ruger Bisley Flattop.

Keith asked S&W and Remington for a .44 caliber round that would power his 250gr bullets to 1200 fps (within SAAMI specs), performance he could obtain from his 4" .44 Special revolver. The .44 Magnum produces even more performance than this, but at the cost of heavy revolvers with substantial recoil. I've touched off some "full magnum loads" in a 25oz M329, and that's just more "fun" than I care to endure. There's a reason that most of the rounds fired in .44 Magnums have performance levels much closer to the .44 Special...
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