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PS I think (Hope) that ISCA Yoda was just having a little fun with us in stating the .45 Colt is equal to or better than the .44 mag as everyone knows it isnt even close,
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I wasn't joking. Sorry. For normative, practical handgun shooting the .44 Magnum is an over powered beast and anything it can do the .45 Colt can do equally well except, maybe, as I noted, take down large, dangerous game. But if that's what you're after then a .460, or .454, or .500 is likely better.
Perhaps in the field against soft game like deer a 6 inch barreled .44 Magnum will outperform a similar .45 Colt, if there is one, but that is barely within the standard, practical use I was discussing.
Nota bene:Standard loads are under discussion - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not shoot hot .45 Colt loads in a Single Action Army or replica thereof, except one built heavier and stronger like a Ruger single action.
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Otherwise the .44 Magnum is better in every single way imaginable to the old .45 Colt or ACP
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Tell me in what way, please. I'm not being disrespectful or mean spirited about the .44 Magnum, I just want to know what you folks think a .44 Magnum can do that a .45 Colt in an N frame or a Ruger Vaquero (for instance, especially an original one) cannot do.
Further, in one afternoon's shooting session you can probably shoot twice as many standard .45 Colt rounds in an N frame than you can .44 Magnum rounds.
This has nothing to do with .44 Specials in a .44 Magnum - I used to load my 3" M629 only with .44 Specials. That is not the point here.
And, for the record:
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The .44 Magnum is an American icon and while almost everyone has heard that now famous film line :
"The .44 MAGNUM is the Most Powerful handgun in the world and can blow your head clean off "
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The .44 Magnum is an American icon mostly because of the Dirty Harry movies and while it might have been the most powerful handgun in the world for a short while there is a flaw in the story - if you research the Dirty Harry stories you will find that Inspector Callahan admits that he loaded that gun with .44 Specials.
Eminently sensible.
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Very few can claim having fired or owned one and thats the reason to have one IMO as you join an elite club.
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Well, it's a small club to be sure; I don't know about elite and, either way, I quit that club long ago.
One side story, just because:
A number of years ago I became a certified Texas concealed handgun license instructor. Because revolvers and pistols are used by our general populace instructors must pass the shooting test with one of each. On that particular day I used a now sold Norinco 1911 and a 6" barreled 586, just for fun. High score is 250 and I scored 248 with each, dropping one 15 yard round out of the center of mass 5 ring. 50 rounds per gun - lotsa fun and no big deal, just an intro to what follows:
The young man next to me was a police officer from a town near San Angelo, Texas. His pistol is long forgotten. His revolver was a 4 inch barreled .44 Magnum and his ammunition was factory, full house .44 Magnum. I looked at him and asked him if he was out of his mind and in pure Texas fashion he snorted that it was no big deal. (After all, I'm under 40 and I'm a policeman from Texas!)
At the conclusion of the test, which somehow he managed to pass, his shooting hands were bloody, blistered, and immediately bandaged. He looked at me sheepishly and said, "You were right; I'll never do that again."
And that's the gun and caliber you folks adore?
YMMV, as they say, and I'm not interested in that caliber. Period. I'll likely use a .45 Colt (Model 25-5) for my next test; I don't expect any blood or blisters.
