There are those who believe the hotter, the better. I am not one of them as I have no need for shooting anything more dangerous than paper at ranges withing 50 yards. And I abhor recoil and muzzle blast. I also agree with whoever it was that previously said that the .44 Special is a perfectly satisfactory defense load. And that is about the level to which I load .44 Magnums, using faster powders such as Bullseye, Unique, 700-X, and AA#2. In the unlikely event I ever visit Alaska where I will need to worry about being eaten by bears, I will re-think my position on loading the .44 Magnum.

"...and also had problems with the cylinder turning backwards due to the cylinder stop bouncing out of the cylinder cut and the weight of the unfired rounds making the cylinder rotate backwards."

I had that problem when firing heavy loads in my 29-3 back when I first got it, and attempted several methods to cure it with some success. But the surest way is to not fire such heavy loads. My Ruger Super Blackhawk never had any tendency to do that.