Is 44 magnum fading? Hate to say dying as that has become a cliche.

Gather App
Guns.com Vault
W

walnutred

US Veteran
Joined
Jan 24, 2007
Messages
4,644
Reaction score
3,570
City & State/Province
Ohio
My son bought a 44 mag revolver last week, yes a S&W. We went to two gun shops, one large and one small, looking for ammo. No luck. I know there are many, many firearms for this caliber out there. In thinking about this oddity maybe 44 mag has lost it's purpose. I was never a 44 Mag fan, preferring 41, but if you want a powerful pistol caliber carbine for deer hunting 44 mag is no longer king of the hill. Same if you want a powerful wheelgun to impress your friends. Maybe the ammo manufactures are finding the more powerful cartridges more profitable for their limited production facilities. Maybe new buyers are not willing to settle for the the humble 44 mag when more powerful cartridges are available in similar platform firearms.
 
There's plenty of guns out there, and there's plenty of ammo online. My guess is that it just doesn't sell in your area. Maybe it's the reverse of 9mm? Nobody reloads 9mm because it's cheap. Maybe everybody that shoots any significant amount of .44 reloads? Because it's a $1.00 a round and has massive recoil.
 
I don't get out much any more but I did a couple of days ago - plenty of .44 Mag on the shelves.

More interesting was the shop had some .45 Colt "+P" with a 325 gr. bullet at 1100 fps - it wasn't a large shop.

Riposte
 
walnutred said:
My son bought a 44 mag revolver last week, yes a S&W. We went to two gun shops, one large and one small, looking for ammo. No luck. I know there are many, many firearms for this caliber out there. In thinking about this oddity maybe 44 mag has lost it's purpose. I was never a 44 Mag fan, preferring 41, but if you want a powerful pistol caliber carbine for deer hunting 44 mag is no longer king of the hill. Same if you want a powerful wheelgun to impress your friends. Maybe the ammo manufactures are finding the more powerful cartridges more profitable for their limited production facilities. Maybe new buyers are not willing to settle for the the humble 44 mag when more powerful cartridges are available in similar platform firearms.
Click to expand...


As far as pistol caliber deer carbines the 44 is absolutely still the king of the hill. Most popular by far. Ruger even reintroduced the 77/44. I’m not a big fan of Cabelas/Bass Pro but they always have a variety of 44 mag on the shelf
 
+1 the cartridge isn’t dying.

If anything guys are simply buying less because it is priced quite high. Slower sales get less shelf space?

I wouldn’t own a .44 without dies! My only .44 is a .44-40 and there you really really need your own dies.
 
Is the macho big bore dying as an industry trend? Yes, and that’s been the case for a couple of decades. If anything, the AWB delayed that by 10 years. Range toys are not as popular due to ammo cost. Straight wall cartridge hunting regs are probably the most significant factor keeping the torch lit.

We’re delving into reloading techniques, but the casual owner/shooter that makes up 95%+ of the market isn’t going to take the plunge.
 
walnutred said:
My son bought a 44 mag revolver last week, yes a S&W. We went to two gun shops, one large and one small, looking for ammo. No luck. I know there are many, many firearms for this caliber out there. In thinking about this oddity maybe 44 mag has lost it's purpose. I was never a 44 Mag fan, preferring 41, but if you want a powerful pistol caliber carbine for deer hunting 44 mag is no longer king of the hill. Same if you want a powerful wheelgun to impress your friends. Maybe the ammo manufactures are finding the more powerful cartridges more profitable for their limited production facilities. Maybe new buyers are not willing to settle for the the humble 44 mag when more powerful cartridges are available in similar platform firearms.
Click to expand...
Buying ammunition from a brick and mortar business is for suckers!! Hell ole All Gore created this thing called the World Wide Web 😉
 
Observations of stock levels in two gun stores does not constitute a market survey. Ammunition and component manufacturers aren't about to disclose sales volumes. I would not fret about .44 mag availability. There aren't too many useful chamberings that can't be sourced somewhere. Cheap abundance is another story. That ship has sailed with continued war consumption and high global commodity prices.
 
Mark_Mark said:
$35 Lee Loader
hard surface, hammer, component!

Low Cost .44 light to bone crunchers

View attachment 876384
Click to expand...
That's are I started! A good six months before I even got my first 44. That with a vintage Lee Hand Priming tool, Lee Powder Scoops, RCBS Lube Pad and lube.
Must have loaded up several hundred rounds that way (with 2 no charged case) until I bought a press. A year or two later.

Rick
 
'79 Magnum GT said:
That's are I started! A good six months before I even got my first 44. That with a vintage Lee Hand Priming tool, Lee Powder Scoops, RCBS Lube Pad and lube.
Must have loaded up several hundred rounds that way (with 2 no charged case) until I bought a press. A year or two later.

Rick
Click to expand...
I have a full reloading setup with 5 presses, Dillion, Lee, RCBs….

But I still enjoy sitting outside and loading on that Classic Lee Loader!
 
blfuller said:
Maybe it is so popular that they can't keep .44 mag ammo on the shelves.
Click to expand...
remember Covid years when people were begging for any available ammo! There was a Youtube the hid a box of .44 so his subscribers could get some.
 
The .44 mag certainly isn’t as popular is it was during it’s heyday. Younger shooters have been brought up shooting auto loaders rather than revolvers and have little knowledge of the .44 mag and other great revolver rounds. As others have pointed out, the cost of factory ammunition is almost prohibitive for many. If you intend to shoot it often handloading is almost mandatory and it will allow the shooter to enjoy the wide versatility this round can provide. I think that most devoted handgun hunters would agree that the .44 is plenty for whitetails and black bear for clean kills. The OP’s son made a good choice with the .44 mag and with proper loads he will enjoy it on the range as well as in the field.
 
The “Dirty Harry” thing isn’t much of a thing anymore, but if you look at the amount of 44 Mag revolvers that sell weekly on Gunbroker, and the prices people pay for them, there’s still a healthy market for them. I’m an Elmer Keith, 44 Special/Mag fan, and most 44 revolvers sell for a lot more than I’m willing to pay. I think that says something, and more than that I’m just cheap 🤣. As long as people are still interested in spending time in the woods we’ll have the 44 Mag.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
38/44 Ammo Testing – Factory and Reload - Now in the post SR4756 Era
Replies
12
Views
503
cowboy4evr
C
chief38
  • Locked
People sometimes ask me WHY 9mm #1 in popularity when there are much more powerful cartridges & smaller guns available
10 11 12
Replies
355
Views
17K
s&wchad
s&wchad
B
Introduction-LONG post warning
2
Replies
48
Views
4K
X62503
X62503
ddeanjohnson
WTS: 15 guns -- all offers respectfully considered -- collection liquidation
2
Replies
39
Views
30K
ddeanjohnson
ddeanjohnson
ddeanjohnson
  • Locked
WITHDRAWN --WTS- GUN BOOKS -- MAKE AN OFFER
2
Replies
45
Views
12K
ddeanjohnson
ddeanjohnson

Latest posts

Back
Top