I've never reloaded and new to buying ammo that is different grains. Can someone tell me what it all means please?

Grain as in bullet wieght? Or grains as in powder charge?

In bullet wieght, the heavier the bullet usually (but not always) means
more recoil at your end and more penetration at the other.

With gun powder, the more grains of powder the heavier the charge---again, more recoil at your end, more energy at the other.

There are exceptions, but if you want to reload ammo learn from a good reloader. Law enforcement agencies usually have someone reload their ammo for training (or at least they used to) find out who it is and listen carefully to what they have to say.

I am not a magnum fan, 357, 41, or 44. I do use them every now and then, but generally find I can get most jobs done without all that muzzle blast, noise, and recoil. I do, however, think that the 44mag is perhaps the most versatile cartridge/gun combo because it is the largest cartridge chambered in an N-frame S&W revolver that is capable of handling full magnum loads reasonably.

For me, a 3" or 4" N-frame is the largest revolver I can comfortably carry concealed, and the lightest I would want to use to shoot magnum loads. Since I can load down to 44special with the 44mag, and the gun is still managable in size and weight, it is still a viable choice for CCW/self defense. If I feel like hunting out beyond 50 yards with a handgun, I can simply load higher velocity rounds into the same gun and reach out to 100+ yards with reasonable accuracy without a scope. That's versatile.

I would say the 45colt is just as versatile, except you can't match the pressure range in a S&W N-frame M25 that you can in a M29. Now, I would argue that you don't need to in order to do the job with a 45colt, but you just can't reach out as far as easily with a slower 45colt as you can with a fast moving 44mag. You could use a Redhawk, or go to a single action, in order to up the acceptable pressure of a 45colt, but these options don't work for me for CCW. I prefer 45colt or 45autorim, but when you balance strength of cylinder walls, acceptable pressure limits, bullet weights, gun size and weight, I have to give the nod reluctantly to the 44mag. It's not a novelty, it's a do-everything cartridge.

Slightly off subject, with the huge overlap in velocities and bullet weights that many reloaders are using in various cartridges, we ought to just drop the suffix at the end of the cartridge name (45"colt" and simply call the cartridges by their diameter. 45colt in particular has such a broad velocity range (from SASS velocity to borderline 454casull) that saying you shot some 45colt rounds is far to vague a description. With 44mag you can shoot 44special, 44mag, or heavy 44mag, but with 45colt there is no 45special to help bridge the broad range of loads. Adding the +p designation is only marginally helpful. I'm mostly joking, but owning a S&W 44mag, or 45colt certainly makes owning only one handgun seem less traumatic since you can plink, hunt, target shoot, and carry it for CCW (provided you're a reloader) without sacrificing much in each category. I guess you could throw 41mag into the same category.

__________________
Hastings

Hmmmmm.... After reading all the prior posts I'm wondering if anyone has changed their mind one way or the other... I doubt it!

Let's all be grateful we have so many caliber choices available so we can make decisions that are applicable to our own usage or needs.

What a boring shooting world this would be if we only had a caliber or two to chose from. I shoot just about every caliber available and find a unique purpose for each of them.

When hunting calibers are discussed I rarely, if ever, see debate included in the discussion that addresses what is humane and what is not, especially with handgun hunting. I don't care if someones "Uncle Mort" killed a 1200lb Brown Bear with a .22, I believe most would agree that choice is inappropriate and a down right stupid one to tout.

If I am going to pull the trigger on any game animal I'm always going to opt for "over kill" rather than adequate or "good enough". We owe at least that demonstration of respect to the game animals we hunt.

JMHO

I agree with almost all - .44 is fun, loud, cool, and can be expensive.
Handloading is the way to go. And yes, from personal experience, a 240 gr. lead semi-wadcutter at 900-950 fps. will cleanly take deer, with good placement. Penetration is no problem.