I don't know why you would WANT to do that, even if it was ballistically and mechanically safe. The .44 Special revolvers have all been lighter, meaning built with less steel, than the .44 Magnum revolvers from the same gun makers. With the same loads fired in a Special and a Magnum, the Special will kick harder.
I read Skelton and Keith extensively when I started shooting in the early 1970's. A .44 Special field gun was high on my list. I got a Charter Arms Bulldog, but it wasn't a field gun.
I bought a new Model 28 Highway Patrolman and a new 4 inch .44 caliber S&W barrel from J&G Rifle Ranch, then in Turner, Montana, and had the best local gunsmith, the late Robert Ballard, build me a fake 1950 Target in .44 Special. A couple of years later, I got a new 7-1/2 inch Colt SAA in .44 Special. By then I also had a Model 29 .44 Mag with an 8-3/8 inch barrel and was casting my own bullets.
Like many curious (translated to 'inexperienced') Keith- and Skelton-reading handloaders of the day, I had to try out Keith's hot .44 Special load, 17.5 grains of 2400 under a cast Lyman 429421 cast SWC, sparked by a standard LP primer.
I had Pachmayr Compacs on the Bulldog, and Pachmayr Presentations on my ersatz 1950/Model 28. I fired one round of the Keith load in the Bulldog. It nearly embedded itself in my forehead and split the skin on the web of my hand. It retired to the shooting bag.
The ersatz 1950/Model 28 kicked really hard. I could smack the black at 25 yards single action, but double action was useless to me.
The Colt Single Action did more than it's normal "roll" upon each shot, it also tried to escape from my paws. It also kicked the hammer back, sometimes to half-cock, but a few times to full cock.
Being a virile, strong young working man, I hadn't expected this to be so unpleasant. I genuinely worried it might damage my guns. I had to knock all empties out one at a time with some force.
I finished off the 100 Keith rounds with the long Model 29. It was amazing how those extra ounces of steel in the long, heavy barrel mollified the recoil.
I think now, looking back, that the flash and muzzle blast may have served to really amplify the recoil sensation with the hot rounds. The blast from the 4 inch S&W actually knocked over the tripod my chronograph skyscreens were on. One round clocked from the 7-1/2 inch Colt just broke the 1,200 fps barrier.
Before the advent of the .44 Magnum guns and cartridges, there may have been some call to handload the .44 Special for extra poop, but the arrival of the Magnum cartridge eliminated it. I believe now, that if I need much over 900 fps from a 250-260 grain handgun bullet, I need to look for it in a Magnum. Skeeter's 7.5 grains of Unique, or it's equivalent, does it for me in the modern (post-WWII) .44 Special, while my First and Second Models will get .44 Special factory load equivalent, which is about 700 fps with a 246-250 grain lead bullet.
When I shoot Magnums now in my Model 629 Mountain gun, the experience takes me back 40 years! When I first shot them in my Model 329, I had flashbacks!
Thus began the pussification of BUFF. I should have turned in my man card.
