Best .44 Magnum Defense Load?

[ISCS Yoda]

Second shot may count, too, if you can get the gun down out of the air in time to make one.

My point exactly!

I read very little about the effects sound when shooting short barreled magnums in a closed area. It’s insanely loud.

Many years ago I carried a short barreled H&R M929 .22 LR revolver into the deer woods. No deer, headed back to camp, and I was bored. I entered a clearing and decided to pop off some .22s for fun; lots of rocks and other targets of opportunity and nobody around.

This was outdoors in a clearing.

Those 9 rounds echoed in my ears the rest of the day, they were SO LOUD and bounced back so hard because of the surrounding trees.

Magnum rounds indoors must be AMAZING!!!!!

 

[shotgun693]

Just about the noise, I was in a shooting one night. I had to shoot at a bad guy from inside my Pickup, that's what the city issued me. I was using a .357. I had some hearing loss before that shooting, afterwards it was much worst.

 

[RobertJ.]

I load a 200gr. Speer GDHP with enough Blue Dot for about 1000fps, in a magnum case. My woods gun is also my next-to-the-bed gun, a snubby Ruger SRH. This load shoots pretty easy, and groups like a target pistol.

I used to believe that using handloads could turn against you if you ever needed to use them for SD. An attorney could argue that you were trying to turn your gun into something even more deadly. With this load, I could say I was trying to reduce the .44 Magnum.

I will admit that I don't recall if that was ever actually used in court. I think that gun writers way back when liked to say it was possible.

 

[Groo01]

Groo here
Many here
Are too worried about a second shot, the first one is the important one.
He who hits first usually wins .
If you want a fast bullet, make it a light one that is HP so it slows down quickly, if a heavy, slow it way down so it does not go to far.
If a full wad cutter , you make it about normal weight and sub sonic.
ANY HP "should" hit at 1000fps to insure it opens up.
As "Erich " has said many times---" Accuracy is King, Penetration is Queen, everything else is Angels dancing on the head of a pin."

 

[Homie]

IIRC, Col. Askins liked the early factory ammo for such purposes in SEA.

 

[Gamecock]

As "Erich " has said many times---" Accuracy is King, Penetration is Queen, everything else is Angels dancing on the head of a pin."

Accuracy is a fantasy.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Accuracy is a fantasy.

That may be true, but it is still king. It matters very much where a person is hit, and that is true whether it happens by accident, by skill, or doesn't happen at all.

 

[Gamecock]

That may be true, but it is still king. It matters very much where a person is hit, and that is true whether it happens by accident, by skill, or doesn't happen at all.

Aim center mass, because that is the largest target.

I saw a New York Police report a few years ago where of the >3000 shots they fired in one year, fully 83% missed the assailant entirely. They stopped publishing the annual report after that.

 

[wbraswell]

Using a .44 Mag sending a bullet a 1500 fps just doesn't sound prudent to me. Too much recoil, too much muzzle blast and too much penetration. You don't want to shoot a BG with that when he's standing in front of a wall that your kids are sleeping behind. A big SWC or flying ashtray at 800-1000 fps sounds better.

 

[Mule88]

The Speer Gold Dot 200 Short Bbl loading should work well, It falls in the upper 44 special range and lower 44 mag range. Recoil is quite manageable. I believe it pushes the 200 gn gold dot around 1000 fps.

 

[Gamecock]

NYC is publishing reports again:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downlo...ypd_annual_firearms_discharge_report_2013.pdf

Police shootings are way down!

 

[Gamecock]

Here's older data:

http://www.nyclu.org/files/releases/Firearms.Discharge.Assault.Report(1997).pdf

 

[SuperMan]

If you do a little testing you'll find that most .44 bullets at .44 Special velocities don't expand. I have but one .44 Magnum left, a 629-5 Mountain Gun and bought it because I was so impressed with the Speer Gold Dot .44 Magnum 200 grain Short Barrel load I wanted a gun to shoot it in.

The bullet is the same one used in the .44 Special but instead of 860 fps from a 6.5" barrel, the Magnum version runs 1080 from a 4". A friend bought one of the PC 629s with a 3" ported barrel and ran both loads through it into water jugs. None of the .44 Special rounds opened up but every one of the Magnum rounds did...

Low flash, low recoil and excellent expansion...doesn't get any better than that...

Bob

 

[moxie]

Using a .44 Mag sending a bullet a 1500 fps just doesn't sound prudent to me. Too much recoil, too much muzzle blast and too much penetration. You don't want to shoot a BG with that when he's standing in front of a wall that your kids are sleeping behind. A big SWC or flying ashtray at 800-1000 fps sounds better.

Agree a .44 mag going 1500fps isn't prudent.

Note that big SWCs are really deep penetrators, which is why they are great for hunting. And, flying ashtrays aren't made anymore.

All of which is why I recommended the excellent .44 Special Gold Dot. It goes in the mid-800s and penetration is adequate but not overly so. Performance similar to the .45acp Gold Dot in 230 gr.

 

[caleb4387]

When I get a 44 I'll probably use Underwood 44 special that's basically a larger version of the 38 special FBI load

 

[ColColt]

Anyone that hasn't heard a full blown 44 or 357 Magnum indoors is in for a surprise. At the indoor range more times than one, I was next to a guy with the 357 and they weren't .38 Special loads. The noise was incredible even with muffs on and sonic valves in my ears. Ditto the 44 Magnum. You could feel as well as hear the noise.

I can only imagine how it would have been had I taken the valves out of my ears and discarded the muffs. I probably wold have never heard my tinnitus again.

 

[hkcavalier]

Lighter bullets typically kick a lot less. Solid non-HP bullets typically penetrate well (and in .44 Mag probably overpenetrate against two leggers). Given these rules, I'd slide toward that Buffalo Bore 180gr. Really any 180gr JHP.

Does anyone have any experience/reviews with the MagSafe 55gr or Glaser 135gr .44 Mag?

 

[Nevada Ed]

Ah;

Why do even need "Best" with a 44 Magnum.............. ?? !!

Minimum will do.

Now if you want to do a 200 yard shot on a white tail, I will understand.

 

[SweetMK]

38 posts,, nobody mentioned lawyers,,,
I used to keep my 629 loaded with the 240 grain SWC's that I practiced with,, 7 grains of Unique,,, IIRC,,,

Then there was a news story about a shooting involving reloads,,
The lawyer made the gun owner with reloads look like some hyper maniac,, that had gone to "great lengths" to do the shooting,,, even MAKING the ammo.
It was bad for the shooter,,,

After that,, I only practice with reloads,, my gun(s) in the sock drawer have FACTORY made ammo.

Currently, the 629 is loaded with Hornady 240 Grain XTP,,, 1350 FPS muzzle velocity,,,

The other gun is for those marauding squirrels!!

It is loaded with Mini-Mags,,,

I use WAY more Mini-Mags,, than factory 44 Mags,,,,,

 

[Handgun Hunter]

If using reloads for self-defense can "look bad" in court, then practicing at the range or getting training above just basic safety stuff will too. I have a range in my backyard. The distant neighbors all know I shoot almost every day and often burn 100s of rounds in a few hours. Does that mean in court everyone will think I'm a bloodthirsty maniac? How about Jerry Miculek? What if he ever had to use a gun in self-defense? He's fired millions of handgun rounds, not counting rifle and shotgun. Now, messing with the trigger or safety on your carry gun might be a problem, but using reloads? Especially under powered reloads?

As for the use of a .44 mag for self-defense, that depends on if you're carrying in town or out in the boonies. If I'm in the forest around by property, a .44 mag is my choice, and not just for bears. My load isn't the hottest, but it's way above .44 Special level. It's 10 grains of Unique behind a 250 grain cast SWC. In town, if I'm carrying a revolver it's a .357 loaded with something like Critical Defense or Critical Duty. They both meet FBI standards and slide right into an eight-round cylinder with moon clips. But then I might be carrying a 17-round 9mm pistol for the city, where the ranges will be in feet, not yards and you don't want rounds going through the attacker to hit innocents.

Certainly the same shooter firing a 9mm pistol can shoot faster and get more rounds on target at close range (10 yards or less) than he can with any magnum revolver. But don't think there aren't shooters who can get more rounds on target with a .44 mag loaded with factory or equivalent loads than 99% of pistol shooters can with a 9mm - up to six shots of course. Massad Ayoob has demonstrated this is possible, and there are plenty of shooters who can do the same. He used a 4"-629. I'm no expert, but it doesn't take me long to empty a 6" 629 into a man-sized target, even at 50 yards. Now, such a revolver is not easy to conceal and is really for rural areas as far as I'm concerned.

As for the noise, all magnum rounds are loud and you don't want to shoot in a building or car with naked ears. Many people, my self included, keep electronic ear protection right beside the nearest gun when they go to sleep, along with a powerful flashlight, etc. Any firearm you shoot in a house is going to permanently damage your hearing if you're not wearing protection. With electronic ear muffs you can still hear as long as no one is shooting, and you can hear after it's over. But if you have to shoot without protection, then so be it. And it really will not matter if it's a shotgun with buckshot, a 9mm, or a magnum revolver round.