Shot My First .44 Magnum Today, Uh... WOW

[84CJ]

I have one of those old 10" oct. 44 mag and 10" oct 30/30. I think the 30/30 is worse.and extremly loud. That thing scares the crap outa me. It hasn't seen the ligth of day in years.

 

[minuteman]

I have one of those old 10" oct. 44 mag and 10" oct 30/30. I think the 30/30 is worse.and extremly loud. That thing scares the crap outa me. It hasn't seen the ligth of day in years.

Yep, had the 44 and 30-30 barrel in the Contender. Tried about three different types of grips, non worked very well. Keith loads in the 44 hurt after a while, but I believe the full house 30-30 was worse, made my wrists hurt after a couple rounds. My 29 is a pleasure to shoot compared to the Contender.

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

Originally posted by Gatofeo:

Frankly, I've seen darn few shooters who can accurately fire the .44 Magnum with full-power loads.
Oh, they may brag about shooting their .44 Magnum and getting great groups, but odds are it's with less than full-power loads.
Heck, I only keep one box of full-power loads on hand myself, just for the occasional demonstration like above.
I shoot lead 240 or 250 gr. semiwadcutters at 900 to 950, or so, mebbe 1,000 fps. Can't see much point in revving it up just to shoot tin cans or rocks at long range.
But once in a while, it's fun to drop in the full-power stuff to be reminded what the ol' girl can do.

I heartily agree with this statement. The great majority of my .44 loads are a ~260 grain LSWC between 900 and 1100 fps. At 1100, the recoil is very manageable, and I am comfortable shooting anything that walks, crawls or flies in my area. From target shooting to hunting, that's where it's at.

And since the S&W Forum membership cannot exist without pics:

 

[Bullman]

My only .44 magnum was a 5 1/2 inch Redhawk. I shot specials and even store bought loads and I thought it was pretty cool. Then my brother in law loaded up some fire breathing 180 grain loads and after a couple of cylinders of that my hand was bleeding. It was then I figured out that I didn't not need that much gun. I have stuck with .357s and 10mms since for my power guns.

 

[flop-shank]

My favorite carry gun is a 5" .44 magnum and it's stoked with full power loads. My guess is that the .44 Magnum can be shot well by most any young, strong, male shooter. They just have to really want to, and that takes a lot of practice.

 

[bmhiii]

Originally posted by flop-shank:
My guess is that the .44 Magnum can be shot well by most any young, strong, male shooter.

Well, I fit 1 out of 3 of those qualifications.

I will shoot it more, no doubt about that.

 

[geronimo]

There really just ain't nothing like shooting a Dirty Harry gun..Really need to invest in some rubber grips though..Not for me of course

;But rather for the little woman

 

[7tenz]

If there's one thing I like shooting as much as my 10mm's it's the 44 mags. Neverr tried anything bigger or even the 329 scandium. Been tempted, and also considered a 454 Casull. If you need something larger, you need a rifle IMO.

I let other people try it, and ability to control it has nothing to do with sex, size, or physical strenght. Some can, some can't. I found that if I tell them to hold it centered in the web of the hand, they tend to have a much more favorable impression overall.

 

[Crazy K38]

I am betting that if you shot the 44 first you would have LOVED the recoil on that 40 s&w. I have the SW99 in 40 and just like you I love mine

 

[bmhiii]

The recoil on the 40 S&W was minimal to me. I saved the M29 for last because I anticipated my reaction would be "OK, that's the way to end my time at the range..."