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.44 REMINGTON MAGNUM

(0.429" or 0.430”) This revolver cartridge, which was introduced in 1955-56 as a joint venture by Smith & Wesson and Remington, is likely one of the most well-known revolver cartridges of all time. Even those who know nothing about guns have heard about this cartridge and the S&W Model 29 because of the popular Dirty Harry movies of the 1960s. The positive aspect of the publicity was that the name got out there; the bad, at least for me at that time, was that to purchase a Model 29 for hunting, if a store had one at all you could expect to pay $100 or more than the list price. The other “bad” aspect was that the .44 Magnum had a reputation of being Mr. Punishment, especially when it came to recoil. What that did was scare people away from using this fine cartridge and revolvers for hunting.

Yet by the standards we have today, this is a middle-of-the-road cartridge when it comes to power and recoil. But when introduced, it was the most powerful handgun cartridge of all time. In reality, in a single action or double action handgun, the recoil is not that bad. What’s bad is the blast! This I feel is what causes one to flinch and close one’s eyes when the trigger is pulled, not the recoil. I have dispatched many whitetail with it and it was quite effective. But then, with a 2X scope or an electronic dot sight and most all shots within 20 to 70 yards, what a nice handgun and cartridge to use! My experience is with 180- to 300-grain bullets with a preference being a 200- or 240-grain. Shot capsules are also available which if used within 10 or so feet, drop a snake with a head shot.