.44 Special

cant-wait-till-21

Does anyone have the ballistics on the .44 special or any experience on the effectiveness of this round compared to more popular rounds such as the .45 and .357 mag? Any information would be much appreciated.

TIA

cant-wait-till-21

What is a .44 Special comparable to? How does it differ from a .44 Magnum? Is that caliber readliy available?

"We have no permanent enemies, we have no permanent allies, we only have permanent interests."

Nighthawk

PMC .44 Special 240gr JHP Muzzle velocity 764 FPS 311 FT LBS Energy
PMC .44 Special 180gr JHP Muzzle Velocity 980 FPS 383 FT LBS Energy

PMC .45 ACP 230gr JHP Muzzle Velocity 830 FPS 352 FT LBS Energy

PMC .357 Mag 158gr JHP Muzzle Velocity 1194 FPS 504 FT LBS Energy


Hope this helps!!

Rugster

Edited by - rugster on 08/06/2002 09:57:27

Der Gebirgsjager

Ahh! A new member! Welcome to the forum. As for the .44 Special vs. the .357 Mag. and .45 ACP it is no contest in factory loadings. The Special started life as a black powder cartridge, and the standard factory loadings have always been pretty mild. It comes into it's own as a handloading project, and I'm sure you know that it was developed into the .44 Mag.; so, at the upper end of the handloading scale it becomes a very good cartridge. The ballistics part of your question is a little too general for a comprehensive answer--kind of like asking how fast and far will a Ford go? I suggest you purchase a copy of the 2002 Gun Digest where you will find (on page 225)representative ballistics for 5 factory loadings, and Cartridges Of The World which gives a brief discussion of the .44 Special's history and some load data. You'll find both books invaluable for future reference and they'll provide hours of interesting reading.

v35

Factory loads dont compare favorably but handloads using the Keith load of 17.5 grains of 2400 a magnum primer and his Lyman 235 grain lead gas check hollow point give a velocity out of a 4" barrel of 1250fps (chronographed) and a muzzle energy of 819 foot pounds. This is a 62.5% increase in energy over the hottest load in the above group. While Keith preferred the the 250 grain bullet for large animals,I have found that anything but light loads using 250 grain bullets are unpleasant to shoot in a 4 3/4" SAA Colt or 4" Charter Arms Target Bulldog.
Buy a copy of Sixguns by Elmer Keith for real world perspective on the performance of heavy 44 Special loads.
There are a number of other 44 Special handloads using 180 and 200 grain bullets that equal or better the 357Mag ballistics at short range.

Shootist3006

SP, you said quote:If you use a .44 Special for defense, it is less effective than a fully loaded .357 and about the same as a .45 ACP in terms of stopping power.

but you must not have read the thread on stopping power where a "large federal agency" determined that the .357 and the .45ACP were virtually identical quote:1.Federal .40 155grHydra-shok 97%
2.Federal .357 Magnum 125gr JHP 96%
3.Federal .45acp 230gr Hydra-shok 96%
4.Remington .45acp 185 gr Golden saber+p 95%
Funny how there were 2 .45's and only 1 .357 load in the top 10.

cant-wait-etc. - despite my jesting with the Saxon above, the .44 Special is a perfectly adequate defensive round, if fact, most who keep a .44 Mag for home defense load it with .44 specials.

Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis