Shades of “Dirty Harry”

And so, one day while I was walking around "Wally-World", waiting for Donna to get relieved for her lunch break, a "gun buddy" of mine walks up and asks........"When are you gonna write something about the forty-four?"

"Oh, I'll get around to it.  Why do you ask?"

"Well, I KNEW you'd write about the 357, since it's your favorite, and that was a pretty cool article about the "forgotten 41",  I'D just like to see one about the 44.  You probably have one of THOSE, don't you?"

"Two."

"Well, write something about ol' "Dirty Harry's" gun, ok?"

"OK."

Well.....a long time before it was "Dirty Harrry's" gun, a very famous hunter/guide/reloader/writer, from Salmon, Idaho named Elmer Keith was experimenting with increased-pressure loads for the 44 Special, and thought that if those loads could be increased even MORE, it would be a really great handgun caliber for hunting.

Keith was very well known and respected in gun circles, and pretty much any endorsement from HIM would sell products, so he went to Remington to see if they would make a longer cartridge case for the 44.  They were willing, if someone would build a heavier gun to safely contain the extra power.

Smith & Wesson had a "friendly rivalry" going on with Remington at the time, and THEY told Keith they would wrap a gun around any cartridge Remington could come up with.  The project was on.

It would be called a 44 Magnum, and the same concept would be used, that created the 357 Magnum from the 38 Special.-----longer cartridge case, so the magnum shell couldn't be chambered in the smaller 44 Special guns out there, but the shorter "special" cartridges can easily be fired in the larger Magnum pistols.

Anyway.........in 1955, the new 44 Magnum revolver was introduced to the public, and touted as the "Most Powerful Handgun in the World", a title it held for the next 30 years or so.

The increase in power over the 357 made the 44 particularly popular in the field, where a hunter could now carry more "punch" on his hip, to go along with his rifle.  While a 357 will stop a black bear, cougar, etc, a 44 will do it better, and more power is more "insurance", being able to put a HEAVIER bullet with a little more MASS into a larger animal than a hoodlum would be.

At this point, it would be prudent to clear something up..........I often hear people refer to heavy pistols as "backup guns."  Even the mighty 44 Mag, runs a distant "2nd" in stopping power to the little 30-30 lever action deer rifle, so the intent of it being a "backup" has never fully made sense to me.  I mean, if you can't get the job done with a RIFLE, how can you do it better with a PISTOL?

You carry a handgun in the woods for survival, and while a well-placed shot WILL drop a big animal (I took a young bull elk with my 357), it should never be used in LIEU of a rifle..........on large dangerous game, anyway......(in the case of that bull elk, my 270 Winchester was about 30 feet away from me at the time, the elk hadn't spotted me, so his adrenalin wasn't up, and a good hit would be enough).  I was not INTENTIONALLY hunting with the 357.

I HAVE intentionally hunted mule deer with a 44 Magnum and no rifle at all, in years past........but my buddy always had his 30.06 rifle along too.  Handgun hunting DOES have certain advantages, leaving BOTH hands free for climbing, packing out and skinning, but your shots have to be taken carefully.  The most POWERFUL of handgun calibers slow down dramatically after the first hundred yards, so unless you're REALLY PROFICIENT, you cannot make humane kills at the ranges you generally use a rifle for.

But the 44 Magnum is primarily a FIELD GUN, as far as I'm concerned.  You can USE it for self-defense in the streets or at home, but it is not a good choice.  It is too bulky  for continuous wear, unnecessarily powerful for objects beyond one's adversary, difficult to control during high-speed defensive action, and it's muzzle flash will temporarily blind you at night. 

Basically, "gunfighting with a 44 Magnum is like trying to swat flies with a hammer.  There aren't too many black bears running around loose in the streets, and for most "2-legged" varmints, the 38/357 calibers are just fine.

Additionally, the harder-recoiling 44's tend to leave your hands a little higher in the air between shots, which cut into your "reaction time" if you missed with the first shot and suddenly realize you need to get off a 2nd round.......and a few extra seconds of recoil-recovery time can be an "eternity" if they other guy is shooting back!

I personally favor the "mid-calibers" for personal defense........except in the woods of course.

Donna & I like to hike up around Anderson whenever we get a chance, and I usually carry my Ruger Redhawk, 44 Mag revolver.  Its shorter 4" barrel allows for comfortable wear while I'm driving, and a fairly fast draw out of the holster if NEED BE out there.

CCI makes  excellent "snakeshot" cartridges for a few of the handgun calibers, and the ones they make in the 44 caliber are almost like a "mini-.410".  These cartridges can be used in EITHER revolver, the 44 Special or the Magnum.  When we're out hiking, I usually carry it with a "half & half" load........3 rounds of "heavy stuff" and 3 rounds of "snakeshot".........alternating them in the chanbers..........and of course, at least one "speedloader" of 6 fresh ones in my pocket.

When Clint Eastwood made a household name of the big 44 in 1971, EVERYBODY had to have one, and Smith & Wesson couldn't keep up with the demand for quite awhile.  By THIS time, Ruger had been chambering their big Super Blackhawks in that caliber for a long time, and they'd found favor with hunters everywhere.........but everyone still wanted the S & W, because "Harry" had one.

People who had never fired a handgun went out and bought one.  BIG MISTAKE!  If your "pistolero" experience doesn't extend beyond a 22----------you've got no business playing with a 44 Magnum.

Fans tend to believe Hollywood.  A lot of people watched good old "Clint" making it look easy, even occasionally "one-handing" it during the shootouts.

They use BLANKS in the movies, where there are no projectiles twisting down those barrels creating back-pressure.  Eastwood fans would go out and pay "SCALPER" prices to own one of those coveted Model 29's.........go out to the range with store-bought, full-power 44 magnum loads, and then end up in the local emergency room for stitches when the big gun jumped back in recoil and split their foreheads open!

The 44 Magnum is a lot of gun if you don't know what you're doing.  You can't just buy one, with no real handgun experience, go out somewhere with REAL CARTRIDGES..........and "do like Clint did."

If you DO "just need to have one", I suggest the heavier ones with the longer barrels.  The more weight & counter-balance out on the far end, the less punishment you take on YOUR end.  Ruger Super Blackhawks with the ROUNDED trigger guards), and their Redhawk line, are excellent heavy-duty choices.

When I pack one of the 44's, it's usually my Redhawk.  While it's 4" barrel generates more snap to the wrist than the conventional 7 & 1/2",  it makes for easier carry (even concealed).......and really, under adrenalin, you don't noticed recoil all that much anyway.

But it IS a lot of gun if you aren't used to it..........and a certain amount of prior "357-time" DOES make the transition a little easier.

Like ALL Rugers, the Redhawks are built like "Engine blocks", made of the finest quality steel and plenty OF it.  You WANT a good heavy frame & cylinder to be able to withstand the pressures of magnum loads, and to help dampen the recoil a little.  The special hard-rubber PACHMYER or HOGUE grips are an absolute MUST for "comfort" (what comfort there IS in a 44).

Hard-kicking guns, even those with the shorter barrels, are capable of decent accuracy when properly learned and handled.  On its initial 25-yard "sight-in", my new Redhawk was "low & left" until I got the sights adjusted where I wanted them.  The rest, as they say, is history!

I have lighter-recoiling pistols that shoot tighter groups, but for a 4" 44 mag, this in pretty acceptable to me at 25 yards, especially when one considers the FBI stats  show the average handgun encounter in this country to be just SEVEN yards-----21 feet.  How far is it down the hallway to your front door?  They guy who breaks into our house will have shown a serious error in judgment!