[Guest]

What is the closest in velocity and energy that I could compare the 44 special to? And what has the closest recoil to the 44 special? Please could someone reply.

mod note- deleted duplicate topic and moved to correct forum. -SW

 

[Silicon Wolverine]

felt recoil is all relative. you can shoot hot 38 spls thats as stiff a recoil as 44 spl.

velocity depnds on loadings. most facotry ammo is loaded around 750-900 fps to be safe in older handguns that are recently becoming popular. handloaders can push it past 1100 if theyre careful.

for comparisons i will solely use federal facotry ammo specs to be objective. thus 44 special in a 850 FPS loading comes closest in volocity to a number of rounds including most pistol rounds.

felt reciol is to subjective to make an accurate assesment but to me, id say its somewhere between a hot 38 and a mild 357 mag in a medium frame revolver.

if its a lb/ft power comparison youre after,

44 spl 200 gr at 850 fps 336 lb/ft
41 rem mag 210 gr at 1230 fps 705 lb/ft
357 mag 180 gr at 1080 fps 466 lb/ft
38 spl +P 180 gr at 950 fps 258 lb/ft
40 S&W 180 gr at 1000 fps 410 lb/ft
45 auto 185 gr at 950 fps 371 lb/ft
44 rem mag 180 gr at 1490 fps 887 lb/ft
45 long colt 225 gr at 830 fps 344 lb/ft

all numbers per federals website.

as you can see velocity and bullet weight have a pile to do with energy. hope this answers your question.
SW

 

[Guest]

Thanks, I appreciate it. Would you say the 44 special or the 38 special would be good for home defence/plinking?

 

[Silicon Wolverine]

38 is way more economical for plinking and genral shooting. for home defense some will say its too anemic but i carry a .22 LR for self defense an never feel undergunned so i may be biased. shoot what you like, what you;re comfortable with and what fits your budget. a 44 specail would be significantly expensive to shoot unless you reload.

SW

 

[Guest]

38 is way more economical for plinking and genral shooting. for home defense some will say its too anemic but i carry a .22 LR for self defense an never feel undergunned so i may be biased. shoot what you like, what you;re comfortable with and what fits your budget. a 44 specail would be significantly expensive to shoot unless you reload.

SW

Thanks, I was kinda worried about the price of ammunition. I have thought about using a 22Lr for plinking and defence but the size of the caliber has kept me from using it. By the way what model is your 22?

 

[Silicon Wolverine]

I have a beretta 21A i carry for a pocket gun, a PK-22, and a walther P-22 i usually open carry.

SW

 

[Guest]

Nice, I am not certain but I think Oklahoma doesn't have open carry.

 

[Beowolf1911]

I have thought about getting a charter arms snubby for quite a while now. I keep getting mixed reviews of them and it is either they are ok or they are crap. I reload and if you load a .44 special right you get almost the same ballistics as a 45 acp. and a 5 round snubby would be nice, but I don’t know about there quality. It doesn't sound like you need a small gun since home defense does not require CC and plinking really has no prerequisites, what about a .357 they run the same price as the .38's most of the time and then you can use either round. Cabalas has a nice SA for around $300

 

[Guest]

Couple things,

1. I would say heavy 40 S&W rounds are really, really close to the 44Spc at least on paper.

2. The anemia of the 38 Spc is spoken of those who have not had a 158 Grain slug smack into their COM, I promise you that. The round got the bad rap in the Spanish American war, modern 38 special rounds (like +p) are much more formadible. Not to mention that we don't come across many excentric tribes people like those soliders did.

To me the key is good jacketed hollow points in the 158 grain variety. Put two COM of those in just about anyone and it is lights out. Keep in mind in the S/A War they were using very moderate 158 Grain RNs. I don't think anyone should feel undergunned with a 38 and I don't know many people that would like to prove other wise by willing taking one in the boiler room. :shock:

 

[Leland1]

38 is way more economical for plinking and genral shooting. for home defense some will say its too anemic but i carry a .22 LR for self defense an never feel undergunned so i may be biased. shoot what you like, what you;re comfortable with and what fits your budget. a 44 specail would be significantly expensive to shoot unless you reload.

SW

Thanks, I was kinda worried about the price of ammunition. I have thought about using a 22Lr for plinking and defence but the size of the caliber has kept me from using it. By the way what model is your 22?

If i toted a .22 id use CCI Stinger of Velocoraptor or those 3000 fps winchester .22 lr rounds. Even CCI Mini mag1260 fps hollows if need be.

 

[Guest]

I have thought about getting a charter arms snubby for quite a while now. I keep getting mixed reviews of them and it is either they are ok or they are crap. I reload and if you load a .44 special right you get almost the same ballistics as a 45 acp. and a 5 round snubby would be nice, but I don’t know about there quality. It doesn't sound like you need a small gun since home defense does not require CC and plinking really has no prerequisites, what about a .357 they run the same price as the .38's most of the time and then you can use either round. Cabalas has a nice SA for around $300

Well I shop for ammo at Mike's Outdoors in my town since Wally World doesn't have most ammunition accept for popular rounds. 45 colt and 45 acp are 19.99 a box. 357 mag is 23.99 a box. 38 spl is 13.99 and 40 s&w is 16.99 a box.

 

[rimfirehunter]

I am a BIG BIG fan of the .44 Special caliber, currently I have a Taurus 441 4" five shot revolver in the caliber and previously owned a Charter Arms Bulldog in the caliber. I also own two .44Mag's, one is a Taurus Tracker 4" revolver and the other a Marlin 1894 .44Sp/.44Mag and have used .44Sp rounds in both with very good results. Now days I reload my .44 range ammo using Mag cases but loaded to Special specs, this makes for very comfortable shooting and I do not get that infernal fouling ring in the Mag chambered guns as I would when using shorter Special cases.

When comparing the .44 Special to other rounds you need look no farther than the grand ole .45ACP factory load using the 230gr bullets, most all .44Sp factory loads are very close to the .45ACP specs. For SD loads in the .44Sp you have the Winchester 200gr Silver Tip @ 975FPS and the Hornady 185gr XTP-JHP @ 1080FPS, other SD loads can be found but these are the ones I have used in my guns. My personal favorite handload pushes a 200gr RNFP @ 950FPS from a handgun and around 1050FPS from my 1894 carbine.

The Charter Arms Bulldog Pug is a fantastic revolver for the money, mine was the most accurate snubby I had ever owned. The gun is light weight for its size and most people (including gun shop guru's) assume it has an alloy frame of some sorts. But the Bulldog is all stainless steel!!!! Older Bulldogs were made of blue steel. Fit and finish is not as nice as a S&W but its very functional and economical, basically it does what its designed to do and does it very well. Since the Bulldog is a light weight gun it does have a bit of recoil, especially when using 240gr loads, I would compare it to a snubby .357Mag's recoil but minus the excessive muzzle blast.

 

[Guest]

I am with Rimfire on this one. I think the 44spec is way over looked.

 

[Guest]

I am a BIG BIG fan of the .44 Special caliber, currently I have a Taurus 441 4" five shot revolver in the caliber and previously owned a Charter Arms Bulldog in the caliber. I also own two .44Mag's, one is a Taurus Tracker 4" revolver and the other a Marlin 1894 .44Sp/.44Mag and have used .44Sp rounds in both with very good results. Now days I reload my .44 range ammo using Mag cases but loaded to Special specs, this makes for very comfortable shooting and I do not get that infernal fouling ring in the Mag chambered guns as I would when using shorter Special cases.

When comparing the .44 Special to other rounds you need look no farther than the grand ole .45ACP factory load using the 230gr bullets, most all .44Sp factory loads are very close to the .45ACP specs. For SD loads in the .44Sp you have the Winchester 200gr Silver Tip @ 975FPS and the Hornady 185gr XTP-JHP @ 1080FPS, other SD loads can be found but these are the ones I have used in my guns. My personal favorite handload pushes a 200gr RNFP @ 950FPS from a handgun and around 1050FPS from my 1894 carbine.

The Charter Arms Bulldog Pug is a fantastic revolver for the money, mine was the most accurate snubby I had ever owned. The gun is light weight for its size and most people (including gun shop guru's) assume it has an alloy frame of some sorts. But the Bulldog is all stainless steel!!!! Older Bulldogs were made of blue steel. Fit and finish is not as nice as a S&W but its very functional and economical, basically it does what its designed to do and does it very well. Since the Bulldog is a light weight gun it does have a bit of recoil, especially when using 240gr loads, I would compare it to a snubby .357Mag's recoil but minus the excessive muzzle blast.[/quote

Thank you for the information, it is greatly appreciated. Although I do like more recoil, I think the 44 special's heavy bullets is what I would prefer of the Charter 357.

 

[rimfirehunter]

ConstantineC9,

You decide on getting the Charter Arms Bulldog Pug .44Special?

S&W has several new .44 Special snubbies out, they are they ultra lite models but command a hefty price tag, they also have an older Police model out with tapered barrel and it too is a bit on the expensive side.

 

[Guest]

I went with another 45acp, Hi Point.