44 mag

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rhartwell

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I have one of the 'dirty harry' type 44 mags. I am kind of awed by the kick. I need to get used to it. What kind of over the counter loads could I get that will be easy kicking to get started with? Thanks for your help.
 
Try some .44 special ammo. It would be like shooting .38 special in a .357 and will reduce recoil quite a bit.
 
You might consider changing the grips too...that can make a big difference. My Model 629 will beat my middle finger to death because I have the original grips on it. Other guns with rubber grips that fill in the space behind the trigger guard make my other 44's much easier to shoot.
 
.44 Special oughta be real gentle in your pistol. If you reload, or start reloading, you could create some .44spc, maybe even +p, loads in magnum cases.
It's a great caliber with lots of history. Don't think you have to shoot full house just because the gun is built for it.
 
If you're going to shoot it very much I'd seriously consider getting at least a cheap single stage reloading setup going. You can set up a modest kit for around $200. And once there you can reload for under 20 cents per round. Compare that to what you're paying for factory ammo and you can do a bit of simple math to figure out how many rounds of reloading it'll take to pay off the reloading gear.

Once you're into reloading you can look at doing these loads that I tried out recently;

8.5gns Tightgroup, 200 or 240gn cast LRNFP bullet, CCI large pistol primer (LPP)

10 gns Unique with the same 200 or 240gn cast LRNFP bullet.

8.4gns Trail Boss, 200 or 240gn cast RNFP bullet again.

All three of these provide a stout but far from full power .44Mag recoil. I need to chrono them but the velocity should be up around 1100 to 1200 fps.
 
I would suggest you shoot some of these which are loaded to about 1100 fps.


Then move to the normal powered 44 mag loadings.

Cowboy ammunition will be very wimpy in general (like 850 fps). You have to ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish with learning to shoot the 44 Mag?

Will shooting light cowboy loads really help you? Sure you get to shoot the revolver, but does it "help you"?

It boils down to shooting and developing a comfort level with the caliber (44 Mag) as opposed to just shooting light loads just to shoot the gun. Yes, I know you can buy or reload really light loads. But why?

Now.... if you intend to use the gun for self defense, normal 44 mag loadings are probably a bit stout and un-necessary. So shooting the equivalent of 44 Special makes sense in this case.

One could also make the argument of shooting something smaller and not shooting the 44 mag at all.

I say, if you want to learn to shoot the 44 mag, you will just have to shoot it and shoot it some more paying attention to the fundamentals. When recoil fatique sets in, stop. Then shoot again another day. Try wearing a shooting glove of some sort.

I did this with a 41 magnum (M57). I did not like shooting 357 mags, but I was set on learning to shoot the 41 mag reasonably well. You just have to shoot.
 
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I like the rubber Pachmayr's also. The factory wood grips were always a little large for my hands and the Pachmayrs made a big difference.
 
I guess what was on the back my mind was having the 44 mag and a handgun and the 44 mag carbine for the combo of having one type of ammo to grab and go with. But I need to work up to the 44 mag so I can handle the full loads.
 
By the way I really love the 44 special. If it ever came to the point that I would open carry. My 8 inch 44 special is what I would carry.
 
Many never are able to "work up to regular 44 mag loads". Some develop wrist issues and some just finally admit to themselves that it is not for them, and why bother? That's why you see a lot of 44 mag revolvers around that had about a box of ammo shot through them. They get parked and eventually sold.

I had the same idea about 41 mag and getting the Marlin 1894 chambered in 41 mag. Since I have not put in the effort to reload, I decided shooting the 1894 would be a bit on the expensive side as I really didn't have a need for the gun/caliber combination other than I like 41 mags.

If you really want to start light... go with the cowboy loads which GA Arms sells a ton of. Also get some of the ones I linked as a middle power loading and finally go with normal loads.

The important thing is that you need to bite the bullet and simply shoot which is why I skipped the cowboy loads in my first post on this subject. Why shoot something that is so light in a 44 mag... what are you learning doing that unless you simply have not shot much prior to this?

In which case, I say start with a 22LR, learn the fundamentals and start working up in power level if that is an interest to you and it seems it is.
 
Thoughts:

.44 Specials
Rubber Hogue or Pachmyer grips (hate them myself, but they DO work)
Double up your hearing protection
Dry-fire practice

You have get comfortable with the revolver somehow and this is what I suggest. Don't try to fight it and "control" the recoil like you may do with a semi-auto or a smaller cartridge. It's going to push you around a little but it shouldn't actually physically hurt you. If it does, address the issue (sharp edges, grips that don't fit, etc) and try again. A lot of the fear is mental plus the anticipation of the noise. If you aren't wearing doubled hearing protection, try it.

I'm on the smaller-side and I've been shooting .44s since I was 13 or so. At some point in time I accepted that it's going to kick and move around some but I don't care, it will be fine. Believe it or not, this mindset helps too.

And limit exposure! It's far better to shoot 3-4 cylinders of full-power ammo per trip every week or two than to try to "master it" in one sitting of 200 rounds. All you're doing with that much ammo is creating and reinforcing bad habits. If you catch yourself flinching, jerking the trigger or otherwise not using good form, STOP IMMEDIATELY! Break out a .22 or walk away for the day, because you've reached your limit.
 
Get grips that fill in behind the trigger guard and cover the backstrap. The major issue is to find grips that FIT your hand they should fill your hand to me nothing sucks worse than holding on to a magnum with grips the size of a carrot. Once you have some good grips buy magnum ammo and fire away, if the grips are a good fit the gun won't slap your palm.
 
And limit exposure! It's far better to shoot 3-4 cylinders of full-power ammo per trip every week or two than to try to "master it" in one sitting of 200 rounds. All you're doing with that much ammo is creating and reinforcing bad habits. If you catch yourself flinching, jerking the trigger or otherwise not using good form, STOP IMMEDIATELY! Break out a .22 or walk away for the day, because you've reached your limit.

Good advice. That is pretty much what I have done and do with the 480 Ruger in a Ruger SRH. A 480 is about like a powerful 44 mag (like 300gr at 1300 fps). I find it fun to shoot, but I stop when I reach the jerking stage. I wanted something that was more powerful than a 44, but not like the 454 C. But I can shoot 475 Linebaughs in my newish acquisiton.
 
I really like my 44 mag but I have never been a fan of heavy recoil. I load target loads for mine. If I bought factory ammo, it would be 44 special.
 
I guess I must be a recoil junky. 44 Mag full power loads don't bother me one bit. I agree that you just need to keep shooting the full power loads to get used to the pistol. It really isn't that bad or hard to get used to in my opinion.
 
I guess I must be a recoil junky. 44 Mag full power loads don't bother me one bit. I agree that you just need to keep shooting the full power loads to get used to the pistol. It really isn't that bad or hard to get used to in my opinion.
I agree...my son has been shooting 44 mag full house loads since he was 10 years old. Work on the fundamentals and the rest will come. Once you have a proper grip it's just sight picture, breathing and trigger control...nothing else matters.
 
.44 spcl. and/or the above ^.

Very good advice. Learn to grip the gun properly. Learn to repeatedly grip the gun properly.
 
I haven't shot much D.A. in .44mag, but my Super Blackhawk isn't a problem for me. Though I've been shooting mags the whole time I've had it, I'll probably... when I finally get around to setting myself up with reloading gear, work up a low power round for plinking.
This is one of the calibers where it's almost a no-brainer to reload. It doesn't take many boxes of factory ammo to put together a decent reloading rig, price-wise.
 
Reload and save a ton of money. Many people myself included rarely shoot max loads. 99% of my magnum shooting is with medium loads. You don't need max power for plinking or target shooting. Also with the .44 it can be pretty hard on you. I can no longer fire 50 rounds of max loads without pain in my elbow. You can reload medium loads for the .44 for 8-9 dollars a box btw.
 
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