9 mm or 44 Special?

It makes a big hole whether the bullet expands or not. Factory ammo is not always on the shelf. You might need to order it on the internet. If you load your own ammo, then there’s no problem having practice ammo.

The 44 special round itself is about as good as it gets.

BOARHUNTER

I have several 9mm pistols and 2 44 special pistols.
The GP-100 in 44 special is a little heavy for carry, but, the Charter Arms bulldog is a breeze to carry.
It is not built for heavy load 44 special, but it leaved a REALLY BIG hole in the targets!!

It really depends on what YOU want to carry. An auto pistol??? a revolver??
You can't go wrong with a CA Bulldog in 44 special. Get yourself some HKS 44ca speed loaders!!

I have a S&W M629 Mountain Gun 44MAG/44SPL. Its a bit much for EDC application in my opinion. Others may see it differently. If you are comfortable with a Charter Arms Bulldog and it meets your requirements then go with it. As for myself the EDC is a S&W Shield 9X19MM. Life is full of choices. You know your criteria for weapon selection, thus select what you are comfortable with.

I've been carrying a Charter Arms Bulldog since sometime last fall.

I also have a Glock 43, Glock 26, and Ruger LC9s pro.

I prefer to carry the Bulldog.

9mm is boring. If your loading hollowpoints make sure they are designed to expand at 44 special velocities. I think 200gn gold dots are supposed to work well but try to find factory ammo If you use it for concealed carry

I've never really liked the 44 Special on paper but I've never owned one so my opinion might be off. One thing to consider is what sort of options you would have in terms of carry ammo. Your more popular carry calibers, including 9mm, would have far more options in terms of what you could carry and (usually) it's a lot easier to find.

If you can be satisfied with only five rounds then go with the 44. If not, then the 9 is the way to go.

I have both and really like the 44, but a 9 is my edc.

If you reload a 44 with wadcutters even at a fairly sedate load is an argument few would be able to counter. No need for magnum muzzle blast and recoil.

If you can satisfy yourself with only five rounds.

I'm a fan of large diameter, heavy, lumbering bullets so my choice would be the 44 Special.

But, you do need to reload to have sufficient practice ammunition.

Depends if what you really want is a wheelgun, or to play with the .44 spc cartridge since loaded ammo is gotta be vaporware these days.

The round itself is fine, IMO, but is basically a .45 ACP and if you're looking for a new gun anyway I think there are some nice .45 guns about bulldog size that have more ammo and faster reloads (shield .45 comes to mind) as an alternative.

If it's a strictly defensive thing? Stick with the 9mm and save money. If it's a "I want a new gun/caliber" thing, then go hog wild!

I have a few pickup trucks, and I'm considering buying a 16yd dump truck. Which is the better truck?

If you're asking this question, I don't think you've adequately outlined your own requirements. Both rounds are perfectly fine for defense, and are distinct from each other in nearly every possible way.

I’ve got a CA Bulldog and a Smith 642. With a bobbed hammer and compact grips, the Bulldog is as easy to pack as a 642. I imagine that would also apply to a single stack 9mm. The Bulldog is comfortable AND comforting!

edwardware said:

I have a few pickup trucks, and I'm considering buying a 16yd dump truck. Which is the better truck?

If you're asking this question, I don't think you've adequately outlined your own requirements. Both rounds are perfectly fine for defense, and are distinct from each other in nearly every possible way.

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Too funny.

To the OP. Someone may chime in but as far as I can recall, I have never heard anyone express regret about .44 in general and a CA .44 in particular.

Might have needed to go back as all manufacturers sometimes do. Might have had screws loosen as several other manufacturers' platforms do... But, that gun and that caliber are one of the true all-time, stand-out American *classics*.

My Target Bulldog that I've had for 40 years is definitely one of my last-5 guns that I'll ever sell.

Todd.

Night and day options.

I love the .44 Spl. as a fun plinking round, a serious trail gun round and as a great target round.
It will do an effective job in an EDC role, the big, heavy bullets have plenty of horsepower without having to resort to magnum velocities (and the associated recoil and blast).

I personally won’t use one for EDC only because I have options that hold more, weigh less and conceal & carry better for me in my mostly urban environment. Hiking or trail use in the wild where concealed carry and the chance of people predators isn’t quite as possible? Then my .44 Spl. gets a nod.

But this is merely my opinion, for what little that’s worth. If you want a Charter Arms Bulldog by all means get one. It may it may not work out for EDC, but it’s a cool little big bore revolver to have and to shoot, period.

Stay safe.

I have guns in both calibers. Im sure the 44 would work fine, but for people defense, I wouldn't. I just think 9mm is the better choice.

I still wouldn't dissuade you from getting a 44spl though. Fun round, easy to load for and pleasant to shoot with the right guns.

The 44 Special is in the same class as the .41M, 45 ACP, 45 Long Colt. I have often wondered why the big bore revolvers sort of went out of fashion. When the Charter Arms Bulldog was introduced in 1974, Skeeter Skelton found his favorite mid range 44 Special of a 240 SWC over 7.5 grains of Unique kicked too much. When I shoot mine it wears Pachmayr grips.

the ammo effectiveness isn't the issue today. .44spl is a good round, so is 9mm. ask yourself, 5 rounds and slower to reload vs. 8 rounds and faster reload?

Great round for SD in a revolver. Keep in mind the .45 acp was designed to replace the black powder rounds with a smokeless round suitable for the 1911. IMHO a Shield in .45 acp a great option.

For a defensive weapon, I would only choose .44 Special, over 9mm, if unable to legally obtain and/or carry modern controlled-expansion duty/defensive ammunition. Today’s 9mm is not what it was in the mid-20th Century. I am not saying that .44 Special is bad, just that it would not be my choice, between these two choices. [My real-world choice, in a revolver about the size of a Charter Bulldog, is .357 Magnum, in the Ruger SP101. There are 9mm SP101 revolvers, and if I had one, I would rather carry it, with high-performance 9mm ammo, than a Charter .44 Bulldog.]

I have no experience with Charter Arms weapons, but it is my understanding that their .44 Special revolvers are limited to mild-pressure, factory-level loads. I like the .45 Colt, which can be had in factory-pressure-spec loads that run quite a bit warmer. Revolvers that fire .45 Colt are somewhat larger than Charter Bulldogs, but I am OK with that.

I don’t (yet) have any 9mm revolvers, but, if we expand the discussion to .38 Special, I would rather have six shots of the highest-performing .38 Special ammo, in my S&W K-Frame Model 64 snub-guns, than five shots of .44 Special. Bad guys run in threes and fours, often enough, around here, that five shots is getting a bit close to the margin of comfort. (I do, however, tend to carry my SP101 revolvers in pairs. )

I have used 9mm 124-grain +P Gold Dots, as police duty ammo, on the mean streets of Houston, Texas. There is nothing hypothetical, about my choice; I bought the ammo. (We got an equipment allowance, and, at the time of my retirement in early 2018, we still bought our own duty ammo.) I never shot anyone with 9mm Gold Dots, but enough other LEOs, around the USA, have done so, with favorable results.

Again, I am not saying that .44 Special is bad. I would simply choose something different,

The “too long; didn’t read” folks can stop here.

My enemy, other than human, in SE Texas, is feral hogs, which will not only kill folks, but will then feed upon the remains. This happened in the adjacent county, to the east of this county:

https://abc13.com/christine-rollins...d-dead-animal-attack-death-wild-hogs/5716849/

I would rather use something more than mild .44 Special factory-level loads, if I had to knock a really large pig in the head, or drill through its shoulders. I am a larger person than Christine Rollins, so might be less of a target, but I might have to protect another person. OTOH, I am getting old, and my balance is not so good, anymore. If I were to be knocked down, or otherwise fall, perhaps while doing old-house maintenance work, or tree trimming, at my mother’s place, which borders riverine habitat, or doing maintenance at my wife’s family’s wooded rural property, both of are just one watershed east of where Christine Rollins was killed.

.357 Magnum, or .45 Colt, would my choices in revolvers, around here, for large feral humans or large feral porkers. (Technically, we have black bears, in SE Texas, but they are so very shy, staying in the deepest thickets, I am not concerned.) True, .45 Colt factory ammo is usually loaded fairly mild, too, but one can get hard-cast loads, and controlled-expansion JHPs, that are loaded right up to the true specified pressures. I have bought some of this .45 Colt ammo.

Phil Shoemaker did well enough against a Grizzly, with hard-cast 9mm +P ammo.

https://www.americanhunter.org/arti...ishermen-from-raging-grizzly-with-9mm-pistol/

So, man, or beast, I would rather use 9mm +P than mild, factory-spec .44 Special. I am not saying that .44 Special is bad, just that given a choice, it is not my first choice. Even if we factored-out the feral hog potential, a 9mm weapon, of roughly equivalent size and weight as the Charter Bulldog, would be my preference

Yes, it is, and I dislike reloading for it as well. The tapered case makes resizing more difficult than straight-walled and i fumble around having to handle the tiny components with my meaty clubs.

Barbaroja said:

9mm is boring

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The 44Spcl is a joy to reload and shoot, and great for tinkering, but the reality is that I cannot easily carry a revolver in my preferred manner, and 10+1 rounds of 9mm with another 10 close by just can't compare to a mere 5 in 44Spcl. Clearly, two different platforms with two different applications.

The only advantage the bulldog has is that it can make bigger holes than the 9mm. With proper shot placement and projectiles, it won't make a significant difference on humans. This is assuming the 9mm in question is reliable mechanically.

Hockey7711 said:

I have a few 9mm, but I'm considering buying a 44 special (Charter Arms Bulldog) What your opinion as a defensive round?

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The .44 Special has ballistics similar to the .45ACP but is generally lower pressure and not as loud which might mean less risk to your hearing if you ever have to fire it without hearing protection.