I really like the .45 Colt cartridge. It is very versitile and has a lot going for it.
However, I like the .44 Mag. Better. It just seems to me that every .44 Mag revolver I have owned was very accurate and pretty much any load I tried in them was very accurate. Maybe I have just been lucky.
I own a number of .44 Mags: S&W Model 629 3", S&W Model 29 4", Ruger Super Blackhawk stainless 7 1/2", and a Herters Single Six with ? 6" barrel ? .
The first one I bought was the Super Blackhawk. Great shooter. Of course it can handle any loads you dream up. Big enough to soak up the recoil of those big loads and a nice long sight radius which makes good groups the norm. The second one I bought was the 4" Model 29 (as a side note, I always considered the SBH and the Model 29 to be required for any serious colletcion of guns). I bought it with the intention of using it for a belt gun while deer hunting. But, it shot loose (it was used when I bought it). I sent it away to Jack Weigand who worked his magic with it. It is now SUPER accurate and looks beautiful. Since getting it back, I have never fired another .44 Mag load out of it. It gets a steady diet of a 240 grain bullet over 15 grain of 2400 in a .44 Special case. I have a few targets saved with six shots making one hole at 25 yards. I also decided that this gun was too good looking to carry, so I bought the 629 3". It shoots very good and carries nicely in an El Paso Saddlery Threepersons rig. The Herters was an impulse buy. As a child, I spent many hours reading the Herters catalog that my dad had. I spotted it in the display case, briefly checked it out, forked over $175 for it, and went to shoot it. I have only fired the above mentioned .44 Special load in it, and it performs very well. Very good accuracy, nice trigger. I have no use for it, but I figured I couldn't pass it up for $175.
If I was picking out one .44 revolver, I think I would have to go with the SBH even though it is a royal pain to carry on the belt. But, I carried it that way over many miles and many adventures. It just has everything going for it except compactness.