4in 44 Mag, suitable for a CCW Weapon?

[DHart]

.44 mags are amazing guns.... I've got a few from 3" 629, 4" 629 Mtn Gun, to 4" 29-2 and 4" 29-3. As much as I love the guns, I personally don't carry anything nearly that big. (For CCW I prefer a 640-1, 642, PM-9, 3" 13, 3" 65, Colt Commander.)

But for home/RV defense use, I find ProLoad's 200 gr. Gold Dot "lite" .44 magnum defense load about perfect. It's a 200g r Gold Dot bullet moving at about 1070 fps. Very controllable, enjoyable, easy on the gun and the shooter... about the perfect .44 mag load in my view as I'm one who doesn't enjoy full-house .44 mag loads in a handgun.

 

[black bear]

I don't know if I should post my opinion here, but I would like to say that I LOVE .44 Magnum revolvers, and one of my more useful is a four inches barrel. I don't have any problem shooting full loads with it and I practice often because it is my gun for defense against animals (read: bear) when I am in the woods.
It is part of my "bear kit" and I also use it in the front pocket of my waders when I fly fish.
That when the 4" length comes handy as it will not fit the pocket if it were longer.
Here it is a picture of it, and as you can see it is a Colt Anaconda.



Having said that, I will tell you that I will not carry a big revolver with a limited ammo supply concealed every day.
I think the Army made obsolete all revolvers for fighting when they adopted the Colt .45 in 1911.

That is what I carry these days when I feel the need to carry in the town, a Colt Gov't .45 with a set of Crimson Trace Laser Grips.
The gun is loaded with Federal Hydra-shock 220 grains and I also carry 2 extra magazines.

I will not feel bad armed if the gun were a Beretta in .40 S&W or even a Glock as long as I can put one of those wonderful Crimson Trace grips.

Did you mention those big cylinder chambers as a deterrent?? I think that a better deterrent is that laser, after all anybody painted with the red dot will know it is only 3 pounds of trigger pull away from getting shot!!

All this is of course IMHO
Best regards
black bear

 

[thebucket]

I was thinking along the lines of getting a 44 mag to CCW with 44 specials in it instead of the RIA 1911. The .45 was nice, but deep down, I'm just a revolver guy. I was thinking of a 4" Taurus Tracker in 44 Mag. It weighs in at 34 oz with a 5 shot cylinder. It seems like it'd be a bit smaller than a N frame Smith and Wesson.

 

[mec]

"CCW with 44 specials in it instead of the RIA 1911. The .45 was nice, but deep down..."

I've carried and shot all manner of auto pistols and they generally work real well. the trouble is, you never know when they are going to STOP working. Not being an adept Tactical Combat Expert, Sensi, Guru, I stick with revolvers and the older pattern N-frame suit me better than anything else.

Besides which, I can hit better with them.

 

[John Ross]

http://www.smartcarry.com/dealers.htm

You'll forget that 629 is there...

JR

 

[Marko Kloos]

A four-inch .44 Magnum is a bit of overkill for CCW. The mighty .44 is an exceptional medium game cartridge, but it's a bit overpowered for use against two-legged vermin. Personally, I don't feel too good about using a cartridge with overpenetration tendencies for self-defense in an urban setting. Most .44 Magnum factory loads are softpoints and other such critters designed for use on large-ish critters, not the relatively lightweight and thin-skinned H. sapiens. (There are some downloaded "tactical" .44 Magnum Lite loads.)

Shot recovery is also slow with full-house Magnums. If I had naught but a .44 Magnum for CCW, I'd load it with .44 Special Silvertips and pronounce it good.

That said, I've toted a 4" Anaconda in .44 Magnum before, and it was loaded with Magnums. Some days, you just feel like loading up the old bear killer. If it works for you, more power to you. A good holster and belt make even a large-frame .44 Magnum feasible as a carry gun...however, you'll find that you won't want to schlep around that much steel every day, when you can carry medium-frame .357s at less than half the weight of a steel .44 Magnum.

 

[DHart]

Marko... there are a couple of self-defense .44 mag loads which are designed to be a bit hotter than .44 special, but much milder than full house .44 maggies. I think if one does choose a .44 magnum revolver for defense purposes, such loads are ideally suited as they are very effective without excessive recoil and blast. The 200 gr. Gold Dot is designed to expand fully and penetrate well (not excessively) at about 1000-1100 fps. This is a bullet that is not at all well suited to hunting, but is perfect for self defense.