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.
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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