Poll: .44 Magnum viable self-defense cartridge, yea or nay?

[Mark W.]

You want a very effective 44mag handgun load put 240grain coated hollow points in a 44 spl. Load. If you hit center mass with that load it will put all the energy in the target and make a huge mess of anything in the chest cavity.my son at age 5 could put all five in a 7" paper plate from my Bulldog pug with 180gr .44 spl loads.

 

[wired]

I do a lot of shooting with 45 Colt in the heavier loadings. Basically the same energy etc of a 44 mag a little bigger bullet. I dont see why it would be considered anything but an excellent self defense cartridge.

 

[Spitpatch]

I do a lot of shooting with 45 Colt in the heavier loadings. Basically the same energy etc of a 44 mag a little bigger bullet. I dont see why it would be considered anything but an excellent self defense cartridge.

Granted, if never having seen anyone with one that can't shoot it well, it may be understandable that one might not see why.

 

[wired]

Granted, if never having seen anyone with one that can't shoot it well, it may be understandable that one might not see why.

Gioven pretty much all self defense shooting is under what? 10 yards I dont see why it would be an issue for anyone that can pull a trigger

 

[Certaindeaf]

I do a lot of shooting with 45 Colt in the heavier loadings. Basically the same energy etc of a 44 mag a little bigger bullet. I dont see why it would be considered anything but an excellent self defense cartridge.

Gioven pretty much all self defense shooting is under what? 10 yards I dont see why it would be an issue for anyone that can pull a trigger

You'd still want to be able to hit what's required, regardless the distance.

 

[wired]

You'd still want to be able to hit what's required, regardless the distance.

Well, 1st shot is going to hit where its aimed and if you are carrying a 44 mag pretty good chance you aren't scared of the recoil for the follow up shot. Ive shot some buffalo bore 45 Colts that made 44 mags look like little sassy's and while my wrist hated me for a few days after I could still hit a grapefruit at 10 yards with it until I got bored.

In any case you only need one shot with a 44 mag .

 

[Spitpatch]

Well, 1st shot is going to hit where its aimed and if you are carrying a 44 mag pretty good chance you aren't scared of the recoil for the follow up shot. Ive shot some buffalo bore 45 Colts that made 44 mags look like little sassy's and while my wrist hated me for a few days after I could still hit a grapefruit at 10 yards with it until I got bored.

In any case you only need one shot with a 44 mag .

Choosing power over marksmanship places one in the lofty position of an unwinnable argument with the likes of Wild Bill Hickock.

 

[wired]

Choosing power over marksmanship places one in the lofty position of an unwinnable argument with the likes of Wild Bill Hickock.

When I was 4 years old there was a guy out in the driveway at 2 AM trying to repossess my dads big block SS '69 Chevelle. He got the wrong house. Bad day for him. My mom , the banshee, came out in her bathrobe and attacked the guy who in the process of wrestling with her to get out from under the dash managed to cut my moms arms and it was bleeding as...my dad came out of the house with his 44 mag, took appraisal of the situation and proceeded to blow one of the guys knees off with said 44 mag. He succeeded.

There is absolutely no reason than anyone who is not a total nancy should not be able to manage a accurate shot with a 44 magnum.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.In any case you only need one shot with a 44 mag .

That's a fallacy.

 

[OrPackrat]

I bought my first 44mag for self defense when 114 passed.

My reasoning....

If I can't have my factory standard capacity of 20+1 9mm, then I will just have to use 6 to get about the same energy transfer...

Same logic was used to get a semi which was the 8+1 1911 in 10mm.

 

[wired]

I bought my first 44mag for self defense when 114 passed.

My reasoning....

If I can't have my factory standard capacity of 20+1 9mm, then I will just have to use 6 to get about the same energy transfer...

Same logic was used to get a semi which was the 8+1 1911 in 10mm.

Shoiulda just bought a derringer in 44 mag. One shot and one for later.

 

[CountryGent]

I have never looked at any common firearm and said to myself that it is too powerful to use for my selfdefense.

Interesting point. Well, employing this one in an anti-personnel role would require a degree of wackiness I'm not comfortable with. However, it is quite corking for making steel sing, bowling pins 'splode, and only the most errant of computer hardware, well, get deleted by a 520-grain slug.



(Yah, I realize might not fit definition of "common". Jeep-jeep.)

 

[OrPackrat]

Shoiulda just bought a derringer in 44 mag. One shot and one for later.

I already got one more manageable at .22mag

 

[nammac]

All this talk about full house .44 magnum loads and .45 Long Colt loaded to .44 magnum speeds…

All y'all need is the lowly 9mm, it'll blow their lungs out…. According to Brandon…

 

[Spitpatch]

"There is absolutely no reason than anyone who is not a total nancy should not be able to manage a accurate shot with a 44 magnum."

While that might be absolutely true, it makes absolutely no headway toward explaining the fact that so many owners are not able.

 

[MakarovManiac]

Getting tapped by a .44 mag anywhere im sure will stop you dead. (pun intended lol) it sure as hell wont feel good!

 

[wired]

"There is absolutely no reason than anyone who is not a total nancy should not be able to manage a accurate shot with a 44 magnum."

While that might be absolutely true, it makes absolutely no headway toward explaining the fact that so many owners are not able.

And they dont carry 44 Magnum

 

[Spitpatch]

And they dont carry 44 Magnum

They own 'em, carry 'em and can't shoot 'em worth a damn, believing (as some do here) that power will save the day.

Or, perhaps ego figures in to a measurable degree, and in some cases may actually be the sole motivation for what is a poor choice for their abilities.

Discussing hunting handguns with a (actually "the") World Champion handgun shooter some years back, he talked about avoiding any practicing or shooting with the heavy recoiling hunting calibers (i.e.: .44 Magnum) in proximity to a competition date (with lesser cartridges of course). It was specifically detrimental to his scores.

Thus putting the lie (along with controlled experiments) to ego-trippers who claim, "Recoil doesn't bother me at all.", and "I don't ever flinch."

The best in the world knows better.

 

[wired]

They own 'em, carry 'em and can't shoot 'em worth a damn, believing (as some do here) that power will save the day.

Or, perhaps ego figures in to a measurable degree, and in some cases may actually be the sole motivation for what is a poor choice for their abilities.

Discussing hunting handguns with a (actually "the") World Champion handgun shooter some years back, he talked about avoiding any practicing or shooting with the heavy recoiling hunting calibers (i.e.: .44 Magnum) in proximity to a competition date (with lesser cartridges of course). It was specifically detrimental to his scores.

Thus putting the lie (along with controlled experiments) to ego-trippers who claim, "Recoil doesn't bother me at all.", and "I don't ever flinch."

The best in the world knows better.

Target shooting is not self defense shooting. Self defense shooting is being able to hit a watermelon from 20 feet away under stress if the watermelon is shooting back at you . MAYBE you use the sights but more likely its going to be point shooting.

 

[Spitpatch]

Target shooting is not self defense shooting. Self defense shooting is being able to hit a watermelon from 20 feet away under stress if the watermelon is shooting back at you . MAYBE you use the sights but more likely its going to be point shooting.

Shooting accurately IS the most crucial aspect self defense shooting. I made no correlation between the situations experienced in target shooting and self defense. I discussed the detrimental effect that recoil has on any human being and it occurs whether sights are employed or not.

Assigning obviously ridiculous comparisons to a contributor when none were presented is less than productive to any conversation.