44Magnum The Most Versatile Handgun Caliber

[trainsktg]

By the way, I had a 5" 500 for a couple of years. I loaded it hot and loved the heck out of it. But none of my friends liked to shoot it, nor did any of them shoot it more than once. Only one guy went thru a full cylinder.
Dynamite in a handgun!

Yeah, you probably like sleeping on a bed of nails, self flagellation with a cat-o-nine tail, and walking on hot coals too . JK

The guy who owns the .500 I shot shoots it all the time and apparently without issue. I can't figure out how he does it. We're the same size and build. Right after I nearly tore my hand off, a big 300+ pound bruiser managed to squeeze off a whole two rounds before handing it back.

Thinking about it I'd have to agree with the versatility of a .460 over a .454. For me, it'd have to be a single action though like a BFR. Somehow I don't think the ability to speed reload is necessary with one of these big handguns...bears don't travel in packs .

Keith

 

[AMProducts]

One thing I've found over the last few years since I really started hunting is exactly what bullets do when they hit bodies. As a consequence of that, other than a situation where I've got a fully grown kodiak/polar bear hybrid on top of me, I see very little reason for the 500 or the 460 S&W rounds from any practical standpoint. The guns that shoot them are HUUUUUGE, which also translates to heavy. The recoil feels mostly like holding your arm out, and someone smacking the end of your arm with a sledgehammer. An experience I personally consider rather unpleasant, and that's saying something, as I'm as much a glutton for punishment as many others regularly firing large dangerous game rifles in everything from 9.3 to 505 gibbs, and I consider the .416 rigby a personal favorite.

I have fired the .500 quite a bit though, at the range I used to work at, one of the regular customers bought one, and since at the time he couldn't find any new brass for reloading, he wanted to shoot up all the factory ammo he bought. This meant just about anyone around was free to burn up his ammo. I fired a few one-sie two-sies and then started firing full cylinders. It's a large gun, and you cant spend too much time doing this kind of thing. I'm pretty sure shooting it too much will lead to nerve damage. Over-all, the .500 S&W seems mostly to be a male organ compensation apparatus, not really a firearm.

Compared even to the .454 the .44mag has heavy, but reasonable amounts of recoil, even pushing bullets of up to 300 grain. However, once you get into the "cowboy combo" where you're carrying a rifle and pistol that both shoot the same cartridge, that's where you lost me. As usually this compromise means you're shooting a watered-down rifle, and an over-powered pistol. The whole thing made a lot more sense back during the black powder days when cartridge and bullet performance was greatly limited by the technology of the time. I suppose if you were carrying a lever gun chambered in .357 max, and a handgun chambered in .357 mag, that you carried .38's in, you're starting to get into a reasonable ballpark, at least you could shoot your pistol rounds in the rifle if you had to.

 

[20buellteam]

My Colt Anaconda is one of the best stress relievers I know. Fun shoot with .44 special and a little cheaper than magnum too. My "anti-gun" sister in-law, who is an RN, went along with us out target plinking and after shooting some of .22's she mustered up the courage to try the .44 and came back with a great big grin saying" I had no idea how cool it feels to shoot that - I like it!" Every shooter needs a .44 in their collection