.44 Mag or .454 Casull?

[DougB]

I'm getting the itch to buy a large caliber double-action revolver. I've owned a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 magnum for years. I keep going back and forth between these calibers. A big appeal of each is that they both have the capability of shooting lower powered cartridges (.44 Special in the .44/.45 Long Colt in the .454). I used to reload a lot, but lately tend to just buy ammo at gun shows or mail order (too lazy to make my own, I guess). With either of these revolvers, I might do some handloading. but will probably rely mostly on commercial ammo. I suspect that the .44 will have big edge in the cost of full-powered loads.

I don't especially like recoil, but I don't mind shooting my Ruger .44, and I have fired a couple of shots with a .454 Taurus(not too bad, but I don't know how hot the loads actually were).

For most practical purposes, I think the .44 magnum would be plenty (really overkill for most uses). But the .454 looks like it would do anything the .44 can do, plus have even more "headroom" - and a little higher "coolness factor." There are a greater variety of revolvers available in .44 magnum, but the Ruger and Taurus .454s seem okay to me. I'm inclined to just get a S&W .44 mag - probably with about a 6" barrel, but then again, one of those big .454s would be fun...

I will probably use it mostly for informal target shooting and plinking with light/medium loads. I might carry it ocassionally for self-defense in bear country (might take a trip to Alaska someday, or go wild pig hunting - but not on the immediate horizon). So, what do you recommend?

Doug

 

[stans]

44 Magnum is still hard to beat, especially if you are not going to do a lot of reloading. 44 Special and Magnum ammo is readily available and is also available in the inexpensive "white box" form.

 

[1badmagnum]

I agree 44 magnum is a great caliber for folks who dont handload for the reasons mentioned above.
I do enjoy shooting the 454,especially with cheap 45 acp bullets for plinking.
my 454 handloads run about 15 cents each,and are ALOT of fun to shoot.

 

[444]

Well, you already own one .44 Mag, so I presume you already handload for that caliber. And you could shoot factory ammo out of either gun and for that matter use the same loading components for either gun.
On the other hand, since you already own a .44 Mag, you might want to branch out and explore new worlds. And in my minimal experience, it is a whole new world. It seems to me that the .454 is in a whole different class than the .44 Mag. The recoil seems like it is substantally bigger.
If it was me, I would go with the .454 for the new experience.

 

[444]

Well, you already own one .44 Mag, so I presume you already handload for that caliber. And you could shoot factory ammo out of either gun and for that matter use the same loading components for either gun.
On the other hand, since you already own a .44 Mag, you might want to brach out and explore new worlds. And in my minimal experience, it is a whole new world. It seems to me that the .454 is in a whole different class than the .44 Mag. The recoil seems like it is substantally bigger.
If it was me, I would go with the .454 for the new experience.

 

[Master Blaster]

Stick with the 44 mag and buy a new reloading setup with the money you would save.

You can always load 300+ grainers that you dont see commercially, you could load so that the .44 mag hurts your arm after 10 shots, for the thrill, and try all kinds of cool bullets, and powder that produces a giant fireball if that blows up your skirt.

Or you could download the .44mag and use lead semi wadcutters.

Shoot your .44 mag more reload for it.

Thats my opinion

 

[Drundel]

I have a .454 in a SRH with 9.5" barell, and its really fun to shoot .45 LC because there is just no recoil at all. Factory .454 ammo is kinda expensive but it you reload for it, you can do it pretty cheap.

That being said I am not going to get rid of my .454 but I am looking for a Classic Hunter 629 6.5" one of these days.

1badmagnum:

What kind of gun do you have that you should ACP rounds in? You have to mod it? I would like to look into that, I could shoot it a lot more.

 

[TallPine]

might take a trip to Alaska someday

Well, you can't get a handgun through Canada to Alaska.

Of course, the bears in the Yukon (Canada) are much better behaved than those violent American bears.

 

[rick_reno]

44 or 454

I've got multiple examples of both the 44 mag and 454. My 454's are FA. I shoot 300 gr. from the 454's and 240 gr. from the 44 mags. The 44 is a lot less recoil; 300 gr. factory loads from the 454's are not something I shoot for fun (recoil + cost). I've got a load for a 300 gr. laser cast bullet that I shoot at about 1460 fps that is manageable, accurate and fun to shoot. The accuracy of the FA guns in my experience is a little better than my 44's which are all Ruger.

 

[BigG]

I like the 44 Magnum. Anything more powerful than that I select shoulder fired. YMMV

 

[rock jock]

The .44 magnum does it for me. You can pick from energy levels of 300 ft-lbs for .44 special to over 1400 ft-lbs. for .44 magnums. Anything more than that and I am ready for a rifle.