The .44 Magnum fires a large, heavy bullet at a high velocity for a handgun. In its full-powered form, it produces so much recoil and muzzle blast that it is generally considered to be unsuitable for use as a police weapon. Rapid fire is difficult and strenuous on the user's hands, especially for shooters of smaller build. Although marketed as a
.44 caliber, the .44 Magnum and its parent .44 Special are actually .429-.430 caliber. The .44 designation is a carryover from the early measurements of
heeled bullets used in the late 19th century. In those times, bullet diameter typically matched the external dimension of its respective cartridge, not the interior of the round. After the
.44 Russian was developed, the forefather of the .44 Special and thus the .44 Magnum, the measurement of bullet caliber was taken from inside of the cartridge, resulting in .429 caliber. Some gun styles are more comfortable to use when shooting this caliber. Many shooters find the rounded grip shape of the single action better for handling heavy recoil than the grip shape of
double-action revolvers, which have a shoulder on top of the grip. Many shooters consider the ideal type of grip for heavy recoiling guns to be the longer "Bisley" style
single action grip, and it can be found on single actions from Ruger (models marked "Bisley") and
Freedom Arms, as well as many custom makers.
Dual-purpose use carbine semiautomatic pistol in .44 Magnum. revolver in .44 Magnum. The concept of a dual-purpose handgun/rifle cartridge has been popular since the
Old West, with cartridges like the
.44-40 Winchester, whose "high-speed" rifle loadings were precursors to magnum loads. Other dual-use rounds were the
.32-20 Winchester and the
.38-40 Winchester. Ruger introduced its first long gun, a semi-automatic carbine called the
Ruger Model 44 chambered for .44 Magnum, in 1959. Marlin followed soon after with the
lever action Model 1894 in .44 Magnum. Tests with various ammunition in the
Ruger Deerfield yielded a velocity of over with a bullet, comparable to the muzzle velocity out of a revolver. Loads using slow-burning powders maximize performance in both short and long barrels, with one published load generating from a revolver, and from a carbine with a bullet.
Suitable game The .44 Magnum is well suited to kill animals up to
elk size. With precise shot placement and deep-penetrating cartridges, it has even been used to kill the largest of game, including
Cape Buffalo. Publisher
Robert E. Petersen killed a record-setting
polar bear with a
Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum. It has even been used to kill
elephants with success. In addition to beating the ballistics of the old .44-40 rifle loads, long considered a top deer cartridge, The limiting factor of the .44 Magnum cartridge is not
terminal ballistics. When fired from a revolver, a typically loaded .44 Magnum bullet will have more impact energy at than a .44 Special has at the muzzle, when fired from the same weapon. When loaded with a heavy, non-expanding bullet, the .44 Magnum will easily shoot through large game such as elk and even
bison. The limiting factor is the bullet's trajectory: the best hunting bullets are heavy, so they are relatively slow. This means the projectile's trajectory will drop significantly at ranges beyond ; there will be virtually zero significant drop at , so the gun's aimed "line of sight" can meet the "bullet's trajectory" at the same point. When drop-out at is about , the drop-out at is more than ; with a zero drop-out, the drop-out at will still measure more than . Experts limit hunting ranges to when shooting .44 Magnum cartridges, less if practical accuracy requires it. ==In popular culture==