How popular is .44 Magnum?

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Just wondering how popular .44 Magnum is in our game.

I don't see it all that often, and while I do have a couple of batteries in the caliber, I don't use it very often.   Now, granted, I don't, and I doubt that anyone does, use "full power" loads in the is caliber.  My own load is no more powerful than my .45 Colt loads, for example.  And those are no where near the maximum end of the scale,   But for me, the caliber "secondary" one, and I only trot it out when I have a ken to use the specific guns I have chambered for it.   Which I admit is once a year at best.

That being said, how many people actually use the caliber, either as a primary or secondary cartridge, and what guns do you use?

I have a Rossi 92, a rebarreled Winchester 92, a pre 83 Winchester 94, an original Great Western, a Uberti Cattleman, a Virginian Dragoon and a Chiappa Mare's leg.

All are fun guns to shoot, but I don't really use them for CAS all that often.  

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

All I have used in this game.

Load 6.5gn of Unique under a 240gn moly-coated RNFP from Bear Creek Supply. 

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

I use them for the King of Kaboom (big bore black powder) category.  I use the rifle in Wild Bunch with a smokeless load very close to that used by OLG.  I like the caliber.  

[Cholla]

I use one loaded down for long-range pistol matches.

[Ramblin’ Ringo]

I have shot them duelist for a few years now, but they are loaded down.

[Hoss]

1 hour ago, Cholla said:

I use one loaded down for long-range pistol matches.

I have a pair of Ruger super Blackhawks for that very purpose. One is a 71/2” unconverted, other a 10”! I shoot a 240grn bullet with 7.5 Unique. Pretty durn accurate. I’ve won a couple of KR pistol matches with them 

[Rip Snorter]

Non issue - you shoot them at 44 Special ballistics or break the rules.

[Erasmus]

Until my wife picked up a .45 colt 1873 so she could shoot Classic Cowgirl I was sharing a .44 mag Rossi 92 with my brother in law. The load was exactly the same as my (not my wife's) .45 LC load, 2.2 CC of APP under a Bear Creek Supply 205 RNFP. The only difference was the diameter of the bullet. 

 

Now that I have my wife's .357 '73 I just shoot that, but my BIL is still shooting the .44 mag. 

Edited January 9 by Erasmus

[Mustang Gregg]

Our whole outfit (that's 9 of us) shoots .44 Mag chambered Ruger revolvers and various lever rifles/carbines. 

We only use .44 S&W cartridges though.

All interchangeable.  ONE load.

 

Mustang Gregg

Calamity JoAnne

Commissioner Gordon

Winchester Wade

Amy Oakley

Tin Star Tim

SASSy Shawna

Rusty Spittoon

Sara Short Shot

[Cpt Dan Blodgett, SASS #75655]

I shoot 44 mags original Vaqueros 92 Rossi and 92 Miroku with about 780 FPS load from 7 5 inch barrel using44 mag cases  started using 44 spec cases but soon tired of cleaning carbon ring. Not an issue with the mag case

[JP Remington]

Yeah mate, my wife and I both shoot 44 magnums.

Marlin 1894 and Ruger Bisley's (me)

Rossi 1892 and Ruger Vaqueros (her)

Is it popular in my neck of the woods?

Not really, 73's are few and far between so you are limited to 92's and 94's.

Good option for Classic Cowboys though.

My brother shoots 44 Vaqueros and a 73 that he will not sell 😪

Edited January 9 by JP Remington
.

[Bison Bud]

Not my main match caliber, but I do have a Marlin lever rifle and 2 old style Ruger VQ's that I shoot often when I go to my club range for recreational shooting and practice.  However, I generally shoot the .44 Specials in the handguns and none of my loads are anywhere near maximum loads.  Frankly, a full blown .44 Magnum is a handful, but I do keep a few around and shoot them from time to time, which really makes me appreciate the downloaded ammo.  I have also used these guns for black powder matches and have done pretty well (big boom and lots of smoke).  I do get some blow back in the rifle due to the straight walled cartridge and the handguns get dirty pretty quickly, but not enough to be a big problem.  All in all, one of my favorite cartridges and since I cast my own 200 grain pills from scrap lead, one of the cheaper ones for me to shoot.

[Dapper Dynamite Dick]

When I started shooting CAS matches in 1997, the only thing I could find in my area was a Marlin M1894S and 2x Original Vaqueros in ,44 mag. I used the Marlin for 14 years and still use the Vaqueros loaded to .44 Spl strength 27 years later.

[SGT. ELI 35882 GUNFIGHTER]

No 44 mag, but have shot 44 specials for years.

[Rooster Ron Wayne]

I have been shooting 44 Magnum or Special and now Russian. 

Right from day one .

Love it .

Load it hot .

Load it light .

Or anything in between. 

I have bought just about any and all things that show up on the wire for sale in the 44 caliber .

Hell I even bought Four  Uberti Winchester 73 in Four different configurations all with in one week off the Wire. 

Why yes .

I'm a 44 Man .

Just Sayin. 

Rooster 

[Three Foot Johnson]

I personally know only one CAS shooter who uses .44 mag exclusively, meaning that's all he shoots and he shoots .44 mag ammo, not .44 specials or .44 Russians. It looks like there are a few more from the replies above. 

 

I have a Rossi '92 .44 mag and a pair of 8 3/8" Interarms Virginian Dragoons that have been to a couple CAS matches, but it's certainly not a regular thing.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

1 minute ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

a pair of 8 3/8" Interarms Virginian Dragoons

Interesting pistols!    I've got one myself with adjustable sights.   Do yours have adjustables or are the the fixed site version?

 

[T.K.]

I use .44 mag loaded down simply because I had @ 1000 rounds of brass or so. And I didnt see the need to reset up the reloader, buy different dies, bullets. brass for another caliber.

5 old Vaqueros, 2 browning 92's, 1 A.Uberti 1873 carbine in .44 mag

[Three Foot Johnson]

19 minutes ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

Interesting pistols!    I've got one myself with adjustable sights.   Do yours have adjustables or are the the fixed site version?

 

Adjustable.

[wyliefoxEsquire]

Wild Bunch

44 Mag Marlin

Factory stock

4.8 grains Tight Group using 205 grain lead

The only issue is getting brass back.  From 5 feet away it looks like 45 Colt.  Th Dillon press knows the difference.

 

[Barry Sloe]

I have a pair of OM Vaqueros in 44 magnum that I shoot regularly. However, I load them with 44 Russian rounds. Plenty of smoke and manageable recoil. 

 

BS

[Chantry]

Been using Rugers chambered in 44 magnum  since I started,  Light loads with Trailboss (yes I still have some  ) and with 2F Triple Seven it makes a decent BP round, it's seals the chamber similar to the 38 special.

[Doc Moses]

I started this sport because I had a short barreled Super Blackhawk with a fluted cylinder I wanted to shoot. Bought a stainless Vaquero to match it and a 92 in 44mag. Then got a basketcase 73 in 357. (Now a great gun). But, saw an 18" 73 in 44mag at my LGS a couple of years ago. Bought it and I shoot the Ruger 44s double duelist and the 44 Uberti 73 most of the time now. Light 44 special loads in 44mag cases. (44 rifle is stock so the 357 is faster AND has less recoil. I just like the 44s)

 

PS Having the 73 in 357 has helped with primer shortages. I can shoot that rifle and my Rugers and only use 60 lp primers per match. I am saving up all the spp 44 brass I come across so I can do a match with those if I ever run out of lp primers again.

[Michigan Slim]

I shoot .44 mag Super Blackhawks. My .44 rifles are pretty clunky so I use a 73 in .357. I hunt with my .44 levers though.

[Jackson Haller]

I started out in SASS in the 90's with a Winchester Trapper '94 in 44 mag and a pair of first gen Ruger Vaqueros in 44 mag.  Shot both 44 mag cases and 44 special cases in the revolvers and 44 special in the rifle (held more!).  Did that for a couple years then moved on to other calibers.  Towards the end of my SASS participation, I did take out  some 44-40 Vaqueros ,which I had fitted 44 mag cylinders to, for a match and shot 44 mag cases loaded to 44 special levels, just for old time's sake.

I've come to appreciate 44 special more these days...

Edited January 11 by Jackson Haller

[Rev Willy Dunkum, SASS # 61027]

I started many years ago with a Marlin Cowboy 44 mag and a pair of Vaquero 44 mag exclusively all loaded with full bore BP.  I added a couple more Vaquero Bisley 44 mag pistols.   When my Marlin started giving me fits (soon to be remedied) I bought Sgt Eli's 'old' 73 in 44 special and started shooting 44 specials through everything.  

Rev

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

9 hours ago, Rev Willy Dunkum, SASS # 61027 said:

I started many years ago with a Marlin Cowboy 44 mag and a pair of Vaquero 44 mag exclusively all loaded with full bore BP.  I added a couple more Vaquero Bisley 44 mag pistols.   When my Marlin started giving me fits (soon to be remedied) I bought Sgt Eli's 'old' 73 in 44 special and started shooting 44 specials through everything.  

Rev

 

This makes me think of the whole running .44 Specials in a .44 Magnum gun.  With a revolver, of course, it's no problem.  My first SASS rifle was a Rossi 92 in .44 Magnum.   I figured I would run Specials in it.   I didn't use for very long before I got a 73 in .32-20, and then finally started obtaining .45's.

But, I still like to take out the Rossi out for old time's sake every now and again.  The only problem was, it had a tendency to stove pipe new rounds on their way to the chamber.   When I got a real 92 that someone had rebarreled to .44 Magnum, it had the same problem.   Switched to Magnums downloaded to .44 Special levels, and I never had a problem again.   That's why I don't run Specials in my Magnum rifles.  

More recently, I acquired a pre-83 Winchester 94 in .44 Magnum, just cuz I wanted to have one.   To be honest, (and I am a bottom tier shooter) I found it to be pleasant to shoot, and it worked just fine at the match I took it too just to try it.  Comparing it to the Rossi, I did not find that it hindered me in any way.   I know 94's have a bad rep for out game, but well, this one worked.   Maybe I was lucky.

 

Here's me running my Rossi 92.   (Pistols are an Uberti Cattleman and an original Great Western in the same caliber.   We won't speak of the shotgun...)
 

 

Here's me running the 94.
 

As you saw, not appreciable difference between the 92 and the 94 for me.   In fact, I think I did better with the 94.   Go figure.

But...  I had FUN!

 

Edited January 11 by H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

FWIW, I run 2 OMV 5 1/2" bbl revolvers with Power Custom half cock conversions(18 lb hammer spring), and a 1982 made Marlin 94 with 1 piece FP plus a RPP coil spring extractor.

My 44 loads are all in magnum cases.

[Marauder SASS #13056]

I always loved 44's.  And even though it wasn't the real 44-40 Cowboy load, it sounded cool. So I started with a 44 Mag because I was already reloading for it. 

I didn't go for 45 Colt for 2 reason, I didn't want to buy and store another set of dies and the extra supplies AND I knew that it was never used in rifles until very lately.

 

After a few matches, I quickly realized the cost difference and some speed difference and switch to 357/38 Special, which I already loaded as well.

[Rye Miles #13621]

Very few if any shoot .44 mag or even .44spl at the 5 clubs I go to. .44-40 is used by many of the black powder shooters. It’s mostly .38 and .45Colt 

[Trailrider #896]

OLV's, one 7-1/2" and one 5-1/2".  .44 Mangle-em brass, 7.5 gr Universal behind 213.5 gr hard-cast bullets. If I am short of loaded rounds, I switch cylinders to .44-40 with 8.0 gr Universal behind the same bullets.  MV from the 7-1/2" barrel = 950 ft/sec. Just grab whichever Rossi carbine matches the cylinders. Unfortunately, age has caught up and I have arthritis in  my right shoulder and  my right thumb, and haven't shot any matches in quite a while.