Why did the recoil stories start, 44 magnum

[trapper9260]

I had a father and son talked how they can handle recoil and I had them shoot my SXS 10ga . 3 1/2" . Let me say that they where not talk any thing like they did . As for 44 mag My Hunter RH with the scope mount. 7 1/2" . Shoot everything but 310 gr cast out of it you ok, when shoot the 310gr . You will know it . But when shoot the same in the Marlin 1894 no problem.

[Char-Gar]

I also have a 5 " 629 and I can feel allot of difference between a mild target load and a full snort magnum load. I think the OP is bored and looking to start a discussion or others such nonsense.

[Hickok]

My recoil story started as I got older.

In my younger years there wasn't anything that I wouldn't shoot, the bigger the better! Now approaching 69 years, I have realized I don't need a .44 Magnum with a 4" barrel loaded up to 1400 fps with a 250 gr bullet to shoot a deer or a blackbear. A nice load cruising any where from 900 to about 1100 fps, with the same boolit will the job.

Also found I can take deer out to 300-400 yards with a good .308 Win. just as well as with a .300 magnum.

I always have to learn thing the hard way......but it finally sinks in!

[racepres]

My recoil story started as I got older.

In my younger years there wasn't anything that I wouldn't shoot, the bigger the better! Now approaching 69 years, I have realized I don't need a .44 Magnum with a 4" barrel loaded up to 1400 fps with a 250 gr bullet to shoot a deer or a blackbear. A nice load cruising any where from 900 to about 1100 fps, with the same boolit will the job.

Also found I can take deer out to 300-400 yards with a good .308 Win. just as well as with a .300 magnum.

I always have to learn thing the hard way......but it finally sinks in!

I must have been at the Same School as You...same time surely!!!

[Bent Ramrod]

I think that definitely the modern Magnum rounds (.44 and .357) are loaded a little lighter than they were back in the heady days where they had to be the biggest, baddest and fastest. The reason might be rooted in the change in pressure measurement from copper crushers to piezoelectric. Also maybe that few customers had chronographs so wouldn’t notice the loss of 100 ft/sec, but all could feel the recoil and bought less ammunition because the shooting experience was so unpleasant.

The constant complaints of .357 users about bore leading seem to have abated to the occasional anecdote. Likewise, .44 Magnum recoil is no longer news, although this might be partly because even larger and harder-recoiling pistol cartridges are out now. The handgun hunters who knock charging Cape buffalo into a backflip with one shot never mention the recoil, although some, like Gary Reeder, are candid enough to admit that they wear special shooting gloves. And I think Dirty Harry admitted to one of his partners that his “big, bad .44” was loaded down a little.

I remember my friend Tex, back in the Dirty Harry days, picking up a very nice nickel-plated Model 29, in a wood presentation box for a surprisingly reasonable price at a gun show. The thing looked unfired. With it came one of those little 20-round boxes of Federal factory ammunition. Six rounds were missing from the box, but youthful and enthusiastic as we were, we didn’t think of this as ominous.

We repaired to our favorite shooting spot where the local bar dumped all its no-deposit-no-return longneck empties, with the .44 and other stuff we wanted to shoot. First up was the new toy. We both shot one cylinderful, and I told Tex he was welcome to the last two. He wasn’t overjoyed, but he did finish out the box.

We both flinched so badly after the first shot each that we couldn’t hit anything, and the flinching persisted for the rest of the day with the other guns we had brought to shoot. Not a very productive session; the longnecks won that day.

Tex unloaded the 29 at the next gun show and later bought a Model 25 with cylinders for .45 Colt and .45 AR. We could actually hit something with that gun.

[Dutchman]

Long time ago. Great Western .44 Magnum in full recoil. It was a handful.

Hadn't noticed before but looks like the cylinder base pin is part way out. It did that from heavy recoil. Photo dates to the mid-1970s.

[bcraig]

From Elmer Keith
https://gundigest.com/more/classic-g...one-year-later

Generic 44 Magnum Pistol velocities with different ammo
http://ballistics101.com/44_magnum.php

http://sixguns.com/range/44magnumsixguns.htm

[FergusonTO35]

If my state had a special handgun season, I would probably get a Super Blackhawk with long barrel and feed it .44-40 equivalent loads. It should be accurate, easy to shoot, and have no trouble making things go dead at the same range I shoot my crossbow.

[Carrier]

I had a father and son talked how they can handle recoil and I had them shoot my SXS 10ga . 3 1/2" . Let me say that they were not talk any thing like they did . As for 44 mag My Hunter RH with the scope mount. 7 1/2" . Shoot everything but 310 gr cast out of it you ok, when shoot the 310gr . You will know it . But when shoot the same in the Marlin 1894 no problem.

When I was a 11 year old kid my friend's dad had a double barrel 10 gauge. I can’t remember what model it was but you could fire both barrels when pulling both triggers. We snuck it out one day when his dad was out swathing and needless to say it didn’t turn out so well. It didn’t knock me down but I thought my arm was coming off.
Can’t remember which hurt more the recoil from the gun or his dad’s size 12 in our butts.

[375supermag]

Hi...
My first handgun other than a .22LR was a Ruger Security Six that was bought for my first wife and I when we started shooting competitively back in the late '70s- early '80s time frame. It was shot with the remanufactured loads the indoor range required to be used. Recoil was unremarkable, revolver was accurate but I didn't care for it.
I bought a S&W 686 Silhouette Model and talked the range owner into allowing me to use standard factory loads for practice and matches. Big heavy revolver that soaks up the recoil...doesn't hurt that it is stunningly accurate.
Next handgun for me was a Springfield Armory 1911 in .45ACP. I wanted a carry gun and my research said that was the way to go.
I had some trepidation when I shot it the first time because an army vet had told me that the first time he shot one in the military that the recoil was enough to knock a grown man off his feet. My first shot proved that he was full of equine excrement.
I am not sure which .44Magnum revolver I started with but I think it was a Dan Wesson stainless model. Now, I had heard all the horror stories about how bad the recoil was with this caliber. I figured somebody is shooting these things and if they can then so can I.
40 some years later and I regularly shoot that same Dan Wesson, a Model 29, two Ruger Super BlackHawks and a pair of Virginian Dragoons, so it must not have kicked too bad.
My go to load is 10gr of Unique with a 240gr commercial cast coated LSWC but I always shoot a few cylinders of full power jacketed bullet loads each range trip. None if my .44Magnum revolvers have ever sèen a single round of .44Spl ammunition.
The same holds true of my nearly a dozen .357Magnum revolvers. I have dedicated .38Spl and. 44Spl revolvers for that.

I am currently 69 years old and recoil really doesn't bother me much although I do wear shooting gloves when shooting full power loads in my .357Magnum, .41Mag, .45Colt and. 44Magnum revolvers along with my .375SuperMag.
The only handgun I don't enjoy shooting very much is my Contender in .45Colt with full power Contender only loads. That gun kicks hard so it is the last one that gets shot for the day.

[danmat]

I also have a 5 " 629 and I can feel allot of difference between a mild target load and a full snort magnum load. I think the OP is bored and looking to start a discussion or others such nonsense.

I always enjoy reading Char-Gar responses
He reminds me of me LOL

[Three44s]

Like what has already been posted, everyone is different .... build and mind, however gun writers deserve a chewing out since they have failed miserably!

Growing up I believed the drivel about the 44 mag and avoided it entirely.

A set of circumstances occurred where I had to reconsider owning one. After some research, I found a 7.5" SS Redhawk in 44 mag.

I began with the factory wooden grips and factory ammo since I needed to build up brass. The grips were not friendly and I needed handloads rather than full house ammo.

I started buying empty brass and settled on the Uncle Mike's rubber grip (available then) and built loads to suit me with a grip much to my liking.

It turns out that centerfire revolvers are very adaptable to power setting by pairing appropriate components with a gun that fits you.

Next you have "wrap your head around" getting over all the hype and getting down to business!

I will be the first to tell you that my shooting still centers on many more rounds fired in the lower and middle power range so as to reduce fatigue and damage to my aging carcass but I am certainly no stranger to full house DA and SA revolver work.

Besides 3 44 mag revolvers I also own a SRH in 480 Ruger and love them all.

I have fired the "dreaded" Smith 329 and while it was no fun at bear load levels with wooden grips I found it quite controllable and would certainly pack one if I owned one, but I would get the rubber grip for it.

One 44 I do not get along with however are the round and square trigger guard equipped SBHs. Everything I have tried still gets the back of my strong side middle finger bashed.

But the beef I have with gun writers is that the "bashers" do not explain to their readers about how adaptable the cartridge and the guns largely are.

Three44s

[rintinglen]

To answer the question originally posed, when a 47 ounce revolver firing a 240 grain bullet at 1400 fps was fired by a person whose previous experience was firing 158 grain bullets at 850 fps from a 38 ounce revolver. The free recoil is just about 5 times greater. "You canna change the laws of physics, Jim."

[Thom_44]

I also have a 5 " 629 and I can feel allot of difference between a mild target load and a full snort magnum load. I think the OP is bored and looking to start a discussion or others such nonsense.

What qualifies as a "full snort magnum load"? Ive used various factory jacketed bullets, various factory loaded lead projectiles, and a good number of loads using mail order cast bullets. An Elmer Kieth load of 2400 DOES have a unique feel in the hand when you fire it. Especially when I try to shoot one handed.

But for some reason all of my store bought ammunition has had 240 grain bullets. For some reason Heavier bullets really cost more. locally a box of 50 Blazer 240 FMJ costs 62$. Blazer 240 JSP costs 70$. Most of the heavier magnum ammunition costs 60$ for 20 rounds

[racepres]

What qualifies as a "full snort magnum load"? Ive used various factory jacketed bullets, various factory loaded lead projectiles, and a good number of loads using mail order cast bullets. An Elmer Kieth load of 2400 DOES have a unique feel in the hand when you fire it. Especially when I try to shoot one handed.

But for some reason all of my store bought ammunition has had 240 grain bullets. For some reason Heavier bullets really cost more. locally a box of 50 Blazer 240 FMJ costs 62$. Blazer 240 JSP costs 70$. Most of the heavier magnum ammunition costs 60$ for 20 rounds

Huh...My 310 FP Lee cost about the same as the 240...even with gas checks!! Yet use a bit less Powder to break yer Wrist!!!

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Doesn't unpleasant muzzle blast and unpleasant recoil make you a tough guy? Those mild loads, soft recoil pads and pleasant, high round count practice are just for us sissies.

[racepres]

Doesn't unpleasant muzzle blast and unpleasant recoil make you a tough guy? Those mild loads, soft recoil pads and pleasant, high round count practice are just for us sissies.

yes...

[steve urquell]

I find that faster burning powders are much more harsh than slow burners. A full case of 4227 is less punishing to me than a lighter charge of Unique. More of a push vs a pop to the palm.

I don't enjoy shooting the big boomers now as much as I did when younger and don't hunt so I have no push to load and shoot them as much.

[racepres]

I find that faster burning powders are much more harsh than slow burners. A full case of 4227 is less punishing to me than a lighter charge of Unique. More of a push vs a pop to the palm.

I don't enjoy shooting the big boomers now as much as I did when younger and don't hunt so I have no push to load and shoot them as much.

Odd...that I been working with AA Nitro100 NF recently...it really does produce reduced felt recoil..how??? IDK
It is also fairly low velocity thusfar!!! Duh!! But...even at like same velocity, it Feels softer somehow!!!

[steve urquell]

Odd...that I been working with AA Nitro100 NF recently...it really does produce reduced felt recoil..how??? IDK
It is also fairly low velocity thusfar!!! Duh!! But...even at like same velocity, it Feels softer somehow!!!

My Dan Wesson feels more flippy and harsh with the Keith 240gr Unique load than with a case full of 4227 under a 300gr bullet for some reason.

I love me some Nitro100NF and TiteWad (not TiteGroup) powder in my 9mm though. Be careful with it. Heavy bullets and super fast powder build pressure very quickly with tiny increases in charge weight.