Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
44 MAGNUM: THE MOST POWERFUL HANDGUN CARTRIDGE, FOR A WHILE
There’s a lot of debate about the best gear for backcountry adventures. We can argue the best fly fishing lures, hunting packs, and camouflage patterns until we’re blue in the face, but one piece of gear that’s traditionally garnered near-unanimous support is the 44 Magnum cartridge.
This little slice of Americana has appeared on the silver screen, seen action in Vietnam, kept America’s highways safe and graced the holster of many an outdoorsman. It’s fed revolvers, pistols, and rifles for years and gained a loyal following along the way. Some of the stories that surround it sound too good to be true and others are simply hard to believe.
But the 44 Magnum is an expensive round and its recoil can raise hell on the wrist. The guns that run it are high-dollar affairs that price most shooters out of the market. Factor in the consideration that you’ll likely be juggling a handful of loose rounds after only six shots, and a more modern alternative starts to sound pretty good.
If you think shooting a 44 Magnum sounds fun, you’re right. If you wonder about its real-world practicality, I won’t blame you. There’s a lot of history packed into this cartridge, and it’s worth learning if you have any interest in off-grid adventure.
Origins of the 44 Magnum
Clint Eastwood and his Dirty Harry character, Inspector Harry Callahan, may have made the 44 Magnum a household name in 1971, but the man we should be thanking is Elmer Keith. Keith was an Idaho rancher, hunter, writer, and shooting icon. Not satisfied with the power of revolvers chambered in .44 Special, Keith began loading his own ammunition and adding the powder to maximize its potential. He was clearly on to something, and he drew attention from more than just his customers.
It was Keith’s extra-spicy home-loaded .44 Special ammunition that inspired Smith & Wesson to extend the cartridge’s existing case and build a revolver capable of containing such power. The resulting handgun, released in 1955, was the Model 29. The N-frame that originally harnessed the 44 Magnum’s power went on to provide the building blocks for several other big-bore revolvers.
It earned praise as the most powerful handgun in the world and overtook the famous .357 magnum. According to the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI), the 44 Magnum held onto this title until 1998 when the .454 Casull officially became recognized as a standard cartridge. Technically, though, the .454 Casull was also developed in the 1950s.
The 44 Magnum’s history includes appearances in movies, television, and video games. It’s seen in real-world military, police, and civilian use. Nowhere has it earned a more loyal following, though, than in the community of hunters and anglers who depend on a hard-hitting round to keep them alive in the wilderness. After all, if it can drop a polar bear (with five shots, mind you), it can probably handle whatever you run into.
And as always have a chilled day from the Viking
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