44 Magnum (chapter 2)

Youtube ^ | June 13, 2010 | Hickock45

[Errant]

Good video by Hickok45 shooting the Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum of "Dirty Harry" fame. Hickok45's videos are usually entertaining, informative and he is also an excellent shooter. For those of you who are not shooters or don't wish to improve your knowledge of shooting and firearms, you'd probably just be bored... :)

[fish hawk]

What I would not give to have this guys target set up in my own back yard.

[Errant]

Same here! I have some land that I own where I can go shoot but it’s 45 minutes away and I usually just go to the local indoor range. Paper targets just aren’t as fun and don’t make the neat sound that occurs when hot lead hits steel plate.

[Errant]

Link to Video

[2aberro]

Thanks for the link,,, enjoying the videos now :-)

[deadrock]

Is that a good ‘self-defense, someone is in my house at 2am’ gun to have? Or does it take someone with extraordinary skill to handle it?

[xone]

I have a 4” Model 29. Love it and very accurate. The problem would be over-penetration inside the house. If you live alone, and are a ways away from your neighbors, fire away. Anything going through the bad guy won’t get far. But, I prefer a 12 ga inside the house with nothing bigger than 6’s..

Like any weapon, the .44 can be mastered with practice.

[fish hawk]

Not for the meek or women (at least most women) I have the
S&W 357 and it's a hand full on it's own. The good thing about it is that you can also shoot regular 38 special shells with it and they are somewhat cheaper.

[Mr Rogers]

I have a short barrel 44:

It is heavy enough to tame much of the recoil, but a 44 mag is more boom than needed for home defense. I buy fairly hot 44 special ammo - 255 grain bullets at 900+ fps, IIRC - and use that instead. The 44 Mag ammo is for fun at the range, or maybe if I was hiking in bear country.

If I hadn't used a gun much before and wanted a good home defense type gun, I'd consider a .38 special with a 4" barrel. Cheaper ammo (about $0.35/bullet vs 0.65+ for 44 Mag), fairly easy to learn to shoot well, and quite capable of stopping someone if one aims the gun before shooting. And a 44 Mag won't drop a bad guy in an instant...see this link for "Have No Faith in Your Defensive Handgun Caliber or Load!":

http://www.snubnose.info/docs/No_faith.htm

An excerpt:

"In a life-and-death struggle, seconds seem like hours. The good guy has been forced to shoot the felon, but nothing happens despite a good hit. He shoots again and again and again and finally the bad guy drops. The actual time frame may have been but a few seconds, yet to our survivor, his handgun/load seemed not up to the job. None of them are in my opinion. Some are better than others, but none smite like the Hammer of Thor and it's simply not realistic to expect it. It could also be dangerous. Expect a failure and be mentally prepared to deal with it. Expect that multiple shots may be necessary to actually stop a determined aggressor."

[Mr Rogers]

See this FBI document for more info:

http://www.firearmstactical.com/pdf/fbi-hwfe.pdf

[xone]

Expect a failure and be mentally prepared to deal with it. Expect that multiple shots may be necessary to actually stop a determined aggressor."

Agree completely, that's why I prefer a shotgun, against a 240 gr .44, it delivers about 2.5 times the weight, is easier to point and in the case of a vested bad guy, can detach parts.

[VOA]

bump

[susannah59]

I’ve used a S&W 357 to shoot .38 special and that’s not difficult to shoot at all. The 357 would be a good revolver to “share” between a male and a female. On the other hand, I wouldn’t shoot the .44 magnum on a bet, although I am sure some women would.