User:Jerzy/Bookmarks and .44 Magnum: Difference between pages
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{{Infobox Firearm Cartridge
|name= .44 Magnum
|image= [[Image:44-cartridge.jpg|300px]]
|caption= .44 Magnum cartridge
|origin= [[United States]]
|type= [[Handgun]]/[[Revolver]]
<!-- Service history -->
|service=
|used_by=
|wars=
<!-- Production history -->
|designer= [[Elmer Keith]]
|design_date= 1950s
|manufacturer=
|production_date= 1955
|number=
|variants=
<!-- Specifications -->
|parent= [[.44 Special]]
|case type= Rimless, straight
|bullet=.432
|neck=.457
|shoulder=
|base=.457
|rim_dia=.514
|rim_thick=.060
|case_length=1.285
|length=1.61
|rifling=
|primer=Large pistol
|filling=
|filling_weight=
|detonation=
|yield=
<!-- Ballistic performance -->
|is_SI_units=
|bw1=180
|btype1=JSP
|vel1=1610
|en1=1036
|bw2=240
|btype2=SP
|vel2=1180
|en2=741
|bw3=
|btype3=
|vel3=
|en3=
|bw4=
|btype4=
|vel4=
|en4=
|bw5=
|btype5=
|vel5=
|en5=
|test_barrel_length=4 in
|balsrc= [http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/ballistics/results/default.aspx?type=pistol&cal=16 Remington Arms Co. ballistics table]
}}
[[Image:Anaconda-500.jpg|thumb|305px|.44 Magnum [[Colt Anaconda]]]]
The '''.44 Magnum''' is a large-bore, dual-use [[cartridge (weaponry)|cartridge]] designed for [[revolver]]s; however it is also used in many rifles as well. It was developed in the mid-1950s by lengthening the [[.44 Special]] cartridge. Despite the ".44" designation, all guns chambered for .44 Magnum and its parent use bullets .432 inches (10.97 mm) in diameter.<ref>2002, Lyman Reloading Handbook, 48th edition</ref> A .44 Magnum revolver or rifle will accept both .44 Magnum and [[.44 Special]] ammunition, but a weapon designed for .44 Special will only accept the Special, due to the longer overall length of a .44 Magnum cartridge.
==Origin==
The .44 Magnum cartridge was the result of "[[Wiktionary:souped-up|souped-up]]" [[handloading]] of the .44 Special. The [[.44 Special]], and other big bore handgun cartridges were being loaded with heavy bullets pushed at higher than normal velocities for better hunting performance. One of these handloaders was the late [[Elmer Keith]], a famous writer and [[outdoorsman]] of the 20th Century.
Elmer Keith settled on the [[.44 Special]] cartridge as the basis for his experimentation, rather than the larger .45 Long Colt. At the time the selection of .44 caliber projectiles for handloaders was better, and the .44 Special case was smaller in diameter than the .45 Long Colt case—in revolvers of the same size, this meant the .44 caliber revolvers had thicker, and therefore stronger, cylinder walls than the .45. This allowed higher pressures to be used without risk of a burst cylinder.<ref>[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_177_29/ai_n14816284 The .44 Magnum: 50 years young!] American Handgunner, Sept-Oct, 2005 by John Taffin</ref>
Mr. Keith encouraged [[Smith & Wesson]] and [[Remington]] to produce a commercial version of this new high pressure loading, and revolvers chambered for it. While S&W produced the first prototype revolver chambered in .44 Magnum, the famous [[S&W Model 29|Model 29]], [[Sturm, Ruger]] actually beat S&W to market by several months in [[1956]] with a .44 Magnum version of the [[single action]] [[Blackhawk]] revolver. The exact reason for this is lost in [[legend]]; one version says a Ruger employee found a cartridge cased marked ".44 Remington Magnum" and took it to Bill Ruger, while another says a Remington employee provided Ruger with early samples of the ammunition.<ref>[http://www.gunblast.com/Hamm_44-Flattop.htm Ruger Blackhawk .44 Magnum "Flattop"], GunBlast.com</ref>
The .44 Magnum case is slightly longer than the .44 Special case, not because of the need for more room for propellant, but to prevent the more powerful cartridge from being chambered in older, weaker .44 Special firearms.<ref>[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_177_29/ai_n14816284 The .44 Magnum: 50 years young!] American Handgunner, Sept-Oct, 2005 by John Taffin</ref>
The .44 Magnum was an immediate success, and the direct descendants of the [[S&W Model 29]] and the .44 Magnum Ruger Blackhawks are still in production, and have been joined by numerous other makes and models of .44 Magnum revolvers, and even a few [[semi-automatic]] [[pistol]]s, such as the [[Desert Eagle]]. While modern steels and manufacturing techniques have allowed even stronger cylinders, leading to larger and more powerful cartridges such as the [[.454 Casull]], and [[.480 Ruger]], in revolvers the same size as a .44 Magnum, the .44 Magnum is still considered a top choice today. In [[2006]], to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the .44 Magnum Blackhawk, Ruger introduced a special 50th anniversary Blackhawk revolver, in the original .44 Magnum "Flattop" style.
==Technical specifications==
The .44 Magnum delivers a large, heavy bullet with high velocity for a handgun. In its full-powered form, it produces too much recoil and muzzle blast to be suitable for a police weapon, and is likely not very suitable for shooters of smaller build or with small hands.
Some gun styles are more comfortable to use when shooting this caliber. [[Single-action]] [[revolver]]s, with their rounded grips, tend to pivot upward into the web of skin between the thumb and forefinger when being fired, which can cause injury if not guarded against. [[Double-action]] revolvers, as the Anaconda in the photo, have a shoulder on top of the grip that helps prevent such pivoting and a shorter hammer spur. In any case, barrel porting and longer and heavier barrels help hold the gun down when being fired.
<br style="clear:both;" />
===Dual use of the .44 magnum===
[[Image:44-right-side.jpg|thumb|305px|[[Marlin Model 1894]] rifle in .44 Magnum]]
The dual-use concept has been popular since the Old West with cartridges like the 44-40 Winchester, whose "High-Speed" loadings were a sort of precursor to the .44 Magnum. Other dual-use rounds were the 32-20 Winchester, the 38-40 Winchester, and the more recent .357 Magnum.
From the start, the .44 Magnum handguns were designed to tolerate the high pressures this cartridge produces. Some past dual-use handgun/rifle cartridges, like the 44-40 Winchester, gave their manufacturers trouble and occasional lawsuits when people loaded the "High-Speed" versions designed for rifles into handguns.
This was one of the reasons why the .44 Magnum casing was lengthened so it would not chamber in .44 Special revolvers. Some high-quality .44 Special weapons could accept the high pressures of the new cartridge, but other older guns would be damaged or destroyed. The lengthened cartridge avoided this issue.
As a rifle or carbine cartridge the .44 Magnum is reasonably powerful yet compact and not bulky, and far better on deer and other big game than the [[.357 Magnum]]. The [[Marlin Model 1894]] is currently available in this caliber. However, the .357, also available in the Marlin carbine, is said by some to be more versatile as it covers small and medium game better and has less recoil.
===Suitable game===
It was and still remains a very fine and popular short-range deer, black bear, wild pig and other North American big game cartridge, but it is on the light side for elk or moose, and adequate against a brown bear only with precise shot placement. It is easy to reload, very accurate, enjoyable to shoot if one can tolerate the recoil, and universally available in the United States.
This cartridge has a natural home in single action revolvers like the Ruger Super Blackhawk and some autoloading handguns like the [[Desert Eagle]]. The single-action designs tend to "rear up" when fired and tame the recoil a great deal, while the gas system of the autoloading weapons absorbs and buffers recoil significantly. Double action revolvers tend to transmit more recoil to the shooter's arm, causing it to be perceived as more harsh.
===Range===
The .44 Magnum is a splendid short-range big game cartridge in a various short, handy rifles, especially in heavy brush or timber, out to about 150 meters. Past that, the trajectory is too steep for easy hits on game, as the short, fat bullets have poor aerodynamic shape.
Still, many shooters like it as they can thus have a rifle and a handgun in the same cartridge, making logistics easier. It is popular in rifles within these limitations for big game. It will also work well for coyotes and animals in that class, though it is rather expensive for that purpose versus lesser cartridges.
Many handloaders will load lighter than factory loadings for other purposes and for target shooting.
==.44 Magnum in popular culture==
This cartridge was made notorious through its supposed use by the "[[Harry Callahan (fictional character)|Dirty Harry]]" character in the [[Clint Eastwood]] [[Dirty Harry|film of the same name]]. However, it was not then and is not now "the most powerful handgun [cartridge] in the world." Nor is it in any realistic sense a practical police cartridge, though some persons do favor it for personal protection purposes. In the film ''[[Magnum Force]]'', [[Harry Callahan (fictional character)|"Dirty" Harry Callahan]] admits to using light .44 Special loads, due to their reduced recoil, even though his gun can handle magnum loads.
It has been said the .44 Magnum was not even used by [[Clint Eastwood]] when filming. The actual gun used was reportedly either the [[Smith & Wesson]] Model 57 in [[.41 Magnum]] or the Model 25 in [[.45 Colt]], due to the unavailability of the S&W Model 29 at the S&W factory.
[[Travis Bickle]] used the .44 magnum cartridge in the 1976 film [[Taxi Driver]] to dispatch the less desirables of New York. Upon purchasing this revolver, the salesman states that "It'll stop a car at 100 yards, put a round right through the engine block." Obviously, this is not true. Large caliber, high velocity rifle rounds are capable of penetrating such thick metal as is present in an automobile's engine block, but not a far less powerful pistol round such as the .44 magnum. This is just another example of the many popular culture descriptions of this cartridge that highly overstate its power.
==Synonyms==
*.44 Mag.
*.44 S&W Magnum
*.44 Remington Magnum
==Writings about the .44 Magnum==
* Barnes, Frank C. ''Cartridges of the world'', Chicago : Follett Pub. Co., 1980 - An excellent write up of the .44 Magnum can be found in this title.
==See also==
*[[List of firearms]]
*[[List of handgun cartridges]]
*[[List of rifle cartridges]]
*[[Colt Anaconda]] [[Revolver]]
*[[Marlin Model 1894]] [[Rifle]]
*[[Ruger Redhawk]] [[Revolver]]
*[[S&W Model 29|Smith & Wesson Model 29]] [[Revolver]]
*[[Taurus Raging Bull]] [[Revolver]]
==References==
<references />
[[Category:Pistol and rifle cartridges|44 Magnum]]
[[de:.44 Magnum]]
[[fr:.44 Magnum]]
[[nl:.44 Magnum]]
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