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The .44 Special
 
Nation Year Max. press.
U.S.A. 1907 14500psi
Overshadowed by the big .44 Magnum which was developed from it, this is a pleasant cartridge to shoot, and is a definate man stopper. The fact that this round may also be fired in a pistol chambered for a .44 Magnum means that there are few guns specificly chambered for it. For practice rounds in a .44 Magnum revolver they are hard to beat. The .44 mag can be downloaded, but this smaller cartridge will be more efficient and accurate than a .44 mag downloaded to the same level. The parent round of this cartridge was the old .44 Russian, developed in the 1870s by S&W, at the same time that Colt developed the classic cowboy round, the .45 Long Colt. All of these rounds were developed using large cases designed for low pressures.

Standard Load
Bullet Powder Measure Velocity Energy Comment
240gr Bullseye 5.9gr 750fps 300fp
Reloads
Bullet Powder Measure Velocity Energy Comment
240gr VV N350 10gr 1018fps 552fp
180gr H110 17.7gr 1000fps 400fp
180gr VV N350 11.4gr 1160fps 538fp
210 H110 16.5gr 1000fps 466fp