Whats the Difference

[Beermster1]

Decided to reload some Rem .44 mag and was wondering whats the difference between Rem 44 mag and 44 mag special ?? Thanks

[Fordtrucks]

44 special is a reduced load. Like a .357mag and .38 special.
I think the casing is also a tad shorter, so that a 44 special only gun won't chamber a 44 mag. But not 100% sure about that part.

[pacrat]

Decided to reload some Rem .44 mag and was wondering whats the difference between Rem 44 mag and 44 mag special ?? Thanks

Fordtrucks got it right. There is no such thing as a "44 mag special". There is the old reliable 44 special and then there is the longer cased 44 magnum.

Same same for the 38 special and the .100" longer cased 357 magnum.

MAGNUM is a term that H&H borrowed from the wine industry in IIRC, 1912 to promote their then new 300 Magnum. Originally as far as wine terminology it meant "Twice as Big". Magnum bottles were twice the size of a standard wine bottle. Not so with firearms, talking guns magnum just means BIGGER.

[Divernhunter]

You can load 44SPECIAL loads in mag brass but NOT the other way around. I load mine with unique powder and 120gr lead bullets. They are more pleasant to shoot.
Doing this is easier than having 2 types of brass and dies.

[JTROKS]

44 magnum came later and lengthening the case is a preventative in chambering them in 44 special chambered handguns.

[mark501w]

Before 44 mag Keith loaded 44 special to mag velocities in colt SAA . He didn't load the 45LC because he didn't think the colt cylinders would hold up. So we ended up with the 44mag instead of the 45 mag . He promoted the idea & s&w picked up the idea for production with a substantially heavier frame. 44 special is a accurate effective man stopper, think of 45acp. A mag is a mag & a special is a special So to push the old 44 special guns is a mistake. Of course that my not have anything to do with hand loading.

[stilly]

Decided to reload some Rem .44 mag and was wondering whats the difference between Rem 44 mag and 44 mag special ?? Thanks

44 mag is the magnum version of 44 special. There is no 44 mag special AFAIK.

I have 44 special shells now and they are a few mm shorter than 44 mag.

[Pauliedad]

We should rename 10mm
to .40 mag.
Oh wait, didn't 10mm come first?
Then we should rename .40 to 10mm short?

Isn't 454 Casull basically .45 colt magnum

Don't get me started on rifle.

[Cowboy T]

Isn't 454 Casull basically .45 colt magnum

Yes, it is. That said, I do call my rather warm Ruger-only .45LC load a ".45 Colt Magnum" load, and I do use quotes around it because while it describes the load, to my knowledge, SAAMI hasn't specified anything with that name.

Regarding .44 Special, that runs at about 14,000 PSI. The .44 Magnum--with the slightly longer case as others have mentioned--runs at around 34,000 PSI. The .44 Special is a mighty fine ol' round that is a lot of fun to shoot in a S&W M29. The Magnum version's "fun" factor is better realized in, say a Ruger Redhawk or Super Redhawk, or a lever-rifle such as Winchester 94, Rossi 92, or Ruger 96/44.

Now, I do happen to load what I call a ".44 Special +P" load that runs at probably around 18,000 PSI, like .38 Special does. I do so in .44 Special cases because I have a lot of .44 Special brass. I can do this safely because

1.) I use my rounds ONLY in my own firearms;
2.) I have no ".44 Special-only" firearms; they're all chambered for .44M and thus far more than strong enough for this load; and
3.) I clearly label my loads.

Hopefully this helps.

[stilly]

We should rename 10mm
to .40 mag.
Oh wait, didn't 10mm come first?
Then we should rename .40 to 10mm short?

Isn't 454 Casull basically .45 colt magnum

Don't get me started on rifle.

Let's ask the acting new deputy director of the ATF to reclassify it. let's see how well he plays with others...

we can call 10mm hmmm, 10mm and .40 can be called w10mm (short for Women's 10mm).

Wasn't that WHY they made it anyways? The female agents could not handle 10mm so they cut it down, put a skirt on it and called it .40 S&W and then CHP started issuing it too and started some nonsense about the knockdown of a .45 with the capacity of a 9mm (both literally untrue unless you compare apples to oranges every day).

:\


Hey Cowboy, where did you get all of your 44 spl brass?

I just got a rossi ranch hand in .44 and in .357 (lever action pistol fun!) and I was going to make some soft .44 spl rounds. I am wondering if I can use the same red dot in each though, but first I want to locate some .44 spl brass... Well, I mean MORE of it, I think I have around 100-200 cases (not enough) but if I can use 44 mag cases for 44 spl loads then I have about 2k+ cases.

[Fjold]

The 44 Mag was made by lengthening the 44 special brass by .100" just like the 38 special/357 Mag.

When the 40 S&W came out it was called the "40 Short and Wimpy" by the 10mm shooters.

[pacrat]

Originally Posted by Pauliedad
Isn't 454 Casull basically .45 colt magnum

That would fly as an accurate designation before the S&W X-Frame magnums came along.

Now the .460 S&W would be the Magnum 45. The Casull would be the Intermediate .45 mini magnum. And the previously known as 45 LC, would become the .45 Short Colt.

[JTROKS]

There was the 45ACP. Then came the 45 Winchester Mag. Then came 45 GAP, WTF?

[Pauliedad]

With all the .45 variants out there I can see why someone wanted "460" to be the designation I guess but it still doesn't sound near as bad azzed as 500.