Relative power and recoil

[Yoosta B. Blue]

I've been thinking that my next gun will be a 44 Magnum. (Today I shot a friend's S&W 629, shooting both 44 Special and 44 Magnums in it.) It was a great experience for me and I'm glad that I was able to do so... A very sweet gun.

A year or so ago, I had the opportunity to shoot a friend's 41 Magnum. (I can't recall the manufacturer of the piece.) I really liked it, and that was the first and only 41 Magnum that I've ever shot.

In your experience, how do these calibers stack up against each other? I'm convinced that the 44 Magnum is the most powerful, but how would you rate the shooting experience of the 44 Special compared to the 41 Magnum? Thanks!

Yoosta B. Blue

 

[kodiakbeer]

Perceived recoil is more about the firearm design when you're talking about cartridges with similar ballistics and bullet weights. Heavier revolvers with long barrels bite less than light revolvers with short barrels.

Most people will agree that a Ruger Bisley has the least amount of perceived recoil with magnum calibers, because of the grip shape. But, you can buy soft rubber after-market grips that will tame recoil on any magnum handgun of any design.

I'd just shop around and buy the one that feels best in your hand. If the recoil bugs you when you to shoot it, buy a set of rubber grips.

The .44 special is a very tame round with not much recoil at all, when fired from a big .44 magnum.

As for .41 vs .44 - they're both in the same class and either will be fine for deer or black bears or whatever. The .44 has the added advantage of being able to shoot .44 specials.
If you're a reloader, that doesn't matter much because you can just download your .41's for plinking.

 

[GeauxTide]

+1 Kodiak

I currently own a 657, 41 Bisley, and a 44 SBH. I have owned other Rugers and Smiths in both. The four Smith 41s I've owned have been the best shooting and most accurate of any other revolver. The 6" 44 was over my recoil tolerance; however, the 8" was a joy. They are both easy to load for, but cast bullets are a little harder to come by in the 41. Since I'm now shooting two 45LC Rugers much more than the SBH, I vote for the 41.

 

[Muhlakai]

http://www.genitron.com will let you compare the relative recoil, concealability, force of the bullet and more between up to three different handguns. They also have a great ammo page that lets you see some ridiculously thorough details about just about every handgun cartridge you've ever wanted to know about.