The evolution of the .44 magnum continued

This column picks up where the last one ended concerning the development of the .44 Magnum cartridge. The last column ended with the introduction of the first .44 caliber, self contained cartridge for a handgun that was actually a rim fired cartridge developed for the Henry and Winchester rifles developed during the Civil War. After the war, Smith & Wesson (S&W) built a handgun for the cartridge. The U.S. Army ordered one thousand of the pistols but specified the cartridge had to be center fired. This cartridge became the .44 S&W.

Almost immediately, the Russian government ordered 20,000 of the handguns but required the cartridge case to be the same diameter as the S&W cartridge, but the bullet to be slighter smaller in diameter, fitting more easily inside the cartridge case. This became known as the .44 Russian.

In 1907 S&W began working on a new and improved .44 cartridge and handgun. To make the new cartridge, S&W took the Russian cartridge, lengthened it approximately one tenth of an inch, (to the length of the .38 special already in existence) increased the black powder charge from 23 to 26 grains and the .44 S&W Special was born.

The handgun developed for the cartridge was labeled the New Century .44 Special. Because of the way the cylinder locked into place, it became known as the "Triple Lock",

This gun was modified in 1915 to reduce cost of manufacturing by TWO DOLLARS, and most handgun enthusiast and collectors today say it was one of S&W's greatest mistakes.

The new handgun was much stronger than previously built models but the ammunition was not improved or made more powerful. The .45 Colt had been introduced to the public in 1873 and the westerners loved it. As a result, the .44 special was ignored by the ammunition manufactures for forty years! Even with this handicap, western law enforcement officers found the .44 special to their liking, especially since it was in a double action revolver. The .45 Colt was not.

Then came along a man named Elmer Keith. Keith experimented with the .44 special for many years, loading his own ammo to pressures much higher than any of the factory loadings. Keith proved the cartridge could be loaded to much higher pressures, thus creating a more powerful cartridge. But S&W executives found out through their own testing, the guns of the time were not as strong as they wanted them to be for the new cartridge.

In 1955 S&W released to the public the first .44 Magnum handguns. S&W had taken the .44 special, lengthened it another tenth of an inch, primarily to make sure the ammo could not be chambered into the older .44 special handguns. By this time, black powder had been long ago been replaced with smokeless powder. But what S&W released to the public was much more than Keith had dreamed of. Keith wanted a .44 cartridge to produce 1200 FPS with a 250-grain bullet. What he got was a cartridge pushing a 240-grain bullet at 1,500 FPS! Also, in a larger and heavier handgun than he had anticipated.

The .44 S&W magnum cartridge had arrived.

Philip is a retired Air Force officer where he was an intelligence analyst. He is also a retired law enforcement officer. He has an undergrad degree in criminal justice as well as a master's that is heavily weighted in criminal justice. He has had, in his words, "a love affair" with firearms all his adult life. He also teaches concealed carry classes.