.44 caliber

.44 caliber is a family of large-caliber firearm cartridges and firearms, particularly revolvers.[1] The most well-known is the .44 Magnum which uses a 0.429 to 0.430 inch diameter bullet, depending on jacket or cast. Though less common than the smaller .38 caliber family of cartridges, the caliber is popular with many shooters and the .44 Magnum in particular facilitated the rise of handgun hunting. Its role as the most powerful handgun cartridge has been superseded by various recently developed .45 caliber and .50 caliber handgun chamberings.[2]

The caliber was also common in American Civil War-era cap & ball revolvers such as the Colt Army Model 1860 and the Remington Model 1858, offering more stopping power than the .36 caliber revolvers of the time. Notably, the derringer that John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate Abraham Lincoln was .44 caliber.[3]

Cartridges

The following dimensions are given in millimeters (inches).[4]

Handguns

See also: List of handgun cartridges
Handgun cartridge dimensions
Name Case type Bullet diameter Neck diameter Base diameter Rim diameter Case length Overall length
mm in mm in mm in mm in mm in mm in
.44 S&W Special rimmed straight 10.89 .429 11.61 .457 11.61 .457 13.06 .514 29.46 1.16 41.15 1.62
.44 Remington Magnum rimmed straight 10.89 .429 11.61 .457 11.61 .457 13.06 .514 32.78 1.29 40.89 1.61
.44 S&W Russian rimmed straight 10.89 .429 11.61 .457 11.61 .457 13.08 .515 24.64 .97 36.32 1.43
.44 S&W American rimmed straight 11.02 .434 11.13 .438 11.18 .440 12.85 .506 23.11 .91 36.58 1.44
.44 Webley (.442 R.I.C.) rimmed straight 11.07 .436 11.94 .470 11.99 .472 12.78 .503 17.53 .69 27.94 1.10
.44 Bulldog rimmed straight 11.18 .440 11.94 .470 12.01 .473 12.78 .503 14.48 .57 24.13 .95
.44 Colt rimmed straight 11.25 .443 11.43 .450 11.58 .456 12.27 .483 27.94 1.10 38.1 1.50
.44 AMP rimless straight 10.9 .429 11.6 .457 11.9 .470 11.9 .470 33 1.298 41 1.6
.44 Remington Centerfire rimmed straight 11.4 .447 11.4 .447 11.4 .448 12.2 .480 27.1 1.065
.429 DE Rebated, bottleneck 10.89 .429 11.71 .461 13.8 .543 13.1 .515 32.56 1.282 39.12 1.54

Rifles

See also: List of rifle cartridges
Rifle cartridge dimensions
Name Case type Bullet diameter Neck diameter Base diameter Rim diameter Case length Overall length
mm in mm in mm in mm in mm in mm in
.44-40 Winchester rimmed bottleneck 10.85 .427 11.25 .443 11.96 .471 13.33 .525 33.27 1.31 39.37 1.55
.444 Marlin rimmed straight 10.9 .429 11.51 .453 11.91 .469 13.06 .514 54.91 2.162 65.28 2.57
.44 Henry rimmed straight 11.33 .446 11.00 .434 11.20 .441 13.20 .518 22.9 .903 34.2 1.345

See also

References

  1. ^ Shell, Bob (27 June 2017). "44 Caliber ammo, meet the family of handgun ammunition rounds of". Ammoland. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  2. ^ Massaro, Phillip. "Behind the Bullet: .44 Remington Magnum". American Hunter. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Booth's Deringer". fords.org. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  4. ^ Barnes, Frank C. Cartridges of the World (Northfield: DBI Books, 1972)