I loaded and hunted with the 44 mag for about 25 years, Killed a half dozen deer & a pickup load of junk critters with it; even carried an old 4" Model 29-2 as a duty gun for a few years. It's a great cartridge.
But throughout that time I would acquire or work on the occasional 45 Colt. The cartridge impressed me with its mild manners and heavy bullet potential, even at mundane velocities. Killed my first deer with it in '98 using a Sierra 240 JHC cruising around 1300 fps and DAMN... now I had me a deer stomper! Others have fallen to the Colt cartridge using SWCs at 850-950 fps and those ballistics will produce all the deer you'll ever want to butcher.
I downsized my reloading a few years ago and the 45 Colt remains. It'll fill my needs for a heavy revolver cartridge for as long as I'll need one.
Direct Impingement is the Fart Joke of military rifle operating systems. ⓒ
