The other plain fact is that most people can't tell the difference in performance between a .44 Magnum and the bigger calibers, because they can't handle the recoil of these big handguns to the point of expertise, and so have no real basis for comparison. There is no shame in this; I have had to hang up my heavy loads in the past several years, because my arthritis in the base of my right thumb simply won't let me shoot them any more. But when I could shoot them well, there was no doubt in my mind that the bigger hammers pounded nails way better.
When it came to rifles of 338 Win. mag class, and 44 magnums with standard 300 grain full throttle loads I used to be quite recoil tolerant. Then I learned about LBT bullets from Ross Seyfried and got into the big & heavy thing. Long seated WLN's out of my Redhawk 44 mag, various big ones from Ruger 45 Colt Bisleys, you know the drill. It was a lot of fun loading them up there. For a while.
One afternoon at the range my nervous system said enough. Sort of like when the 2001 Space Odyssey computer named Hal told the astronaut "I can't let you do that Dave." I was done. I had to relearn how to shoot, starting back from a 22.
I've built back up a good way, but now there's that constant nag in the back of my mind that I must stifle every time I squeeze a trigger, no matter the cartridge.
