Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 44 mag vs 45 LC (Ruger)

The first shot I ever took at a deer was without ear pro. My ears were ringing pretty bad for almost a week. I would rather avoid that again if possible!

I have a S&W M69 .44 (4.2" barrel) and Ruger Redhawk 45 Colt (4" barrel).
Both have nearly the same foot print (although the Ruger is thicker ie 6 rnds vs 5) and as to wt. the Smith is 38 oz. and the Ruger 45 oz. I don't have an M29 but Smith claims a wt. of 44 oz. I'd also add, the Smith has a much better trigger without mods.

I agree with both the comments above. I got flamed once for talking about hearing damage. A keyboard warrior informed me that he'd fired pretty much all calibers known to man without hearing protection and didn't have ANY hearing loss, so obviously I must be a wimp.

I have used my Ruger Bisley 45 Colt stainless steel with 5.5" barrel to good effect on 3 black bears. I highly recommend it. I was using the Cast Performance 335 grain and the Beartooth 345 grain. Hot loads, certainly hitter than necessary but they shot well and did the job.

I shoot a S&W M-69 4.25" quite often with 240 gr SWC over 10.2 gr Universal @ 1132 FPS and I don't have that kind of recoil issue. Sure, it's not like shooting .38 Spl wadcutters in a K-frame, but not anything like that bad.

I bought an HK 45 and a S&W 25-7 (shoutout to Les AKA tankerjockey!). I’m excited to try out 45 Super and some equivalent (“tier 2”) 45 Colt loads. This season will be factory 45 Super since I won’t have time for load development, but will eventually try to dial in 250 grain 45 super and 270-300 grain 45 colt right around 1050 fps.

If I find a deal on a Mode 69 I will get one of those as well, but no longer have any real need for a 44 mag. I appreciate all of the insight and wisdom.

As much as I hate to admit, my Glock 20 has taken the place of my Ruger Bisley 45 colt. I love the Ruger Bisley but bought it for general woods carry and meat hauling expeditions. I find more comfort in the 15 rounds of 200 or 220 gr hard cast at 11-1200 that I can shoot multiple shots with greater accuracy and speed. I do really like my 480 too......

I've not experienced hard to handle recoil from my M69 either. Interestingly, to me at least, is that I found that with max or near max powder charges, 180 and 200 grain bullet rounds were more unpleasant overall than 240 and 270 grain rounds. More blast and "sting" on the palms with the lighter bullets, while the heavier loads, while having plenty of recoil, seemed to have less muzzle blast and "sting".

Well there you go.

I've never heard or seen anyone shooting HEAVY weight bullets in an M69, so I learned something new, today!

Have seen some really poor stances and weak, limp wrist grips, however.

I’m not really a handgun guy but have had 357’s, 41’s, 44’s and a 45. I couldn’t really say which to choose considering either the 44 or the 45. Either will do for cartridge-appropriate game. The 45 RRH I had was tuned by Hamilton Bowen and shot particularly well. Practically, other than more factory 44’s available, it seems to me the differences amount to the differences in the number of angels dancing on a pin.

I’ve posted these pictures before but took both the cow elk and the heifer bison with the 45 Colt and BB 325’s at 1300, as heavy a load as I ever care to shoot. Even in the heavy Redhawk.





I’m back to the 44 again in a S&W 329. I like going after whitetails with a handgun but at this time of life less is more. I’ll use hard cast 240’s or 255’s in the 44 special in this gun.

Bought a 629 today 😐, I’m officially out of control. Good thing there is a hero to provide primo ammo at an affordable price here on the fire 🔥.

Well you could do a rechamber/rebarrel on a 69 for 45 colt and best of both worlds

Well loading for the 45 Colt got put on the backburner for quite a while, but I finally got around to it. I got some VERY disappointing velocities, and will need to go back to the drawing board. I'm not 100% certain I set my dies correctly, as I'm a NOVICE loader and these were my first handgun loads. I am certain my powder charges were accurate and consistent, and that my OAL was 1.58".

I loaded the 300 XTP using Hornady's starting data (Ruger/TC), which indicates 1050 FPS. The powders I have on hand are Accurate No9 (15.5 grains) and Lil Gun (15.0 grains). I used brand new Starline brass and Federal large pistol primers. The Lil Gun was slightly better, but still averaged around 825 FPS. The Accurate No9 I had a couple rounds that clocked under 700 FPS, and average was right around 725 FPS. I knew with a 5 inch barrel and shooting in 25 degree temps that I was not going to hit 1050, but am shocked how low these came in. I need to reach just over 950 FPS to meet CO's arbitrary requirement for hunting big game.

Your loading process sounds fine and not the source of the low velocities. Individually weighed charges, proper OAL, and components that match the load book don't leave much room for error.

Any concerns about your chronograph? Maybe load and shoot a few more of your 45 LC's and then shoot them over the chrono alongside some other rounds with known velocities to rule out the chrono as the problem. Perhaps you could shoot a few rounds of factory ammo and see how close you come to the published velocities.

Chasing strange velocities is a pain. Best wishes.

I was wondering if the Chrono was reading low (LabRadar - definitely on the right settings). The factory ammo I shot - cheap Ammo Inc garbage - was running about 600 FPS and the box said 850. But then I ran the new 357 Mag 180 grain load from Lost River and got some crazy high numbers. ~1625 FPS out of a 6” GP100 and ~1700 from a 7.5” Redhawk.

My biggest uncertainty with the loading was definitely the crimping. I’m using Hornady dies, and the instructions are a little vague and subjective as far as crimping goes.

Hodgdon data shows Lil’Gun start load at 18grs @ 1140fps for Ruger loads


https://hodgdonreloading.com/rldc/


I’m a fan of the collet Lee Factory Crimp die


https://www.ebay.com/p/1000311564

That’s interesting that the Hodgdon starting load is above the max Hornady load. It is a different bullet and COL (1.65 vs 1.58), and I don’t know how much either of those matter.

Regardless I will try it and see how it goes. I have some Lee dies for 44 Magnum, so will try those out and may have to get the LFC 45 Colt. I have seen that recommendation multiple times now.

The Hornady data I’ve used seems weak.



I like the collet style crimp dies vs the carbide because if you ever use over sized bullets the carbide can size them down. The collet die won’t do that.

I do not own a 45 LC, just a Ruger SuperBlackhawk in 44 Mag. I've also never shot an elk.

When I got the idea of hunting whitetail with it 20-some years ago, I started working with H110 and 240 grain hunting bullets. My first attempt with the load was well under the MAX. I went out to the range and shot them. The Safety Officer came running up thinking I'd blown up the gun, and then gave me hell for bringing such a cannon to the pistol range.

Granted he was a dick. There were all kind of stories about him. However, I realized then and there that I was not going to hunt whitetail with a 44 Mag pistol. That was an incredible amount of shock and awe coming out that muzzle.

You know they make exceptional ear plug sets that are light and wrap around the back of the neck, similar to sunglass type setups. It’s not difficult to put them in your ears prior to cocking and pulling the trigger on a black bear hunt. Many hunters use them in the field.

The difference in chambers is not a big deal for black bear at close range other than you will need to push a 45LC much harder to catch a 44 magnum that’s barely breaking a sweat.