For awhile, I had one of the Charter Arms bulldog revolvers. this was back when the carry laws in SC were very strict, but due to my job, I had a carry permit (interestingly, mine had the statements "no establishments serving hard liquor", No Churches or Gov't bldgs.", and "No carry between 2-5am, EST"). Anyway, I shot a guy's dog as he was trying to 'sic' it on me, some Pit-bull-lookin' mutt. A 44 Special Keith-type bullet REALLY stops the average 60lb snarling dog fast!

I carried one of those for a long time as well. GREAT carry guns, those.

Shot a smattering of small game with mine as well, with keith style bullets as well. It was my only handgun so was a trail/hunting/backpacking gun and did a good job in those roles as well.

I'm fairly new to the. 44 special so I haven't used it on many critters. I did ventilate a couple raccoons with 240 gr HP's and find that it works well on slithery critters when loaded with birdshot capsules.

I guess if the Pit decides to take you on during those hours you just gotta let him munch on your junk maybe while you whistle Dixie and have mama try to raise the poleece on the phone. Ouchy.

They had all these odd things they would put on there at the time. i remember one guy that had one and on the application had said the he only carried cah after closing, so his read "between 7Pm-10Pm, no Sundays, Greenwood/Abbeville counties only"

BTW, that guy was really smiling right up until I shot that dog. Turns out he was known for that. he got shot about a 6 months later, don't know how or why

safariman, tha gun was the type used by the Son of Sam serial killer, but the other guys at the shop started calling me "Son of Biatch."

I'm a huge fan of the 44 special and have shot deer with it in a couple of different loads, plus a smattering of small critters, possums, skunk, and one coyote. The deer both ran about 40 yards and crumpled. The little varmints just turned inside out. The coyote was a bad shot, hit in the hind end running away at 700 MPH or so. He ran faster after I hit him.

I carry a S&W mountain lite in 44 spl with Speer Gold Dot HP all the time when I'm out walking in the woods, and hunt with a Colt SAA in 44 spl when chasing deer, same load.

CF

Although I have much nicer handguns, I carry a Rossi 720 more than most of the other combined. 2 loads of snakeshot for what crawls and 3 round of Federal 200 grain SWCHPs for what walks on 2 or 4 legs.

Jeff

My most carried gun...and I have safe chocked full of handguns...
I like those new 180 gr. Hornady XTPs and those older PMC 240gr HPs
,but they are bit snappy

I carry a Model 21 Smith with 240 SWC over a heavy charge of Unique and have shot deer with it with good results. Seems to work

A number snakes have been laid lower by my .44spl using shot loads. Dern thing is like a mini .410

O

Me too.

I pack a 4" M24 Smith most of the time I'm at the family ranch. There's been crows, racoons, rats, snapping turtle, and at least one skunk. Surprisingly, no snakes, but I leave them alone unless they're near a dwelling.

Never a deer as I don't carry it while deer hunting and think that's pushing it a bit. I don't load it over 7.5 of unique with the 250 Keith style bullet. Though I once found in a 6.5" version that 16-16.5 of 2400 behind the Lyman-Keith style bullet in incredibly accurate. It seems to generate the optimal pressure for that bullet when cast from heat-treated wheelweights.

I'm just a .44 addict. Dont pretend to be rational on the subject. If 'inherent accuracy' exists, it lives at .429.

O