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School me on .44 magnum

I standardized on 44 after years of 357. Its a bit of a transition and requires practice. With the right gun, moose/bear loads are manageable. I rely on a Ruger Super Blackhawk Alaskan 2.5 inch and the Hogue grips are really nice and help.with controlled follow up shots. My routine at the range with that gun, is to be about five yards away from a paper plate sized target. I draw the weapon and attempt to hit the target using double action as fast as I can unload. First time I did it I was "WTF?" as I missed with all 6 rounds. Made me realize how much I had to practice. I carry it when I am at my NH property because we have an a bear superhighway in our woods. 😁
 
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enbloc said:
This one trampled these sled dogs before being killed an hour later. That is the sled they are still tethered to, just right of the dogs and tipped over.
skynews-bridgett-watkins-moose_5667699.jpg
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Where were all the moose whisperers here that would have stopped that attack?

Guess it was the dog sleds fault.

But at least they were nice and didn't shoot the moose til after the dogs were trampled.
 
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Broc said:
I never reloaded 44, but after reloading 45acp, 460, 458win mag, 45/70 ...

All these large calibers can be loaded from "f*ck your wrists" to "this feels like a .22".

Someone here will say "Broc, loading down a 44 used to defend yourself is a stupid idea" ... and I would agree with that. But, you don't need to load it so soft that it is ineffective, you can load it down just a bit to make shooting it more pleasant and more accurate while still having a hard hitting round.

Usually when I meet people that say "that round s*cks to shoot", they were shooting some hot AF rounds.
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I was shooting factory target ammo, I think Remington. The Ruger .44 was fun to try and if I was reloading, I would agree with you. I would definitely tone it down a bit so I could enjoy shooting it multiple times without punishing my hand and having to leave the range sooner than expected!
 
LTCRN said:
I was shooting factory target ammo, I think Remington. The Ruger .44 was fun to try and if I was reloading, I would agree with you. I would definitely tone it down a bit so I could enjoy shooting it multiple times without punishing my hand and having to leave the range sooner than expected!
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44 special is what you want if this is the case
 
Hailstorm said:
I'd go with a Glock20 using some hard cast bullets. Controllable and follow up shots will be faster. I have one and a 4 inch 629. I like to shoot the 44 mag. But, as mentioned. Follow up shots are not like the 10mm.

If you'd like to shoot each. PM me and we can get together. I am in Epping. Both are ready to go. Just add ammo.
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I appreciate that friendly gesture!
 
PatMcD said:
So after seeing moose tracks, you went looking for the moose. When you found it, it scared you, so now you want a 44 to protect yourself next time you see a moose??
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I suppose it’s silly to a certain degree but we were figuring to catch a glimpse from a little farther out than 20 yards. We may have spooked him off the trail we were so close. We were following the trail back to the truck and didn’t go out of our way to track him. Seeing a big moose that close was probably a once in a lifetime occurrence and I felt a bit vulnerable after the experience.
 
I have shot 44 mag for about 25 years and have found reloading very helpful to adjust the load to the events. I went hog hunting with my 629 8" (buddy backing me up with shotgun slugs if things got interesting) and it is a fun range round downloaded. I find the 460 and 500 a bit to much to handle for me but I suppose you could download those as well.
 
Mark from MA said:
Where were all the moose whisperers here that would have stopped that attack?

Guess it was the dog sleds fault.

But at least they were nice and didn't shoot the moose til after the dogs were trampled.
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Generally, yes the dogs will initiate the problem.

Dogs are going to make lots of noise and piss off the moose. Pissed off moose may attack if you're anywhere in whatever their bubble is.

It doesn't help that the sled driver was shooting at it with a .380.
 
AFAR/PFAR said:
Generally, yes the dogs will initiate the problem.

Dogs are going to make lots of noise and piss off the moose. Pissed off moose may attack if you're anywhere in whatever their bubble is.

It doesn't help that the sled driver was shooting at it with a .380.
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.380? What is the point of that...
 
When that moose attacked the sled dogs, I read quite a bit about the story. And the details about why the woman on the dogsled had a .380 are useful to anyone who tries to be prepared.

The incident with the moose happened pretty close to a populated area, and there was an attempted assault or sexual assault in the area shortly before the moose incident. So the dogsled driver was carrying a small pistol as a response to the most recent threat. Apparently, moose were not a big concern so close to human population.

However, in hindsight, people who knew the area were aware that moose were a potential threat in the area. And people in Alaska are aware that moose can be very ornery, and that moose attacks are more common than bear attacks. That may be because there are a lot more moose than bears in Alaska, but it is still the case that moose are a known threat.

So she was carrying a .380 as a response to the most recent threat, instead of thinking about the overall picture of her operating environment.
 
straightshooterjake said:
When that moose attacked the sled dogs, I read quite a bit about the story. And the details about why the woman on the dogsled had a .380 are useful to anyone who tries to be prepared.

The incident with the moose happened pretty close to a populated area, and there was an attempted assault or sexual assault in the area shortly before the moose incident. So the dogsled driver was carrying a small pistol as a response to the most recent threat. Apparently, moose were not a big concern so close to human population.

However, in hindsight, people who knew the area were aware that moose were a potential threat in the area. And people in Alaska are aware that moose can be very ornery, and that moose attacks are more common than bear attacks. That may be because there are a lot more moose than bears in Alaska, but it is still the case that moose are a known threat.

So she was carrying a .380 as a response to the most recent threat, instead of thinking about the overall picture of her operating environment.
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It wouldn't have been her first rodeo with moose either as she lived in AK.

It sounds like a shit situation she was stuck in. Dogs teams aren't going to turn around easily and you're not shutting that many dogs up. They'll rile up a moose with their barking.

Definitely didn't see big picture with the self defense choice.

Moose have killed people in downtown Anchorage.
 
slugworth said:
It’s the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off…..
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Love that gun.

Model 29.JPG

LTCRN said:
First time firing one was October 2021. I expected a good amount of recoil so like you said, it wasn't insane. I will say that after firing the fifth round, the pain in my hand increased to a point of needing a few seconds rest before firing the sixth round. I would also suspect if you needed to fire to save your life from a bear or a moose, you wouldn't feel a thing, until after you changed your drawers!
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LTCRN said:
I was shooting factory target ammo, I think Remington. The Ruger .44 was fun to try and if I was reloading, I would agree with you. I would definitely tone it down a bit so I could enjoy shooting it multiple times without punishing my hand and having to leave the range sooner than expected!
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I knew it was a Ruger. I have put 100 rounds down range with the 29 and it does not hurt. You know you were shooting it for the rest of the day, but it is not at all painful.
 
tuna said:
Don’t overlook the .45LC with heavy modern bullets, either. Convertible Blackhawk, easy to use .45acp for practice. 300gr hard cast for the woods.
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Was going to say this as well. A 45LC can be loaded as a bear/moose gun or shoot lighter loads for target. You can also get the cut for moons (if not cut from the factory) to shoot 45acp on moons.

454 Casul is another round to consider.

Ruger redhawk or super redhawk come to mind.
 
AFAR/PFAR said:
Then how did you watch the video and not find fault with the rider?
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Because I was not in his shoes. I learned a long time ago that everyone makes their decision in their slice of time.
I've seen and made many mistakes in my own right and cannot condemn a person for the decision they made in this situation.
Am I happy the moose got killed? No. Do I wish we had a statement from the shooter that said he "panicked and shot in fear for his life and that of his companion"
That may fill in the gaps. I don't think it was a "Joy Shooting."
I also said that he had time to drill a few rounds into the ground and that noise may have driven the moose into the woods. The moose retreated a bit from the yelling and a shot or two might have made the difference. That's what I would have done and taken the time to spin the sleds around and go back up the trail I came from.

Bottom line; I'm not rooting for the shooter or the moose. I wasn't there, I wasn't him, and I hope the meat didn't go to waste...
~Enbloc
 
AFAR/PFAR said:
Generally, yes the dogs will initiate the problem.

Dogs are going to make lots of noise and piss off the moose. Pissed off moose may attack if you're anywhere in whatever their bubble is.

It doesn't help that the sled driver was shooting at it with a .380.
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Yup, guess it was all her fault for being there. And if she offed it with one shot from a .44 NES would have called her a douchebag for protecting herself and her dogs.

I get the guy in the first video was wrong for reving the sled and advancing on the moose......totally not the right thing to do. At the end of the day....he was charged aggressively by a moose and reacted to protect his life. You can monday morning quarterback whether he provoked it all day long and deserves criminal charges etc......that is obvious. But what is also obvious is he did the right thing to stop the charge.

ANY agressiveness shown by a Moose is a good reason to drop it. They are unpredictable and someone just thinking that backing off and waiting and ignoring a charge or agressive behavior could soon get them stomped into bloody mess.
 

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