The .44 Smith & Wesson Special, also commonly known as .44 S&W Special, .44 Special, .44 Spl, .44 Spc, or 10.9×29mmR, is a smokeless powder center fire metallic revolver cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1907 as the standard chambering for their New Century revolver, introduced in 1908.

Development

On the late 19th century American frontier, large .44- and .45-caliber cartridges were considered the epitome of handgun ammunition for self-protection, home defense, and hunting. Black-powder rounds such as the .44 American, .44 Russian, .44 Colt, .44-40 Winchester, .45 Schofield, and .45 Colt enjoyed a well-earned reputation for effective terminal ballistics, accuracy, and reliability.

At the start of the 20th century, Smith & Wesson decided to celebrate by introducing a brand-new revolver design which they called the New Century.

Smith & Wesson wished to pair their new revolver design with a worthy new ammunition chambering. The resulting design, which S&W called the .44 Special, had a case length of .

200px|thumb|right|Black Powder Factory Cartridges c. 1907—20

The .44 Associates

200px|thumb|right|Keith Semi-Wadcutter Hollow Point developed by Elmer Keith and Harold Croft (c. 1929–1931)

Almost from its introduction, firearms enthusiasts and cartridge handloaders saw that the potential of the .44 Special chambering was far from being realized and by the end of the 1920s were loading it to much higher velocities than factory standards.

Elmer Keith and his Magnums

Elmer Keith, one of the most famous and popular firearms related authors at the time, developed a number of classical heavy handloads for the .44 Special; many are still highly regarded, today. He also championed the concept of higher powered big-bore revolvers with Smith & Wesson and Remington Arms, eventually leading to the development of the .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, and .44 Magnum.

Usage and loadings

thumb|left|350px|[[.40 S&W, .38-40, .44 Special, and .45 ACP]]

The hype and excitement surrounding the introduction of the .44 Magnum in the mid-1950s eclipsed the .44 Special, causing it to fall in popularity with firearms manufacturers. They offered fewer models chambered for .44 Special for several years.

A variety of factory ammunition loadings are available in .44 Special, including bullet weights of at various velocities. Special high performance terminal ballistic loads are also offered, such as the Hornady JHP, Winchester Silvertip JHP, Speer Gold Dot JHP, Federal LHP, Cor-Bon JHP, and various other jacketed hollow point and soft point designs.

See also

  • 10 mm caliber
  • List of rimmed cartridges
  • List of handgun cartridges
  • List of rifle cartridges
  • Table of handgun and rifle cartridges

References

  • Ballistics By The Inch .44 Special results