{"id":80260,"date":"2022-04-21T08:24:04","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T13:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=80260"},"modified":"2022-04-21T08:24:04","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T13:24:04","slug":"80260","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=80260","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

.44 Magnum Concealed Carry<\/a>
\nOnce known as \u201cThe most powerful handgun in the world,\u201d with a little work, a .44 Magnum revolver can be a very effective concealed carry pistol.<\/em><\/p>\n

\".44<\/p>\n

One rule of thumb in the shooting world is that bigger guns are easier to shoot but harder to conceal, whereas small guns are easy to conceal but more difficult to shoot. I\u2019ve spent most of my shooting career in the big gun arena due to a penchant for handgun hunting, but as more and more states have acknowledged the validity of the second amendment and the need for personal self-defense, my attention has been captured by the importance of concealed carry. I\u2019ve always been comforted by the presence of large calibers when afield, especially the .44 Magnum, but when one leaves America\u2019s vast hunting areas and ventures back into civilization, how does one maintain some level of comfort with the idea of a .44 Magnum for concealed carry?<\/p>\n

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The first step is to reduce the size of the handgun such that it can remain concealed while wearing street clothes. Because it\u2019s a .44 Magnum, there isn\u2019t much you can do with the size of the frame. The power of the .44 requires a certain amount of surrounding metal for the gun to remain in one piece when firing magnum ammunition. You also need a minimum amount of weight to keep the felt recoil within your tolerance limits so you\u2019re not afraid of pulling the trigger. The second step is to find a holster that allows you to carry the gun in relative comfort with reasonably rapid access without protruding through your outer garment. As it turns out, all these requirements for .44 Magnum concealed carry can be met with a couple of factory-produced handguns from\u00a0S&W<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ruger<\/a>\u00a0and a pair of custom holsters from\u00a0Rafter-L Combat Leather<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My Model 629 has the standard S&W features like stainless steel frame, barrel, and cylinder. While the barrel on this \u201cN\u201d frame .44 Magnum is only 3 inches long, it\u2019s still a heavy handgun weighing around 40 ounces, and you\u2019ll appreciate every ounce when you ignite a serious magnum load. The sights are Smith\u2019s fixed red ramp front blade with a white outline adjustable rear sight. The grip frame is rounded and fitted with finger groove grip panels that have been dimpled for better control. Hammer spur is wide and checkered for single action shooting while the trigger is wide with a smooth surface for double action shooting, (what we called a \u201ccombat trigger\u201d years ago.) These features combined allow me to shoot this gun one handed either single or double action, something I can\u2019t do with square grip frame Smith\u2019s wearing the old-style oversize wood grips.<\/p>\n

Likewise, the Ruger is typical Super Blackhawk with everything being stainless steel except for the plain black front blade and adjustable rear sight. A wide hammer spur with lateral serrations insures no slippage when thumbing back the hammer for a rapid follow up shot. The barrel is 3.75 inches long with a full-length ejector rod housing. That\u2019s about as short a barrel as you can get and still have the ejector rod push your fired cases reasonably clear of the cylinder\u2019s breach face. The Ruger is slower to shoot and reload than the Smith, but for me the single action grip and 44 ounces tames recoil better. The Super Blackhawk and holster occupy more real estate on your hip than the 629, but with Eric Little\u2019s purpose designed OWB holsters, both guns show the same amount of leather below the belt line, thus making them equally easy to conceal under an outer garment.<\/p>\n

\"44<\/p>\n

Holsters are made of smooth leather and form fitted to each gun. The smooth outer surface of the holster prevents it from catching the cover garment when you sweep it aside for the draw while the form fit insures the gun will remain stationary and not flop around when moving. The Rafter-L belt is sturdy enough to keep the gun close to the body but narrow enough to fit through the smaller belt loops normally found on \u201ccivilized\u201d trousers as opposed to the wider \u201cmanly\u201d loops normally found on jeans. If you hope to have any comfort carrying a .44 Magnum, a sturdy belt\/holster rig is essential. I\u2019ve worn this combination for 3-day shoots at\u00a0Gunsite Academy<\/a>\u00a0and on all-day hog hunts in Texas.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not suggesting that a .44 Magnum is the optimum CCW choice for everyone. Obviously if you share your habitat with big bears, the big bore pistol has a certain appeal. But, when leaving one of Gunsite\u2019s ranges at the end of a day\u2019s shoot or venturing through town after a Texas hunt, I rarely feel like performing a firearm wardrobe change. While you might be considered overgunned for the urban life, you\u2019re never undergunned when wearing \u201cthe most powerful handgun in the world!\u201d There are a couple of other advantages when you enter a vehicle or the world of vehicles. Those 3- and 3.75-inch barrels ride quite comfortably when seated, especially when trapped in a seat belt. Likewise, should you be threatened by some moron who thinks he can use a vehicle for cover, your .44 Magnum has the power to dramatically change his thinking about \u201ccover\u201d vs. \u201cconcealment!\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let my comments about ferocious recoil curb your potential enthusiasm. There is a great selection of .44 Special ammo being produced by the industry that will fill almost all your needs from popping pine cones to busting big bears. Well, maybe medium bears! Determining your level of recoil tolerance is a personal judgement that can only be made by you and can affect your decision to follow the path of .44 Magnum concealed carry..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

.44 Magnum Concealed Carry Once known as \u201cThe most powerful handgun in the world,\u201d with a little work, a .44 Magnum revolver can be a very effective concealed carry pistol. One rule of thumb in the shooting world is that bigger guns are easier to shoot but harder to conceal, whereas small guns are easy … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gun-schtuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80261,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80260\/revisions\/80261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}