Developed in 1954 and '55 and announced in January of 1956, Smith & Wesson's .44 Mag. has been a consistent favorite of the shooting public for over half a century. It came some 20 years after the company's first Magnum revolver—the .357. This earlier gun and cartridge were enormous trend-setters and got American handgunners thinking about really powerful revolvers because the added power offered two major advantages. The first was increased practical range, while the second advantage was plain smashing power that could harvest the largest game animals at closer ranges. The .357 did all of these things, but it was the .44 Mag. that took hold of the American consciousness and never let go. It was a bread and butter gun for the Massachusetts firm, with a little help from Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry.
October 21, 2011
