.44 S&W Special (.44 Smith & Wesson Special) Handgun Cartridges

Learn more about .44 S&W Special (.44 Smith and Wesson Special) Handgun Cartridges

Looking to find out more about firearms before you apply for your SAPS firearm licence? Learn all there is to know about .44 S&W Special (.44 Smith and Wesson Special) Handgun Cartridges right here.

This is one of the first generation pistol cartridges designed to use smokeless powder. Its performance is modest compared to the .44 Remington Magnum but is very potent compared to the .38 special. The .44 S&W Special round can be fired in modern revolvers chambered for the .44 Remington Magnum.

.44 S&W Special (.44 Smith & Wesson Special) Handgun Cartridges

Cartridge Specifications
Case Type:	Rimmed, straight
Introduced:	1907	Made For:	Revolver
Cart Len:	1.615-in	Case Len:	1.160-in
Case Dia:	0.457-in	Bul Dia:	0.433-in

Ballistics measured with:
4-inch revolver barrel

Cartridge Variants:
	Weight	Velocity	Energy
From:	165 gr	900 ft/sec	297 ft-lbs
To:	200 gr	950 ft/sec	521 ft-lbs

Cartridge Used in Database
Weight	Velocity	Energy
200 gr	920 ft/sec	376 ft-lbs

Rankings for Cartridge Used in Database
PF:	184000	TKO:	11.369

**See below for further reference regarding the power rankings listed in the tables above:

MV-Muzzle Velocity
Muzzle velocity when fired from a typical handgun. Measured in feet-per-second.

ME-Muzzle Energy
Muzzle energy when fired from a typical handgun. Measured in foot-pounds.

PF-Power Factor
In shooting competition the Power Factor is used to determine the competitive division in which a particular handgun/cartridge can be used. A simple calculation of the bullet's mass times its muzzle velocity.
PF = bull. mass x muzzle vel.

TKO-Taylor Knock Out Formula
Developed by big-game hunter John Howard Taylor in the 1940's. Calculates the relative effectiveness of bullets for hunting game.
TKO = (bull. mass x muzzle vel. x bull. dia.)/7000

Link back to the main table listing of handgun and rifle cartridges HERE.