Question! Is .44 Magnum and .44 Remington Magnum the same cartridge?

LawrenceN

LawrenceN

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Pardon my ignorance, but I wondered if the common term ".44 magnum" refers to the .44 Remington Magnum or if it's another cartridge. My reloading book only shows loading for the .44 Remington Magnum, so I assume that's the only standard cartridge out there. I'm not a pistol guy anymore, so I was just curious. Kind of like when people say "45 long Colt". I'm told it's a misnomer, since the two Colt cartridges were .45 ACP and .45 Colt. So, if one of you kind folks would take a sec and clarify that, I'd appreciate it.
 
It is the 44 Rem Mag.

Many guns skip the other gun maker's name, so just stamp 44 Magnum

proper name is 45 Colt. I often use "45 Long Colt" just to make it absolutely clear it is not the 45ACP I am referring to.
 
Ganderite said:
It is the 44 Rem Mag.

Many guns skip the other gun maker's name, so just stamp 44 Magnum

proper name is 45 Colt. I often use "45 Long Colt" just to make it absolutely clear it is not the 45ACP I am referring to.
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They are not the same. .44 Magnum is a descendant of the .44 S&W Russian by way of the .44 Special, with an actual case diameter of .480 and appeared around 1956. .45 Colt (or Long Colt) is .457 and was first introduced as a black powder cartridge in 1872. The bullets are .429 and .454 respectively.
 
Ganderite was just giving another example of another caliber where the original gun maker's name may or may not be sometimes mentioned. He's got more reloading experience than most of us combined, so I'm pretty sure he knows the difference between 44mag and 45 Colt :)

nugunner said:
They are not the same. .44 Magnum is a descendant of the .44 S&W Russian by way of the .44 Special, with an actual case diameter of .480 and appeared around 1956. .45 Colt (or Long Colt) is .457 and was first introduced as a black powder cartridge in 1872. The bullets are .429 and .454 respectively.
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he just stated that poorly- what he meant to say was that 45 colt and 45 long colt are the same cartridge, so is to distinguish them from the 45 acp- had you known ganderite, he wouldn't make that mistake- what he was stating that no matter what u call it, 44 Remington magnum and 44 magnum are the same cartridge, so as to distinguish it from the 44 special- which is about 3/ 10s of an inch shorter - cut him a little slack
 
t-star said:
he just stated that poorly- what he meant to say was that 45 colt and 45 long colt are the same cartridge, so is to distinguish them from the 45 acp- had you known ganderite, he wouldn't make that mistake- what he was stating that no matter what u call it, 44 Remington magnum and 44 magnum are the same cartridge, so as to distinguish it from the 44 special- which is about 3/ 10s of an inch shorter - cut him a little slack
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I don't know him. "Slack" doesn't seem to be what CGN does! ;-) Anyway, after checking all that out on Wikipedia, I didn't want to waste the effort.
 
That's, actually a good question. I knew someone who bought a 308 Marlin Lever action. He thought it was regular 308WIN. After crying that the gun was a POS because he couldn't load it during his moose hunting trip (yes that's right he never fired it before the trip) He found out later on , after I pointed out what was stamped on the barrel..308 Marlin....Should have seen the look....... priceless!
 
amber2010 said:
That's, actually a good question. I knew someone who bought a 308 Marlin Lever action. He thought it was regular 308WIN. After crying that the gun was a POS because he couldn't load it during his moose hunting trip (yes that's right he never fired it before the trip) He found out later on , after I pointed out what was stamped on the barrel..308 Marlin....Should have seen the look....... priceless!
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Guys, thank you for clarifying my sloppy grammar. My reference to 45 Colt was attempt to give another example of how names get changed in common usage,


I know of one fellow who shot 308Win in his 30-06 Remingtom pump for years. he did not know they were not the same thing. The problem came to light when he asked a gunsmith to install a scope on the rifle and to sight it in. the gunsmith wondered why the cases were coming out with no neck....

We had a guy in our hunt camp who was notoriously known as a bad shot. One day we discovered his rifle was a 32Spl, not the 30-30 he was shooting in it.
 
Good question. I would be concerned about lead getting into the gas system. Is the gas system easy to clean?

If not, you might have to use plated bullets. That would be a shame, given the cost differential.
 
I hadn't even heard of a 308 marlin until this thread- yet another attempt to duplicate the 308 Winchester, and that's probably where the confusion arose- the bozo at the counter told him it was ALMOST the same as 308 Winchester, but customer heard it WAS a 308 Winchester- even I would have been confused by that statement- the 307 Winchester was SUPPOSED to be the same as 308 Winchester, but uses a DIFFERENT cartridge case- now this is SUPPOSED to be an 'IMPROVED' 307 according to the books- bottom line - if you want a 308 Winchester, MAKE SURE that's what's stamped on the barrel-and stay away from marlin and Winchester 30/30 actions- try as they might, they are NOT 308 winchesters
 
Kamlooky.....don't use cast bullets in your Ruger 44 Carbine...ask me how I know...they love 240 grain Jacketed. AND DONT PICK ON GANDERITE, UNLESS YOU HAVE BOTH FEET PLANTED FIRMLY......HE IS VERY WELL RESPECTED.
 
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