Defensive Handgun Rounds

Question
Hello Rick,

A lot of people mention 9mm, .40, .357, and .38 special as excellent defensive rounds. However, one round that isn't mentioned too often is the .44 Special. How good is this round for home defense if you are using JHP bullets? Is this round too powerful to use?

People have also told me not to use .44 Special in revolvers designed for .44 Magnum and that one should always use the cartridge intended for the firearm. I also hear people say the exact opposite that .44 Special can be used in a .44 Magnum cylinder.

Will you please provide me with some clarification on this?

Thanks!

Answer
Round choice is a personal choice.  I, and most knowledgeable gun guys, believe "bigger is better".  Which basically means, the bigger the bullet the more transfer of energy, the bigger the hole, the bigger the blood loss and the more tissue and bone damage, all of this equates to stopping power.  I am not that familiar with the the 44 but it is bigger than the .40, .357, so I think it is better for stopping power. As far as rifle verses pistol, length of barrel give more or less velocity.  Fire a .38 from a rifle you will get a faster bullet than if it is fired from a 2 inch pistol.  Then again length of barrel also increases accuracy, especially at distances.  I like the .45 and think it is all around best, but if I could have a .50 cal in a pistol, I would take it.  A magnum round is normally faster so obviously speed and bigger bullet is better.  A .223 (M16) is small but very fast can be 3000 FPS, so what it lacks in size it tries to make up in speed.  Some believe speed is better than size.  If you can have both, like in the .50 cal, then that is best, but I think bigger and slow is better than small and faster.  Of course no matter how fast or big the bullet is if you only hit the target in the little toe it will not matter much, so shot placement is important.  Good shot placement you can stop a target with a .22, a .22 in the hip will not do much, but a .45 in the hit will take out bone, create blood loss from a bigger hole and will stop mobility, destroy bone creating more blood loss.

So that is bullet theory 101, hope it helps.