# S B H 44 Mag How short can you go? ? ? ? ?



## bayrunner (Feb 19, 2005)

Hey Guys_____ I have a SBH 44 mag. 4 5/8 barrel, just put on a steel Bird head grip and want to cut barrel (to either 4in. or just below) for a better balance (I know that might be subjective).I want it to match my ruger 45 bird head witch (I think is,just under a 4in.barrel).Now, the question is ,can I go as short as the 45 ( to 4in. or just below) and not lose any effectiveness of the 44 mag. ,either for self defense(blk. bears) or short range hunting(bow range) for deer. This is mainly my walking around "woods "packing gun. I live in the Pacific Northwest and we do have lots of blk. Bears ____ THANKS BAYRUNNER


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## natemil373 (Dec 3, 2005)

You can go as short as you want, however, the effects of a shorter barrel will drastically reduce that power of this cartridge. The .44 Magnum as well as most magnums require a long barrel to maximize velocity and power as there is a lot of powder to burn. I don't know the exact amount of spped that you lose, but it is probably around 100FPS per inch that is taken off. That being said, even with a short (3-4in) barrel the .44mag is an efective deer round for bow range (30 yards) as long as it can be effectively sighted as the shorter the sight radius, the harder it is to accurately shoot. I personally would find something else to hunt deer with. While the 4in or so can be effective for deer sized game I would seriously consider using something else as your effective distance sill be so low that you may be very disappointed if a big buck walks by at 75 yards. It will however remain an effective self defense handgun for predators with 2 or 4 legs.


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