Through the years, the lengths of a number of cartridges have been slightly increased in order to produce new and more powerful cartridges. The .357 Magnumcase is an extra long version of the .38 Specialcase, and the .357 Maximum case is an extra long version or the .357 Magnumcase. And so it goes with a trio of cartridges in .44 caliber. The .44 Smith & Wesson Special case is a lengthened .44 Russian case, and the .44 Remington Magnumcase was created by adding a bit of length to the .44 Special case. Introduced around 1907, the .44 Special was once far more popular than it is today. Until the arrival of its offspring, the .44 Magnum, the .44 Special was sometimes loaded to chamber pressures considerable higher than the Smith & Wesson revolvers it was available in were designed for. Those heavy duty loads were one of the reasons Smith & Wesson teamed up with Remington to produce the .44 Magnum. Even though the .44 Special is not as powerful as its magnum offspring, it will still get the job done when handloaded for modern revolvers. A 240 grain bullet fired from the .44 Special at maximum velocity from a 6-1/2 inch barrel is only a bit shy of what the harder kicking .44 Magnum will produce with the same bullet weight in a four inch barrel. 

This text is based on information from “Cartridges of the World”, Hodgdon reloading manual, the cartridge designer and/or own resources.

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