CO> VH> **I** hunt with a .38 Special (although my gun is a .357, and I use 
.38
CO> VH> Special wadcutters for hunting) and the .44 Mag was DESIGNED for 
huntin
CO> VH> -- it's Elmer Keith's brainchild, based on his hunting with the .44
CO> VH> Special.  He agitated for it for years until S&W and Remington 
inally
CO> VH> caved in.
CO>Old Elmer was quite a character.  I never had the honor of meeting him in 
pe
CO>but I understand he was a true "good ole boy".  From published accounts 
I've
CO>read, he must have bent up or busted a bunch of .44 S&W frames while he 
as
CO>working up the .44 Magnum.
He started out by blowing up .45s, and stumbled on the .44 Special by
accident.  If you've got a picture of Elmer handy, you can see the scars
on his face -- you get those by standing too close to a ruptured
cylinder. :-)
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