I am in need of some help on what cal. to get for deer hunting/ I've set my sights on a rageing bull but can't decide on the cal. ? 41 mag. or 44 mag. 6in. brl. or 8 3/8 in. ?????????? HELP. GB 50

Either will do what you want done. The 44 mag will be easier to find ammo but have a little more recoil. The 6in barrel shoot good enough to hunt with but the 8 3/8 will help with felt recoil. If its a nothing but hunting gun then id get the 44 Mag with 8 3/8 barrel but if your gonna take it on camping trips and all i would stick with the 6in barrel. I have a Taurus in 44 Mag with a 6in barrel and love the gun. Im wanting to get a scope of some sort and start hunting with it. It is extremely accurate at 25 yards with open sights.

I cannot improve upon what retaks said.

In a DA revolver, esp. a larger frame like the Raging Bull, 6 inch I think is ideal. Plenty of sight radius w/o being unwieldy. .44 Mag is IMO the most versatile of revolver chamberings with the most available ammo and components.

As good as the .41 may be, you are still bordering on obsolescence.

I believe there are enough of us .41 mag fans out there that it'll be a long time before they can offically declare it dead. Ruger reintroduced the .41 mag in it's blackhawk and hunter line and ruger usually has it's thumb pretty close on market demand. Same as .280,and .220 swift among a few others I can think of.

I have 5 revolvers and 2 rifles in 41mag. It is my opinion that 41 is a better all around cartridge over the 44mag. But again, that is my opinion and it will match anyone else that has had the pleasure of shooting a 41mag. my 2 cents?
PS. I have a couple of great little loads if you reload? 1 for snakes and such and 1 for deer, hogs and such. e-mail me and I be glad to help you out?
Mike

I prefer the 44 magnum over the 41 simply because of the larger frontal area. Recoil is pretty much the same. If you reload you might consider the 45 Long Colt cartridge. It is a great cartridge if you reload, but factory shell's are a bit mundane.

I would reconsider the choice of the Taurus. I would go with a S&W if I were you. The S&W simply outshoots them all(out of the box)-including the Ruger's. Tom.

I had a choice between the Raging Bull and a Ruger Super Red Hawk in .44 mag.
I chose the RSRH! The RSRH and .44 mag is a killer combination! No pun intended!

I've had 41's and always went back toa 44 , to hunt. I believe the 44 cal. has much more stopping power . I hand load with 200 gr. bullets for flatter trajectory. I have shot Deer at close to 100 yds with stock sights .
I use a old Dan Wesson44, w/ 8 " heavy lugged , ported bbl., very stable platform to shoot with and I can even change it to the 6 " bbl . If I want or need to .

44 or 45 if you handload. The 44 has a ton of ammo for it available, and the 45 will get right up there near 44 with a good handload.