Munitions

.44 Smith & Wesson Special cartridge

Also known as
  • .44 Special
  • 44 Special
  • .44 S&W Special
  • 44 S&W Special
  • .44 Spl
  • 44 Spl
  • 44 S&W Spl

The .44 Smith & Wesson Special is a U.S. rimmed centerfire revolver cartridge introduced with Smith & Wesson's early 20th-century large-frame revolver line. C.I.P. lists the cartridge at 29.46 mm case length, 41.02 mm overall length, and 1000 bar Pmax, while later .44 Remington Magnum development used the .44 Special case family as its starting point.

.44 Smith & Wesson Special cartridge, Revolver cartridge, Munitions
Image source: 44spl Aluminum cartridges.jpg
Relationship To .44 Magnum

The .44 Remington Magnum belongs to the same large-bore revolver cartridge lineage as .44 Special. American Rifleman describes .44 Special as a Smith & Wesson cartridge introduced for the New Century revolver, and its Model 29 history traces later .44 Magnum development to high-pressure work by Elmer Keith and others that required a strengthened Smith & Wesson N-frame revolver.

Parent family

C.I.P. lists .44 S&W Special with a 29.46 mm maximum case length and the later .44 Remington Magnum with a longer 32.64 mm case.

Pressure contrast

C.I.P. lists .44 S&W Special at 1000 bar Pmax and .44 Remington Magnum at 2800 bar Pmax.

Modern loads

Federal, Winchester, and Remington still catalog .44 S&W Special loads for target, cowboy-action, revolver, or lever-rifle use.

Source labels used here: The .44 Special: History & Performance - American Rifleman, 44 S&W Special - C.I.P., 44 Magnum - C.I.P., 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Smith & Wesson Model 29, Champion Training 44 S&W Spl - Federal, USA44CB - Winchester Ammunition, and Performance WheelGun 44 S&W Spl - Remington.

Profile / Specs

Specifications

Cartridge type
Rimmed centerfire revolver cartridge
Case length
29.46 mm C.I.P.
Overall length
41.02 mm C.I.P.
Bullet diameter
10.98 mm C.I.P.
C.I.P. maximum pressure
1000 bar Pmax, transducer method
Standard load example
Federal Champion Training C44SA, 200-grain semi-wadcutter hollow point at 870 fps from a 4-inch vented test barrel
Cowboy-action load example
Winchester Super-X USA44CB, 240-grain 44 Smith & Wesson Special load for target shooting, hunting, and cowboy action
Revolver and lever-rifle load example
Remington Performance WheelGun 29-22333, 246-grain 44 S&W Special load at 755 fps
Related Magnum Cartridge

.44 Special and .44 Remington Magnum share a cartridge family, but the magnum round uses a longer case and much higher proof-standard pressure.

Compatible itemItem typeCompatibility evidence
.44 Remington Magnum cartridge, Revolver cartridge, Munitions.44 Remington Magnum cartridgeLonger high-pressure descendant cartridge

C.I.P. lists .44 Remington Magnum with the same projectile diameter family but a longer 32.64 mm case and 2800 bar Pmax, compared with .44 S&W Special's 29.46 mm case and 1000 bar Pmax.

Sources: 44 S&W Special - C.I.P., 44 Magnum - C.I.P.

Media

.44 Smith & Wesson Special cartridge Images

.44 Smith & Wesson Special cartridge, Revolver cartridge, Munitions - view 1
Source: 44-cartridge.jpg
Related Weapon Systems
.30 Super Carry cartridge, Semi-automatic pistol cartridge, MunitionsMunitions.30 Super Carry cartridgeSemi-automatic pistol cartridgeThe .30 Super Carry cartridge is a U.S.-origin semi-automatic pistol round introduced by Federal Premium in 2022 for defensive handguns. Federal presents the .312-inch projectile and narrower case as a way to add magazine capacity compared with similar-size 9mm Luger pistols, while SAAMI's public drawing standardizes the cartridge at a 52,000 psi maximum average pressure. Current official load pages document Federal American Eagle, Champion Training, Personal Defense Punch, and HST offerings alongside Speer Gold Dot, CCI Blazer Brass, Remington UMC and HTP, and Hornady Critical Defense loads.
.308 Winchester cartridge, Centerfire rifle cartridge in .308 Win, MunitionsMunitions.308 Winchester cartridgeCenterfire rifle cartridge in .308 Win.308 Winchester is a centerfire, rimless bottleneck rifle cartridge introduced by Winchester in 1952 and still loaded by major ammunition makers for hunting, match, and sporting use. C.I.P. lists 308 Winchester and 7,62 x 51 as alternate names, while SAAMI cautions that chamber fit alone does not guarantee safe interchangeability. This relationship-only page records the cartridge family and its rifle links without inheriting any conflict-use claims from a parent weapon page.
.338 Lapua Magnum cartridge, 8.6 mm long-range centerfire rifle cartridge, MunitionsMunitions.338 Lapua Magnum cartridge8.6 mm long-range centerfire rifle cartridge.338 Lapua Magnum is a Finnish 8.6x70 mm centerfire rifle cartridge developed from .338/416 work into a long-range military, law-enforcement, and precision-rifle round. C.I.P. lists Finland as the country of origin, while Lapua and Nammo sources show current tactical, target, armor-piercing, hunting, and special-purpose load families. The linked rifle relationships stay limited to cataloged weapons whose sources document .338 Lapua chambering.

Sources

The .44 Special: History & Performance - American RiflemanPublisher: American Rifleman | Note: Supports .44 Special origin context, Smith & Wesson New Century revolver context, and the cartridge's relationship to .44 Russian and later large-bore revolver development. | Accessed: 2026-07-0344 S&W Special - C.I.P.Publisher: C.I.P. | Note: Supports .44 S&W Special U.S. origin, C.I.P. date/revision context, dimensions, projectile diameter, and 1000 bar Pmax value. | Accessed: 2026-07-0344 Magnum - C.I.P.Publisher: C.I.P. | Note: Supports the dimensional and pressure comparison with .44 Remington Magnum. | Accessed: 2026-07-0310 Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Smith & Wesson Model 29Publisher: American Rifleman | Note: Supports the transition from .44 Magnum development work by Elmer Keith and others to the strengthened Smith & Wesson revolver that became the Model 29. | Accessed: 2026-07-03Champion Training 44 S&W Spl - FederalPublisher: Federal Premium | Note: Supports a representative current Federal .44 S&W Special target load with 200-grain bullet, 870 fps velocity, and 4-inch vented test barrel. | Accessed: 2026-07-03USA44CB - Winchester AmmunitionPublisher: Winchester Ammunition | Note: Supports Winchester's current 44 Smith & Wesson Special 240-grain Super-X load and its target, hunting, and cowboy-action usage categories. | Accessed: 2026-07-03Performance WheelGun 44 S&W Spl - RemingtonPublisher: Remington Ammunition | Note: Supports Remington's current .44 S&W Special Performance WheelGun load for revolver and lever-rifle use, including 246-grain bullet and 755 fps velocity. | Accessed: 2026-07-0344spl Aluminum cartridges.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a .44 Special cartridge photograph. | Accessed: 2026-07-0344-cartridge.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a reusable .44-caliber cartridge photograph included as secondary gallery context. | Accessed: 2026-07-03