I have the Ruger .44 Mag Super Blackhawk,,and the Ruger GP100 .357 Mag in Stainless Steel.Both great revolvers.I think the GP100 would suit your needs nicely.Less recoil and with proper shot placement(that you need with any gun) it will kill deer all day long.Many options in .38 Special(that will run through the .357 mag) for personal defence or just plinking,, with even less recoil if desired.I give a thumbs up on the GP100.I don't know how familiar you are with revolvers,,but when shooting,dont have your spare hand anywhere near the cylinder when you pull the trigger.It can leave a nice Boo-Boo from the blowback coming out the cylinder.

I like the plain Taurus .44 over the raging hunter, just because it is more "classic" looking. The only thing that makes me want a raging hunter over the traditional would be the use of a red dot. I am not sure if a red dot could be mounted to a gun without a picatanny rail.

If I had my choice on gun and budget wasn't an issue, I would get a Colt Anaconda. But for the price of that gun, I could get two Taurus .44's. just not really sure if double the price is justified for a gun that I won't necessarily use all that often.

I was in my local gun shop today and they had a Colt Python in .357 for $1.100... but it had a 4" barrel. They had two more pythons with 6" barrels but were $1,500. Had the $1,100 gun had a 6" barrel, I probably would have popped on it.

From what I'm seeing, just average plinking rounds for a .44 mag are going to run $0.90-$1 a round. The .357 looking like $0.65-$0.75 a round

Depends on which loads. Standard both will handle them but the Smith lockwork tends to work loose if given steady diets of hot loads.

Blackhawk only loads are just that full size frame Blackhawks or equivalent. The Redhawks is the equivalent.

I knew there was a difference. Got a buddy that lives and breathes .44 mag and has numerous models... I just knew one of the Ruger models could take the stouter loads.

Given the option I would take the model that can do standard or stout both.

Mike

Super blackhawk or super Redhawk are the two that have hotter load data than standard.

A little web search came up with this ( www jackweigand.com ) a 4 inch scope rail ,,and a 2 inch mini rail for a red dot for Taurus revolvers

My .44 is a Dan Wesson so its DA and makes a fair bit of noise but I''ll have to give it a try. The Contender is a lot quieter to (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) but if not shot has to be cycled open and closed to recock. I'm wishing I hadn't sold my XP.

buy the ruger in 357 magnum and you can feed it 38 special.
cheaper to practice and get proficient with new toy

Unless you're dead set on a hand cannon and lugging around a boat anchor I'd look at the out of print Ruger Security Six. Send it off to have that terrible trigger smoothed up and it'll handle anything you can throw at it. The GP100 while an upgrade is heavier and I never cared for full lug barrels on wheel guns.

If trigger is important and you don't plan on every round down range being the heaviest or hottest then nothing beats a Smith K frame for sheer smoothness.

I have a S&W 629 performance center .44 magnum 7.5 inch barrel, it came with muzzle brake installed. It's a great shooter and the muzzle brake works great. If you decide to mount a scope, i have to agree with one uglyduck, those are the best after market mounts out there. I use his mounts on several guns. Follow his mounting instructions and you wont go wrong.
I use a 4 inch barrel 629 smith and the above mentioned 629 both. The 4 inch isn't real fun to shoot with stout loads the performance center 7.5 inch is easy to shoot with hot loads. I did change the grips out and put factory S&W 500 x-frame grips on it.

I’m thinking the 2 inch rail with a red dot sight would be nice set up on my model 44 Taurus , thinking about buying the 2 inch rail, thanks for the heads up on the quality

S & W 686, I was think I had 4 inch barrel, I have the 3 inch with smooth cylinder 7 shot.

A very nice shooting Revolver with nice trigger

EdP,
Just have it pointed at them when you (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) the hammer.
And if you want to uncock without shooting, hold the hammer and let it slowly fall while carefully pulling the trigger.

I have an unfired, new in the box, XP-100 in 7mm BR. It was the last BR ever sold from Remington. And yes, I was an employee when I purchased.

I bought a GP100 in 357 mag for Alaska (like mentioned above just need to go with the cast bullets for bear). It's nice and smooooth. I Practice with the 38s for value.

Whatever you get, Get the Hi Viz sights. Well worth the few extra bucks...especially when something big and bad is coming at ya. Your eyes can't not hone in on the Hi Viz sights. .

My grandpa had a Dan Wesson .44, can't remember the barrel length but it was atleast 6".
After he died, we found out all his guns "magically" disappeared. My dad's step brother, who lived with my grandpa,said that he took all his guns and sold them to Gander Mtn. BS! He wouldn't sold crap, especially his service issued 1911.

The only gun that he didnt "sell" was a Hi-standard .22 LR revolver, probably the least valuable one he owned. But it's been given to me know and I cherish it, it's dispatched many a coyote caught in a trap.

But man, it sure would be sweet to have his Dan Wesson and be able to use that for what I want rather than going and buying a new gun

As far as Taurus goes I have no experience with any of them. From what I have read you either get a good one or a bad one. It's pretty much a crap shoot.

Since you were asking about either the 357 mag or 44 mag.......I'd take the 44 mag. If the recoil is a problem you can always shoot some 44 specials for a lighter recoil. Another reason I would take the 44 mag is we have some pretty big predators around here. We've got wolves, mtn lions, and grizzlies to deal with and the extra umph of the 44 makes me feel better than something smaller.