.44 Magnum
The .44 Magnum cartridge is the child of the famous firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson. Based upon their earlier .44 Special revolver cartridge, the .44 Magnum cartridge was introduced in 1956.
A .44 Magnum revolver will generally accept both .44 Magnum and .44 Special ammunition, but a weapon designed for .44 Special will only accept .44 Special rounds, due to the longer overall length of a .44 Magnum cartridge.
This cartridge was made notorious through its use by the 'Dirty Harry' character in the Clint Eastwood film of the same name. However, it was not then and is not now "the most powerful handgun [cartridge] in the world".
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