I tried out some new loads in my Charter Arms .44 Bulldog the other day. I found one I'm sure would be devastating on the receiving end but it was not at all comfortable on the shooter's end. Those big fat walnut grips took the recoil in the web of the hand with no great pain, they are much better than the thin rubber grips new Bulldogs now carry which have rubbed skin off the web. The pain and skin loss was to my trigger finger. It seems that as the gun rises in recoil the trigger guard smacks my finger with a hard, sharp blow.
The load was a 180 grain wadcutter from Western Bullet Co. loaded over 9 grains of Unique. They clocked 1051 fps average for five from the 3" Bulldog. Accuracy was nothing to brag on, 4 1/2" at 25 yards. But that is actually well within the military acceptance standard for the original 1911 .45 ACP, and far better than I would ever shoot if I needed to defend my life with this gun. It's a warm .44 Special load for sure but empties dropped from the chambers very easily so I wouldn't call it hot.
My previous defensive load was also a full wadcutter, a 210 grain cast from a Lee mold, over 7.0 grains of Unique and that also barks and bucks pretty good at about 900 fps.
These are the culprits and the result. I added the tape to the triggerguard after the damage was done.