I am sorely tempted by the charter 44 special...the 45 1911 kimber is awful good, too, though, so I continue to sit and think..
dk
I shoot and carry a 1911 and a Bulldog and I load for both. I find both to be comfortable and comforting. Few will argue about the .45acp's usefulness as a defense cartridge and the .44 special, depending on the load, is every bit its equal.
It took a while, but I was finally able to find a load that my Bulldog likes. Then it took a while to find a couple of loading manuals that said that I was within sane pressure limits. A 250gr Keith pushed to around 900fps shoots to point of aim with accuracy. It is a real thumper of a round out of a 20oz revolver that makes a 1911 feel like a cap pistol. I have moulds on order for 200gr bullets and I hope to find an accurate load for that as well.
I like both guns, but not for the same reasons. The 1911 is a lot easier to shoot well, everyone and his brother makes stuff for it and, if you're into that sort of thing, good practice ammo is easy to get and not expensive. The Bulldog is more of a challenge and ammo is harder to find and usually expensive. Since I cast and load my own, ammo price and availability is not an issue.
I shoot the Bulldog more. I guess I'm still a kid at heart. When I shoot the 1911 at the range, I get comments like, "nice gun." When I shoot the Bulldog, the range mostly goes silent and I look down the row of people who shoot 9mm's, .40's and .45's staring at me. I like to think that they're admiring me as "a real man, shooting a manly weapon." The truth is, they're probably wondering "what kind of a fool would subject himself to that?"