several years ago (18ish years) I bought my first .44 Magnum handgun. Like most who first get a .44 Mag I wanted to explore the heavier loads and just see what this caliber was capable of. Well after some 325 grain maximum loads actually cracked one of the small bones in the back of my hand I began searching for the lightest loads I could find.
Win 571 ball powder was used in one load (I cannot find the load now and do not know if it is still published or even recommended) I remember this had zero recoil with 180 grain cast bullets. Other loads I used were:
Win 231 7.0 grains with 240 grain Speer swaged with magnum primer (this is a "squib" load load one or two and make sure they clear the rifle barrel)
unique 9.0 grains with 240 grain cast SWC
The current (Dec 2011) issue of "Handloader" lists a 250 grain bullet (undefined) over 9.0 grains of Unique for a velocity of 1,100 fps from a handgun.
From a Speer manual (rifle section) 8.8 grains of H. Universal pushes a jacket 240 grain JSP to 1,118 fps
Any of these would be low recoil, look for loads that are near the starting load level and project velocities to be between 950 and 1,200 fps with 180 to 250 grain bullets.