WetFart- My guess about the 44 to 22, would be that it is easier to shoot the 22 more accurately than the 44, and yes I do firmly believe that if shot placement is all the same, the 44 is unbelievably superior to the 22 against any critter 2 or 4 legs.

 

1st GSW I ever saw was a 44mag to the heart...the bullet punched a nice little hole in the heart...guy was still alive when we got there...he lived for a couple days...

44mag is primarily a hunting caliber & the bullet is designed to penatrate deep...it just punches through a human leaving a 44 caliber sized hole...from what I've read the 44mag is actually a rather weak human killer for that very reason, unless you use defensive ammo designed to go slower and open up at those slower speeds...

 

at the end of the link he talked about the psychological vs physical stop and i think thats what should really be taken from this article. call me crazy but id be willing to say that most people dont like to be shot so even a weak little 22 is enough to "scare" them off. dont get me wrong im not gunna go run into a really bad part of town with a 22 but when its the middle of summer and im just running to the store or gas station a 22 in the pocket is easier to hide than my 45 or 357

 

Yes Rampy, I guess I should have added "that with the proper loading" I feel the 44 is superior. You can't load something that is considered to be a high power round with a fmj and expect optimum results, those bullets may get the job done, but would definately not be my first choice, not sure if I said it on this site or another but I prefer hornady xtp bullets, now I don't have any experience with human shootings in any way, and hope I never do, but the variety of game animals that I have used them on makes me confident in them, now I don't have any gator experience, but what I've seen them do to groundhogs makes me think they would perform addmoreably if used for self defence.
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yep...

To kill/do damage you need to transfer as much energy as possible to your target. If you punch through at all your bullet did not put all its energy it had to the target, It kept some for itself.