For those of you who think .44 maq is for wimps

[ridgerunner]

Thankfully, I have no use for anything bigger than the .44 mag cal. in a handgun. (no permanent wrist damage?? perhaps.) I guess you wouldn't have to hit what you were shooting at. The muzzle blast should stop about anything.
Didn't know Thompsons could fly. Glad I wasn't standing behind him.

[buttebob]

I've got a T/C in 45-70 with the muzzle brake. It's a handful. If you're not careful and get a good hold on it, it will come out of your hand. I'd rather have one without the muzzle brake so it wouldn't come straight back in recoil, but would swing up in recoil. A friend shot it once and almost dropped it. He didn't want to shoot it a second time.
I took a customer out behind the gun shop one time because he wanted to shoot an American Derringer in 45-70. He also took a Past glove to wear. What a fun time, for me. He wanted to shoot it but knew it was going to hurt. He would get ready to pull the trigger and his hand would pull down in anticipation of the recoil, he would grunt, but his finger wouldn't pull the trigger. When he finally pulled the trigger, after about two minutes, the firing pin fell on an empty chamber. He had only loaded one chamber. Long story short, he fired it two times. It took over 5 minutes to fire both shots because he repeated everything he did on the first shot on the second shot. After each shot he would yell and scream, and shake his hand. His hand was a bright red and the Past glove was tore and ripped. But, he didn't drop the gun.

[ridgerunner]

I suppose that I should have said more 'powerful' than the .44 mag. I do have several .45 ACPs and an older unfired Ruger in .45 colt. And a Ruger .357 Maximum.
Dave, try a TZ 75 in 9MM sometime. ( full size )