How Does the .44Special Shoot?

I have fired some guns that could chamber .44 Special and .44Mag, but we always used .44Mag loads. Now I like several of these guns as pistols, and might even consider keeping one for a defense and fun gun, but I do NOT want to be using .44 Magnum as it is absolutely balls to the wall and I am not Clint Eastwood. I was taking some looks at how the .44Special stacks up, and it seems like good velocity and a nice fat bullet for a great hollow-point. How does .44Spc feel to shoot? I am considering borrowing a friend's Anaconda this weekend and trying out some .44Spc, but the Anaconda is such a heavy weapon that it's going to really reduce felt recoil.