44 Mag Rifle to Buy?

[DonMountain]

I have been hunting for years with a Ruger RedHawk in 44 Mag shooting H110 behind a 320 grain gas checked boolet for deer, and have been quite successful with that combination. Since I am getting less steady in my old age I am considering purchasing a rifle in 44 Mag that I can shoot the same ammo. Does anybody have a suggestion for rifles that are successful with gas checked lead boolits of about 320 grains for deer hunting at close ranges in woods?

[44man]

Look at twist rates. See if any have 1 in 20" or the slowest 1 in 25". Stay far away from 1 in 38".

[claude]

What you are probably going to find is that there isn't a lever action out there that will reliably feed those at the length you seat them for the Redhawk. The optimum COAL for the two is not compatible as the heavy boolits have to be seated very deep in the case to work in a lever gun.

[gatorshooter]

I use a marlin with ranch dog 300 gr over h110 works great. Ymmv. You may look into a handi rifle they will shoot!

[longbow]

Not sure about OAL for the 320 gr. but I worked on the cartridge stop for my .44 mag. Marlin to allow longer COAL for SWC's... specifically for the H&G #503 which has a fairly long nose past the crimp groove

You can file that cartridge stop back quite a ways. Having said that my Marlin is 1:38" twist so not suitable for boolits over about 270 gr. (in my experience anyway). However, I think the cartridge stop can be modified enough to suit the COAL you need so with a faster twist barrel that should do it.

Seems to me someone said the Winchester levers had faster twist. There I am not sure about COAL capacity.

Not much but it's all I've got.

Longbow

[DonMountain]

I am definitely looking for a repeater of some sort, not a Handi-Rifle sort of single shot action I think. Sometimes the deer come in herds and I may need several shots close together. A lever action or bolt action I would favor. Since they don't toss the shell casings away when I am in the woods where I can't find them. The Ruger RedHawk works good for that since it is a 6 shot.

[Themoose]

I currently have two 44 rifles and have had others and OAL is an issue... I currently have the Ruger 77/44 and a vintage Remington 788 and both have magazines that mandate OAL... I once had a Marlin 94 and found a link that showed how to do some home gunsmithing to increase OAL... My memory is fading, but I think I only took a few thousandth's off the carrier and it worked magic...I'm pretty you can do a search and find it either here or on a Marlin forum... I just never liked the lever gun.

TheMoose

[runfiverun]

there is a stop on the lifter that can be filed back a little to let you use longer oal's.
I filed mine back a bit on my rossi so it would feed the 429241.

my Winchester 94 will feed some slightly longer rounds but it's barrel likes boolits in the 432+ diameter.
I shoot home swaged [jacketed] rounds in it at 250grs and at 430 and have gone up to 315 just fine, I tried some 350's but didn't push them hard enough to stabilize, and never followed through.

I can place the cannelure wherever I want, so I set the oal to work in the 94,the rossi 92, my 44-40, and my browning 92 [which demands nothing longer than 1.610]
unfortunately the scenario we face when dealing with revolver/lever gun combo's is you make the ammo work in the lever flawlessly then take what you get in the revolver or have two different rounds for each gun.

[Digital Dan]

The 77/44 will feed 1.68" OAL. I load 300 gr paper patch bullets in that one, ~1,600 fps with Li'l Gun and it hovers around MOA @ 100 yards. YMMV.

Something died...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/muddler/Guns/PaperPatchDeer009_zps3a52d58c.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/muddler/media/Guns/PaperPatchDeer009_zps3a52d58c.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/muddler/Guns/photo%202_zpsn3zvsfv2.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/muddler/media/Guns/photo%202_zpsn3zvsfv2.jpg.html)

[Outpost75]

My H&R Handi Rifle is 20" twist and is NOT limited by cartridge OAL. It loves the same liads as my Ruger Super Blackhawk and give me 2-1/2" five-shot groups at 100 yds. with a low power hunting scope.

[nanuk]

My H&R Handi Rifle is 20" twist and is NOT limited by cartridge OAL.



are you sure?

my info tells me:

44 Mag 1 in 38"
.444 Marlin 1 in 38" (original ejector)
.444 Marlin 1:20" (extractor 2007 and later)

this from Graybeards....
have you checked yours?

[nanuk]

Stay far away from 1 in 38".

one of the reasons I have never bought a Handi in 44Mag.

now, if it came with 1/20, or 1/16, I'd have one, and ream it to 445SuperMag. or a 44-2" based on the 303Brit brass.

[Cowboy_Dan]

My dad's Marlin 1894 SS has the faster twist and feeds well up to a 310 gr. SWC, but it doesn't like to feed .44 Spl. It tries to put more than one cartridge on the lifter.

[Djones]

It sounds like you want my rossi's brother....because you can't have mine!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?266049-44-Mag-Carbine-NOE-434-310-RF-on-IN-DOE

let me know if you have any questions.

[MBTcustom]

It sounds like you want my rossi's brother....because you can't have mine!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?266049-44-Mag-Carbine-NOE-434-310-RF-on-IN-DOE

let me know if you have any questions.

I've got the same rifle. It was a gift from Felix's family.
Positively one of the funnest lever guns I own. I know for a fact it's able to hold about 2.5" at 75 yards with 429421s and 19gr of 2400. It's not a precision rifle, but it's not meant to be. It's a rifle you can carry all day long and never get tired of holding it, and when the moment of truth arrives, it allows you to put the hurting on deer or hogs at intermediate ranges. I do a pretty good CAS action job if I do say so myself which makes it to where you can send bullets downrange at an alarming rate of fire, and unlike my Marlin 1895s, it holds a lot more ammo, so like a broken pop machine, you just keep mashing that button till it quits giving you free soda pop. The one drawback to the 92 or the 1895 Marlin is it's ability to make you lead poor. LOL!
Regardless, you'll get best accuracy out of short semiwadcutters going pretty fast. Not bad things on either count!

I loaned my 92 to a friend here who had nothing to hunt with last year. He was between jobs, and had a pregnant wife and three little mouths to feed. He called me up with his hat in his hand asking if he could borrow a rifle. I told him I had just the thing, and to come by one Sunday afternoon, and make sure he has a few hours. When he came over, I taught him how to cast bullets and he made his own. Then I taught him how to reload and he made the ammunition for the 92 under my watchful eye. When we were finished, I told him that the ammo he made will knock over anything he shoots at 100 yards and closer. I shook his hand and told him the rifle must come back. He gave me his word, thanked me, and left. About a month later he told me he had shot a nice little buck 75 yards away. Said it was a bang flop DRT. I think he may have shot another deer later as well, but he kept his word and returned the rifle to me.
I thought that was pretty awesome.

[Themoose]

GoodSteel,

That is an awesome deed! I've loaned rifles and provided ammo to a couple of buddies for years who don't seem to have the time to reload or even sight in their rifles before the hunt..Distance prevents me from using your approach as the closest one lives 500 miles distant and the other double that....but, if I have the same opportunity with someone local I will use it... My grandson is just coming to shooting age... he has already had sessions at the loading bench, but never casting, but he will...thanks for sharing.

TheMoose

[Lonegun1894]

I believe it was Runfiverun that brought up bullet diameter above. I have a SBH and a H&R, the SBH slugs at .429", the H&R at .4325", and they both shoot great, but do not like each others ammo just due to diameter. And I am feeding both from the same mold, a Lyman 429421 that casts at .435", the SBH gets them sized to .430", and the H&R gets them sized to .434", and the same powder charge. This is a SAAMI spec issue, so while I hope your plan works out, you need to be aware that it may not. If it doesn't, you may need to reconsider the size of the boolit you're using.

[Ramjet-SS]

Ruger 77/44 that is the exact load I use for grandson that Boolit and load shoots very very accurately from the 77/44.

[dave roelle]

Ruger 44 Carbine ?

[taco650]

Ruger 44 Carbine ?

Ruger carbine also uses a rotary magazine so there would be length limitation for it too.

[ThatFishGuy]

Did your guys' Rossi 92's feed the 310gr boolits out of the box or did you have to modify the rifles? thanks,
Sam

[Djones]

Did your guys' Rossi 92's feed the 310gr boolits out of the box or did you have to modify the rifles? thanks,
Sam

No problem with the short oal crimp groove. If I use the long oal crimp groove I was getting some rough feeding. No mods on my Rossi. I wish it was made in the USA is the only drawback but at $400 it is a great gun.

I almost forgot that I had to grind the bead off the factory front sight for it to hit POA with big heavy Boolits.

[44man]

I had a Ruger carbine here once to shorten the stock on but the man wanted to keep the same butt plate, quite a job. It was his daughters gun. Of course I had to shoot it! :bigsmyl2:
Found the magazine problem right off so I shot single shot with the LBT 320. At 50 it was not bad but I had to shoot my range backwards since the farmer behind was working his fields. I did not notice my big sycamore tree was in line, Good 20" diameter or more. I was shooting clear through it! Fun little gun but I hated looking for brass.

[Ramjet-SS]

Tell you another one that gets my interest is the Henry Big Boy Carbine 44 mag.

[starmac]

Ruger carbine also uses a rotary magazine so there would be length limitation for it too.

There probably would be an oal issue with them too, but not all the ruger carbines were rotary mag fed.

[Lonegun1894]

I saw one of the tube-fed ones at the gunshow here last weekend. They only wanted $1200 for it too. They had to keep it for that price.

[Digital Dan]

There probably would be an oal issue with them too, but not all the ruger carbines were rotary mag fed.

Don't know about the .357 version, but the 77/44 is limited to 1.68" OAL by the magazine

[starmac]

Don't know about the .357 version, but the 77/44 is limited to 1.68" OAL by the magazine

I was talking about the semi auto, tube fed.

[ogre]

I went to a small, local gun show yesterday. A gentleman there had a pristine Ruger No. 3 in .44 magnum for sale. If I was not such a poor man I would have snapped it up on the spot.

[luvtn]

I have a Ruger 77/44. The only way I have found to shoot the 320 gr WFN was to do it single shot. Good luck.
luvtn

[44man]

My Marlin used to gripe me. I could feed and eject live rounds with heavy boolits but not a shorter, lighter one unless I shortened brass. I got rid of it because of the strange 1 in 38" twist. I complained to Marlin and they sent a copy of Greenhill to me. Went in the trash. I wanted them to install a new .444 barrel of 1 in 20" on my gun, chambered for the .44 but they asked if it was under warranty. What is THAT about??? Should be life time, not two years.
I loved the feel and handling of the gun but sold it off to be remade to another caliber by Jack Huntington. I sent it to him.
I bought a Remlin 30-30 and it is a shooter with no problems. I hope Remington brings back the 39 Mounty, best .22 ever made.

[utahtrapper]

Marlin 44 mag is my vote in any configuration you like best. Smooth and accurate. Just remember to oversize cast. All of mine Micro or Ballard love .432
I shoot BTB some over 310grains with H 110 and have great results in 1/38 twist just push them hard. My favorite is the 290 BTB lots of load data over on his site.

[Ramjet-SS]

I have been shooting 310 grain dropped from a Lee 6 cavity mould. The Henry Big Boy Carbine just loves them. yes I have to seat deeper but if it feeds through theloading slot it wil cycle without issue. The accuracy of these Henry Big Boys is outstanding. I am huge fan of Unique and Universal for medium velocity loads.

[Werndl]

Have a 1894 cb that's a tack driver and is a great girl to carry. Its got an octagonal bbl so what could be better. A buddy of mine has a beautifully stocked 77/44 that ive been trying to get off him forever. Love that gun!

[Outpost75]

are you sure?

my info tells me:

44 Mag 1 in 38"
.444 Marlin 1 in 38" (original ejector)
.444 Marlin 1:20" (extractor 2007 and later)

this from Graybeards....
have you checked yours?

I checked MINE. YOUR mileage may vary. H&R got barrels from all over and used several suppliers.