44 Remington Mag

[Iron Glove]

Picked up a nice Marlin the other day and I'm confused with ammo designations. Is there any difference between "pistol" ammo and "rifle" ammo ? Can I use any 44 Mag that I find?
I'd like to find some relatively cheap stuff for fun and plinking and get some "rifle" ammo for hunting.
Any suggstions or words of wisdom?

 

[Clammy]

Picked up a nice Marlin the other day and I'm confused with ammo designations. Is there any difference between "pistol" ammo and "rifle" ammo ? Can I use any 44 Mag that I find?
I'd like to find some relatively cheap stuff for fun and plinking and get some "rifle" ammo for hunting.
Any suggstions or words of wisdom?

.44 Remington magnum is the same regardless of the type of firearm it's being used in. Of course, that assumes the gun is chambered for that round.

Cheers!

 

[curtmg]

If it says it's for rifle, then it's only safe to be used in a rifle, as it will have higher presssures than handguns can tolerate. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. If you really want to get the most out of the 44 magnum, you have to reload though, especially for a rifle.

 

[cement head]

44 mag loads

I have an old marlin carbine in 44 mag . and I loaded up some warm loads for it say 240 grain jacketed bullets with I think 25 grains of H110. I was at the range and I had some old winchester loads in the box that said rifle loads . well some guy had a ruger redhawk in 44 and the winchester loads were cream puffs compared to my loads in his redhawk . use common sense and you;ll live longer . as in I would have thought long and hard about useing my loads in a smith and wesson 29 but had no quams about trying them in buddys ruger . I;m sure they would have been fine in the smith as they are book loads but they would have been far more intense in the smith and been harder on it .

 

[H4831]

I have an old marlin carbine in 44 mag . and I loaded up some warm loads for it say 240 grain jacketed bullets with I think 25 grains of H110. I was at the range and I had some old winchester loads in the box that said rifle loads . well some guy had a ruger redhawk in 44 and the winchester loads were cream puffs compared to my loads in his redhawk . use common sense and you;ll live longer . as in I would have thought long and hard about useing my loads in a smith and wesson 29 but had no quams about trying them in buddys ruger . I;m sure they would have been fine in the smith as they are book loads but they would have been far more intense in the smith and been harder on it .

Marking loaded 44 magnum ammo as being for "rifle," appears to me to be a marketing trick. Your quoted load of H110 is not only a book load, but a very popular load. It was my very favourite load, and I shot thousands of rounds of it, in Ruger single actions, two different S&Ws and two different Marlin rifles.
Commercial loading of 44 mag goes to about 38,000 cup, and all guns made for that cartridge are designed to handle the pressure.
By the same token, lever action Marlin rifles are designed to handle about the same amount of pressure, and 44 magnum loads should not be increased for loading in Marlin rifles.

 

[B]

X2 on the gimmick thing. The would never put out ammunition capable of destroying a firearm. Same reason their is still nothing but anemic .45-70 from the major ammo companies.

 

[t-star]

ever notice how the rifle ammo comes in 20 round boxes and costs the same as a 50
round box of pistol- howver, the "rifle only" thing IS A GIMMICK- the only reason you get higher velocities is because the BARREL IS LONGER-

 

[Iron Glove]

OK, thanks for the clarification.
Anyone have any recommendations on what commercially available (i.e. not hand loaded) ammo to get for the hunting / bear defence use?
Anyone ever use the new Hornady Leverevolution in 44 mag?

 

[SandRoad]

X2 on the gimmick thing. The would never put out ammunition capable of destroying a firearm. Same reason their is still nothing but anemic .45-70 from the major ammo companies.

Marking loaded 44 magnum ammo as being for "rifle," appears to me to be a marketing trick. Your quoted load of H110 is not only a book load, but a very popular load. It was my very favourite load, and I shot thousands of rounds of it, in Ruger single actions, two different S&Ws and two different Marlin rifles.
Commercial loading of 44 mag goes to about 38,000 cup, and all guns made for that cartridge are designed to handle the pressure.

By the same token, lever action Marlin rifles are designed to handle about the same amount of pressure, and 44 magnum loads should not be increased for loading in Marlin rifles.

Correct, the Marlin lever actions are not exceptionally strong. I believe they are rated for around 45,000 psi loads. The 444 has a SAAMI rating of 44,000 cup.

44 Mag cartridge has an max average pressure rating of 36,000 psi.

BTW, we have a couple of the Marlins in 44 Mag and they are a lot of fun to shoot. Most of the time we shoot mid velocity lead reloads.