Hunting with a .44 Rem Mag

Crazy.kayaker

Crazy.kayaker

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I'm not talking about the pistol .44 Rem Mag. Marlin makes a rifle that shoots the .44 Rem Mag as I'm sure others do too. http://marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/1894Centerfire/1894.aspx
What I want to know is has anyone here had one and went hunting with it and how good was it. I'm told most shots are taken at less the 100 yards and that this rifle has about twice that distance in accuracy in the right hands. Our instructor also told us about some....Interesting loads you can do with that cartridges and showed us how easy it is to hand load the cartridges (no special equipment needed). :eek: Anyways if someone has this caliber of hunting gun please let me know as our instructors wife has a .44 Rem Mag rifle she uses for hunting deer and moose and loves it, but Mike the guy at wholesales mocked me about how useless a .44 Rem Mag is when I asked him (he's a jack**s and I quote him on that).

CK
 
I've got a Win94 Trapper in .45 Colt I've hunted with (didn't see anything with it though). Out of a 16" barrel a .44 Mag would be plenty on deer at close range.
 
44 Mag

Well long time ago, I shot my first Whitetail with a 44 mag. The shot was at a moving deer at 65 yards. I hit him in the shoulder and he dropped like a stone. Since then I have has a soft spot for the 44. Kind of brings back memories.
They will work on deer, but they do indeed have a limited range.
To be honest there are far better calibers that will do the job close in and reach out alot further. I have since moved on to other guns. I used a pump action Rem in 308 for about ten years. It dumped alot of deer. Now I mostly stand hunt with a 270 bolt action.
good luck in whatever you decide
 
Gunslinger said:
I've got a Win94 Trapper in .45 Colt I've hunted with (didn't see anything with it though). Out of a 16" barrel a .44 Mag would be plenty on deer at close range.
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its got a 20" barrel and I was told that a bullet fired from a .44 Rem Mag went through both lungs and stopped against the skin on the other side of the MOOSE.
 
I have a Win 94 trapper in 44 mag. I normally use it for smaller than deer sized animals. It is also a favorite carry gun in self defense situations. Something to ward off black bear, cougar, wolf packs, etc.

That being said, you can do whatever you like within reason. The caliber will kill deer. Bow and arrows are legal for deer. Think about shooting a smallish deer the first time. The big ones can be like moose and run off with your bullet in their chest.

I would treasure that Marlin if I had one. Seems like a very nice rifle. Like another poster has said, you may "move on" to flatter shooting calibers at some time. In the long run you will end up owning several firearms and each will have a niche with pros and cons. :)
 
the winchester trapper in 44 mag is "legendary" as a short range black bear gun, or at least it is out here in the west- you often see a 30 cal something in the hands, and a winny trapper, in 44 mag either in a rifle scabbard or strung across the back as a coup- de -grace gun-that's the formula i often carry myself- anything in 44 mag is good enough for deer and and black bear, provided you regard the 100 yard limit, and some of the factory stuff is darned near max loads, if you look and believe the factory stats
be forewarned, in the trapper config, with factory loads, and a non- recoil padded stock, it can kick pretty good- i've got a slip on on mine
 
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44 Mag...

Crazy.kayaker said:
I'm not talking about the pistol .44 Rem Mag. Marlin makes a rifle that shoots the .44 Rem Mag as I'm sure others do too. http://marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/1894Centerfire/1894.aspx
What I want to know is has anyone here had one and went hunting with it and how good was it. I'm told most shots are taken at less the 100 yards and that this rifle has about twice that distance in accuracy in the right hands. Our instructor also told us about some....Interesting loads you can do with that cartridges and showed us how easy it is to hand load the cartridges (no special equipment needed). :eek: Anyways if someone has this caliber of hunting gun please let me know as our instructors wife has a .44 Rem Mag rifle she uses for hunting deer and moose and loves it, but Mike the guy at wholesales mocked me about how useless a .44 Rem Mag is when I asked him (he's a jack**s and I quote him on that).

CK
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I have had 3 rifles in .44 Mag. over the years and they were very effective on deer out to 100 yards.I owned 2 Marlin 1894's and a Ruger 44 carbine which was a semi-auto made in 1976( US bi-centenial). I shot both cast and jacketed bullets in all 3 rifles. The Marlin's were better with the jacketed bullets and I suspect that was due to the micro-groove barrels but the Ruger ate any thing I fed it .Groups at 100yds. varied from 1-1/2 " to 4" and the worst tended to be 200grn factory fodder.As far as the .44 goes as a hunting cartridge I wouldn't be scared of anything that roams north america provided you had the proper loads and know your and the cartridges limits.I bagged 7 whitetail.2 muledeer,1 antelope and countless coyotes,rabbits and gophers with my .44's. I don't care what any Jack A** says about any caliber,unless you have tried it and gave it an honest try, don't knock it. What ever cal. you use and puts game in the freezer has to be OK. As long as you are happy with it and interested in it, "GO FOR IT"...

As far as being useless I think most of the salesguys at Wholesale Sports rate #1 in the "Useless Catagory"
I have stated that opinion before and I won't back down until they get the message...
"SIR and CABELA'S" forever...
 
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Years ago I shot a big cow and a yearling with my 1894 marlin.The yearling dropped in its tracks and the cow went about 20 yds.This was at about 90 yds.I was supposed to be dogging/driving that day so its all I had with me.I WAS IMPRESSED!I dont know if I'd want to use it regularly in case a long shot presented itself.I was using Rem. 240 gr. soft points at the time.I've also shot 3 nuisance bears with the same and it messes them up real good!Great little gun,but its a kicker.
 
I know one fellow who uses a .44 Ruger as his go to general hunting rifle, and has taken both moose and elk with it. I think the usefulness of the light .44 magnum or .454/.45 Colt carbines as 50 yard and in guns cannot be overemphasized, although as range increases to 100 yards and farther the .30/30 gains the upper hand.

I don't think that the .44 is at its best with jacketed expanding bullets. IMHO, the velocity of the .44 makes bullet expansion questionable, so I would load heavy for caliber hard cast wide flat nose bullets. I very much like MT Chamber's 325 gr gas check WFN. These bullets are accurate, penetrate well, and create a good wound channel. You can check the performance of similar bullets on the Beartooth bullet web site.
 
HPIM0403-1.jpg


one shot Browning 92 in 44mag
 
I own a Marlin 94 in 44mag, and a Puma 92 44mag. I have hunted with both but never had the chance to kill with them. I would, however hunt pretty well anything in N.A. with a 44mag carbine. I hunt on foot and I like to get close to game, closer the better, just the way I like to hunt. For this type of hunting the 44 you mention is great, not for everyone, but some of us just like to hunt that way.
 
The .44 Rem Mag basically replicates muzzleloader velocities from 100 grain powder loads and since you would be shooting identical bullets in many cases (most .50 cal sabots are .44 cal bullets) you should be able to expect similar performance. Certainly cast bullets are well suited to these velocities as are some jacketed and semi jacketed bullets. I've seen exceptional results from semi-jacketed hollow-points in the .44 and muzzleloaders shooting similar velocities. There no reason the .44 mag can't be a great 0-150 yard gun. The biggest limiting factor of +100 yard shots will be your sights! There's certainly lots of energy to get the job done at 150 yards.
 
http://www.garrettcartridges.com/44mag.asp

Our alloy yields a bullet that is very hard, but will deform modestly when stressed beyond its inherent strength. Commonly, our 44 Magnum Hammerheads will shoot through broadside elk, even when the shoulders are engaged, or penetrate to the hips on frontally shot grizzly. They will also shoot lengthwise through heavy deer and boar, allowing bad-angle shots, as when the game is going away from the shooter.
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Sounds ok to me.;)
 
I would have no problem witha .44 mag at bush ranges, I had one but like many others, never had a chance to shoot anything with it.

My friend's father has one and has taken plenty of deer with it.

If I had one today (which I do plan to buy another someday) I would go with Hornady's LeverEvolution ammo... see here, third one down: https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_se...&category_id=8b70739d753dad434e4fa757c2cd5d80
 
bill c68 said:
If I had one today (which I do plan to buy another someday) I would go with Hornady's LeverEvolution ammo... see here, third one down: https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_se...&category_id=8b70739d753dad434e4fa757c2cd5d80
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All I have to say is if its a tubular magazine the LeverEvolution ammo would either Kill you or your gun and hurt you as you never load pointed ammo in as the nose is fitted against the cartridges primer in front. but in any other magazine I'd look at using them.

Hopefully someone in the gun clubs around here will have one and be willing to let me shoot it. I'm pretty open on my big game gun.
 
Actually the leverlevolution bullets are tipped with a special soft point that is designed by Hornady to be used in mag tubes.

So the regular issues of pointed bullets is not an issue with them so go ahead and use them.

My thoughts on a properly loaded 44mag rifle is that it has better killing power out to 150 yards than a 30-30 beyond that the 30-30's BC advantage helps retain it's energy far better resulting in better performance.
 
Ya, that's the whole point of the LeverEvolution ammo It is designed to be used in lever rifles with tube magazines. The bullets offer up a slightly better BC than their flat-nosed cousins and I've heard good things about their performance. I've shot them in several calibers but never into anything alive.
 
44 Mag...shotshell???

Crazy.kayaker said:
sweet. Has anyone heard about loading bird shot in to a .44 rem mag and if so would that turn your gun in to a .44 shotgun thus limiting you to only 3 rounds?
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I haven't seen any factory stuff around. I think some ammo companys used to offer snake loads in 38/357 and 44special/44mag but I think they would be pretty shaky for bird hunting. I have tried the .22 shotshell loads for sparrows in my barn and they are pretty safe at 8-10 feet away. I would have better luck with a handfull of gravel. You might have to check your game laws if using a .44 mag with bird shot. In Sask. we are limited to a .22 rifle or shotgun.A .44mag is technically a rifle so there could be a problem on feathered game and the local "WoodChucks" might not see the situation the way ordinary gun-nutz do...
 
My wife took her first deer, a small doe, last fall with her Ruger 96 in 44 Mag.
Deer running, went about twenty feet. Found pieces of the heart on the ground, from the offside where it was hit.
It was quite a moment, being as I was pushing the deer, and was only fifty yards away when she fired. (I was on top of a small ridge, well above her)
 
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