So who else loves hunting with the .44 mag?

Wrong Way

Wrong Way

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Just getting my gear all sorted, and it got me thinking....in the last 8 years I have had 11 different rifles in .44 mag :)

From a sweet Marlin trapper to a bolt M77 to a few ruger semi's, to my current sweetheart (Deerfield with a 1.5-6 VXIII), I keep going back to the .44 mag cartridge as my "go to" round for hunting up here. I've shot a bear at 119 yards...and others at 20 feet....they all went right down.

So who else is in the club?

WW
 
Wrong Way said:
Just getting my gear all sorted, and it got me thinking....in the last 8 years I have had 11 different rifles in .44 mag :)

From a sweet Marlin trapper to a bolt M77 to a few ruger semi's, to my current sweetheart (Deerfield with a 1.5-6 VXIII), I keep going back to the .44 mag cartridge as my "go to" round for hunting up here. I've shot a bear at 119 yards...and others at 20 feet....they all went right down.

So who else is in the club?

WW
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i'm in. ruger 96-44


96-44newstock2.jpg
 
Rifles in .44 Mag....

Have had a Ruger 77/44 and a Winchester 94 Legacy in .44 Mag.

Never thought much about hunting with that ctg though.

2007-10-27_091302_1aCoffee.gif

NAA.
 
mardig88 said:
In terms of stopping power what animals is the44 magnum good for and to what ranges?
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The 44 is an outstanding deer/black bear cartridge out to 150 yards or so. My personal furthest was 119 yards on a 350 lb black bear, and I wouldn't hesitate to push that out to the 150 mark.

I would even use my .44 as an elk/moose cartridge where long ranges don't come into play. Remember that the 44 mag out of a carbine or rifle is a totally different animal than when it's coming out of a revolver.
A 240 gr. bullet travelling at 1850 FPS is making about 1900 ft lbs of energy, and is still holding at about 1300 ft lbs at 100 yards. Couple that with a big .44 caliber hole, and it makes a great hunting round :)
 
Hmmm...this is all very interesting and somewhat encouraging stuff, as I'm considering a Marlin 1894 in 44mag for my son's 1st hunting rifle......
 
^^^^well, sorta....but not really. Sure on paper the figures are close, but on-game performance is night and day. The 44 makes a bigger hole going in than the 30-30 does going out, and that's BEFORE the 44 expands :) Also we are comparing 240+ grain bullets to those in the 150 class.

The other benefit to the 44's large frontal area is that it dumps a ton of energy into the animal real fast.
 
There's nothing that a .44 can't do......

........that a .45 can't do better!:p

I have a trapper in .45 Colt that's a great little thumper, fun, handy in the bush, and packs a good punch, plus you got 12 quick follow up shots if you need them.

Too bad we can't hunt with handguns here. With all the .44, .45, .475, .480, .500 revolvers it would make taking deer in the bush a lot of fun. Hoping to get my 5 1/2" Bisley to Texas someday for some feral hogs. I think that would be the closest to a Cape buff hunt you could get in N.A.
 
I shot my largest bear with a .44 mag. Marlin a few years back, a 325 gr. wfn gc hardcast bullet broke both shoulders and the bear never moved from the spot. That season the bears were easy to spot as they were hungry because of a bad berry crop and they were out of the bush looking for food.
 
I will probably do some hunting this fall with my 1894. Still waiting on my reloading dies (on order since Feb) so 240gr Winchester ammo is what its being fed. Hopefully I'll be able to slap some 270gr Speer gold dot ammo together and take a nice buck

great little cartridge in a lever

Cuttoff_Bute-Greer_Creek_May_09_047.jpg
 
Gunslinger said:
There's nothing that a .44 can't do......

........that a .45 can't do better!:p

I have a trapper in .45 Colt that's a great little thumper, fun, handy in the bush, and packs a good punch, plus you got 12 quick follow up shots if you need them......
Click to expand...

One of the guys at the range has a Puma stainless 16" barrel chambered in .454Casull. Now THAT would be a nice all 'rounder. .45LC for plinking or lighter hunting or loaded up with Casull for hunting some pretty big stuff out to medium ranges.
 
How's recoil in a 454. casull carbine?

I've been wanting to add another lever action shortish barrel to the safe for bush hunting/plinking for over a year now. Mostly close range bush work, lots more walking then stand hunting with the odd grass field or swampy area mixed in. Black bear, whitetail, and mostly calf moose (hope to see a adult moose tag sometime in my life thow) was thinking 357mag, 44mag, 45colt, never thought of .454 casull before but may be an option? I plan on reloading in future, but dont currently, and factory ammo would be an requirment for plinking and hunting. What do you guys figure is the best option, why?
 
I found that the .454Casull bumps a fair bit harder than a .30-30. But it's not as bad as a Hornady S&W 500 round out of my short barrel TC Encore. Also the Puma I was shooting with the Casull rounds had a hard butt plate. A dedicated hunting version of this rifle would be worth putting on a Limbsaver or similar. At that point it would still have lots of life to it but the recoil pad would tame the smack to the shoulder nicely.
 
I love to hunt the thick stuff with my 16" Marlin 1894. Mine loves 240gr.XTP's over a max charge of H110. I put a Williams peep on it and it's sub-2" at 100m when I do my part.
 
44 mag

I bought a Browning B-92 in 44 mag back in the early 80's and would not part with it for anything. Its been on many a pack trip and has weathered very well. I let a Ruger 77-44 slip through my hands a few years back and feel I shall live to regret this. Regards David.
 
Deerfield

Just picked up a beautiful 99/44. Looking forward to some practice before deer season.
Cheers
 
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