what load can a puma 44 mag lever handle

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nova_scotian_guy

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so im getting a puma 44 mag lever and plan on using it for "plinking" but am thinking of taking it deer hunting this year ( this side of 75 yards) i am wondering should i use 240 grains for plinking and 300 grains for hunting what i am wondering is a 300 grain projectils too much for this gun or could it handle 300s light loads and 240 hot loads all day and 300 grain hot loads for hunting or stay away from 300s all together???
 
If it's rated for 44 magnum then it can handle full power 44 magnum loads. A max load with a 300gr bullet will produce essentially the same pressure as the a max load with a 240gr bullet or even a 200gr bullet. Load "power" (usually) maxes out at the maximum SAAMI pressure for a given cartridge. For 44 mag that is 36,000psi regardless of bullet weight. If the firearm was only stamped 44 special then it is not necessarily designed to handle 44 magnum pressures. A handloader can reach 44 magnum pressures in a 44 special case and fire it in a 44 magnum rated gun but if it's accidentally chambered in a weaker built 44 special gun it could blow up.

There aren't any double or triple standards for 44 magnum like there are for, say, 45-70 as the 44 mag was designed in the 50's with smokeless powder. A full power 44 magnum load is a full power 44 magnum load.
 
Read about the Rossi "torture test" everyday the staff would fire a few full house loads through it" as many as they were comfortable shooting" at 3k rounds they pulled it apart, and measured it all up no change in headspace or damage to the rifle. As long as your 300's are accurate I would think you are fine. if not they have speer 270's
 
I currently own a Rossi Puma and an IMI Timberwolf in 44 mag, they both seem to perform better with the hotter loads, I have downloaded them for plinking and accuracy goes away. One issue with different bullet configurations and weights is they don't always cycle because the OAL increases. I have some rounds that cycle in one but not the other.
 
Ganderite said:
I have seen a Ruger carbine in 44 used on deer. The 240 HP were excellent. half of them went out the other side. I don't think you need 300 gr bullets for good penetration.
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Hornady says the 240gr are too light for thin skinned large game and 300gr should be used. Why they would say that makes no sense to me though.
 
I once loaded up some 300gr LSWCs ahead of a max charge of 2400 because I thought they would be fun to shoot out of my Model 29: they weren't as much fun as I thought, and so they sat unloved for some time until I picked up a Puma carbine in .44Mag. The Only thing the Puma didn't like about them was OAL: they were a bit too long to feed and got hung up on the feed ramp and chamber area. This was most unfortunate as after firing them one at a time, I found it was a very accurate load for that little carbine.
 
My brothers 92 loves 240 gr bullets behind 296.

Powder WW 296 Weight in Grains 21.7
Bullet Canadian BDX Weight in Grains 240
Primer Fed 155 LPM Loaded OAL 1.585
Case Various once fired
 
Chuckbuster said:
I once loaded up some 300gr LSWCs ahead of a max charge of 2400 because I thought they would be fun to shoot out of my Model 29: they weren't as much fun as I thought, and so they sat unloved for some time until I picked up a Puma carbine in .44Mag. The Only thing the Puma didn't like about them was OAL: they were a bit too long to feed and got hung up on the feed ramp and chamber area. This was most unfortunate as after firing them one at a time, I found it was a very accurate load for that little carbine.
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CB you might be able to tune the action a bit to work with that load.....here's a quote from a post on THR where a guy was having some feed issues and his solution!
I got this little Rossi 92 carbine in 45LC on a trade and was excited and all being it was the first lever gun I'd ever owned. The guy I got it from said the lever had to be worked firmly to get the cartridges to chamber. Well I worked it hard and maybe half the rounds would chamber. We're talking round nose lead cowboy loads and a mixture of handloads with 250gr XTP bullets. Both seemed to be equally hard to chamber. I was having to go beyond firm and nearly thought I was going to break something. It was unusable for my wife and she handed it back to me after a couple shots with a disapproving frown.


So I started looking closely at what might be hanging up and I was convinced the carrier was pointing the bullet nose too high during chambering. I thought the bullet was binding on the top of the chamber as it loaded. It turns out that was not the problem. I made a couple dummy rounds and cycled the action slowly while looking at it under a bright light. Immediately I saw how the cartridge head was having a hard time riding up over the rear cartridge guides. The brass is supposed to ride the guides as it moves forward and the rear gets lifted upwards into a horizontal position so it goes straight into the chamber.


The angle of the cartridge guides were a tad too steep there was where the brass was binding. I took a half round jewelers file and started reducing the angle of both the left and right guides right at the top. Going very very slow I started filing a little bit off each side and then testing with the dummy rounds. Within 10 min there was a definite improvement. Within 20 min I could cycle the action normally. I can even cycle blunt nose lead bullets without any issues. Can't wait to load up a new batch of 45LC and go kill some soda cans.
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