HuntingNet.com Forums - View Single Post - ammo for a .44 mag
View Single Post
Old 11-07-2011, 01:24 PM
  #8  
Nomercy448
Nontypical Buck
 
Nomercy448's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,898
Default

Originally Posted by fritz1
I have been wandering how those Hornady Leverolution 44's would shoot. When I bought my latest 45-70 Marlin Guide gun, I bought a box just to try them, they shot great, especially for factory loads. I guess I will have to buy a box of 44's and try them. I wasnt sure wether the overall length would be to long to work in a revolver.
I had the same concern. They're a bit longer than the 240grn PMC's. I measured mine out to 1.6550", with a rim thickness of 0.0550", so they run about 1.6000" in the cylinder. My SBH has a cylinder depth of 1.705", so I have plenty of clearance. The bullet shoulder starts farther back than most handgun bullets so even with the tapered tip, they still aren't THAT long (guessing that's why they're a 225grn rather than a 240grn). They feed BEAUTIFULLY in my Marlin 1894's as well (much longer taper than my normal .44mags and slightly less "free carry" travel before the tip enters the chamber mouth).

I also picked up some of the FTX .45-70's for my guide gun. My first impression with the Leverevolution ammo (not FTX I don't believe) was .45-70's on the first go round when they were introduced. I had pretty poor weight retention, so I passed. Now that it seems the weight retention issues are resolved, I'm finding myself hard pressed to justify any other bullet, although like for the .44mags, I DO intend to reload FTX's to get the most velocity out of them, rather than relying on factory ammo.

When they first came out, I really didn't want to buy all of the hype, but it's pretty hard to argue with the real world results!
Nomercy448 is offline