.44 magnum rifle
 

I have always hunted deer in a shotgun only zone, but they just opened it up to rifle hunting this year. I happen to have a sweet shooting .44 magnum winchester lever action rifle that is very accurate at 50 yards. Just curious if anyone hunts deer regularly with this caliber and how effective it is on deer within 50 yards? I originally bought it to shoot cans, jugs, paper, and bowling pins, but it is so light and fun to shoot, plus accurate, that I would love to take it out hunting. I imagine shot placement would be very important. By the way, Ido have a .270 so hunting with the .44 is not a must.

KEJ

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

I have a Ruger 96/44 mag that i have used for deer & black bear. Excellent round out to 100-125 yards. if you are able to consistantlyhit a 6"-8" circle at this distance the game will not go far if you do your job. Know your rifle and it will serve you. At 50 yards it is pure death if you hit the right spot.

Good Luck

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

My sister hunts with one. Ballistically, the .44 Mag from a rifle is good medicine for deer out to 100 yards. You said it's a good shooter out to 50 yards. I'd say if you can consistantly hit a pie plate out to 100 yards, don't be afraid to use it on a deer up to that distance. Good luck!!

EDIT: The italics part... I'm talking about numbers I've seen in the Shooter's Handbook. Most ammunition maintains over 1000 lbs of energy and decent trajectory out to 100 yards. I would guess there are some loads that do not.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

If people shoot .44 pistols and kill deer at 100 yards, then a rifle probably lengthens the range a bit. When the Handi-Rifle was introduced in 500 S&W the ballistics get much better, if you look at Remington.com they have ballistics for a .44 rifle/carbine I think.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

From all the numbers I have seen a modern slug gun or inline ML would be better than a 44 carbine. Not that it won't work, especially at 50 yards. If you want to use it I say go for it if you don't mind limiting your range. Sounds like it might be fun.

Myself I would take the .270, but that is just the kind of guy I am.

Paul

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

The terminal performance of the 44 mag on whitetails is super. If the gun shoots accurately 150 yards is not a problem as far as terminal performance goes. If you are concerned it is a little on the light side take a look at the CORBON ammo.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

I took a nice 8 pointer in 2002 with my Marlin lever 44, used 240 grain winchester white box. Pefect shot with pass through, bullet was logged in the front leg joint on exit, perfect mushroom. Shot was probally 30 yards. I think its a perfect cartridge, I would seem a slow moving heavy bullet would deflect less if it encountered a twig along its way to the target compared to a highspeed low weight projectile, but thats just a guess..

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

Chazy I am assumming that your from NYS and this is where the changed from shotgun to rifle took place for you. Ok, here is my take on the .44 mag in a rifle. I had a Ruger .44 (last model year 1986?) bought usedin 1992. It was a great short distance gun for me. I kept my shots w/i 75-80 yards andthe 3 deer I took with it dropped in their tracks. The farthest shot I took was about 110-115 yards. I did it cause thetrail the deer used that opening morning was further away than I anticipated. I decided to shoot the 4th deer that came thru since I did have a rock solid rest and it fell in its tracks. I had to give it a follow up shot as it wasn't dead when I reached it. I used 180 grain bullets not the 240 grain ones. My friend's dad had an original .44mag from the early 60's and he was quite happy with the gun. It's a great gun if you are walking and pushing heavy bush but if I was stand hunting and chances were good the shot would be over 100 yards I would stick with the .270 that you have in your possesion. I just traded away my .44 mag for a vexilar for ice fishing. The guy that wanted it still hunts up in 6P and to him it was the perfect gun once NYS changed from shotgun to rifle in that region. The original reason i purchased this gun was the lightweight and I assummed it would be good for a women if I ever got married(which still hasn't happened). I hope this helps you in deciding what to use next time out.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

My Ruger 96/44 mag delievers more felt recoil than than my bolt action 30.06. Light weight does not mean light recoil. Not a good choice for an unexperienced woman. Easy to carry doesn't = easy to shoot.

Best Wishes

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

Yeah,

I actually am from New York. My wife's family is in Oswego county where they just changed to rifle zone this year. I currently am in Clinton County which is a rifle zone, just the deer are few and far between. I usually hunt in 8J which is still a shotgun zone. As mentioned, I originally bought the winchester .44 just because it was a beautiful little gun that I felt I had to have.Ironically, I wound up buying a .44 mag encore pistol the next year. It wasn't my first choice in caliber, but there was a real shortage of Encores a few years back, andmy dealer happened to have the .44 in the display case. I figured if I ever hiked into the adirondacks, the pistol would be a little lighter. I shoot the 240 grain winchesters in both and get really good accuracy. Had planned to get a 7mm-08 barrel and use the encore in the southern zone, but haven't done it yet. Most shots back home are 75-100 yards, so I haven't reallybeen using my handgun to hunt (though that is why I bought the Encore). At list point I have only shot deer with shotguns, so it is nice to get feedback on this cartridge.

Thanks,
KEJ

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

I have a Ruger 99/44 Deerfield Carbine which is an autoloading 44mag. I love it. I get 4" groups with it out to 100yards. It has NO recoil to speak of because its an autoloader. Everything Ive shot with it didnt make a tract(up to 4 with it). Its not a cheap rifle by any means but it sure is fun.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

i love my ruger 96/44 lever. its so fun to shoot and very mild recoil. i put a bushnell banner 4x on it and it rocks to 100 yards. 240 or 300 grain hornady xtp-s

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

I had a hard time deciding on the Lever or the Auto. I actually think the lever looks better and its only around 350$(unless its changed). I just thought the auto looked like more fun but If I had it to do over would prob get the lever gun.
The biggest drawback of the auto is that you have to use the 240--250ish grn ammo to make the action work with no probs. I have tried to load the 180grns and the gun will not cycle through like it should. I also use the Hornady 240grn xtps and like the results.

I have the new Deerfield Carbine the 99\44 so Im not sure if the bullet weights make a difference in the older auto's.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

Yeh I love my deerfield too. Very fun gun, I have taken one deer with it, a doe running one chest shot one neck shot bang-bang. The neck shot purt her down like a rock. about 75 yard away. The first shot would have been fatal. The recoil is VERY light and the ruger rotary magazines are the best. I love the m14 looks.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

I havn't seen anyone mention the Henry 44 Mag?. I bought one last year mainly for target shooting but I'm a sucker for lever actions and I've always wanted to own a Goldenboy. It's a beautiful gun and it's fun to shoot,but I never considered hunting with this gun.

I've always hunted with a scope and never got comfortable shooting at long distance's with open sights.I'm sure it's fine for droppingdeer at 100yds or less, but I'll stick with my 270 and my scopes.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

I dont know about the Henry but I have a scope on my Deerfield. Itsa 3-9-40 Bushnell 3200.
Your right though about 100-120yrds is all I trust it to but in the woods here in WV thats usually more then enough distance.

Camp13 what ammo do you use in yours. I was using the Hornady Custom ammo with the 240grns xtps but I went ahead and started loading my own. I still use the 240grn xtps but thought aboutswitching tothe Nosler Partition 250's.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

Mostly winchester whitebox 240 grain. Put I am going to try some speer 270 gold dot next and then reload some of my own with some 265gr. hornady's.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

I shot almost a foot higher when I went to reloads then the factory rounds. Good luck with those loads.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

I have an "old" Ruger semi auto 44 mag., and it functions fine with 180 grain ammo.

Both dad and i have shot several deer with it useing both 180 and 240 grain ammo. With 240 grain factory loads i consider it to be a 100 yard or so, rifle. It's been a while since i've used it for hunting though.

Drilling Man

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

Thats awesome that the 180s work with it. I really was disappointed when I couldnt get my reloads to work with the 180s after many frustrations, I called Ruger and they explained what I was doing wrong.

I went with the 240s and have had no probs but your exactly right that now Im limited to right around 100 yards. I can keep them in a 6" circle at 120 but thats still no open terrain rifle.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

Personally i don't think 180's should be used on deer anyway... If i was useing this rifle all the time, i'd try the NP's in it, as i believe they would be the best all around bullet for a 44 rifle..

Drilling Man

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

Anyone use 210 gr. Win silvertips in there 44 rifle? How is the performance?

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

DM you think the 180s shouldnt be used on deer but in your last reply you said you and your dad shot many deer using both the 180s and 240s. So I take it he likes the 180s and you the 240s. I think the 180s are plenty for deer. Ive used them in my muzzleloader with no probs.
Im going to try out the 210grn Gold dots. Im just trying to get the least bullet drop so Im going for the lightest that will still let the action work correctly on the rifle.

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

Actually your assumption is wrong, and i'll repost the statement to clear it up.

Both my dad and i haveharvested several deer useing both 180 grain and 240 grain ammo. Both of us settled on the 240's for whitetails.

I personally settled on a "Keith" style lead bullet that i cast myself for my 44 revolvers, and i've harvested moose, white and blk tails ect. with it. I also used the same bullet and load for all ofthe competition shooting i did when i was competeing.

I'll add here, that if i was useing a 44 rifle forbig gametoday, i'd be trying the 250 Nosler partitions... (and i plan to do just that)

Drilling Man

RE: .44 magnum rifle
 

Gotcha, If I used my 44 on Big Game Id prob want more then the 240 also. Sadly whitetail is all I get to hunt with that gun.
I did get to kill a Bear with the 240 xtp but that was out of my Muzzleloader. Seemed to do the trick, poor thing didnt even get to the picanic basket that afternoon.