44 mag for deer
 

anyone out there ever use a 44 mag carbine for deer hunting ? I recently bought a ruger deerfield 44 mag carbine that is just plain fun to shoot and very accurate to boot , my question is , what kind of loads would be leathal deer killers to 100 yds. I do handload but have never used this caliber to deer hunt .

RE: 44 mag for deer
 

I had one and used the hornady xtp bullets in it . I never used it on deer but my son did and I figure he must have liked it because he never did bring the gun back . He did say it worked great on the one he shot with it. If you compare loads in most handbooks they are the same for pistols or rifles they just list different velocities because of the different barrel lenghths . I had the 1894 marlin .

RE: 44 mag for deer
 

Not sure if they are still available, but Speer Gold Dot would be my choice. I used to use those in my 357 pistol and if the 44 is anything like the 357 load, I am sure they would deliver very satisfying results.

david

44 mag hunter
 

I used a 44 mag as a deer gun. it works great for short shots with leverrevolution ammo. drops them on the spot.

44 Magnum
 

The 44 magnum is an excellent round-especially in a rifle.

I prefer a cast bullet in the 240 grain weight pill. Not sure how the Ruger will react with cast, but any quality 240 jacketed bullet will work. You need to remember that with minimal expansion in any bullet you will have a 1/2 inch hole.

Personally I see no reason to limit yourself to short shots. IMO the 44 magnum is limited in distance by the shooter, not the cartridge.

I have several rifles in 44 magnum and 45 Colt. I can accurately and confidently shoot both cartridges out to 200 yards with no problem. However I shoot these rifles all the time, not one time a year for sighting in. And I cast my own bullets for these rifles so I can shoot approximatley 1,000 rounds for about $100 bucks. Tom.

The original poster needs to stay with jacketed ammo-his deerfield is gas operated (direct mini 14 design) and the gas port will fill up with lead fouling. I have some of the original .44 carbines and jacketed bullets is required unless you want to be spending time cleaning the gas port/piston. As to the question, the .44 mag with plain ol 240 gr sp or jhp bullets will do a GREAT job within 100 yards.

I use a .45 Colt lever gun. But I buy buffalo bore ammo loaded to specs that mimic the .44 mag. So it shouldn't be much different.

I use a 310 gr cast bullet. Works just fine. That heavy of a bullet does limit it's range a little though.

I've shot deer with .308, 30/06, 30/30, 45/70, 12 Ga slugs and 54 and 50 cal muzzleloaders. All were within or just at 100 yds, and could not have been taken as easily with a 44 Mag.

Most 44 mag loads are flat enough to 150 yds. If you sight in 2 inches high at 50, zero is at 125, and you'll be about 3 to 3.5 inches low at 150.

Did you say that wrong? Kinda sounds like you meant to say that they could have just as easily been taken with a 44 mag. If you're saying that the 44 mag could not of done it, I gotta disagree.

Yeah, that's a typo. The 44 would have done the job as well as the others.

I would love to try out a Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag for deer hunting...of course, I would also enjoy trying out my brother's father-in-laws Winchester lever action .45 LC.

I would equip the Marlin with a compact scope (since the entire rifle is only 36" long or so...look wierd with the scope sticking out past the barrel...LOL) and quick release rings, so that the open sights could be quickly available...

Most ML sabots are .44 caliber slugs, so I would imagine that you would get similar performance (my experience has been very positive).

I wish more people could realize what a great deer rifle a 44mag really is. Most all Ive seen are really short, light, and easy to handle and deadly on deer out to 100+ yds. My boss uses a marlim 1894 cowboy in 45lc for woods stalking and has dropped quite a few deer while I was around. A 44mag has a slight egde over a 45lc so there ya go. :) Ive been thinking about the cowboy myself to compliment my 1895 cb in 45-70. :)

Based on the wealth of experience on the blackpowder forum with many guys using .44 mag bullets in their muzzys, I'd recommend a jacketed hollow point in the 240 grain range. The 2 that seem to be the most popular and most effective are the Hornady XTP and the Speer Gold Dot. Either one would make a fine choice.

Ihave used a 44 mag frequently for deer in my Ruger superrehawk and TC both in Ohio and Pa. I have found that Speer gold dot 270 grnsp and Hornady 300XTP shoot terrific. in factory. I also handload speer 270GDsp H110 21 grns and at 100 yds of the bench i can shoot 2 in grps consistently and have shot some nice deer in Ohio with it, It seem my guns prefer the heavier load but you cant go wrong with 240GDSP.

Killed my first Whitetail with one about 27 years ago- remember it like it was yesterday. Small 8 pt that seemed like a BOONER at the time! Shot him with an XTP 240 and didn't have to follow- watched him go down. It will get the job done.

I hunt with one and its some pretty simple math... Big bullets+Shorter shots (100 yds and in) = dead deer. Get 'er sighted in and you should be good.

The deer that I shot with my 44 mag levergun was a bang flop at about 50 yards. What I liked about it was that there was very little wasted meat. The size of the bullet combined with a very moderate rate of speed just doesn't blood shot the meat like a real fast moving round does. Accuracy is acceptable and you will want to practice at different distances to get a feel for how the bullet reacts. I used a 240gr Winchester platinum tip bullet for the deer that I shot with my 44. They are also a very fun gun to shoot and load for.

The 44 is a must have deer rifle. Wouldn't part with mine.