How would you rate the difference between 357 and 44 in carbines gents? Is the 44 a marked step up to take a larger class of animals?
How do you manage the trajectory at 250 yards with a 44 mag?
What rifle are you using the 44 mag in? Never heard anyone shooting 250 on deer with pistol cals is all.
Most people wanting to shoot farther than 50-75 yards don’t choose revolver cartridge carbines. Most people choosing revolver cartridge carbines don’t choose to shoot more than 50-75 yards. Those preferences don’t mean much in terms of actual performance for the rounds or rifles.
I shoot Marlin leverguns. Find a load which holds sub-2moa and 250yrds is just a matter of dialing for trajectory, and giving yourself sufficient support when it counts.
Check out what Ernie Bishop, @xphunter, does with revolvers - not even revolver cartridge carbines, but revolvers. I’ve been working for several years to achieve a 250yrd capable deer hunting revolver, and Ernie clears that bar in street shoes. With a 357mag, no less.
How do you manage the trajectory at 250 yards with a 44 mag? I use a 357 mag and find the precision and trajectory is making things challenging by 150 yards. I shoot a 158xtp about 1900fps, I think 1.75:" high at 50, drops about 4" at 150, something like 22" drop at 200 and must be several feet by 250..
I don’t know why the 357 mag Rossi’s are always selling for $200-$300 more than 44 mag Rossis on GB.
I have a marlin 44 mag with a fixed leupold 4x scope zeroed at 100yds half way down the thin crosshair is 150yd hold and where the heavy duplex meets the thin crosshair is dead on at 200yd ..this rifle will go shoulder to shoulder on a whitetail at 200 and hit in a 6 " circle all day not impressive but capable deer round for an occasional longer shot here in the eastern hardwoodsMost people wanting to shoot farther than 50-75 yards don’t choose revolver cartridge carbines. Most people choosing revolver cartridge carbines don’t choose to shoot more than 50-75 yards. Those preferences don’t mean much in terms of actual performance for the rounds or rifles.
I shoot Marlin leverguns. Find a load which holds sub-2moa and 250yrds is just a matter of dialing for trajectory, and giving yourself sufficient support when it counts.
Check out what Ernie Bishop, @xphunter, does with revolvers - not even revolver cartridge carbines, but revolvers. I’ve been working for several years to achieve a 250yrd capable deer hunting revolver, and Ernie clears that bar in street shoes. With a 357mag, no less.
Forget the negative posts above, you manage long range shooting with handgun cartridges the same way BB silhouette shooters have done for over 40 years - by knowing your sights, the caliber’s trajectory and the range. Thousands of handgunners hit small targets out to 220 yards that way. Using a rifle - with its flatter trajectory and higher field accuracy potential, would be easier.
Does that make it “easy”? No, but under the right conditions it is certainly doable. One way to help in the field is to not sight in for short range, like the OP does. Sighting in like you would a long range rifle cartridge - 3” high at 100 yards - helps “flatten” the apparent trajectory, but at 250 you would need to know the range and bullet drop well. Sights? I’d use a scope if I wanted to do that. Actually I’ve done it with similar trajectories, a .45-70 with a 300-grain bullet at 225 yards with a MV of 2000 fps. Sighted 3” high at 100 yards it dropped about 10” at 225. Dead deer.
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How do you manage the trajectory at 250 yards with a 44 mag? I use a 357 mag and find the precision and trajectory is making things challenging by 150 yards. I shoot a 158xtp about 1900fps, I think 1.75:" high at 50, drops about 4" at 150, something like 22" drop at 200 and must be several feet by 250..
By using a .44 Magnum carbine at 100 yards or so or less. The 250 yards is a stretch for (deer) killing power at 250 yards even for the .30-30 and well past would I would use a .44 Magnum carbine for when hunting.
3C
How would you rate the difference between 357 and 44 in carbines gents? Is the 44 a marked step up to take a larger class of animals?
They say it’s easier to shoot cast in the Rossi .357 vs the .44, something about the bore/groove diameter or twist rate.
Personally I’d rather have a .38/.357 carbine because if it needs to be bigger than that…. I may as well grab the .30-30 or some other rifle caliber. But if I had a .44 mag revolver I might well feel differently.
Paul Harrell did a 44 mag vs 30-30 carbine comparison and it was compelling. At the height of the pandemic when 30-30 was selling for $3/round I got myself a Rossi R92 20 bbl in 44 mag, for around $600. Drilled in $10 sling swivels. Found a $9 leather sling and $20 Marble bullseye peep sight. I have yet to hunt with it though on paper it seems like a good truck gun / eastern black bear defense gun to carry while deer hunting.
Now with 44 mag and 44 Spl selling for under 90 cents it’s the most budget friendly wood stock & blued carbine in my arsenal. I don’t know why the 357 mag Rossi’s are always selling for $200-$300 more than 44 mag Rossis on GB.
Assuming you can actually hit what your shooting at, at 250 yard 44 Mag from a carbine is still carrying a fair bit of energy at that range. A 240gr HP bullet launched at 1700 fps from a carbine (my 16-inch Rossi will push 240gr XTPs to this velocity with H110) results in a bit over 600 ft-lbs of kinetic energy (nearly 1100 fps) at 250 yards. 600 ft-lbs is more than the muzzle energy of many 357 magnum factory loads from a revolver. Again if you can reliably hit your target at 250 yards then 44 Magnum still brings sufficient terminal ballistics IMHO. I have killed several deer with very similar energy on target.
I have not doubt I would miss a deer at 250 yards with mine but my is a 16 inch gun with factory semi-buck horn sights. I would stretch mine to 100 maybe 120 but then again on the property I hunt with only a few exceptions 120 yards is a long shot.
I was thinking from a practical point, being able to hit where you want reliably. But still, many consider 1,000 FPE the minimum for ethically taking deer sized game. But, yes, there is much more to it and the devil is in the details.
3C
How do you manage the trajectory at 250 yards with a 44 mag?