44 Mag or 45LC Handgun for Deer?

[Nalapombu]

Hey,

I wanted to ask and see what others thought about the best handgun caliber is for deer hunting. I am not a reloader yet so I have to rely on factory ammo. I know Buffalo Bore makes some heavy duty stuff in both calibers, but ehich one to choose?
On one hand if you choose the 45LC you could shoot cowboy loads for fun when you weren't hunting and possibly get a cylinder chambered in 45ACP for doing the same. With the 44 Mag you can back it down to 44 special to shoot for recreation, but I think that would get kinda expensive and uncomfortable after a while of shooting.
The same guns are available in both calibers, so that is not really a concern. Here in Ohio we can hunt with either one of them as long as the gun has a 5 inch barrel and the cartridge is a straight wall of caliber .357 or larger.
So what caliber do you all think is the best choice for hunting deer or maybe in the future going on a pig hunt? Remember, we all like multi-purpose guns.
Thanks for the insight.

Nala

 

[critter]

I have both and I don't think there is enough difference for deer hunting to matter. Comes down to personal choice. You have a good point on the .45 Colt with the wide variety of ammo available. OTOH, the .44 mag has a wide variety also AND will shoot the .44 specials!

Find a good gun at a good price that you like and can shoot well and either will serve your purposes wonderfully. Good luck.

 

[C.R.Sam]

Opinion

Agree with Critter...
Both very flexible and easy to load em nearly alike.

Comes down to personal druthers.

Sam

 

[JohnK]

I wanted to ask and see what others thought about the best handgun caliber is for deer hunting. I am not a reloader yet so I have to rely on factory ammo.

Easy answer, since you're not a reloader go with the 44. You can find, but not usually locally, heavy 45 Colt loads but pretty much every shop that sells ammo will have 44 Magnum loads appropriate for deer hunting.

Deer or hogs aren't going to know the difference between a properly loaded 44 and 45. 45 Colt ammo is going to be as expensive as 44 Special or 44 Magnum, if not more expensive, so you'll have to shoot 45 ACP to save money, which also means buying another cylinder, money that could have gone towards ammo instead.

 

[Ala Dan]

Hello! I concur with all the above, as both are excellent
calibers for deer.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[BigG]

I agree that either one is about the same except that you said you use factory ammo. The 44 Magnum is better available in factory loads. The recent cowboy "fad" has brought back 45 Colt but 44 Magnum has been available everywhere about 40 years. Big difference to me. YMMV

 

[dairycreek]

I have both, I do load, and I hunt deer!

Actually, with hot loads and appropriate bullets the 45 Colt can be loaded such that it provides better "numbers" than the 44 magnum. Given the extra bullet diameter of the 45 it has an appreciable edge in terminal performance. That is, it punches a bigger hole and that does count for something! If you are a "garden variety hunter" like me then the differences between the two is, IMHO, negligible. What I hunt with is a Ruger Redhawk in 44 magnum and, over the years, it has delivered the goods every time. Good shooting

 

[Sarge111]

Crunching the numbers...

is entertaining if you like math exercises- but I have killed deer with both, and seen near-identical results. I think if you hunted over-500 pound game exclusively with 300+ grain lead bullets, the .45 might begin to show a slight advantage. But I never took a slide rule or gun magazine off a dead deer, either.

Here's my take on the .44/.45 debate. I reload, so either is a viable option for me.

With decent (mostly "Ruger" to we of the working class) revolvers, you are still frequently going to find a .45 Colt that has chamber throats smaller than bore diameter. This is not conuctive to best accuracy, although some .45's so afflicted will shoot so well that you could never tell without a set of micrometers. The throat problem is neither hard nor expensive to correct. The gunmakers seem to have resolved this problem with their .44's a long time ago, and it's something you almost never hear about in that caliber. If you're not an accuracy buff it probably wouldn't matter to you anyhow.

The .44 Mags I have owned have been consistently accurate guns with bullets they like. I have not owned as many .45 Colts as .44 mags, so I make no statistical claims on this. I have had accurate .45's too, and a couple that weren't so hot. On one of them the cylinder was bored significantly off the 60-degree centers, and it wouldn't have shot worth a tinker's dam no matter what caliber it had been.

What you want is a good, straight revolver in either caliber. I like big D/A's, and I greatly prefer blue or nickeled guns. Stainless does not thrill my soul. I got on a monster-killer load kick (300+ @ 1350+fps) a few years ago, and beat a nice old 4" Model 29 S&W to death in about 500 rounds. I have since gone to a 5.5" blue Redhawk, which is only available in .44 magnum- so there you go. Nothing but personal preference at work here.

Well, that and a pipe dream. At some point I'd like to have a Remington Rolling Block, or maybe a 1885, rebarreled to .444 Marlin. With that cartridge you can load the same 300 grain bullets in your rifle loads, that you use in your revolver. You can't do that with a .45 Colt/.45-70.

But I guess you could do it with a rifle in .454, huh? Gee, I load a lot of .45 ACP so wouldn't it make sense to have all my guns able to use .452 bullets????

See- you can run yourself nuts with this stuff. Magazine publishers get fat off these arguments- but the deer don't know the difference. Buy a good revolver in either caliber and you'll do just fine. Take care-

 

[Tom C.]

.44 vs. .45

I have several of each, including a pair of Redhawks, one in .44 and one in .45. Not much to choose between the two. Mostly personal preference and local ammo availability for those who don't reload.
Pick your preference and then get into reloading for it.

 

[Hot brass]

I am not a reloader

I understand, get the 44 mag, when and if you start reloading you will have a very versitile gun. If you game in the lower 48, the animal will not know which cal hit it. 44mag/44spec, power and plinking in one package.

 

[444]

It has been said many times that if you are not a handloader, that the .44 Mag is the way to go. I am not so sure this argument holds water. For one thing, it is possible to buy hot factory loaded or semi-custom loaded ammo in .45 Colt. And it is easily possible to buy lightly loaded .45 Colt intended for the CAS crowd. If you are primarily a hunter, odds are you are not going to shoot enough hot hunting ammo to break the bank. You can shoot the cowboy loads for fun and to polish your skills and then order a few boxes of your chosen hunting load for a little pre-season practice.
I own a few .44s and one .45 Colt. I suppose if I could only own one it would be the Super Blackhawk in .44 Mag. But I really don't think it matters at all for a deer killer. In the end I think it will just be a matter of personal preference. I would look at both. When you find a particular model that seems right to you, buy it regardless of which caliber it is chambered for.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Both.

.44 Mag. is probably better if you don't reload, though.

Hunting fodder in .45 LC can be tough to come by.


Heh...

I should have read your message before I replied, 444.

Yeah, I think it does hold water, just from the "instant obtainability" standpoint in the .44's favor.

No offense, but I really don't view having to mail order your hunting ammo if you don't reload as a big plus. If anything, it's a neutral to a big negative.

 

[P95Carry]

I do reload but due to useage over time .44 mag is my choice. I know some hot .45's can be loaded just fine .... and IIRC could be shot thru a Cassull. I'd even choose that as my prime now since having one but have not practiced much yet..

However ... with good bullet choice and a safe hot load, the .44 does indeed get the job done ... using perhaps the tool below!

 

[444]

Well Mike, I can see it both ways.
I can't buy my hunting loads for either caliber anywhere that I know of. I am a big believer in cast bullets with as big of a meplat as I can get; LBT WFN being my idea of the best bullet out there.
Other than hunting, I don't shoot full house loads a whole lot. I shoot middle of the road cast bullet loads more often than not. In .45 Colt, loads like this are readily available for general use; plinking, varmint shooting, bullseye work. If I did have to mail order my hunting ammo, I could easily get by with a couple hundred rounds a year. I wouldn't have a big problem with mail ordering that once a year.
I couldn't make a choice like this. I would have to have both.

 

[Art Eatman]

Seems to me that once again it shows that for a multi-purpose use where somebody wants to do more than occasional shooting, reloading is nearly a necessity. Besides, it beats watching Prime Time and it keeps you out of the beer joints...

, Art