.44 Mag Rifle Ammo

[The_Armed_Therapist]

I own a Marlin 1894 chambered in .44 magnum and I'm about to stock up on some ammo. I'm no ammo expert. What kinds of things should I look for in .44 magnum with rifle performance in mind? I've read that .44 magnum is pretty unreliable past 250 yards or so--but I really don't even know if I should believe that one way or another.

So seeing as most .44 magnum shooting is done from revolvers, what ammo would be best to maximize performance from a scoped Marlin rifle?

 

[brnmuenchow]

"Buffalo Bore" Check out their website.

 

[Dr T]

Hornady loads a Leverevolution load for 44 Mag. I look at this load as a 150 yard deer round.

http://www.hornady.com/store/44-Mag/

 

[CraigC]

Where did you read that about 250yds???

The .44Mag will effectively kill critters way beyond the distances at which shooters can reliably place their shots. For most veteran shooters, that is 100yds for sixguns and 150yds for rifles.

Powders are selected for the cartridge/load. Not barrel length. So the loads that will reach peak velocity in handguns will also reach peak velocity in rifles.

 

[The_Armed_Therapist]

What I read said that .44 will drop heavily between 200 and 300 yards, as far as trajectory. In other words, it was saying that target shooting with a .44 beyond 250 yards is quite difficult.

 

[jamesjames]

I have a Marlin 1894ss in .44 magnum. I found mine didn't like the Remington 180 gr. maggies, but loves the Winchester white box 240 grainers (from Wally World).

Surprisingly, it loves the CCI .44 specials. shoots to same POA as the winchester maggies out to 100 yards.

So there you have plinking fodder, and a hunting/plinking round that should be available locally.

(In understand the Buffalo Bore 270 grainers are made especially for the 1 in 36 barrel twist of the Marlin. I haven't tried them yet, but they would make a dandy hunting round for Hogs or Deer).

 

[GBExpat]

My Marlin 1894 is very accurate with the cheap American Eagle and white box (Winchester?) 240gr loads.

Back when my eyes were much younger (early '90s), on 2 occasions I managed ~100yd headshots on woodchucks from a standing, no-rest position with this type of generic ammo (with an added Williams aperture sight) ... and a number of body shots that were well over 100 yards.

FWIW ...

 

[lonestardiver]

I use 240 - 250 grainers on top of win 296 or h110.
The bullets I use are 250 grain semi-jacketed flat points (Sierra if I recall).
Work great in a lever action and are a good pig or javalina thumper in the brush.