44 mag rifle. Single shot, lever, or bolt action?

[adcoch1]

Been wanting another 44 mag rifle to replace the rossi lever I let go of, and when perusing the gunstore today I saw a new stainless ruger m77/44 with a synthetic stock. It was so light and nimble, it made me miss my rossi levergun. It got me thinking, which action is best for the 44 mag in a rifle? Single shot? Lever, or a bolt gun?

 

[gotboostvr]

Big fan of a handy 44mag lever gun.

Been using mine to put venison in the freezer for a few years.

240gr XTP over a stout charge of IMR4227 is all it ever gets fed and it eats it up.

 

[adcoch1]

Big fan of a handy 44mag lever gun.

Been using mine to put venison in the freezer for a few years.

240gr XTP over a stout charge of IMR4227 is all it ever gets fed and it eats it up.

Other than the red dot it looks just like my old one. Never should of sold it, but it wouldn't cycle the load I wanted to run in it. Or shoot my plinker loads better than a pattern. Might have been the semi buckhorn sight...

 

[LoonWulf]

Personally I'd like a 77/44......

That said IMO the lever gun is the "proper" place for a .44 magnum, perhaps it's tradition, or perhaps it's just my desire for another PC lever, but that's where I see it.

 

[Dinosaur1]

Had several 77/44's and none of them would shoot as well as I wanted them to. Got rid of them. Got an old microgroove Marlin 94 and it holds mostly minute of paper plate at 100. The pattern kinda wanders. Currently playing with XTP over 23 of h110. If anyone has a better load I'd try it.

 

[Crosshair]

I'm a fan of the 77/44.

 

[Hookeye]

I like the Ruger auto, but w the sporter ( fingergroove ) stock.

IMI made a pump, Timberwolf, aint seen one for a while.

Always thought a little double rifle in .44 would be cool in the timber

 

[lemaymiami]

Me.. what I'd like to see is a new semi-auto carbine in 44 mag... Not an impossible dream since Ruger built and sold one - but I won't be holding my breath until a new one comes out... Same goes for a 44 mag in a pump action carbine - same story (although if the Israelis did it once they're fully capable of another one... theirs was from IMI I believe..). At pistol ranges... I much prefer a carbine.

 

[Hookeye]

Had a Marlin, new in 2008.
Hornady 240 gr ammo did 2" or less at 100 w just a 5x scope.
Alas.....im not a lever gun fan.
But I did think that entirely decent, only thing I did was work the action a gazillion times to slick it up.

 

[Dinosaur1]

One time I bought 3 brand new 77/44s. You should have heard my wife. Anyways, scoped them, cleaned them and got a truck load of various ammo and figured I would keep the most accurate one for myself and let my relatives use the others when they came to hunt. A couple of friends also had them. They are all gone now. All had the same problem, a kind of wandering zero if you will. I’ve had my old 1894 Marlin around several decades and my kid wants it so I won’t sell it. I’ve taken deer with it but it’s not a target weapon by any means.

 

[jmorris]

Most of my 44’s are wheel guns but I do have a single shot break open one and a lever action one MachIVshooter traded me a year ago next month. Reminds me I need to go see my FFL buddy and pick it up.

 

[coonbait]

have a winchester 1894, put a 2x7 nikon scope on it and with a hornady ftx bullet and a stiff load of 2400 i get 3 inch groups at 100 yds, this load is on par to a 30-30 out to about 150 yds

 

[natman]

Other than the red dot it looks just like my old one. Never should of sold it, but it wouldn't cycle the load I wanted to run in it. Or shoot my plinker loads better than a pattern. Might have been the semi buckhorn sight...

Might have been because it was a Rossi. I had a 92 in 357. The action was stiff and the "oil finish" stock looked like it had been soaked in used motor oil. So I set about improving it. I refinished the stock. I polished and smoothed the action, which involved assembly and reassembly of the action many times, not a fun task on a 92. Finally it looked great and operated smoothly. Proud of my "new" gun, I took it to the range. Where I found that if you aimed carefully, you could get all the shots on the paper at 25 yards.

I learned two lessons that have served me well ever since: First, always shoot a gun before you put a bunch of work into it. Second, never buy another Rossi.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Rossi 92 or Henry Big Boy for a lever
H&R/New England for a single shot.

I am unsure why 44 or 357 bolt guns exist but they will get the job done too.

My vote is for a lever action if only because it pairs well with a revolver. 44 rifles in general have spotty accuracy. .431 SAAMI bore diameters only exacerbate this.

After a many years long love affair with .44 (.429-.431 actual bore diameter) Which included revolvers, a 445 Super mag, 444 Marlin, and 44 rifles, I ditched it for the inconsistencies between handgun and rifle and the limited bullet selection for faster speed rounds like the 444 and the 444 Short and 44-06 I was working on wildcatting.

Threw it all in the bin in favor of the many and already extant 45 cal offerings such as 45 Colt, 450 Bushmaster, 454 Casull, and 460 S&W. Just worked out better for me.

 

[NorthBorder]

Those Henry single shots look pretty good. Anyone try one yet?

 

[Koroner]

I have 2 Marlin lever action rifles. The shorter "Guide's Gun" I keep open sights and use in conjunction with my Super Blackhawk, but it is a brush and forest gun with its limited range.
I put a Weaver wide field 3 power on the longer barreled one, but still don't use it beyond 100m.
I often load one round of .44 mag followed by .44 special for the rest. I don't have to count my shots because that Big Bang tells me I'm dry.

I also have a .44 mag Contender barrel with a 2 power thats pretty good on steel targets.

 

[Meeks36]

For hunting I prefer a single shot. For range time maybe home defense the lever shine's. Just my two cents. What ever yiu decide on pls post pictures. We love seeing new toy's.

 

[adcoch1]

Rossi 92 or Henry Big Boy for a lever
H&R/New England for a single shot.

I am unsure why 44 or 357 bolt guns exist but they will get the job done too.

My vote is for a lever action if only because it pairs well with a revolver. 44 rifles in general have spotty accuracy. .431 SAAMI bore diameters only exacerbate this.

After a many years long love affair with .44 (.429-.431 actual bore diameter) Which included revolvers, a 445 Super mag, 444 Marlin, and 44 rifles, I ditched it for the inconsistencies between handgun and rifle and the limited bullet selection for faster speed rounds like the 444 and the 444 Short and 44-06 I was working on wildcatting.

Threw it all in the bin in favor of the many and already extant 45 cal offerings such as 45 Colt, 450 Bushmaster, 454 Casull, and 460 S&W. Just worked out better for me.

As a side note you might need to tell me about your 44-06 wildcat, been playing with that idea myself...

 

[adcoch1]

So this same shop has a 44 ruger semi auto as well on the used rack. I had the mag fed version a long time ago, but also didn't like the fact that it fed ONE bullet type. I may revisit one of these 44 rifles again, but semi auto is flat last on the list.

Anybody ever try a true .429 bore rifle barrel? Maybe in a contender or something? Really curious if anyone has ever gotten good accuracy out of a 44 mag rifle... As Townsend Whelen said, only accurate rifles are interesting.

 

[Legionnaire]

I have owned, in order, a Marlin 1894 in .44 mag, a Ruger 77/44, another Marlin, and a Henry Single Shot. The others are gone and I plan to keep the Henry. YMMV.

 

[DaStray]

Always been a fan of leverguns so my vote was cast there.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Only experience I have is with Marlin 1894 pre 2009 44. Only thing to keep an eye on is evidence of blow back caused by lack of complete bolt in battery. I just today noticed the bolt on mine had an aft missmatch of about .025 when in battery and could move the bolt fwd by hand. Considering it has no more than 100 rnds through it I expect someone I let shoot it put too much pressure on the lever or the lever was just a tad out of sorts from original. A quick gentle spreading at the trigger area fixed it. Had similar issue on a 357 years ago, same fix.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Ruger 96/44 is the handiest rifle i've ever held or shot. Not super accurate, but accurate enough for a working gun. The 99/44 Deerfield carbine is equally as handy but you said no semi-auto.

 

[Rembrandt]

I like any of the .44 rifle actions, but when it came time to outfit several grand kids for deer season, couldn't afford to get them all lever actions. Went with CVA single shots...about $200 each. Bought four of them, shotgun slugs beat the kids up whereas the .44 was much tamer.

 

[Obturation]

An advantage the 77/44 is that it should feed a wider range of bullet profiles and cartridge lengths better than a lever action, but capacity will be lower. The bolt action is simple and likely stronger with less parts . I love lever actions but i like ruger 77s too.