44mag deer hunting range?

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You absolutely want a pass-thru shoot!
Why you ask? Because no pass thru you may not be able to find any blood to trail, if it's not a bang-flop.
This deer left no blood trail, or any blood in it's final bed, even though his left shoulder was pulverized, his lungs were jelly and he had a big gapeing wedge taken out of his heart. Had it not been for all the standing water (1-3 inches deep) so I could track his hove prints by way of the muddy spots, I might have convinced myself I missed. He was shot at 10 yards, and went 40 more before he expired.
Oh well, I tried to post his picture but evidently I used it in another post, and the software won't provide a link, or allow it's re-use.
STW
 
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an old neighbor of mine loves the 44mag round. has a few firearms chambered in it, his current go to is a freedom arms 8 3/4 barreled pistol(hes a big pistol hunter) he hunts out to 250yds depending on the game up here in Alaska. he tailors his rounds to about the 14-1500 range I believe with a hard cast 280-310 range bullet.
Practice with your gun. that's the biggest thing right there. know where it shoots.

if you don't know where your newest 338 win mag is shooting and you wound game, its on you. gun(what your flavor/caliber) doesn't matter if you place the round within its limitations well.
 
I took my deer last year with a Handi in .44 mg at right around 100 yards, using iron sights. I would have been comfortable out to about 150 with my gun.
 
I'm sure I'll take a lot of flaming for presenting a dissenting opinion, but based on my own experience hunting with 44mag rifles - you'll have a lot more trouble connecting with the vitals of a deer at ranges a lot closer than the 44mag will have killing it.

I'm a bit of an 1894 "accumulator," I've had a handful which were 1.5-2MOA rifles, and I have been hunting with the 1894 since I was 7yrs old. I have generally had trouble managing the 44mag's arching trajectory with iron sights anywhere past ~150-175yrds, so I most typically use a scope. Connecting at 250yrds is about as far as I can ensure even with a scope.

I've taken handfulls of deer with 44mag 1894 carbines, anywhere from ~20ft to just under 200yrds, with a majority in the 100-150yrd ball park. Anything closer than that, and I tend to pull out my belt gun.

Folks who know me from other boards around online know my opinion of the 357mag for deer, as I've never been shy about offering it. The .44mag will punch deeper and harder at 100yrds than the .357mag does straight from the muzzle. Pass through's are great - no denying two leaks are better than one - but thousands upon thousands of game animals are killed every year without an exit wound, and millions upon millions of game animals have been taken through history CLEANLY without an exit.

In a revolver, I've taken deer with the 44mag past 150yrds on multiple occasions as well. Past 150, the trajectory with a handgun becomes very difficult to manage, even with a scope. These are very specialty sets with the intention of making supported shots with a scoped revolver, but the deer go down just as easily as if I'd hit them at 50yrds. In a rifle, I gain nearly another 100yrds before the trajectory becomes unmanageable.
 
Jason_W said:
I don't think anyone is asserting it should be done, mostly that the bullet is packing enough punch to kill a deer at that range.
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How many people do you think can hit a garbage can with a 44 mag revolver at 600 yards with 20' of bullet drop and 6' of wind drift on a normal day?

Who's shooting deer at 600 yds anyway, even with a rifle?
 
For all you that believe a 44 mag revolver can be used effectively at 600 yds.
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Not sure which side of the argument you're trying to prove, but the link you provided looks pretty convincing that a 44 could in fact be effective at 600. The chart only goes to 500, but still shows a 340 gr bullet over 900 fps. That'll take any deer it hits. That is WAY more than a 45 ACP at the muzzle.

As far as hitting a deer at 600, I wouldn't attempt it at 60 yards. But Elmer Keith worked and regularly practiced at those ranges. It wasn't his first attempt at long range handgun shooting and he had a pretty good idea how much hold over was needed. But even he conceded there was an element of luck and never advocated anyone attempt to duplicate it. He'd have never attempted the shot had there been any other option.

The point is that a 44 will kill deer much farther than most of us can shoot. Thanks for providing a link that proved that.
 
ohihunter2014 said:
100% of the time I'm sitting in a tree stand with a shooting rail or off sticks. I'm a pretty proficient shot. accuracy isn't my issue its making sure its got enough power for the longer shots. ive yet to shoot a deer past 125yards but ya never know.
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Well now you know the .44, especially from a rifle, does have the power.

Put a target up and find YOUR maximum accurate range.

Deaf
 
.
I've a 20" barreled 1892 in .44 mag. I've not hunted with it, but shooting Fed's Am Eagle 240 gr JSP to steel plates at 110 yds, the round shoots so flat and hits so hard that I was amazed. I now have a press, dies, brass, powder, primers and pills... looking forward to rolling my own (and I've been loading .41 for a Blackhawk).


...his current go to is a freedom arms 8 3/4 barreled pistol(hes a big pistol hunter) he hunts out to 250yds depending on the game up here in Alaska. he tailors his rounds to about the 14-1500 range I believe with a hard cast 280-310 range bullet.
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Ho-lee Toledo! Ohio! that sounds like a load. Elmer would've liked this feller!

:)
 
Not sure which side of the argument you're trying to prove, but the link you provided looks pretty convincing that a 44 could in fact be effective at 600. The chart only goes to 500, but still shows a 340 gr bullet over 900 fps. That'll take any deer it hits. That is WAY more than a 45 ACP at the muzzle.
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I don't think I ever said that the 44 mag didn't have enough energy to kill a deer at 600 yards. I just find it incredible that anyone would try to do it. I shoot a 357 mag (both rifle and revolver) enough to know whats going on here. The 44 has about the same trajectory as a 357. 200 yds is about the maximum range of either without a lot of guessing and even more luck. I can hit a pie plate at 200 yards consistently with my 357/77 but it's a rifle with a good scope, not a revolver, and I reload my own ammo. I can do the same thing with a revolver (no scope) at 100 yards.

Sorry, just not believing that 600 yrd story. I would have to see it to believe it.
 
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I've hunted for quite a few years with the .44 Magnum and I've taken several deer along the way. Ballistically, the max range depends on the shooter and the weapon used.

When hunting with my iron sighted Super Blackhawk, I limit myself to 50 yards due to the iron sights and aging eyes.

If I'm hunting with a scoped Super Redhahwk, I have that sighted in at 100 yards and my longest kill has been about 75 yards.

This year, I'll be shooting a 14" T/C Contender. The longer barrel will give about +300 fps velocity over a 7.5" barrel, as per several reloading manuals. I'd have no issues shooting at a deer out to 150 yards or so, especially from a nice, solid rest.
 
In a revolver, I've taken deer with the 44mag past 150yrds on multiple occasions as well. Past 150, the trajectory with a handgun becomes very difficult to manage, even with a scope. These are very specialty sets with the intention of making supported shots with a scoped revolver, but the deer go down just as easily as if I'd hit them at 50yrds. In a rifle, I gain nearly another 100yrds before the trajectory becomes unmanageable.
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That's the point I was trying to make, "the trajectory becomes unmanageable". People who shoot these cartridges know their limitations from experience, people that don't believe the 600 yd. stories.
 
The point is that a 44 will kill deer much farther than most of us can shoot.
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Exactly!


I just find it incredible that anyone would try to do it.
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Did you even read what you responded to? It was a mule deer his client had already wounded with a rifle and he had run it dry. By the time Keith unholstered his 6½" S&W .44Mag, the deer was 600yds away and he had nothing to lose. Keith had been doing a lot of long range shooting and figured he'd give it a shot. He fired six shots and hit the deer twice. Those who have done it know it is possible and Brian Pearce replicated the shot in Handloader a few years ago.
 
Don't put words into my mouth. The 150yrd 44mag revolver, 250yrd 44mag rifle HUNTING standard I hold for myself has absolutely nothing to do with whether I believe the story of Elmer Keith's 600yrd shot(s).

For those who know me elsewhere, I've been shooting 200-250yrds with revolvers for many years, and in this current season, I'm working on delivering a 250yrd whitetail with a 357/44mag Redhawk 180grn bullet leaving the muzzle at 1900fps. I've been shooting 12" steel at 350yrds in practice - but of course, 12" is much larger than the vital zone of my target quarry.

As a wheelgun very familiar with long range shooting of magnum and super magnum revolvers, I personally believe the circumstances of Elmer's story which lead to this particular long range shot. Whether, in the heat of the moment, Elmer incorrectly ranged 600yrds which was actually 400, or maybe even 800, it doesn't really matter to me. The shots were long, far longer than most shooters could have accomplished even under calm conditions on a static target, AND Elmer admits it was far longer than any shot he would have taken under "normal" circumstances. A wounded deer was running away, and one of the world's most skilled handgunners took a series of high stakes, high pressure shots to put the animal in the dirt.

I can also say, if I were in those particular circumstances where I was watching an injured game animal run away to suffer a terrible, lingering death and the only loaded weapon I had at hand, was one of my 44mags, I would not hesitate to take a shot at 600yrds, or more even, to try to put the animal down. I would hope to be able to admit after the fact, like Elmer did, I got lucky and put the animal down, but I would tend to expect to NOT connect on 2 out of 6 shots, even with a spotter on a moving target at 600yrds.
 
Varminterror hit on the head. And should prove to the OP his 44 has plenty of power and is limited to his ability only. 125-150 with practice he can trust in the 44 mag to do its part.
 
I would have to see a 600 yard shot to believe it to. It might have happened. But unless I saw it, I would not believe it. Whenever I read about shots taken at long ranges on the internet, I figure if I divide the range by 2, that is probably closer to the real range, but I am not sure my correction factor is enough for this story.
 
Balrog - the internet didn't exist when the first account of Elmer Keith's 600yrd shot was published.
 
Balrog - the internet didn't exist when the first account of Elmer Keith's 600yrd shot was published.
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No it didn't, but I am not buying a 600 yd shot with a handgun without seeing it.
 
I believe the 600 yard shot story for the following reason:

In 1971-72 I was range officer on a rifle range at Fort Ord. We had a steel plate, 12 inches high and 16 inches wide, hung at 385 yards. Knowing about the 600 yard shot, I tried to see if I could something similar. After some (quite a little) practice, I was able to ring the plate 2 to 3 out of 5 shots, and once put 4 of 5 shots on the plate. This following Elmer Keiths advice for long range shooting. Gun was a Ruger Blackhawk convertible revolver with a 4 5/8" barrel. Ammunition was .45 ACP match.
 
Hornady FTX 225 gr. .430 for 44 Magnum has a ballistic coefficient of 0.15.

Figure a 1700 fps MV to be conservative (reasoning it is better to assume the manufacturer's numbers are high). The Hornady ballistics calculator puts this +2 inches high at 100 yards, -3.4 inches low at 150 yards, -8.5 inches low at 175 yards, and -15.3 inches low at 200 yards.

Hornady's published data on this load from a 20 inch barrel is 1870 fps. My rule of thumb is that every extra 100 fps in velocity will buy you 10 yards of effective range.

I would be comfortable using this load up to 150 yards with a good range finder, but I wouldn't want to push it past that.

This gets back to the shooter and how good their range estimates are.
 
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I used a Marlin 1894 back in 1975. It was one, if not 'the" fastest woods rifles I ever used! this was in East Tx, on both deer and hogs. I used the Remington Factory 240 HP and never recovered one. My furthest shot was about 50yds, which was perfect. I always got two holes and no bloodshot meat. My BIL wanted a 12ga coach gun his cousin had, but his cousin wanted a marlin 1894! so I traded for the coach gun and sold it "on installment plan" to my BIL. I'm a nice guy. :) I would say that for me, with those particular iron sights, 100-125yds was my limit.
 
Hunting range and effective range are definitely not the same
I'd hold to 200 with rifle and 75-100 with a handgun.
Doesn't mean Elmer couldn't or didn't make his shot, just different circumstances.
If you've spent some afternoons shooting at rocks, buckets and targets of opportunity on hillsides and dry washes enough you gain a better respect for what can actually be done with a good handgun.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
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