Up until two weeks ago I had only taken hogs with my B92 44 mag when I got an opportunity on an average axis doe.

She lept straight up at the shot then jumped a fence. Zero blood at point of impact, zero blood on other side of fence. I found her about 90 yds away but didn't see blood until the last ten yards with good amount on ground around her. Entrance wound was text book perfect broadside but how could it not be at ten yards.

When I cleaned her I found both lungs pierced, as if by a serrated knife, still pink and otherwise in tact. NEVER seen this before. I have always gotten the red jello innards on everything from 85 grain 6mm to 150 270's. I am less than impressed on how quickly the 44 has put down hogs for that matter. The SKS drops them better, so has the 6mm, 260 and 270.

This is one rifle I don't load for. Am using 225 grain Hornady Lever Revolution and this has to be about max speed impact for a 44 mag. I expected different. Oh- yes there was a decent exit wound.

Not complaining, just reporting. Still love the rifle but will not use on deer again and will aim for the ear on hogs from now on when using it.

i dont know if i would change anything with a sample of 1.how many times did you shoot the hogs with the same ammo and rifle?did you site in the rifle with 1 shot? think i would work at it a little harder, then change if it was needed. rio7

First thing I would do is lose the fancy ammo and go with ye olde 240gr JSP.

Remington short jacket hollow points & max charge of H-110... They'll POP!

Ken,

The two LeverE loads I'm the least impressed with are the 30-30, and the 44. They hit hard and do the job, but results are the same phenomenon as you described. The 44 mag loads I'm happy with, and they hit the same hole are: Hornady 240 XTP and Magtech 240 JSP. A side note is, at 25 yards, the 200gr blazer GDHP 44 special hits the exact same hole.

Its hard to make a DRT prediction with a lung shot, but they will die.

thanks all, exactly what I was looking for. JohnnyLoco - it is nice to have that affirmation. Glad you responded with that.

I shot most of those you list and may revisit if I just don't break down and reload for it like I do all other rifles. I like Magtech stuff in my pistols when I can get it. Inexpensive and has proven just plain good, plus they are using the XTP bullets for the 44mag.

Have you shot the 44 spl in a lever? I heard there could be cycling weirdness. 44 spc sounds like fun plinking. In a t-shirt that steel butt plate gets harder with every round you throw down field.

I have killed lots of deer with the .44 mag, I always either used the 240 JHP's or 270 grain speer goldots......those golddots really impressed me.

thats what id use today if I were using the .44 mag again

The Hornady 240 grain XTP's results on two deer this year were impressive. One ran a little, but Stevie Wonder could have followed the blood trail by feel. The other was bang-flop.

I am actually looking at using a hard-cast or JSP in the same weight, as the XTP's went through, bet damn did they expand excessively at the velocity I was shooting them out of my 16.5" barreled Handi-rifle.

Like above posters, I have not been impressed with the LeverE rounds in .44 mag out of a rifle.

If you can find the 270 grain Gold Dots in loaded ammunition or load some up yourself, I think you will be more impressed.

NoCAL

If you start reloading I'll bet you can cook up some real bone crushers for that Browning.

Ken,

I had some levers that would cycle them fine and others not so good. The problem is, I bought a Ruger 77/44 on a whim and its the greatest Big Bore brush gun ever invented. I sold my B92, and 1894 Marlins for a purty penny. My 77/44 is a tack driver and I ain't lookin back.

Ken, I can also say I switched to Powermax HP 30-30 150gr over the LeverE and the killing diff is like night and day.

If one wants to see internal Jello, then run slugs at about 3000+ fps.

Heavy and slow will do the job, and one can usually eat right to the bullet hole. Several tons of buffalo in this country fell to slow poke 45 and 50 calibers. Take low heart shots, and one will see blood a good bit quicker.

I shot a button buck with my BIL's Ruger 77/44 using Winchester white box 240gr. JSP. A high lung shot @ 60yds. resulted in a bang-flop.

77/44, Lil gun, 300 grain Beartooth WFN at 1574 fps.

Big holes in lungs, an NO PROBLEM breaking running gear.

Used 24 gr. H110 with 240 XTP's on a few deer with a 77/44. Either DRT or 10 yards longest run; lung shots with no major structural damage. Don't plan on changing.

Like others said, you are seeing the difference between fast small bullets and slow big bullets, except usually the big slow ones leave a big blood trail. I hunted for years and killed many deer with a 270 with 130's and never had to track one. Maybe 19 of 20 died in my sight.

When I started hunting with bigger calibers I had to start tracking. Most of those were with a 35 Whelen and a 458 Win Mag. Almost everything I shot with the Whelen and 200's and 250's, and 400's in the .458 ran 50 to 100 yards. This was mostly when I shot the deer through the ribs and didn't hit shoulder or spine. If I hit bigger bones, they dropped. The longest I have had any deer run, including 15+ archery kills, was a big doe double lunged with a 400g Barnes original.

I found 180's in the Whelen and 300's in the 458 acted more like the fast light bullets I started with in the 270.


As a sample of one, my wife killed her deer with a 44 mag and 225g FTX this year. She hit it in the neck, head on. The bullet came very close to the spine, hit lung and liver, and stopped in the full stomach. The deer dropped, probably because it was so close to the spine. I was impressed by how much quieter the 44 was than out high power rifles. My wife is still on cloud 9 about her big buck, her first buck and only second deer.

Thanks guys - good stuff and it is always good to find others having the similar experiences and opininions. I have been loading different rifle chamberings for years but not pistol cartridges. Thinking that may change before long. For the time being I will be looking for some different factory ammo.

Have you got a load for my 12 gauge that'll send a Foster 3000+? That'd be awesome!

I have killed several deer with 44mag. Two with handguns one using win 210 sthp and one with win 240jsp. Two with Win 94 16" barrel using 240 xtp's. Two with H&R using magtech 240 jsp. All close range except one was 110y. All went down on impact but not instant death. Hit all in shoulder. All bullets exited except the 110y yard shot; recovered expanded xtp in other shoulder. Hoping to try some 200 xtp's.

I have killed several deer with 44mag. Two with handguns one using win 210 sthp and one with win 240jsp. Two with Win 94 16" barrel using 240 xtp's. Two with H&R using magtech 240 jsp. All close range except one was 110y. All went down on impact but not instant death. Hit all in shoulder. All bullets exited except the 110y yard shot; recovered expanded xtp in other shoulder. Hoping to try some 200 xtp's.

Steelhead always says "deer are more impressed with velocity". Truth! At the same ranges a 223 with a good bullet in my hands makes things happen much faster than two 44 carbines I have owned and sold off.

+1

I lost hearing in the marines. The 44 mag out of a 16" carbine kills deer just as dead, and it's a lot easier on my ears.

Most of the time I can get ear plugs in, but when I can't, it makes a big difference.

I am agreeing on the speed- jello - kill thing. Think I will try some 200grain XTP. What I noticed from this thread- oh manners- HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone- was that results on heavier than 240 grain seem better?? How are the 200 to 185 grain on deer or hogs? I should say I am a double lung guy, not a shoulder shooter. Good thread, I hope it continues.

200gr XTPs from a six inch M629, or a 24" barreled 444 Marlin, same result: One shot, one dead deer.

Hercules 2400 in the handgun, IMR 4198 in the rifle. Both loads accurate, both resulted in several dead whitetails, mostly lung pops.

Or more accurately, de-lungers with the Marlin.

It's a bullet I was pretty fond of when I had that rifle.

FWIW: Had a "Puma" M92 in 44 mag (24" bbl) for a few years, but never got around to killing a deer with it, eventually sold it. Hornady custom 44 mag factory loads in 200gr XTP, did shoot exactly the same at 50 yards, as my own loads using that bullet in that rifle.

I have killed 7 deer, and a number of hogs, with the Speer 270 GDSP. I load these, and my Marlin 1894 shows 1630 fps.
While I don't get 'red jello', I do get pretty dead animals. Most don't go far after being hit.

A close family friend who has since past ,killed untold numbers of whitetails and black bear with a 44 mag in the Adirondacks ,with factory loads with NO Complaints ,in fact I picked up a Ruger 44 auto carbine in honor of him ,I haven't had the chance to christen it yet

+1

No need for the other stuff really. I and children (grown now) have shot a lot of WT with the 44 Mag in rifles (levers and bolts). I reload so at one time or another have tried just about all there is in the 44 case. They will all work, but none ever did any better then a 240g pushed hard by H110.

Many I know hunt with factory 240g and always good results

Can not comment on Hogs personally as we do not have them to hunt up here.

I've killed a WT doe and a 6' black bear with a 44 mag. Both were shot in the shoulder and both dropped in their tracks. Shots were fired from a Marlin 1895 and a Ruger Vaquero. Factory Partition Gold 240gr. slug - I think it was a Winchester Supreme line. Haven't seen them in years so probably aren't made any longer, but in my sample of two, that was a kick azz load.

I've shot a few whitetails with Remington 240 grain JSPs from a Ruger 44 International. All died, but none died as quickly as those shot with more fragile bullets launched at higher velocities.

Jeff

I think it depends a lot your hunting conditions. The area I hunt is thick as hell & steep - nearly vertical in some places. A deer running 30 or 50 yards could mean the difference between an easy drag, or at my age, a heart attack. A 240gr JSP in one or preferably both shoulders solves that problem nicely.

Run Hps on deer and it will be better.

And don't believe that a pistol round will do a bang flop like the TV always shows...

They all have to bleed out to die unless like the one poster, you shoot high shoulder and hit CNS.

I always expect to have to look for deer shot with " non rifle" rounds.
Totally different game going on there.

That is the trend I've noticed over the years.

The deer I shot with a .243 this year ran farther than the deer I shot a couple days earlier with a 77/44. Both lung shots, .243 lungs were soup. Both were totally unaware of my presence.

The farthest run I've had was with a .45-70, 300 grain Speer UniCor at 2212 fps muzzle velocity, 20 yards to impact. Lung shot.

Shortest--Several DRT with a .30-30, 170 grain bullets and shoulder shots, one with a .300 WinMag, 165 Sierra HPBT Gameking, 40 yard shoulder shot (total loss of shoulder). One with a .45-70, 300 grain Speer UniCor, shoulder shot, and one with a .30-06 165 grain Speer HotCor, 2800 fps. You guessed it--Shoulder.

Well, 200gr XTPs are essentially HP bullets and I don't "do" TV hunting shows. ;O)

Have killed whitetails with them using a 6" S&W M629 and a 444 Marlin. Used Speer 200gr HPs in the Marlin before XTPs hit the market.

The rifle was far more accurate with both 200gr HP pistol bullets, than with 240gr SPs. Groups at 100 yards were generally two all but touching, one within a quarter inch of the other two. That's scoped/rested, although I only had the scope on for one deer season and killed one doe with it that year.

The other deer were killed while the 444 was wearing a receiver sight.

At closer ranges with the pistol and most often with the Marlin, went with either shoulder or heart/lung shots (whichever was presented). Think the longest poke ever taken with the 444, was probably around 65 yards?

No extry drama, just dead deer. Generally dead where hit. I was happy all around with those set ups.

Wow! I feel just the opposite regarding the Leverevolution in 30.30. Maybe it is luck or I am just shooting better but I believe they are putting the deer down faster than any load that I have used.

Its hard to beat the xtp bullet. Though, on a whim I loaded some plain nosler 240s for my marlin 44 and was very impressed. Good blood and short tracks.

A few months ago I hit the shooters pro shop for 500 nosler 200s. I think those will give great velocity and expansion in my marlins and 629s.

I've had good results with them on deer from both handguns and rifles.

Reality is there are no "bad" loads for deer in a 44 mag.

I do think the lighter bullets have more "shock " value, but I've killed a herd of them using 300 gr XTP's too, starting at about 1600 fps

Never shot a hog with a rifle, just revolvers, 45 Colt 255 grain hard cast, sick with double shoulder shot, second double lung shot after spinning around, dead in tracks. Second one with Winchester factory "deer" 240 grain JHP, 8 shots, no full penetrations, except first shot in leg joint. First in the brush running shot, should have held my fire. All my deer with 175 grain, 200 grain and 210 grain dead right there, in .41 Mag, .44 Mag. One went 25 yards with 185 grain Golden Saber .45 ACP+p. Several with 200 grain JHP and 230 grain JHP at 950 fps +/-. I like 210 grain Remington SJHP at 1300 fps or so, from .44 Mag. If they were avialable for handloading, I'd try Winchester 210 grain Silvertips. Type of bullet is more critical than weight, despite my prejudices, self-defense bullets frequently "fail" with no significant exit wounds, but kill effectively with lung shots. Harder bullets shock less, but give full penetration, in my experience. The 300 grain XTP, non-magnum in .45 Colt at 1150 fps from a 5.5 inch Ruger Redhawk mountain lion or 280 grain cast from Ruger Blackhawk on elk cow work at 1050 fps. .44 Special, 240 grain SWC at 1150 fps on water buffalo cow, two shots, ran 100 yards. Should have aimed for near shoulder instead of just behind it. The second shot penetrated the far shoulder except for the skin. Pick your bullets, pick you shots, try for the perfect first shot, but keep shooting if needed.

Though I would choose a 45 Colt every time over a 44 Magnum, I don't think you can fault the cartridge.

Man you need a little more study!

Have shot a few deer with my 44 mag Marlin. Never tried more bullet than 240 Nosler JHP or XTP. Shots 80-100yds. Never stopped one in an animal, but I did dig 2 out of the dirt behind after the shot. Both bullets went 5-6" in the dirt after angled broadside pass-through. For deer, I would not go heavier or tougher than a JHP in 240, and for lung shots a 200 XTP would likely be ideal, though I've never done it. Deer are soft, and more bullet just isn't required.

Only shot one doe with a 240gr XTP and it was a bang-flop-twitch for a while. Right above the heart broadside as I remember.

I have no direct knowledge of the .44 Rem Mag on game. I do know it's popular with our hardwoods hunters.

If I hunted anything, and I mean anything, where shots were limited to around a hundred yards or so, I'd buy a small barreled .44 Rem Mag rifle. a 270 grain .44 Mag bullet ought to work on everything including the largest bears.

I do own a Guide Gun .45/70. There ain't nothing that walks that it won't kill. It might work on blue whales. I will tell you that when powder charges increase behind a 400 grain bullet, recoil gives brutal a new definition. I ain't so sure that a .44 Rem Mag gives up enough to the .45/70 when used on North American big game at appropriate ranges to make much difference.

If you happen to run across "40 Years with the .45/70" it might be worth your while to read it. Matthews shot a lot of deer with a .45/70 rounds that he had loaded to around .44 Rem Mag performance.

The 44 mag, like other large handgun cartridges, is a few different critters. The first and most well-known guise is the 180-240 gr shooter, the one we are talking about for deer hunting.

The second guise is more recently developed, and it is all about shooting heavy bullets 300-400 gr. A 44 loaded this way is a behemoth of killing power, punching animals end to end. Pioneers with heavy bullets in the 44 mag took all manner of big, dangerous game with it. I'm sure it still happens.

Probably another example of choosing the wrong bullet. I kill elk with a 44 mag carbine ,240 gr Speer semi jacketed flat point. I can't imagine it not being sufficient for any deer at appropriate ranges.

As for not DRT kills, animals will run as long as their brain has blood or you take out the running gear including the spinal shots.
90 yard is easily done by a deer lung shot, even with one shoulder broken. Even a higher lung shot, the chest cavity has to fill with blood until it reaches the hole to give a blood trail or at times hide,fat,tissue cover the hole when the animal moves or runs, so no blood can escape.

In most instances, unless a fast explosive bullet is used, one will not see any blood for the1st 10-20 yards after a deer is hit and runs.

Gauging a bullets effectiveness by the amount of blood trail or how far the animal runs shows inexperience.

Usually those factors are due to shot placement rather than the effectiveness of the bullet.

The last bit of advice I would heed would be from someone who has no knowledge and has not hunted and killed with a 44 mag

If you're shooting factory stuff, the Federal Hydra-shock 240 works pretty good too.

Lots of good .44s out there.

With holler points, I suggest shot placement in the bottom 1/3 of the chest. The doe I took with a H-S, looked like she took a hit from a .270.

I took a button buck at 60yds. last fall with a Ruger 77/44 and Winchester 240gr., it was a bang flop. My brother in law and his two sons have used the same combination to a dozen or so deer over the last 5-6 years or so. Only one deer was not recovered, most were bang flops. I shoot 240XTP's over a charge of H110 in my 77/44.

I'm shooting a Marlin lever in .44 mag and having trouble getting it to group consistently. I'm trying to run 180 gr. loads (factory) but am just about ready to give up on these and try something else. Scope's a Redfield 2x-7x. At 50 yards the windage is good-right down the middle, but the elevation tends to be all over the target, from 2" high to 2" low. I don't think I'm asking too much to expect better than a 4" group at 50 yards. I've previously checked all the mounting screws on the base and rings, but will do that again. The scope seems to be parallax free as best as I can tell. I checked it off the bags out to 100 yards, and the crosshairs don't shift a bit. Other than playing with the loads, does this seem like a scope issue or what?

If you can check each shot POI, it will be more significant in diagnosing the problem. Do they jump back and forth high and low,or is it random. Back and forth I would think indicates something is loose.

Another thing is the rifle might not shoot the180's well. Try a few std 240 gr.

My 44 Marlin will do better than 4" at 100yards shooting Speer Semi Jacketed Flat points. I use to do that with the iron factory sights before when my eyes were better and now I have a cheap $50 NcStar scope on it and it will do the same as it did before, maybe a little better.

One thing I did find out when fiddling with scopes is that the typical mount that fits a Marlin 94 will not hold a standard length scope that you might put on a full size rifle. I had an old Weaver V7 and then a a Leupold and they both hung out there too far unsupported . I could litterly move the objective lens end around. Problems went away when I put a shorter scope on it

I have killed a few deer with 44 magnum most from a pistol and one from the Marlin 1894. The pistol kills have all be done with 250 gr Keith Bullets and the rifles was the Hornady 240 gr HP before they were labeled XTP. The rifle kill was back around 1979 and it was a big doe facing me at about 30 Yards, i shot her in the center of the chest and she just sit down on her butt and rolled over and kicked a couple of times. Most pistol shots they run about 20 to 30 yards and lay down and don't get back up. I still have a couple boxes of the Hornady 240 gr's not labeled XTP'S. I still have a Marlin 1894 in 44 mag and may use it this year in the pines.

I prefer the performance of the Speers that Saddlesore referred to but my Marlin shows a marked preference for the XTP�s. With H110 and a 1X3 weaver I get consistent 2 inch groups or better at 100 yds. Everything else is in the 4-5 inch range. I read somewhere that the Marlins prefer a .430 bullet vs the .429. I bet a .431 hard cast would shoot even better but I don�t want to mess with leading and feeding issue of a Keith style SWC.

DJB. I would try the XTP's , but I have not seen them on shelves for 2-3 years at least. Ditto with the.357's. I bought 500 of these Speers quite a few years ago. Mostly for elk. Don't know how the XTPs would work on elk though.

Hey Vince! Funny, I haven�t found the Speers in years and now H110 is tough to find locally.

For elk I would bet the Speer SP would be a better as the XTP�s are softer in my experience.

I have dumped elk with that bullet and H110,and it doesn't leave anything lacking, that is for sure

With what I have left of bullets and H110,I'll never use them all up.

I have been trying to sell my Marlin, Ruger SBH and all the dies, bullets, brass,ammo etc.as a package, but have had no bites

I have taken my Marlin (with 270g Speers) as my back-up rifle to CO for years. Finally put a scope on it this year since we can now use pistol caliber rifles for our deer season and my eyes aren't what they used to be.

I am sure the XTP's would work fine broadside but I have seen how far a 240 Speer will penetrate a cow skull/neck when putting them down for meat.

Good luck selling your stuff. If you want to try a box of the XTP's PM me your address . You have been more than generous with your time and advice.

ye olde 240 g XTP and H110 combo is quite the deer killa.

The XTP is markedly more accurate than other bullets in my gun, but I haven't shot any of the 240 persuasion that shot so badly that I couldn't use them for hunting. The other plus with XTP is they have shot better with hotter charges than others in my Marlin, as in 25.0 H110 is the most accurate load.

This does seem to be a hot load, 24gr H110 is the max I'll load. Plenty shout enough load.

As I said, 25 shoots much better than 24 or 24.5 in my Marlin. Velocity is more uniform, and the shots cluster more than string. Primers make a difference too. CCI350 are much hotter than WLP, for example, and using 25gr with WLP seems to be less in peak pressure than 24 with 350's.

The data for H110 in 44mag and 240 XTP goes up to 25.9gr in the Hornady Contender data in the #7 manual. Even that isn't a max load. Hornady doesn't list max loads in their data, just loads up to a particular velocity category. Example: the 1750 velocity column in the T/C data for H110 lists 25.3gr, and in the 1800 column, 25.9 is listed.

The best shooting load with Nosler 240's out of my rifle is 23.1gr H110 and CCI350. Speers like 24.0gr and 350's.

Glad your marlin likes it.
I have the hornady abridged edition printed 1997.
Load dated for ruger super blackhawk 7 1/2 barrel, win wlp primer, hornady hp/xtp
H110-24.9 max, vel. 1450
Win 296-24.2 max, vel.1400

Not sure why win 296 has lower max as thought to be the same powder. Not sure when/if they were different.

Their methods can't get numbers significant to the tenth of a grain. And lots vary enough that the numbers can look like that.

I shoot my own cast 265gr wide meplat out of my 1894 at a chronographed 1700fps. Have killed deer and black bear with it. Works very good.

My wife shoots hogs with a Ruger semi-auto Deerslayer. With 240gr JSN and a shoulder shot they go down and stay down. I have/have had several Contender barrels in .44 mag and a Ruger New Model SBH. The .44 mag is NOT a long range round from either a rifle or handgun, but is a heavy hitter at closer distances. The .44 I shoot most is a 14" Contender barrel with a suppressor, mounted on a carbine shoulder stock. I load 335gr Hard Cast and 300gr Barnes Buster bullets to sub sonic velocities - under 1100 fps, generally - and the penetration on hogs to at least 75 yards is very impressive. I have friends who shoot sub sonic .44 mags loaded with 300gr XTP's on their guided hog hunts using Ruger 77 bolt guns with suppressed barrels, and they are very happy with the results.

Just different powder lots.