Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire .44 Magnum

Tell me about real life performance on game compared to, say, the 30-30 Win. Cartridge only please...other than barrel length, gun doesn't matter.

280 gr LBT WFN hard cast Bullet over a max load of WW-296 will kill just about anything you want to kill.
I’ve yet to catch one in big ole feral hogs or deer here at the Ranch.

I've been far more impressed by the 44. Better hit reactions and better blood trails but I have seen every one drop from the 44. I'd take a 44 mag in a carbine over a 30-30 everyday of the week.

i've killed one hog with one, 65yd head shot, it worked fine.

Shot a decent buck (10pt. Approx 275 lbs. field dressed) this gun season with a Ruger 77/44 at 119 yards using Hornady 240gr XTP. Bullet hit rib, deflected thru spine and was recovered under hide on opposite side. Buck turned 90 degrees and dropped. Recovered slug expanded to 0.786” and weighs 238gr.

I’m a fan.

77/44; full charge of Li'l Gun and 300 gr paper patch. Thor's hammer on deer and pigs. No tracking required.

I'm the opposite. I'd much rather have a 30-30 than a 44 Mag. if we're talking long gun.

I've shot several deer with both and can't honestly say there is a noticeable difference. Bullets used in all instances were either a 170 grain (.30-30) or a 300 grain LBT (.44 mag).

The .30-30 would be a little more longer ranged, but I have complete confidence in the .44 mag round.

Agreed.

You can have my share of the 30-30s

245 cast, 8 inch, shoulder shot to a sow, 30-40 yards, drt.

Remington .44 mag 240 gr semi jacketed hollow point HTP. In the head and ended up in the base of the neck. 16” of penetration from about 40 yards. Jacket separated from the core but were found next to each other in the neck.

I prefer the dirty thirty. But have shot plenty of deer with the .44mag. using cheap Winchester white box 240s as well Hornady leverevolution 225s.

My dad has taken bucks at 191 yards and 157 yards with the leverevolution loads as well. Both dropped within twenty yards and were pass through double lung shots.

-Jake

Hunter4623- it makes a big hole!

-Jake

I have 7 deer with the 44. The first year I hit one at 83 yards, solid hit. Long trail. After that I abandoned jacketed bullets and used only a 300 grain cast flat nose and WW 296. Four more with the 7-1/2" Blackhawk then one at 125 yards, and a second at 170 yards, from a 14" contender. Believe it or not that 170 yard shot put the bullet all the way through and ended with a 40 yard trail.

Pretty easy to take deer out to 250 with a coped 30-30 if sighted about 3 inches high at 100. That's about where I sight my flat shooters for dead on at 300 or so.

44 Mag is OK, but I prefer a little more case length, like a .444 Marlin. Same bullet, more punch! My Ruger #1 .45-70 outperforms both of them.
Jerry

Here is what I know, for deer, the 444 is a bit much. The 44 Mag cartridge/ gun can be picky. The 30-30 is still more useful and ammo gun combo friendly.

There is a phenomenon with the 44 mag in some rifles because of the low velocity. Some rifles like the 77/44 don’t shoot well especially off hand as the dang recoil is moving the gun and you before the bullet exits. The best shooting factory load I found for the 77/44 is actually the Remington 180gr and its traveling right at 2,200 fps. The 77/44 is accurate as heck if you can hold her still. I’ve tried many different loads and it shoots them all accurately...except when yo can’t hold her.

The 44 does a great job at sub 100 yards and there is no reason to look any farther than the Magtech 44(a) 240 gr

Another thing I know is the 30-30 150gr Powermax ammunition performance best the 44 mag after 100 yards.

I’ve played with them all for many years...buy a 30-30

I used to own a Browning M92 in 44 mag, and I killed several deer and 2 antelope with it. I used a 225 grain HP on one antelope and the other I used the same bullet as I did on all the deer, a Hornady 265 grain. All went down quickly but not a lot faster then those I killed with my 30-30 and 170grain bullets.

Now the rest of my 44 kills have all been with handguns. A 7.5" Ruger Super Blackhawk, , two 4 inch M29s, one 6.5" M29 and one 8-3/8' M29 and also 3 kills with a 7.5" Redhawk, one of which was a bear.
From my SBH I have killed mule deer with 240 grain HPS, one with a 240 gr soft point, and all the rest with 250 grain Keith SWCs. Most of those were killed in the 70s. All were one shot kills and all seems to fall about as fast as those I killed with 30-30s.

From my long 8-3/8" S&W M29 I used the same Keith bullet as I used in the SBH, and also I made one kill with an LBT 320 grain bullet. The other deer, elk, and antelope and also one other bear were killed with the same LBT WFN GC, and those bullets seem to drop game faster then any 30-30 I have used. All the kills I made from my 2 4 inch 29s and all I made from my 6-1/2 M29 were with LBT bullets.

One thing that is of note......ALL the 320 grain LBTS I have ever shot game with have exited the animals. 100% with no exceptions at all. I killed 2 elk with my 4" M29 and the M.V. from the short barrel is only about 1175 FPS, but the bullets still go clear through, even on an angled shot, and one hit the upper leg bone and cut it off, yet still went clear through about 28" of elk and exited.

Bullet holes kill, not bullet.
I look at the hole through the vitals of antelope and deer from a 30-30 with a 170 gr, and from a 44 Mag with an LBT bullet and the permanent hole (not just the blood-shot ) from the 44s are just about the same diameter as they are from a 30-30, but deer and antelope are not very big. When you get to elk size and even moose, you really start to see a difference ,and the reason I believe is simply the 44 is making a similar diameter hole ,but far deeper if there is enough body to make a difference, so on large deer elk, bear, and (even though you didn't care about them) horses and cattle, the 44 mag, even from a handgun, drops the animals faster then the 30-30.

The 44s with the LBT bullets go a LOT deeper (if there is enough "deeper to go") and leave a hole about the same diameter, so the wound is going to drop the blood pressure a lot faster. That and the fact that a LBT hard cast 44 doesn't turn off course much (if at all) when it hits a big bone,and a 30-30 often will.

So in the case of most deer size game I would say the 2 are fairly similar, but the 44 may have an advantage you can see over a run of kills from both the 30-30 and the 44 and having a few dozen to compair. But on animals over about 300 pounds the 44 is noticeably more effective.

I do agree the 44 bullets can go through some stuff.