Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting How many hunt with a 44 rem mag rifle?

I have been thinking of buying a 77/44 for the wife to use to hunt our food plots. She had not hunted in years but mentioned now we are retiring she might like to go again the 44 mag would be great for those distances in the food plots.

7744 is nice package but.....
Bolt handle comes very close to smaller eyepiece scope ( like a Leupold ).

Scopes w big eyepieces will need higher rings.
And that to me throws the whole aspect of the handy gun out the window.

Some guys said screw it and put Burris Fast Fire reflex sights on.

Man that would keep it a quick n light rig. And allow normal cheekweld.

I got to hunt exactly once with my best friend's Ruger Model 44. I had acquired it from his widow the previous summer. It was a bit of a basket case when I got it; he hadn't touched it in 40 years. It took 2 trips to the 'smith to get it working. I took it out, shot a nice buck at sundown with it, and put it away for next year.

I took it out the next summer and. . .

. . .There was an inherent weakness in the receiver that was fixed in later models. I ended up wrecking the gun on the first test shot. It's a wall hanger now.

What I can say is the 44 Mag did a great job on the buck, perhaps a wee bit better than a 30-30. I took the shot at 100 yards or so. The buck ran about 50 yards and piled up dead.

The only 44 mag rifles I've used were Ruger 44 semi-auto carbines (one was tube fed and the other used a detachable mag). The most accurate ammo I tried in either of these was the Winchester White Box 240 gr JSP. This ammo was very effective on deer within 100 yards, which was the max distance I ever got to shoot a deer. No deer ever went far and all were complete pass-throughs. I am tempted to get a Marlin lever action in this caliber, as I also have a 444 Marlin and I reload.

Why no 180 xtp. I have some of them I loaded up for my 1894, carried it some but haven't shot anything.

I got a Ruger .44 carbine when I was home on leave in (probably) 1969. I still have it. Walnut stock, receiver sight, four digit serial number. In the early years I shot factory ammo, Norma "Carbine load" with a 240 grain HP. (As an aside, I once bought a box of those that had one cartridge with the bullet seated to the cannelure, in reverse (base first.) When the Normas got harder to find I used Winchester 240 grain HP loads. They all killed deer okay...I mean, it's a 240 grain, .44 bullet, it'll kill any deer. When I started handloading .44's, I used the same load in that, that I loaded for my .44 magnum revolvers: 23.3 grains of H-110 under a Hornady 240 grain XTP HP. It's the most accurate load ever in that rifle and kills deer with boring reliability in anything. I also provide those for a friend who has a 77/44....same results. I've never shot cast in that rifle, not thinking it's a good idea, also have not ever shot lead-free ammo, never having a reason to.

Shot a few deer with a Ruger 96/44 and WW white box 240 hp. All pass throughs, all one and done and they went as far as a similar placed shot with just about anything I've used.

I was checking out the Henry single shot rifle in 44 magnum, not a bad looking rifle. I can see them adding more calibers in the future to this model.

I've had a Ruger 44 International for over 50 years, killed a few dozen whitetails with it, but have only shot 240 grain factory loads in it. I have owned a few other rifles chambered in .44 RM from Ruger and Winchester, but only recall killing a couple of whitetails with a couple of different Ruger 44 carbines that I bought when I was stationed at Fort Riley and Fort McPherson.

The old Norma .44 mag JHP.....236 gr. Got a few boxes someplace.

Shot a deer w 66 fingergroove auto. Zipped on through.

Accuracy was decent. Dunno how theyd perform in a Ruger bolt rig. Bud still has his. Ought to test.

OP, do you mean lead-free as in all copper bullets? If that’s the case, the answer for me is no. I do have some Barnes XPBs to load, someday anyway. I expect they’ll be fine like all their others.

If you are asking about a specific Underwood product, say which one. Maybe someone has used it or the Lehigh Defense bullets they load. Check Midway for revues.

I've had several 44 mag rifles over the years. I'm down to one - it's a 788. I may use that this fall around my place. But I have a license in Wyoming and one in Western South Dakota. Both places the range could be 300 yards, easily, I think. In short, I'd use it for < 150 yards. But > 150 yards and possibly >250 yards I think a different rifle might be used.

I got a #3 in 44 mag with a Zeiss Conquest 1.5-5 on it. It cuts cloverleafs at 60 yards which is fine since my longest shot at two of the locations I hunt is between 40-50 yards. I gave $400 for it in '02 from a guy on GON, a local outdoor website and got my stones broken for a while for spending so much on it.
It is particularly fond of HSM 305gr "bear loads". Good thing since we have lots of big black bears at our lease in N GA.

If you need your $ back let me know and I'll meet you around Rome or Adairsville with $400.

Too bad you don't reload. Marlin 44 mags have 0.4315" groove diameter barrels. Most " .44 caliber" bullets are 0.429- 0. 430" ... meaning they are undersized bullets. This is the reason poor accuracy is often an issue with Marlin 44 mag rifles.

I used to have a JM-stamped Marlin 1894 in 44 mag, with Ballard rifling. Accuracy was poor with 240 -265 grain jacketed bullets in the 0.429 - 0.430" range. I found Zero Bullets (through Roze Distribution) make a 240 grain jacketed bullet at 0.431" diameter. It shot well.

They are available as just bullets / components for reloading, not factory loaded.

If you reload cast bullets, you can find 0.432-0.434" diameter bullets- for Marlin 44 mag accuracy.

Not what you wanted to read, but factory 44 mag cartridges just simply have undersized bullets for Marlin 44 mag chambered rifles with their 0.4315" groove diameter barrels.

Plus 1 on the Roze bullets. I wish they made them in a 200 grain JFP. Their 240 JFP gave me the best groups in a Marlin 1894

I load and sell .44 Mag ammo, and they are a pretty popular item. Though primarily for handgun shooters.

The 240 SWCs are quite good performers on deer sized game.

Killed quite a few hogs at the Ranch with a 94 Trapper in 44 mag.

You are well appointed in .44 Mag rifles.

Those Barnes 225gr XPBs require a 1-20” twist or faster. I believe Marlins are 1-38”. Newer Rugers and my Browning are 1-20”.