Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ideal .44 MAG rifle barrel length?

Guess I'll go against the current. Since your action is short, I'd go for the longer barrel. The rifle will still be compact in size.

I have a 44 mag 16" Contender. Muzzle blast is pretty fierce this close to your face.

I also have a Remington 788 in 44 mag. It has a 22"er.and is crazy accurate. You just need to keep in mind that bullet drop is fairly drastic.








DMc : )

The Ruger 77/44 standard barrel is 18.5" long. 20-22" is a functional and balanced length for the Contender. 20" twist will stabilize 300 gr bullets very well.

I don't run an Encore, but this from DigitalDan sounds about right.

Does TC require a larger forend for that 44 mag barrel..?
If not, and it's their standard barrel contour, then because of the large bore it's going to be lighter than say a sub 30 cal. In that case, for the sake of ballance I can't see any reason not to run 22"

16-20 MAX

FWIW I have a Ruger #3 44 mag, according to what I read the Ruger 77-44 has a 1/20 twist and all other Ruger 44's are 1/38. So the #3 should be 1/38. It has a 21" barrel and puts HSM 305 grain bear loads in nice cloverleafs at 50 yards.