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.

Killed my first deer ever with a .44 mag Ruger carbine. Shot it at the base of the tail from around 40 - 45 +/- yards. Bullet lodge just under the hide at the front if it's right shoulder. 240grain Winchester factory load, semi-hollow point. First shot put it down taking out it's hind quarters, finished it off with a second shot through both lungs and out the other side. Didn't make it more than a couple of yards from 1st shot.

Took one deer with a 30/30 out of a Remington 788 at about the same distance,150 grain Federal factory loads. Standing quartering toward me, bullet struck high on it's left shoulder and exited just behind last rib on off side. Bullet just 'penciled' through though and never expanded and it ran off. I found it dead around 125 - 150 yards away. It was full of blood. Apparently it bled out internally on the run like it was arrow killed. The bullet had passed through one lung, cut a groove in the heart and punched through the liver.

Didn't find any blood until just a short distance from were it finally dropped over dead and then it was just a couple of drops where it jumped a fence.

Only two deer with my 44 Mag Ruger pistol. 7.5 inch barrel. One deer at 50 yards and one at 25 yards. One bang flop and one ran about 50 yards. I have taken 4-5 deer with the 30-30. Again, good results there as well.

If I had to pick one for a rifle next deer season, I would pick the 30-30. I am just more familiar with it. It’s a weak argument but all I got. Never hunted with a rifle in 44 Mag.

I think either will do the job. The heavier 44 bullets could have some advantages in other scenarios.

All our game experience has been with the 270 gr Speer Gold Dot, either factory load or max charge of H110 hand loads in a Deerfield carbine with a Bushnell 3200 1.5-4x32 Firefly. First was by my wife on a NRA women's hunt for hogs in Tennessee. 300 poundish pig at probably 20 yds or so. Shoulder shot dropped & dead. Bullet not recovered. I then used it on a 150 something whitetail buck. Less than 15 yds down thru the right shoulder blade and recovered at the bottom rear of left rib cage. Buck went around 20 yds and dropped dead. Speer bullet was advertisement quality. I next shot another buck same body size but broadside as he turned. Bullet entered low left shoulder, destroyed heart plumbing and exited right shoulder. Traveled maybe 50 yds. Shot an120 lbish doe at over 75 yds bullet hit neck just ahead of left shoulder and exited. DRT. Son shot a coyote about 3 times rapidly as it spun. Dead coyote, no bullets recovered.

As a short range weapon our .44 carbine with the 270 Speer has proved to be deadly in our usage. If I had an offered shot at say a 400 lb black bear with this bullet I would be totally confident of the outcome. Low recoil deadly performance.

My big score:

In 1997 I walked into a small gun shop that was a mobile home. It was operated by a man and woman not on speaking terms.

I peered into the display case and saw a like new in box S&W 29-4 for $200.

Without asking to touch it, I said, "I'll take it!" and started pulling out money.

Once form 4473 was being filled out, I asked, "Why is it so cheap?"

They said the consignment seller was just there and wanted the price lowered, as he wanted it to sell soon.

I asked why the gun store did not buy it.
They said they did not have that much cash.

30-30 for me, a little longer range.

Ruger with 5.5" barrel in 454 casull does a fine job too.

A Yankee's input: dunno' exactly what you're asking, brother, but I can say that both will lay hogs low...

I've killed, and seen killed, animals with a lot a stuff, but not a .44 (except humans,that I recall) and have never had a chance to autopsy one. I was just kinda curious if the bullets performed well.

you can always add a few grains of viagra to the load Pat.

Gee Jim,

for some reason, I thought you were older....

and taller.....

Silly me...

Here in Indiana cf rifles have only been legal for deer the last 5-6 years.I have lots of "better"deer rifles-6x45,.243's,25-06,creedmoor etc.but the last 3 years have always used a Marlin 336A 30-30 with a 4x Leupold.8 shots from 50-221 yards,using 130 grain Speer sp starting at 2500, have taken 6 deer and 2 coyotes.This years buck scored 174".Just put a 77/44 in the classifieds-acquired after season was over or I'd try it out.

I've killed 2 big E Texas stud bucks and two medium sized. All except one medium one were well hit and required some focus and effort at tracking up through the thick stuff though they probably only went 80-120 y.

The one that didnt came by at a run and I emptied the gun, shooting until it fell. One hit at leading edge of shoulder, one behind shoulder, one in liver and one through the base of the tail. I was fairly young and had always heard to shoot until they fall. Not knowing the location of the first 3 shots, I did.

240 gr hp hand loads of my brother and really no pass throughs on body hits. I like the semiauto aspect for sneaking in the thick stuff, but would use a SP in the future.

Things are different back then. Uncles and us kids camping out in the winter. If you saw horns you needed that deer.

I've got exactly one datapoint. My best friend died last winter and I took it upon myself to take a deer with his Ruger Model 44 that I inherited.

I've taken deer with the 30-30. It is not my favorite by a long shot. I much prefer the bigger 30's. My GOTO gun for many years has been a Savage 99 with a slightly downloaded .308 round. The majority of my kills have been with 30-06 and 35 Whelen.

My load was a 240 grain Hornady XTP over H110. It wasn't MAX

I shot a nice buck at last light from a new elevated stand. The distance was 50-some yards. The buck ran about 50 yards and piled up. I'd taken out both lungs and the top of the heart. Terminal performance was in keeping with all my good whitetail guns in 30-06, 308 WIN, etc.




Bob’s Model 44 and the Buck


Will I use it again? Yes. This is a good rig for still hunting and for treestands in deep woods where the shots are going to be relatively short. Recoil was minimal.

The way I understand it, the 44 MAG is equal or superior to the 30-30 WCF out to about 80 yards, where the 30-30 has superior performance from 80-150 yards. My experience is that the 44 Mag did a better job at 50 than I ever saw out of a 30-30.

Round #2:

I've killed most of my deer with a M94 Trapper and have zero complaints about the effectiveness of a .30-30. As suggested earlier it likely has the edge for longer shots when compared to the .44, but that's somewhat of a hypothetical in the woods/brush country I hunt. Also have a Contender Carbine in .30-30 and it shoots quite well.



I don't know the .44 is quite that precise, but it is no laggard in the precision department. I don't have any problem with its recoil but some of my buddies whine a little when they shoot it. They whine about the .30-30's also.







Don't think a fella would be doing wrong either way, but my experience has been the .44 anchors deer and hogs pretty much on the spot.

When using a 30-30 and I want the deer DRT, I counterpunch the shoulder from broadside.. Normally I put the shot through the ribs because I like shoulder roasts from the oven and get an exit with a good blood trail, the only caveat being if you jump a buck and shoot it running and angling away, you are unable to get perfect broadside shot placement and even a great shot through the chest cavity may not end up with an exit wound resulting is a less than desirable blood trail.

The only deer i ever trailed up to find leaning against the side of a tree trunk to keep from falling over was one I had shot with a 44mag.

I would still consider the 44 mag for tracking up bedded mule deer in thick, low mesquite but have also considered using a shotgun with buckshot for the quick follow up shots.

I would prefer a Browning short-track, light, well balanced, and short in 243 or 308 due to the possibility of the vegetation opening up and possibly needing to take a 200-300 yard shot.

I've shot close to 20 deer, here in Indiana, with a .44 mag. A few with a Marlin 1894, and several with a CVA Scout rifle. None ever got away. My go to load has been the 225 gr. lever/evolution.

Killed one with a 225gr Speer HP out of a 6" 629, and one with a Federal factory 240gr HP, the one with the post, from a 77/44. The first was spined, but the second was chest-shot, and you'd be hard-pressed to tell the wound cavity from one made with an '06 or .270. Writer Brian Pearce has compared the effects of the .44 from a rifle to a .30/06, and while we're at it, the .357 to a .30/30, within their ranges of course.

Carried my little Low Wall one morning this past season on a doe day, but no luck. It'll go again next season.

Some years ago I was scouting for a place to put a treestand on a local WMA. Found a locust tree with considerable bear claw marks, and right in the midst of them, a jacketed .44 slug stuck in the heavy bark. Don't know if the two were connected, but it makes for interesting speculation.

How's that Contender balance, and what's the length and contour of the barrel? I signed up for one of the new ones by Lehigh Defense/SSK and am still thinking about what my first barrel will be, assuming they ever actually get to market.

I should mention that I do own both in lever action carbines. I have made more kills with the 30-30 but have more confidence in the 44.

I'm down to one 30-30 and haven't hunted with it in many moons. If I decided it's what I wanted to take, I would load up the Nosler e-tip round nose mono made for the 30-30. I would think that bullet would change the whole complexion of the the old 30-30 as far as penetration.

22" barrel, #1 contour if I recall correctly....standard/normal in other words. Balance? Yes it does. All 5.5 pounds of it...with an El Paso Weaver K2.5 on top. Black syn stock and forend.

I can’t recall having killed a deer with a.30-30, though I may have. I know I have with a .303 Savage which is the same but better. The .44, on the other hand, I can speak to from experience with revolvers and my old Ruger carbine. It kills them as well as anything without making a gawdawful mess.

Jim, that picture of you must have been taken a while back....




Good looking young man. You’re bringing him up right.

"Writer Brian Pearce has compared the effects of the .44 from a rifle to a .30/06, and while we're at it, the .357 to a .30/30, within their ranges of course."
Pappy: Do you have a reference for that article? Thanks.

I just kinda decided pistol cartridges are for pistols.

Pat: according to my notes I shot 2 elk, 3 bears, and 9 deer with a .44 Mag and Keith Bullets. All performed like solids at slow speed, which is to say they left a small wound channel and took longer to take effect.

Years ago I read a story, told by a fellow whose father was an old time ranch forman. They had a grizzly problem and he told about all the bears his father killed with the 44 Mag. Anyone else read this one?

Not one article, but rather a number of them over the years. Pearce is a big fan of lever guns, especially one for handgun cartridges, with Marlins apparently a favorite. He's been nagging Marlin for years about increaing the twist rate in their .44s, but only the .444s got a boost, along with Ballard rifling, I believe. He had a very slick custom Marlin takedown built a while back, a real dream piece.

Most of the articles with that info are in my tub of print copies rather than the e-zines I get now, so finding them would be quite a chore as they're not organized.

With Lead fouling I blew up the muzzle of the barrel on my $180 1962 Ruger semi auto 44 mag carbine.
That is common and there are no replacement barrels.

I noticed that the front of the 444 marlin chamber is the same as 44 mag.

So I got a surplus 444 Marlin barrel from Numrich gun parts corp.

Cut off the breech, drilled a gas hole, yadda yadda





0.9" 3 shot group at 100 yards with a 4X scope.

Now I have the world's most accurate and heavy Ruger 44 carbine.

Killed hogs and one axis deer with the 44 mag B92- such a lovely little rig. It is the one thing I do not handload for and after testing factory ammo found the Hornady Lever Revolution shot best - but....never been pleased with its performance. Don't think they expand much and have switched to Gold dots but not enough work with theme to judge results.
About all I can say shooting hand gun ammo in that rifle is that you have to stick to heavy bullets. anything less than 200 grains get flung wildly.

No experience with 44 mag, but, a 170gr Partition at 2400 fps from a 26" barrel is a stoner of a killer.

Two Nevada Mule Deer with the .44 from a 7.5" Ruger Super Blackhawk. Seventeen deer with a Winchester M94 running 170 gr. cast bullets. The 30-30 deer were shot mostly in the late 1050's early 1960's. In fact the last deer taken with the 30-30 was on Labor Day weekend, I remember the date because right after I was headed to Lackland AFB for basic training. The deer with the .44 were taken around 1975 and 1976 IIRC. None of the deer traveled and great distance and were easily recovered.
Paul B.

Gunner, you older than Ingwe?

man o man you ready for a ‘ravine buck’ now

👍

Reminds me of reading Elmer Keith, he knew what he was talking about also

Chuck Norris is older than me...thats why he's scared of me...

I shot a good sized Wild Russian Boar (about 235 lbs) in Vermont with .444 Marlin (240 grain JHP) at about thirty yards out of a Winchester 94 carbine. One chest shot, straight on, tore his heart in half, but he was still fighting the Plott Hounds for about five seconds before he dropped dead (Had he not been in combat, he could have ran a ways before dropping, I think).

I shot a feral hog in South Carolina that was a bit bigger (closer to 300 lbs) with a .30-30 using 170 grain Winchester Power-Points (right behind the shoulder from sideways) and he fell over dead as if struck by lightning. That, too, was from a Winchester 94 carbine. Similar range, or perhaps a bit closer. He, too, was in combat with hounds when he was shot.

Missed a head shot on a whitetail doe once....once😃

I’m sure I parted the greasy locks of her forehead gland.

Anyway, I can state that a winchester supreme 250 gr nosler partition gold will punch completely through a 5-1/2” caliper eastern red cedar. And still keep on trucking

50 ish yards

They quit making those btw.

i killed a boar with a knife and he was dead in about 3 seconds.

Well, that does it, then. A pig sticker has better stopping power than a .444 Marlin.

I heard they over penetrate.

I watched my uncle grab a big hog by the ear and stab it dead with a kabar. Nuts

I never thought of that possibility. Nice job. That’s an accurate lead slinger

Countless hogs have been killed with a single.shot from 22 rimfires.

Hahaha. That reminds me of the time I killed a doe with a 94 30-30 angle eject with infamous rattle trigger and the bullet didnt go in her.

Had said gun 3in high at 100. She came by about 70 yrs out in a palmetto river bottom just the other side of a shallow ridge I was sitting and watching. The wide shallow ridge was about 3 ft high and I couldnt get a body shot so I put the crosshairs on her head and fired and she disappeared from view without me seeing her bounding off jumping the palmetto she was travelling the edge of.

I sat there a few and got to thinking, dayom, that bullet was near 3 inches high at that distance. I hooked it over the hardwood ridge and found her laying there with one or 2 BB flecks of blood above her head on the ground. There was about a 3/16 in size almost square hole in top of the skull where the hide was gone.

I just dont see how any human can survive a bullet to the brain pan as I figured she died from loss of CSP fluid and pressure.

Wow, I'd really like an entire thread on this and the complete process you went through.

Trust me, no, you wouldn't.

My Uncle killed a hog accidentally by whopping him across the face with a shovel he was shoveling shixt with.

The .44 Mag is my preferred choice for deer and hog. I hunt in heavy cover, and my shots are close. My only load is the Speer 270 grain Gold Dot SP, over a lot of H110. Excellent accuracy, clover leaf groups at 50 yards. 1625 FPS.

You'll learn about trajectory quickly with one.

Ammo is cheaper, too.

I've wacked deer and hogs with bo the 44 mag and 30-30 Win. Both kill just fine. In one lung and out the other works on just about every creature God made. I I will say that the 44 seems to "thump" them harder and they don't run as far. Either way a deer will pile up in 50 yards.

It ain't that tuff. 1600 fps, 300 grain paper patch zeroed at 75 yards: 50 + 0.5 100 -1.7 150 -9.2 YMMV

...............................no Dan, he may have 8 or 10 on me.

So....who's JUST NOW discovering the .44 Magnum??

Got to be the teeny boppers!

I'm another fan of the .44. Have (4) of the rascals. The first is a Rem. 788 with a .22" barrel which is very accurate. I keep it zeroed at 50 yards as I hunt mostly tight cover, gullies, washes, and gulches.



Second is a Ruger #3 with a little custom stock work. The factory butt plate was more punishing than I like.



Third is another Ruger, only this time as an auto: Ruger 44 Carbine, and I use this one the least, only because I hate chasing brass.



Lastly is a Contender Carbine. Can't beat this one for tree stands and/or walking river bottoms;



For those of you concerned about trajectory, here's a little chart to look at, but after you get used to your rifle all of this becomes second nature.



For any and all Campfire members, I highly encourage you to jump in if you're sitting on the fence, however get your pocket book ready. Seems most of these have followed the Dow Jones price wise.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I'm a huge fan of the Lever Revolutions ammo for hunting, but I still reload for plinking and killing dirt clods. I'd never use them in tube magazine as with the .44 carbine.





DMc

There's something about the look of Lever Revolution .44 Magnum that's just wrong.

I thought so too at first, but the holes they leave in paper are impressive.

Might add to my post above, for those considering a .44. If you find your weapon choice a little shoulder un-friendly, you can always step down to .44 Specials. Still a hoot for small game and varmints.


DMc

Killed many a moose with rbh 7.5 and one with my 92' Browning....DRT , 175 yarder with the 92' Btw i roll my own 265 and 270 grain rounds ......own a 7.5" a 10" and the 92' the speed vs powder burn ...the 10" is all it needs.

I let this one get away, and I'm still kicking myself!



If anyone see's it out there, lemme know.., I WANT IT BACK.

Yes but you have to shoot them twice to make a 44.

I've killed quite a few deer with 44 mag lever guns, and a bunch with a 30/30.

Broadside rib shots, they seem to run a little further using the 44 mag and 240 soft points or the Hornady 240 XTP. They're very dead, and great blood trails.

The 30/30, with either 150 or 170 grain FP, seems to shorten up the blood trails a little.

Heck I love em both, and in the woods I hunt I'll take either.

I woulda said bout the same with like type bullets before I tried fast 130gr FP in 30-30. Whole nother animal.

Big difference would be for subsonic suppressed, but that's a guess on my part.

My Browning 92 carbine in .44 Mag is one of the guns that I always regret having, in a weak moment, sold back in the late 1990s.

For what its worth, I just saw RCBS Carbide Dies at Walmart for $25. 1/2 price if you need some dies for that 44.

Man! This is high on my "To Do" list. As soon as a few expendable funds appear, I'll be all over it.

Dang Grandkids are expensive little toots! (And too young to shoot still!!)

Afternoon guys!!! A little late to the show, I have resently acquired a Rossi 454 casull, early one no safety, real nice bluing. Have not shot it much yet. Would it be comparative to the 44 rem mag in killing power from a 20" bbl? Have some 300xtp, 250 Barnes xpbs, & 200 cast lead. Have only shot frogs with the cast, ya I know a little over gunned but ya wouldn't believe the air time ya get. Thanks, any reloads would be good to. Bill out. 🐾👣🇨🇦

Trajectory (IE, gravity) is a fact of life. Regardless of the romance of ONE critter killed.

Huh, I could have written that myself. My experience is exactly the same.

I wonder if I have your old one ? By the way - LOVE it.


Ok- done rubbing salt....

Could be. Gold trigger?

Well over the years I have taken several deer with the 44 magnum from both rifles and pistols. More than several using various 30-30 carbines. Difference being I usually used cast Kieth style semi wadcutters from the 44 Magnum and Jacketed 150 grain bullets from the 30-30 rifles. Both worked just fine with deer traveling a bit farther when hit with the cast bullets from the 44 unless I hit bone. This said it seemed to me the 44 left a more reliable blood trail but I had to follow the blood trail more often and farther. MY 30-30's were almost always loaded with 32.2 grains of 3031 under either the Sierra or Speer 150 grain bullets. Seemed to me the 30-30 was the faster killer using those two contrasting loads. I also recovered very few bullets getting exits more than most of the time. Maybe if I had used jacketed bullets in the 44 I would feel differently but if I had to chose one over the other for deer it would be the 30-30.

I’ve had a Ruger 77/44 for a few years always thought it was a light handy gun but have yet to harvest a deer with it what’s the muzzle energy in 44 mag vs say 80gr of blackthorn 209 in a muzzle loader?

Lol !

I've shot one hog at 30 yards with the 270gr Speer in the .44, shooting a Ruger #1 - it was DRT. The same Ruger has been kinda fussy about accuracy, and 1¾-2" groups is about the best I can do at 100 yards. The one .30-30 I have, a Contender Carbine, also worked well on a doe, and is a good deal more accurate.

Other than a wornout lever gun, I would think the .30-30 would be more accurate and have a better trajectory than the .44 mag. I have not yet given up working on mine, however.