Good 44 mag. load for rifle

[351 WINCHESTER]

My son has a marlin .44mag with micro grove rifling. I don't have much experience with a .44 mag and was wondering if someone could recommend a factory load that would be good for deer and hog. I don't know if the ammo companies make ammo specific for rifles and revolvers or if they are interchangeable.

 

[ThomasT]

When i had my Marlin micro groove 44 i used the 240gr Magtech bullets from Cabelas with a Winchester primer and 24grs of W296. I pulled some WW white box and they were loaded with the same powder charge.

The micro groove rifles have a slightly over sized bore. I think this was because when the 44 rifle came out the factory loads were loaded hotter than they are now. To reduce the pressure i beleive marlin slightly increased the bore size.

The Magtech bullets i have measured all miked at .431 and make a good fit. The berry's plated bullets all mike at .429 and would strip in my gun. The Hornaday 200 and 240gr measure .430 and also work well.

 

[Magnuumpwr]

Not sure of the exact name, but believe it is "Master Ammo" and comes in 20 rd red boxes. The bullet is a 300 gr. JSP and works perfectly on deer. Killed 2 does and a spike buck with this ammo and all 3 dropped where shot, no run offs. Yardage was between 40 and 60.

 

[Walkalong]

Whoops, factory.

 

[ThomasT]

Well dang it 351 i miss read your question. I thought you were looking for load data.

Magtech factory loads with the same bullet can be bought from Cabelas and Midway.

Any factory loads with Speer Gold Dots or Hornaday XTP bullets should work fine. XTPs are my favorites for pistol caliber rifles. A rifle with its 3-5 hundred FPS velocity boost really test a bullets strength. XTPs give excelent results.

And like poster #3 said, deer normally drop in their tracks when shot with one of these guns.

I have been getting over 2000 fps with a 200gr XTP but haven't shot a deer with it yet. It just might be too much of a good thing. It sure would do a burgler in though.

 

[dmazur]

Remington's product no. R44MG2 is a basic 240gr JSP (jacketed soft point) in .44 Magnum.

I've had good performance with a handload using Speer 240gr. JSP's that duplicates this factory load. (At least it appears to duplicate it...)

Sorry I can't provide a link to this part, but I've read about concerns with early expansion with some hollow point ammunition in hunting applications. Bullet designed for personal defense, fails to penetrate in tougher animals.

Hornady's XTP may not be one that fails. I've heard good things about this bullet, even though it's a hollow point.

Anyway, good old-fashioned soft points seem to work just fine at rifle velocities with a .44 Magnum.

 

[Magnuumpwr]

I have to agree with dmazur about the hollow points. I haven't used HP's for hunting, but then again why use more costly HP's when JSP's will do an outstanding job bringing them down. Forgot to mention that I use my marlin 1894 when I stalk hunt and want something loaded in the gun able to bring any hogs I come across down with minimal effort on my part.

 

[DWFan]

Hornady is producing their Lever-evolution ammo in .44 Magnum.

 

[Big Daddy K]

Winchester Supremes in 250 gn hps. Vey accurate and DRT performance.

 

[Slamfire]

Used to shoot a lot of Federals with 240 JHP bullets. They shot fine in the M1894 with microgroove. They probably were going 1700-1750 fps.

I never killed anything with those rounds, but I had friends who claimed that it did well on deer.

The 44 Mag in a Marlin is about a 100-150 yard rifle, the bullet really sheds velocity quickly and drops excessively. I have shot hundreds of 240 grain rounds at my 12" gong at 100 yards, the round really has a lot of punch at that distance, still respectable at 150 yards. I think 200 yards is stretching it.

 

[charlie505]

Hornady Lever-evolution ammo in .44 Magnum is a beast - love it.

200yards easy with that ammo and good sights