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357 mag rifle or 44 mag rifle?
- Thread starter Jak300gt
- Start date
jetinteriorguy
New member
Don't count out a Henry in .41 mag. As long as you handload it's a very good choice. Mine is a tack driver and even with heavy mag loads recoil is not bad, even for a young one.
jackstrawIII
New member
Ditto on the 44 Special mild recoil and blast. It feels like shooting a 22.
I have killed many deer with my 357 magnum Marlin. I now own a suppressed Ruger 77/357. Very fun gun. I am considering re-barreling it with a faster twist rate to be able to stabilize some 250 grain bullets I have been trying.
All that said the 44 magnum has much more power.
If you want to plink alot with it then the 357 magnum (it des work on deer) if its mostly hunting with just a little plinking then the 44 magnum or even a 45 colt would be awesome!
All that said the 44 magnum has much more power.
If you want to plink alot with it then the 357 magnum (it des work on deer) if its mostly hunting with just a little plinking then the 44 magnum or even a 45 colt would be awesome!
I have a lever action rifle in 38/357 mag and its a lot of fun to shoot at the range. But, shooting at steel targets set at 100 yards you can easily hear that the round is running out of gas fast as it hits the steel. I don't hunt with this rifle, but if I was going to hunt I'd have bought the 44 Mag instead. Hotter round with more punch. An animal being hunted deserves a quick clean kill. I personally don't think the 357 delivers that kind of firepower once you get past 50-75 yards.
I have 32 mag, 357 and 44 mag marlin lever guns and the 357 is my favorite of the three. I think the 357 would be fine for deer out to 100 yards but a 75 yard limit might be better. I have killed one deer with the 44 mag and it worked as expected. That was a 50 yard shot. The 357 would have worked just as well at that range.
Of the 3 the 32 is the heaviest and the 44 mag the lightest in weight. The 44 with a 240gr bullet has a fair amount of recoil to it. The 357 is far more pleasant to shoot. And its a blast to plink with. So I would personally recommend the 357 but good luck finding a Marlin you can afford. They are priced way above what the 44 mags sell for. And they don't come up for sale very often.
Of the 3 the 32 is the heaviest and the 44 mag the lightest in weight. The 44 with a 240gr bullet has a fair amount of recoil to it. The 357 is far more pleasant to shoot. And its a blast to plink with. So I would personally recommend the 357 but good luck finding a Marlin you can afford. They are priced way above what the 44 mags sell for. And they don't come up for sale very often.
Well Ohio Deer Gun season opens I believe Tomorrow, running November 28th through December 5th. The only deer hunting I have done in Ohio was Handgun using a S&W Model 29 44 Remington Magnum.
I primarily hunted West Virginia prior to Ohio opening for rifle and my cartridge of choice was the 44 Remington Magnum. I was very comfortable using my little Ruger 44 Carbine as it was short and handy and with a 240 grain bullet a devastating 100 yard gun. Where I hunted in W.V. most shots were 40 to 50 yards and a long shot was 70 yards. Always hunted with that Ruger 44 Carbine and a S&W Model 29 side arm. I likely would have fared just as well with a 45 Colt combination.
Here in NE Ohio (Cleveland suburbs) several of the local shops were pretty well stocked with lever guns chambered in both 45 Colt and 44 Remington Magnum as well as .357 Magnum and other calibers. Anyway, given a choice I would go with the 44 Remington Magnum and later add a suitable hand gun like a Ruger Redhawk or S&W to compliment the rifle. Other Ohio Legal cartridges I like are the 444 Marlin and the old 45-70 Government.
Just My Take...
Ron
I primarily hunted West Virginia prior to Ohio opening for rifle and my cartridge of choice was the 44 Remington Magnum. I was very comfortable using my little Ruger 44 Carbine as it was short and handy and with a 240 grain bullet a devastating 100 yard gun. Where I hunted in W.V. most shots were 40 to 50 yards and a long shot was 70 yards. Always hunted with that Ruger 44 Carbine and a S&W Model 29 side arm. I likely would have fared just as well with a 45 Colt combination.
Here in NE Ohio (Cleveland suburbs) several of the local shops were pretty well stocked with lever guns chambered in both 45 Colt and 44 Remington Magnum as well as .357 Magnum and other calibers. Anyway, given a choice I would go with the 44 Remington Magnum and later add a suitable hand gun like a Ruger Redhawk or S&W to compliment the rifle. Other Ohio Legal cartridges I like are the 444 Marlin and the old 45-70 Government.
Just My Take...
Ron
Your son will not outgrow any of those rifles in my opinion so it would be hard to go wrong.
If it were me I'd be more worried about the recoil turning him off of rifle due to his age so depending upon his experience, recoil tolerance and size you may want to weigh those first. When I was his age I even thought a 20ga in bird shot kicked hard but I was scrawny and whimpy lol.
If you reload then it probably won't be a problem in any of the chamberings you choose. However, if you do reload you might find the most versatility out of the 45LC. Even if you don't some of the cowboy action loadings for 45LC tend to be on the lower end of what that cartridge can do.
If you can (meaning if his arms are long enough to accommodate the longer reach) you may want to consider a good recoil pad. I like Air-tech's stuff.
If it were me I'd be more worried about the recoil turning him off of rifle due to his age so depending upon his experience, recoil tolerance and size you may want to weigh those first. When I was his age I even thought a 20ga in bird shot kicked hard but I was scrawny and whimpy lol.
If you reload then it probably won't be a problem in any of the chamberings you choose. However, if you do reload you might find the most versatility out of the 45LC. Even if you don't some of the cowboy action loadings for 45LC tend to be on the lower end of what that cartridge can do.
If you can (meaning if his arms are long enough to accommodate the longer reach) you may want to consider a good recoil pad. I like Air-tech's stuff.