.44 Magnum Rifle

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gdeal

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Who makes the best .44 Magnum rifle? And would this be a good self-defense rifle? I heard a rifle like this hits harder under a 100 yards than a .223 rifle.
 
My favorite is the out-of-production Ruger 44 semi-auto carbine. They can be found used in good shape for about $400. MB Retting in Culver City had a couple in the rack when I was there 3 weeks ago.
 
I believe the Marlin 1864 lever gun to be the best example of a .44 Mag rifle. I have been hunting with one for a number of years. I used to shoot an old Ruger .44 Mag semi auto, but the Marlin is much more accurate, and holds 10 rounds as opposed to the old Ruger's 4 rounds.
Another factor in the Marlin's favor, is my Ruger would only work reliably with factory 240 grain ammo. My Marlin works fine with my handloads, using a 270 grain bullet.
 
The most accurate .44mag Rifle I ever owned was a old Remington model 788. If I remember correctly it had a 22" bbl. That was a GREAT shooting rifle, and it was a long time ago, but I think I was consistently able to shoot +/-2" groups at 100 yards.

I had one of those I.M.I. pump-action Timberwolf rifles and it was very accurate too. The rifle itself weighed a ton, probably because it had a long, fat (almost a bull or heavy) bbl. And 10 rounds of .44 mag as fast as you could pump it was comforting in the Rodney King Riot days.

I've owned 2 of the older (tube mag) Ruger .44 carbines, and while they were good at 50 yards I just could not consistently get decent 100 yard groups out of them. Probably more me than them, and maybe I was spoiled by the accuracy of that old 788, but I just didn't feel secure taking 100 yard shots with them.
 
I have a Rossi Lever action in .44 Mag. I believe it's a copy of a Winchester 1863? and it's called a "Couger" and has an embossed couger on the receiver. It is a great shooting rifle and very nice looking. It was a little over $200 when I got it about 14 yrs. ago. It is hard hitting at close range, but it kicks like it is hard hitting.
 
Marlin 1894 lever action

I have an old model (1974 production) that shoots very well. I have shot the Ruger carbines and I like the old ones better than the new ones with the 4 round mag. The one I shot was not a tack driver.

The winchester 94 trapper is a nice little carbine lever action. My buddy has one it shoots nice.
 
If would be hard to beat a marlin or winchester lever in .44 mag, especially if you have a wheel gun in the same caliber.

not too sure that any .44 load will hit noticably ' harder ' than a .223 up to 100 yards, although some of the buffalo bore and other hard cast bullets will do quite nicley.
 
I have the Henry Big Boy .44 and it is great. My wife bought it for me for this hunting season. I am going to take it out this weekend (oh yea 4 days till opening day). I have a Ruger .44 that way only 1 type of ammo to carry and if I cannot get a Alabama Whitetail with 16 shots :eek: I should not be in the woods :D
 
i have a browning lever action b94 and its performed excellently, i cant say a bad thing about it. it does have lyman aftermarket peep sights but still its incredibly accurate and powerful enough to cut a tree down rough 100 yards away. 8-10 rounds depending on whether you use 44spl or 44 mag, its light, small quick and just plain sexy. i have a friend who just bought a ruger deerfield carbine. the only thing he complains about is the expensive magazines.
 
Rich and tires: don't mean to be a*** about this stuff, but if the gent's looking around he might want to have the right numbers :) Flame me, don't care! What you have Rich is a Rossi 92, copy of the Winchester 92 aka 1892, and Rossi called it Puma back then with the Puma emblem. Tire: what you have is a Browning 92, aka B92, again a copy of the Winchester 92. It was made in limited numbers in the same Miroku plant in Japan - same high quality too - as the late arrival Winchester 92s (these later ones with tang safeties). Rossi's US distributor used to be Interarms til they folded. Some of those were called "Puma" models, some with the emblem, some without. Later on - about a decade ago - Legacy Sports (LSI) took over as the largest Rossi distributor and adopted the old "Puma" name. These have always had a goofy little lever safety atop the receiver.

Among the current Rossi crop, only LSI and EMF have .44 Mags - and the latter is scaling them back and may be nearing zero about now. Like the good ol' Interarms days, EMFs had no such silly safeties til spring 06. The only other 92 maker of .44 Mags is Armi Sport, Italian made and distributed through Cimarron. Taylors sells the same guns - just no .44 Mag. These are about as expensive as the late Winchesters - if you can find them - or even more.
 
I wanted one of the old Ruger Carbines for years. But it was pointed out to me that it is very tough to get spare parts. They are all old enough that breakage is possible. And you have that tubular magazine to deal with. And they are getting to be quite expensive since the collectors want them. So I bought one of the new Ruger Deerfields about 18 months ago and I've been very pleased. Same exact profile as a 10/22. Almost no recoil. The little pop up peep sight is neat but I put a 2-7x scope on it. Compact package. Easy to carry all day.

I'm about as happy with it overall as I can be.

Gregg
 
How many magazines do you need for hunting and target shooting? :confused:

If I wanted cheap magazines, I'd get an AK or an AR or an M-1 Carbine or a FAL or something like that.
 
I think ruger is making a .44 deer field carbine...

but i don't know that the parts will interchange with the old models.
 
Another one for the 1894...but I heard (not saying it's fact) that they're rather inaccurace. Is this true?
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I'm assuming you mean Marlin 1894. At any rate, accuracy is relative. Mine is accurate enough to hit pie-plates and such at 100 yards, about the same as many Winchester '94 .30-30s I've seen. A target rifle it ain't, but it is reasonably accurate. Admittedly, I don't shoot mine from a bench rest, ever, because it's NOT a bench-rest rifle.

As for power, a 240gr .44 Magnum from a 20" barrel will clock around 1800-fps (depending on lot of ammunition/powder). The gives a muzzle energy of 1725 ft-lbs. Even at a more conservative 1700-fps (my reloads), you've still got 1540 ft-lbs.

Compare this to the "best" .223 load I can cook up (77gr HPBT at abut 2750 from a Service Rifle... actually, my loads only clock 2650) and you're in the 1200-1300 ft-lbs ballpark. Even the much loved 55gr ball at 3300-fps from a 20" tube only sees just over the 1300 figure.

According to the numbers, the .223 lags behind the .44 in the muzzle-energy department. Add greater frontal area and bullet mass and it's no wonder people consider the .44 an adequate close-range medium game rifle, while the .223 doesn't have such a stellar reputation for this use. (Though I've heard plenty of stories of people dropping deer with .223s and lesser guns.)
 
My Marlin 336C-.44 magnum does the trick for me and eats anything from 180-300 grains although the 300's kicks like a mule the others are fairly tame. Also it has never malfunctioned fired several thousand rounds through it and it is still going. Very reliable not a bad gun for $100.00.:D
 
but i don't know that the parts will interchange with the old models.
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No parts interchange between the old tube-fed Rugger 44 carbine and the new Deerfield carbine. The Deerfield system reminds me of a dual recoil spring M-1 carbine. While my Deerfield is about as accurate as my 2 Ruger 44s, I still like the older carbines better because you can reload them without removing the magazine.
 
Ruger_96.jpg


I had a Marlin 1894 for a couple decades. It shot handloaded Hornady 200 grain hollow tips quite well. This bullet is .430 and same length as width, similar to a round ball. This bullet shoots well from the 1 in 38 twist. But no other bullet would group better than 7 inches at 100 yards so I sold it and bought this Ruger 96.

Ruger cuts a 1 in 20 twist which will stabilize the 300 grain Hornady XTP quite well. If there is a better self defense bear stopper I'd like to know more. For hunting, I've had good luck with Hornady 240 grain XTP.

This Ruger shoots 44 Special ammo exceptionally well. It's used a lot as a trainer for new hunters at our Gun Club. 44 Special from this carbine has zero recoil but will put a large hole in the target which demonstartes the need for safety.

In all fairness to Marlin, they quit the micro-groove barrels for 44 MAG a number of years ago and accurasy has improved. I've not tested a modern Marlin 1894 with 44 Special ammo; haven't a clue about accurasy at 50 yards.

44 MAG does not have the accurate range of a 30-30, 35, or 444. But within it's effective range, this cartridge kills far better than paper charts would suggest. I doubt if many animals on this planet can remain standing very long after a 240 or 300 grain XTP hits 'em through the chest!
Jack
 
Jack,
My 1894S, purchased in 1995 has a microgroove barrel, with a 1:38 twist.
The only load I shoot is a 270 grain Speer GDSP over H110 powder. I get a consistant velocity of 1575 FPS, and very good accuracy. 100 yard groups average just under two inches. At 50 yards, it will cut clover leaf groups. I find the .44 Mag Marlin every bit as accurate as a 30-30, or many bolt rifles.
I have killed 8 deer with this rifle and load, and a number of hogs. I do not know of a better killing cartridge under 100 yards.
 
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