Best .44mag rifle ammo for deer

[theyoungone]

I would like to try to hunt Whitetail deer with a .44mag lever gun, but I am not sure what type of ammo I should use. I'm a good shot with range ammo, but I like to pick the ammo for Deer hunting now, and practice with it to know how it groups. For the record I already know the limitations of a .44mag levergun and will keep all shots within 100 yards.

Should I go JHP or not?

Should I go with 240 grain, or go lighter or heavier?

[knight0334]

240gr is plenty fine for deer in PA. If your deer are more likely to be under 50yds I'd go with JHP, over 50yds I'd go with hardcast or JSP. But that is just what I would use. Others may have differing opinions.

Big/heavy slugs are not needed on such thin-skinned critters.

[omgur2]

I use my Win 94 Black Shadow for brush hunting deer or when its raining (quite often) and have found the Leverevoloutions in 225 grain group real well out of a 24" barrel. I can not yet say how well they work at killing unfortunately.

[mosseater]

I would use a HP of some reputable make. Out of a rifle, you'll gain substantial velocity. We have a guy at camp who's used his Marlin lever gun to take several deer effectively and the rifle has no trouble hitting out to 200 yds. I wouldn't be afraid to stretch it that far if I knew I could shoot the rifle that well. It's all about where you make the hole. 240 grainers hit like a train. I've taken many with my Redhawk and 240's longest out to 80 yards. Out of a rifle is good medicine.

[omgur2]

Sorry I meant a 20" barrel, not 24" on my 94 44mag Win.
I have heard, and please tell me if I'm wrong but aren't some 44 mag loads designed with a pistol in mind with powder that will burn quicker for the short barrel? If you were to use a pistol load in a rifle would you potentially loose velocity in the last half of the barrel? Hearing this was one of the reasons I why I set up my scope with the 225 grain Hornady Leverevoloutions. Sighted in at 100 yards i get only 10" of drop at 200 yards. I do have 300 grain Hornady hollow points that I use for Bear and with out changing the scope hit 3" low at 100 yards, I have not shot the 300s at 200 yards yet. I also heard (sorry) that the pistol loads in a rifle was one reason why the shorter 16" 44mag levers were popular, a good combination of full power burn, longer barrel for accuracy, and less loss of velocity than a 20" or 24" Barrel.
Looking forward to what others have to say because sadly in the 5 years Iv carried this gun It has yet to be shot at an animal.

[theyoungone]

Sorry I meant a 20" barrel, not 24" on my 94 44mag Win.
I have heard, and please tell me if I'm wrong but aren't some 44 mag loads designed with a pistol in mind with powder that will burn quicker for the short barrel? If you were to use a pistol load in a rifle would you potentially loose velocity in the last half of the barrel? Hearing this was one of the reasons I why I set up my scope with the 225 grain Hornady Leverevoloutions. Sighted in at 100 yards i get only 10" of drop at 200 yards. I do have 300 grain Hornady hollow points that I use for Bear and with out changing the scope hit 3" low at 100 yards, I have not shot the 300s at 200 yards yet. I also heard (sorry) that the pistol loads in a rifle was one reason why the shorter 16" 44mag levers were popular, a good combination of full power burn, longer barrel for accuracy, and less loss of velocity than a 20" or 24" Barrel.
Looking forward to what others have to say because sadly in the 5 years Iv carried this gun It has yet to be shot at an animal.

I tried those Levereveloutions rounds and they are accurate, and I was gung ho to use them, but I have heard 50/50 reports on their stopping power with deer. Some love it, but some claim that its ineffective at dropping a deer quickly. That is kind of why I started this thread.

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.ht...&f=23&t=652270

[A-5]

Funny how a 225gr bullet doesn't kill quickly. Those guys that say that inexperienced or like to complicate things to make them sound like they know what they are talking about. I've seen deer die in archery that had no business dying in the two minutes they took to die. I've seen deer run with huge holes in deer. Deer react differently to any situation some drop some don't. It's not the bullets fault, it's not shot placement sometimes. Deer run after the shot even though they are dead. Modern day bullets across the board work well. Stay with the popular brands and you will be fine. Still can't guarantee a quick kill no one can. Leverevolution is a good bullet and will do just fine. It would be my choice.

[omgur2]

I tried those Levereveloutions rounds and they are accurate, and I was gung ho to use them, but I have heard 50/50 reports on their stopping power with deer. Some love it, but some claim that its ineffective at dropping a deer quickly. That is kind of why I started this thread.

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.ht...&f=23&t=652270

I concur with what A5 says above.
There was a time when hunters poo poed 243 Winchester for the same reason. All to many times the bullet hits soft tissue (like a belly or neck) and the tip fails to properly expand, not the bullets fault, its the shooter. I have always aimed for the upper shoulder and have never had a deer run after the hit. I did once have to shoot one with my side arm because the front legs were gone but the heart was still pumping. I knew where he dropped and should have just let him alone to die but in my excitement I ran up to him right away. I know some hunters that are so worried about ruining meet that they now aim for the neck and either end up with deer running wounded or claims of "i guess I missed" while the deer is a mile away dead. Shoot to drop!

[DavidTM]

I will give you my experience in shooting over half-a-dozen large doe (as I refuse to shoot small doe that will only produce a tea-cup full of meat at best) with either one of my S&W's. I shoot 'em with a scoped 629DX or an open sighted 29PC.

My load for both is the same. I have always shot every doe with a Hornady 200gr. XTP over 24.4gr. of Vihtavuori N-110. Why? Because either one of my S&W's will put all six shots in a 6" ring at 100 yards when shot from a bench. Years ago when I was undergoing load development I could not find any other powder that would do this. (All 6 shots) Plus the bullet gives me a pretty consistent velocity of around 1,700fps (I haven't looked at my 44 load data notes in sometime) and the deer die with one shot in the boiler room. The hits are shocking!!

When Hornady came out with their factory 44-mag flex tips I shot those and they had the same point of impact my 200gr. XTP's did. So I thought I would try them. I put a great shot on a large doe at about 35 yards or so. This was the only deer I ever lost. I range shot the rest of 'em for the brass and hunted with my hand loads ever since.

Now, today Vihtavuori powders are very pricy. When I purchased 8-pounds of it the prices was only $2 or so more than standard powders. I subscribe to Handloader Magazine and they did a review of Alliant Power Pro 300-MP and this powder gave the same impressive velocities and accuracy as the Vihtavuori powders do. When I run out of my stock of N-110, I will likely go with the Power Pro 300-MP

FWIW

Dave

[Snowy]

I own a Marlin 1894 in 44mag. When I first got the rifle I went to testing different loads. Unfortunately, I do not hand load (yet), so I purchased several different factory loads. I tried federal fusions, Hornady leverREV and Winchester super-X soft tip. All of these rounds were 240gr. I had a very difficult time getting the Hornadys to group well. I averaged my groups around 10". I know I know that still isn't down right dispicable, but I still wanted better. Looking at our community forums I found I wasen't the only person out there that did get good groups with Lever REV rounds out of a Marlin microgrooved barrel. The federal fusions was slightly better. Maybe 8" group. I had my best groups roughly around 6" with Winchester super-X soft points(flat). I have yet to harvest a deer with this 1894, but I also have a SRH in 44mag. I did harvest a nice doe up at camp last year with my pistol. One shot from 20yds and it was DRT. Barely a flinch after she hit the dirt. I hit here a little high, but in the shoulder.

I have also heard and been told by several other 44mag shooters that the Hornady XTP in 200gr is a really great bullet. Same thing from guys shooting 44mag in rifles and pistols.