# .44 mag question?



## deast1988 (Jul 7, 2015)

I have a model 29 8 3/8ths barrel.

New deer club is nice and thick.

I also have a Marlin Trapper 18in 44mag lever action. 

I'll be reloading, my question is a bullet for brush maybe 75yd shots at the most. With some much less, I've been looking at the 265gr hornady softpoint. As a multi use round to shoot out of each gun if they like it.

Does any body have experience with these. They are a Hornady load for the .444 marlin and not sure what they'll do out of the pistol. I'm sure the length of the rifle barrel will be a non issue.

Any help appreciated


----------



## Darkhorse (Jul 7, 2015)

I've been hunting with the .44 Mag. since 1979. That's when I bought my 7.5" SBH. We also have 2 old Ruger Auto Carbines. All I hunt with is 240 grain.
I once shot nothing but 240 gr. soft points but in the past few years have refined my loads a bit. I now shoot the Hornady 240 gr. XTP's (Hollow Point) in the SBH. I still shoot soft points in the rifles. I have a dwindling supply of Speer Gold Dots I have been hoarding. I don't know if they are available again or not but they are very good bullets.
A lot of people have gone to the heavier bullets and they are going to recommend them. But I have never seen the need for them in my hunting of deer and hogs. And concerning the Ruger Autos, Bill Ruger designed them to fire a 240 grain bullet, so that's what we shoot. In all these years our Ruger Carbines have never given a bit of trouble and seeing as parts are almost impossible to get, I want to do anything I can to keep them running.
I don't think there is a deer in our hemisphere that won't fall to the 240 gr. Now the big bears are a different story......


----------



## james243 (Jul 8, 2015)

You may get poor expansion with that soft point if your velocity is low.  My dad had me load some subsonic and though he did harvest a deer with them, the wounding was substandard from what you would get from a typical 44 pistol bullet.


----------



## deast1988 (Jul 8, 2015)

Thx guys, looks like I'll be sticking with a solid reputation 240gr bullet.

I've killed 2 deer with the rifle, none with the pistol.

1st was with a 270gr gold dot soft point, other was a 240gr hornady loaded xtp. 

Just wasn't sure on the 265gr hornady softpoints.


----------



## rosewood (Jul 9, 2015)

james243 said:


> You may get poor expansion with that soft point if your velocity is low.  My dad had me load some subsonic and though he did harvest a deer with them, the wounding was substandard from what you would get from a typical 44 pistol bullet.



Do you really need expansion with a .429 hole?


----------



## godogs57 (Jul 12, 2015)

I use 200 grain XTP'S in my 629 classic and it's pretty nasty on the deer I've shot with it.....great results. With the added velocity of the 200 grain, that hollow point really does a number on em


----------



## godogs57 (Jul 12, 2015)

Followup: have you thought about cast bullets? A 250 grain Keith bullet works great for me as well.


----------



## tgc (Jul 16, 2015)

Southern whitetail,, .44 magnum,, I'll vote with the 240 XTP or 240 Nosler soft hollow point.
I really don't know about pigs, but if you may run into one, I'd say look into godogs57 250 grain keith bullets for the .44 magnum.


----------



## rharp (Jul 30, 2015)

The 265 may work in the rifle but probably will not be much expansion with the pistol. If I used it in the pistol I would shoot for the shoulder bones to break the animal down and get some expansion from hitting the bone. I have loaded this bullet in 444 rifle with hogs,deer and bear being taken with these loads. It will be about 300-400 fps faster out of the 444 Marlin than it will be out of the 44 Marlin.


----------



## Larry Rooks (Jul 31, 2015)

A cast 275 gr Flat Nose has worked great for me in SBH with 7 1/2 in barrel, a 255 gr Keith type in 45 Colt has also worked very well for years.  If I use a factory bullet, it is a Barnes XPB, which has also given great results, full penetration and ALWAYS a blood trail if needed.


----------



## 7Mag Hunter (Aug 11, 2015)

godogs57 said:


> I use 200 grain XTP'S in my 629 classic and it's pretty nasty on the deer I've shot with it.....great results. With the added velocity of the 200 grain, that hollow point really does a number on em





X-2....I handloaded and hunted with
SBH 7.5" barrel for 5 yrs and used
180gr HP, 240gr HP and SP and 240
gr cast bullets....Shot placement is
key, but close range (+- 50yds)
all are very effective...


----------



## Bam Bam (Aug 12, 2015)

200gr or 240gr JHP "Deer Stoppers" from Ga. Arms are some Good Ones! The Hornady FTX 225gr LE's, I've got a few boxes of them but I had'nt tried them yet!


----------



## blt152 (Aug 12, 2015)

I just was at the range yesterday and shot my Ruger Super Red Hawk and my Marlin 1894, both in .44mag. My load was a Hornady 240gr. XTP on top of my handload. Both shot extremely well as far as accuracy. I have used the 240gr. XTP out of my previous hunting pistols with great success on Ohio and Pennsylvania whitetails. It is all about shot placement and can say that I've never lost a deer using the 240gr. XTP.


----------



## deast1988 (Oct 5, 2015)

We ended up with loading 240gr gold dots and 4227 for the rifle.

And xtp 240gr. With a middle of the pack load of 4227 for my pistol. 

Put 1x4 scope on my Marlin rifle and between the two I'll have a thick spot combo for this fall.


----------



## tred1956 (Oct 7, 2015)

240 grain is hard to beat. Been doing it for a long time.

Safe shooting
Doug


----------



## samgreeniam (Oct 16, 2015)

I think the Elmer Keith bullet was / is a 250-255 gr SWC, and that is what he had in mind when he convinced Rem and SW to develop the 44 mag.  So the 240 grainers are right in that sweet spot as well.  I'm relatively new to the caliber (4 yrs and several thousand rounds of shooting and handloading with a SBH Hunter and a M77/44 bolt gun).
I love the caliber.  It's a handloader's dream. The 2 bucks I've taken with the SBH have been with 240 gr XTP and they performed flawlessly, (30 and 40 yds). The M77 will cloverleaf those same bullets at 100 yds.


----------



## joedublin (Oct 17, 2015)

I've killed 'em quick with the 240 grain soft point solids and hollow points....both are up to the job on our whitetails.


----------

