Is .44 mag still a popular hunting round or has it been replaced by meme rounds like .350 legend and .360 buck breaker?

>>63802598 (OP)
It's been replaced by 69x420MM YOURMOM Penetrating rounds.

>>63802598 (OP)
Yeah, there are still plenty of hunters using it, especially in heavy brush with lever guns or the Ruger 44 carbines.

>>63802598 (OP)
It was never replaced by them, those cartridges replaced slug guns.

Outside of revolvers 44mag has always been niche. 45lc and 45-70 actually have historical significance in lever actions, and can both be loaded to higher performance than 44mag.

>>63802931
This nigger fucks. 45lc is peak cowboy cinema (nevermind the 45 acp, the cylinder can be swapped for both)

>>63802931
>Outside of revolvers 44mag has always been niche
It's way more popular than the .45LC in new production lever guns. The ammo is cheaper and more readily available too. It's all spicy, whereas most .45LC on the shelf is SAA safe. You can load 45LC to the tits in certain revolvers and some lever guns, while anything chambered in .44 mag will handle anything stamped .44 mag. For context I have a Rossi 92 in .44 and a Ruger Blackhawk .45LC. the .45 is cool but I'll probably replace with something in .44 just to reduce the number of calibers I'm loading for.
>45-70
Full on rifle round, shouldn't even be in the same conversation.

>>63803545
>Full on rifle round, shouldn't even be in the same conversation.
You know what else is a full-on rifle round? the .350 Legend and .360 Buck Breaker that OP mentioned. You see, this is a lever gun thread, not a sidearm thread.

>>63802598 (OP)
I don't know or care. I just want this and to shoot big boolits.

>>63803588
>You see, this is a lever gun thread, not a sidearm thread
Read the OP again, because he doesn't specifically mention leverguns, his pic has a .44 bolt action in it, and .350 legend isn't chambered in any lever guns. I also wasn't replying to OP :^)

OP doesn't understand the distinctions and popularity between all these rounds, so he's asking questions. The poster I responded to answered with misleading information (the .44 is more popular than the .45 in contemporary lever guns). He then said something that is true on its face but gives away a lack of experience or understanding - 45-70 is so far beyond .44 mag performance, you might as well compare 30-30 and 300WM. They're different, the guns are different, the use cases are different and thus they aren't in competition with eachother.

>>63802884
>still plenty
>especially in
>the Ruger 44 carbines
Was always a minor flash in the pan.

>>63803691
I bet in today's meme gun economy they could promote it back into existence.

>>63803545
>It's way more popular than the .45LC in new production lever guns.
Guns maybe, but I would bet by ammo sales, the .45 LC is more popular than .44RM. At least during the surge of cowboy action in the early 2000's. Those old farts have probably died off, by now.

>>63803700
I saw 1 at the show on Saturday. Clean, too. Like unused, lol.

>>63803704
.38spl dominates that sport.

>>63803691
The Ruger .44 Carbine was in production from 1960 to 1985 with more than a quarter million made. .44 Magnum lever guns have been made in the millions in several models by multiple manufacturers.
>>63802965
I love .45 Colt, but i can't reliably find it at the average gun store or box box retailer. I can always find .44 Magnum.
As a side note, I'm generally amused at .45 Colt Guy. Doesn't matter what gun forum you're on. .45 Colt Guy will pop up and claim .45 Colt can do whatever you want to do better.
>Hey Gun faggots, can an Iowa Class 16" gun reliably penetrate the armor belt of a Yamato class at ten miles?
>.45 Colt Guy: a 300 grain gas check lead hard cast flat nose over 25 grains of Bullseye out of a 7 1/2" Ruger Blackhawk should do it
Incidentally, the common availability of .44 Magnum is why pic related has outlasted all other big bore auto Magnum pistols.

>>63802598 (OP)My grandfather wouldn't have bagged plenty of deer without a ruger tubefeed carbine in the 1962-1965 era when he bought it at the px

>>63802803
don't you have a nongunz thread to be a faggot in?

>>63802931
>45lc and 45-70 actually have historical significance in lever actions,
the first ever lever action chambered in 45 long colt was chambered in 45 long colt in 1989

>>63803704
>>63803545
>>63802965
.45 long colt shouldn't even be brought up fucking at all because it's ahistorical. no lever gun was chambered in .45 long colt until 1989. fucking colt didn't even chamber the colt lightning carbine in .45 long colt. .45LC is only used to day by cowboy action shooters

>>63803588
this thread is about .44 mag and straight walled hunting rounds
>>63802931
>>63803545
they literally stopped making .45-70 lever actions in like 1917 or 1935 or something because no one bough them and then reintroduced them in the 1970s and 1980s. prior to OG winchester going bankrupt in 1931 they had made 750,000 1873s, 1 milly 1892s, 7.5 milly 1894s and only like 160,000 1886s. hell, they sold 3 times as many 1895s as 1886s.
.45-70 is a fucking meme round

>>63803673
>1892
>smallest framed browning winchester
>big boolits
lol what?
>>63803680
op here, you are right and the other guy is a retard. the first ever lever rifle chambered in 45 long colt was the marlin 1894 in fucking 1989, no that isn't a typo, it was 1989. 1886s and marlin .45-70s were never popular and were discontinued in the early 1900s and only brought back as a meme round for cowboy larpers and even back in the BP days leverguns in .45-70 were never very popular because it's a meme round.
.44 mag was so popular Marlin brought back the 1894 literally specifically just for .44 mag

Imagine if Dirty Harry had used a 45-70 handgun

>>63803700
>>63803691
doesn't ruger still sell .44 mag bolt guns? .44 mag semi autos are dumb because rimmed cartridge and I don't think you can hunt with them in most places, where as a bolt gun should be hunting legal in every place that allows .44 mag as a hunting round and .44 mag a self defense carbine is dumb when ARs and mini 14s and 9mm pccs all exist

>>63803717
wrong pic? that's a jew FAL

>>63804231
cool, does he still have it?

>>63804319
he gave it to my dad recently in 2025, we shot it previously so hot the front sight got lost in maybe 2011

>>63804334
honestly the camo Mossberg 835 might be a "FAMILY" weapon more than the winchester model 100 with a bulged barrel

>>63804334
lol did you replace it or scope it?

people still hunt with .44 magnum out of pistols and rifles, yes. in a rifle, it's quite powerful and has the muzzle energy of a .308 Win., albeit much shorter effective range.

>>63804357
the Ruger has a 1x4 bushnell scope for deer season, the Mossberg is exclusively for turkeys with an extra full choke and either #4 or
5# shot of the 3 1/2 mg variety

>>63804285
The rimmed cartridge isn't much of an impediment. The original Ruger 44 had an internal 4 round magazine that loaded from underneath like a shotgun. there was a Mini 14 based .44 Magnum carbine called the 99/44 Deerfield. It used the same four round flush fit rotary mags as the 77/44 bolt action rifle. as far a self defense, I could see running the model 44 like a shotgun. It's s light rifle at just under six pounds and is pretty handy. You'd probably want to use a cartridge belt, keep a round count and top it off as you went.

>>63802931
Original Winchesters were never loaded in 45LC.
The 1873 and 1892 were in .44WCF, generically called .44-40.

Colt, seeing how popular it was and hearing about demand for a pistol that could take .44-40, released the Colt Frontier in 1878; it an SAA chambered in it. But Winchester didn't do the reverse on the real Wild West/Frontier years.

>>63804426
yeah but what would you use it for? Are there that many states where
>hunting with .44 mag is common
>hunting with a semi auto is legal
If you aren't hunting with it there is no upside to using a 4+1 .44 mag over a .223 or a 9mm carbine and I just legitimately don't know what the market is for a semi auto hunting gun.
If you live in a place where it is practical and legal to hunt with it, it seems based

>>63804450
>>63802931
idk what year they changed it, but modern .45 long colt has a different rim than 1800s .45 long colt. in the 1800s a lever action would rip the rim off of .45LC.
Colt sold their own rifles in .32 WCF, .38 WCF and .44 WCF. So it must have been an engineering problem if colt themselves refused to make rifles in .45lc and instead made single action army revolvers in .32 WCF, .38 WCF and .44 WCF instead of figuring out how to put .45lc into a rifle
Oh and the Colt-Burgess was also only ever offered in .44 WCF

>>63804263
>...and straight walled hunting rounds
In that case, the guy I was replying to was still wrong, and .45-70 belongs in the conversation. LOL
>only like 160,000 1886s.
There were also 560,000+ Springfield 1873s and 230,000+ Springfield 1884s. That's without even mentioning the countless percussion rifled muskets converted to trapdoor action breechloaders. The round saw some pretty serious use, look up the 45-70 forager rounds that bird hunters would use. Despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of it, it's killed plenty of game.

>>63804687
>and .45-70 belongs in the conversation. LOL
.45-70 has always been a meme round and was never poplar
>Despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of it, it's killed plenty of game.
that's more of the army making guns and then surplusing them than anything else. .45-70 is a meme round

>>63804490
The rim never changed.
Cartridge manufacturing techniques did.

>>63804366
>it's quite powerful and has the muzzle energy of a .308 Win
It absolutely fucking does not lol

>>63804687
You don't own or understand any of the calibers being discussed.

>>63804759
he is the same retard who said lever guns were historically chambered in .45 long colt or that .45LC, a black powder round made in 1872 is better than .44 mag at literally anything other than cowboy action shooting

>>63804468
Why would you live in a retarded communist state where you can't hunt with a semiautomatic? As far as self defense , sure, why not? A Remington UMC 180 grain semi jacketed soft point will be running an average of 2100 fps for about 1750 ftlbs of muzzle energy out of an 18" barrel Model 44. Penetration in ballistic gel is about 19" with expansion with about 1.6x expansion, so most of the energy will get dumped in the target and over penetration isn't going to be a real issue. you give up a round over a large frame revolver in the same caliber, but gain the steadiness of a rifle platform under stress and, with the Model 44, gaun the ability to top up like a shotgun if necessary. .44 Magnum tends to be a one shot stopper out of shorter revolvers. Out of rifle it outperforms intermediate rifle cartridges like 5.56 and 7.62x39 at ranges under 100 yards. The M44 is a light and handy rifle with the power of a light battle rifle at short range that I wouldn't hesitate to use for self defense.

>>63805048
>Out of rifle it outperforms intermediate rifle cartridges like 5.56 and 7.62x39 at ranges under 100 yards.

>>63804773
The irony is Bill Ruger decided to use the heavier .44 Magnum frame Blackhawk for his .45 Colt Blackhawk which led to guys like Dick Casull to start screwing around with hot loading .45 Colt. Even funnier to me is that Elmer Kieth gave up on a hot loaded .45 Colt after blowing up a couple of SAA and worked with Remington and Smith & Wesson on what became .44 Magnum.

>>63805051
People become absolutely delusional about .357 and .44 out of lever guns. I love my .44 but at the end of the day it's still a PCC.

>>63802884
deerstalker right? thats such a neat little carbine, sure wish they still made it

>>63804214
kek at your example

>>63805058
bubba gotta shoot pissin hot handloads

>>63804773
>he is the same retard who said lever guns were historically chambered in .45 long colt or that .45LC, a black powder round made in 1872 is better than .44 mag at literally anything other than cowboy action shooting
LOL, I am not >>63802931.
>"Everyone who mentions that round must be the same person."
Retarded logic.

>>63806897
But you ARE a terminally wrong faggot.

>>63806897
all gay retards must be the same person

no one on /k/ hunts

>>63808536
19.5 lbs, don't cope unless you can make Roxanne my
personal homegirl
>>63808536
Fuck you

>>63808875
are you smoking crack you fucking retard?

>>63808536
I do, but I just fuck around with my .44

objectively best straight wall rifle cartridge?

>inb4 45-70

>>63802884
Imagine being Ruger, seeing a 10/22 in .44 Magnum, and thinking "this sucks, actually—let's fucking discontinue it"

>>63803545
45lc lever guns are getting a bit of a bump from being a shitload of fun with a suppressor..

>>63809123
444 marlin…. Gets no respect

>>63806675
First year of production it was the Deerstalker. Ithaca got into a pissing contest with Ruger about the name and Ruger renamed it the 44 Carbine, or Model 44.

>>63809302
Bill Ruger actually designed the 10/22 to mimic the 44 Carbine. as i understand it was finally discontinued due to rising costs. It was apparently pretty complex to manufactue.

>>63810209
I'd also assume they didn't have amazing sales because most people don't hunt with semi auto .44 mags even if they live in a jurisdiction where something like that would make sense. you can't hunt with semi autos in PA, but in PA for instance, most of the pop hunts with pump action .30-06 or bolt action rifles when, based on the shot distance, a .30-30 would be fine. a lot of people just like using bolt actions with full rifle rounds because that's what's popular even if it doesn't make a ton of sense

>>63810209
>It was apparently pretty complex to manufactue.
Ruger is usually pretty good at simplifying things; maybe they should take another crack at it.

>>63810482
Ruger's catalog has tons of SKUs that they only do occasional limited runs of since their sales numbers don't justify staying tooled up for them all the time.
With modern hypebeast drop culture and more people buying guns just for fun, bringing back the tube-fed semi-auto .44 Mag carbine makes some sense.

>>63804450
>4 rounds
Was it, like, a factory SBR or something? Six rounds of .44 Mag are barely 10" end-to-end.

>>63804311
>jew FAL
Yes. Just representative of the fucked up pricing at the show.

>>63809123
.375Win
>>63809547
Agreed, way under valued.

>>63813419
did you reply to the incorrect post? the durr stalker only had a 4 round mag because the mag didn't extend the entire length of the barrel, like how a shotgun's mag doesn't typically extend the entire length of the barrel, because hunting laws prohibit it and even if they don't people would rather carry fewer rounds in the gun because it makes it less front heavy and you generally aren't mag dumping at game animals
IDK why the 20 inch full mag tube style was the one that caught on or at least why it's the still made version of lever actions. Teddy Roosevelt used to exclusively use half mag rifles. It's probably for the same reason all those lever guns have those gay as shit buckhorn sights no one likes

>>63813427
you don't want to pay $4,000 for a $2,000 at most gun that was made by DSA and isn't even real milsurp?

>>63802598 (OP)
I carry a .44 because they don't make a .45.

>>63813525
But there's no technical reason they couldn't have let you have six rounds to match your wheelgun and a plastic stick to limit your magazine capacity like hunting shotguns come with.

>>63813533
but they do?
>>63813557
it might stick out the front of the stock. the whole point is the mag is hidden completely within the stock

>>63813570
>it might stick out the front of the stock. the whole point is the mag is hidden completely within the stock
"just put a full-length Mannlicher-style stock on it"
Yes, I recognize this is rapidly veering away from something that'd have been marketable to the original target audience and toward something that appeals to a demographic of my autistic ass, specifically

>>63802598 (OP)
it is still a popular option in lever guns in states with restrictions, like mine, which doesnt require straight wall but makes you use a .35 cal or larger
also an excuse to use lever guns in 44
>>63802884
>>63804426
>>63813570
bring them back ruger pls

>>63809123
44-40

>>63811261
They sort of did. The Deerfield was basically a scaled down Mini 14 action that used the four round 77/44 rotary magazine. It was made from 2000 to 2006. I don't know if it was discontinued due to lack of sales or if it was because the company decided to make more modern rifles after Bill "No Honest Man" Ruger died in 2002.

>>63813718
I'd have to assume it was sales related. how many people hunt with semi auto .44 mags? hunting in general is down as fuck and what is up is ARs, PCCs, and ccw and hd 9mms

>>63813718
>a .44 Mag Mini 14
I'm gonna come.
>I don't know if it was discontinued due to lack of sales or if it was because the company decided to make more modern rifles after Bill "No Honest Man" Ruger died in 2002.
If I had to speculate, everything besides M4geries probably took a huge hit once the AWB sunset in 2004, and weirdo niche guns like a .44 Magnum Mini 14 probably got hit the hardest.

>>63813557
I love a lot of stuff Bill Ruger came up with, but he was a died in the wool FUDD. He hated the idea of Regular Joe Civilian having more than a five round magazine in a rifle or a ten round magazine in a pistol. He did everything je could to keep non LEOs from buying the select fire AC556 or "Law Enforcement Only" twenty and thirty round Mini 14 magazines. He was one of several gun manufacturers that supported the 1994 AWB. So, of course the 44 Carbine has a four round magazine. That being said, there are magazine conversion kits for it that take ten round LAR Grizzly magazines.

>>63813734
i tend to think you're right. I also found someone who made ten round mags for the mini 14 based Deerfield.

>>63813747
>Ruger camp carbine but it takes Desert Eagle magazines

>>63813747
>>63813756
>>63813762
that's one of the later models. the one the dude was seething about for being 4+1 has a tube mag like a shotgun or lever gun

>>63813604
they actually did offer a version with a mannlicher stock called the "international". still had the 4 round cap unfortunately. I toyed around with the idea of modifying one for a full length magazine years ago, but it would have required pretty major surgery i wasn't equipped for at the time

>>63813771
god man licker stocks are ugly

>>63813771
Man, they were so close.

>>63813764
This one >>63813747 is actually the older tube mag gun with a conversion to accept detachable box mags from an LAR Grizzly pistol. These>>63813756 are extended mags for the Mini 14 type Deerfield. pic is a LAR Grizzly in .44 Magnum. it's basically a scaled up 1911.

>>63813792
how did they modify a tube gun to take a mag?

>>63813792
Considering how chunky 2011 grips are, you could probably make one that took a single stack .44 mag and nobody'd notice.

>>63813796
If you think about it, a lifter is just a second magazine follower that pushes the next cartridge the last little bit into the path of the bolt—the box magazine conversion just eliminates that step

>>63804755
.44 mag can do 2100 pounds from a 16" barrel
.308 about 2700 from a 24" barrel
.308 does around 2400 from a 16" barrel

little difference from a 16" barrel

>>63813826
It's not something that the deer's gonna notice, but 300 foot-pounds still seems like a lot to write off as "little difference"

>>63813796
Eliminated the lifter and machined an insert to accept the magazine.

>>63813838
depends how far you have to shoot, I seldom get a shot under 300m

>>63814066
Here in the Southeastern US, it's usually the opposite. The woods are so thick combined with the hills it's rare to get a shot over 100 yards.

>>63814066
due to the combination of thick woods and rolling foothills from the Appalachians most shots on the east coast are within 150-100 yards

>>63813826
>.44 mag can do 2100 pounds from a 16" barrel
More like 1700. You can fuck around trying to milk as much as you can out of the round by handloading or buying boutique/unobtanium ammo for a bit extra.
>.308 about 2700 from a 24" barrel
Yep
>.308 does around 2400 from a 16" barrel
How many guys are hunting with 16" .308

So if you inflate numbers for the .44 by about 400ft/lbs and then you chop the .308 shorter than 99% of guys using a .308 will run it so you handicap it by 300ft/lbs, and then you declare than *another* 300ft/lbs don't matter, the .44 mag is basically the same!

>>63815791
>How many guys are hunting with 16" .308
guys who bought a SCAR and think "well, it's in .308, why not"

>>63815813
I mean that's dope, you don't need a big rifle to kill deer. I love my .44 Rossi, it's my favorite fuck around gun and it's a great round to handload. I just don't get why people need to pretend lever action PCC's can outperform modern rifle rounds, it comes up in every lever thread.

>>63815974
>rossi

a ruger 10/22 scaled up to take 38/357 would be pretty cool

>>63817735
pointless when one scaled up to take .44 already exists and the PC Carbine should meet anybody's .355 caliber needs

>>63817745
a 358 semi carbine may be more suited to some uses, given how popular 357 levers already are. plus i can't get the pc carbine :(

>>63805051
It absolutely will in terms of ftlbs. 223 is only 1300-1400 out of an AR. >>63804687
45-70 isn't relevant. It wasn't chambered in lever guns and was only resurrected by dudes shooting black powder in cowboy matches with Shiloh rifles. It came back from there in the 00s and then people memes it into a dangerous game cartridge that's totally different than the original chambering.

I don't like the round desu.

>>63809123
444 Marlin is actually a really cool cartridge. In theory it's good on everything except pachyderms. They're really all novelties. I like 44-40 as well in the Henry. Brass so thin you can ruin the round by handling it too aggressively.

>>63817839
>45-70 isn't relevant. It wasn't chambered in lever guns
Winchester 1886.

>>63817033
Who gives a shit, I drag it around when I'm fishing and checking trail cameras outside of main hunting seasons, and I shoot the shit out of it. It's not jewelry.

>>63817839
>444 Marlin is actually a really cool cartridge. In theory it's good on everything except pachyderms.
Plus it's .429 so you can use the same bullets as your .44 Mag for relatively cheap gallery loads.

>>63817914
My mistake I always associate that with the 45-90. If you look at the production numbers it's a early 1900s phenomenon rather than something contemporaneous with the popular guns of the wild West and a drop in the bucket compared to overall production.

It's not a bad round I just don't think it offers anything over the alternatives. Being a government round attracts people who think it's advantageous and won't ever go away like 5.56 NATO but if you look at the actual history of 45-70 it comes and goes it 10-20 year waves. There's no real reason to choose it over other more optimal calibers.

It's not for me. Also keep in mind the good loads are legitimately dangerous in many old guns. BP loaded 45-70 is a totally different ball game compared to the bear stoppers we have now.

>>63817735
>>63817822
they aren't going to do it because the only real market for the .357 lever guns are the cowboy larpers. .44 mag is the only one of those rounds that has a legit hunting use at this point. the .357 and .45 lc are just people looking for cheaper rounds to reload/their colt SAAs are in .45 lc.
I'd think any semi auto will just be in 9mm because
>it takes glock mags
and 9mm is rimless and cheaper and more popular. I'm surprised there aren't more 9mm lever actions. there's just the taylor made one that's like $2,000 (which kills the reason to get cheap ammo) and the ugly as shit faggot ones with box mags. I guess you can't use 9mm for cowboy action shooting

>>63817839
marlin brought back the .45-70 marlins in the 70s I think. not sure why, but there were .444 marlin enjoyers. I really doubt .44 mag has better terminal effect than .223 within 100 yards
>>63817914
the winchester 1886 was the second worst selling classic winchester only ahead of the 1876. only like 160k units were sold. there were like 720k 1873s, a milly 1892s and 7.5 milly 1894s all by the time real winchester shut down in 1931

>>63817926
>buying a gun made by huehuehues
>>63818116
Teddy used .45-90. he had at least one 1886 in .45-90 and you could buy a gun that was made for him but I guess he never purchased or used it in .45-90 for only $25,000
https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/80/24/roosevelts-african-safari-winchester-model-1886-rifle

>>63818157
>not sure why,
Bill Ruger and the no 1 brought single shots back. As did metallic silhouette shooting which first started showing up and would explode in popularity (for handguns) in the 80s.

Imo that's what drove people to start looking at springfields and 45-70s during that brief revival.

But I wasn't alive then. Guns are trendy AF. I know back in the 90s people were obsessing over the fastest magnums on the planet and nothing under 3k fps and 7mm mattered. Whatever the gunrags/guntubers shill goes.

>>63818208
*whatever the rags/tubers/fora were shilling when you were a certain age
t. thirtysomething and still acting like 12-o'clock X300 and DD buis is meta