The .44 Magnum: A Remarkable Cartridge That Will Never Die

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In The Beginning

The .44 Magnum was developed by Remington and introduced in 1955 in the then-new Smith & Wesson Model 29 double-action revolver. Shortly thereafter, Bill Ruger beefed up his Blackhawk single-action revolver in .357 Magnum and chambered it for the new .44-caliber round. That first Remington ammo was loaded with a 240-grain semiwadcutter lead bullet with a gas check at a claimed velocity of 1,470 fps from a 6.5-inch barrel. The muzzle energy was listed at 1,150 ft-lbs (about 65 percent more than for the .357 Magnum).

Soon after the .44 Magnum was launched, Arizona gunsmith Ward Koozer began converting Winchester Model 92 lever-action rifles in .44-40 Winchester for the new cartridge. Not long after that, Ruger initiated the design of a gas-operated, semiautomatic carbine in .44 Magnum and introduced it in 1961 as the Ruger Deerstalker.

The owner’s manual included with the little Ruger warned that use of ammunition loaded with lead bullets would clog up its gas-handling system. Almost overnight it seemed, Norma introduced what the company called .44 Magnum Carbine ammo loaded with a 240-grain Power Cavity softnose bullet with a jacket of mild steel. Velocity rating from an 18.5-inch barrel was 1,750 fps for 1,632 ft-lbs of energy. The Norma ammo received a lot of publicity when Robert Peterson, founder of Peterson Publishing Co., used it in an S&W Model 29 revolver with a 6.5-inch barrel to take a record-book polar bear. From a distance of 25 yards, he quickly placed five bullets just behind the shoulder, and due to the lack of expansion, three ended up against the offside hide. The other two made it all the way through. That was some tough bullet!

Using the Norma load in my Model 29, from about 35 yards, I shot two medium-size feral hogs standing broadside and shoulder to shoulder in perfect alignment as they were eating shelled corn. The bullet entered the near pig just behind the shoulder, exited the far pig in about the same place, and kicked up dust far beyond. Remington and Winchester quickly responded by introducing .44 Magnum ammo loaded with their versions of a 240-grain jacketed softnose bullet.

Hunters who wanted to handload for their Ruger carbines had to wait a bit longer. At the time, Hornady’s only offering was the 240-grain Short Jacket semiwadcutter, and its partially exposed lead core made it unsuitable for the job. Speer offered 225-grain hollowpoint and 240-grain softnose bullets of the same shape, and while described as semijacketed, their longer jackets fully enclosed the bearing surface area of the lead core. They were the first jacketed bullets I handloaded for my Smith & Wesson revolver, and they worked equally well in my father’s Ruger Deerstalker. The 225-grain bullet was quite effective on deer and feral hogs. Remington was first to offer 240-grain jacketed softnose bullets of conventional form to handloaders.

The Right Twist

Whereas the S&W Model 29 and Ruger Blackhawk were introduced with a rifling twist rate of 1:20 inches, the Ruger carbine was given a much slower 1:38 twist. Other rifles and carbines with the lazy twist are the slide-action Vulcan 440, lever-action Browning B-92, lever-action Marlin Model 336 and Model 1894, bolt-action Remington 788, and the lever-action Winchester Model 94.

J.D. Jones of SSK Industries, Larry Kelly of Mag-Na-Port, and other serious handgun hunters who took very large game animals around the world with .44 Magnum revolvers often used heavier bullets of higher sectional density. J.D. preferred hard-cast bullets of his own design, and I still have a mold made by him for an excellent bullet weighing 310 grains. Cast bullets as heavy as 340 grains eventually became available from Rim Rock and others. Meanwhile, 300-grain jacketed bullets were introduced by Barnes, Hornady, and Swift.

Extremely heavy (long) bullets can be quite accurate when fired from revolvers because their 1:20 rifling twist rate is quick enough to stabilize them in flight. Due to partial and sometimes total bullet instability, this seldom holds true for rifles with the slower 1:38 twist. Measuring a nominal 0.765 inch long, today’s Speer 270-grain DeepCurl SP usually works, as did the 265-grain bullet once made by Hornady. But some hunters wanted to shoot even heavier bullets in their rifles and carbines, so several manufacturers responded by switching to a quicker 1:20 twist. Examples that spring to mind are the Models 77/44 bolt action, 96/44 lever action, and Deerfield semiautomatic carbines built by Ruger; the Henry Big Boy lever action; Uberti’s reproduction of the lever-action Winchester Model 92; and the new Ruger-made Marlin 1894 lever action.

Another issue is worth mentioning. SAAMI respective barrel groove diameters for the .44 Magnum are 0.429 inch for revolvers and 0.431 inch for rifles. For best accuracy with a jacketed bullet, the bullet diameter should be the same as barrel groove diameter, and while none that I am aware of are, at 0.430 inch, Hornady bullets come closer than the others. This explains why Hornady bullets often deliver better accuracy from rifles than their competition, although from my rifles the Swift A-Frame is equally accurate. That also explains why lead-alloy bullets measuring 0.001 to 0.002 inch larger than actual barrel groove diameter are often more accurate in some rifles than any jacketed bullet.

Recommended Powders & Go-To Bullets

Hercules 2400 and IMR 4227 powders got the .44 Magnum off and running among handloaders, but it was not long before W296 and H110 joined the chase. I find 2400, now made by Alliant, to be better than the Hercules version in several ways, with cleaner burning and lower velocity variation being the most important. W296 and H110 are other longtime favorites. Newcomers like Lil’Gun, Vihtavuori N110, and Alliant Power Pro 300-MP are also quite good, with Accurate 11FS producing extremely low velocity spread.

Charges of slow-burn powders should never be reduced below starting loads shown in various reloading manuals, with W296 and H110 at their best when loaded to maximum pressures with the charges lightly compressed as a bullet is seated. Reduced-velocity practice loads with inexpensive 240-grain cast bullets require quicker-burning powders, and Unique is my all-time favorite, although Universal and CFE Pistol are also excellent choices.

As bullets go, I believe Remington got it right back in 1955. For hunting whitetail deer with the .44 Magnum, 240-grain bullets, such as the quick-expanding Remington SJHP, Hornady XTP, Speer DeepCurl HP, and the Rim Rock SWC, the latter with an extremely large and deep cavity in its flat nose, will get the job done. Buffalo Bore ammunition is available loaded with that bullet, and the box reads “Deer Grenade” for good reason. Due to a 0.431-inch diameter, the Rim Rock bullets I have been using deliver excellent accuracy from rifles and revolvers. The Swift 240-grain A-Frame is as effective on deer as other jacketed bullets and may be a bit better when moving up to large black bears. Moose and elk medicine would include the Swift 280-grain A-Frame, the Hornady 300-grain XTP, the Swift 300-grain A-Frame, and the Rim Rock 305-grain hard-cast bullet with its wide meplat.

Other Considerations

Keeping cases trimmed to the same length for a uniformly heavy crimp helps to keep velocity spread at a minimum. When loading ammo for this project, all powder charges were thrown with a Redding Competition 10X Pistol/Small Rifle Measure. Lyman dies were used for resizing cases, for slight flaring of their mouths for bulletseating, and for roll crimping. When overall cartridge length required for feeding from the Marlin 1894 magazine did not align the mouths of cases with the crimp grooves in the Rim Rock 240-grain and 305-grain bullets, a Lyman taper crimp die for the .44 Magnum was used. That, along with slight compression of the powder charge during bulletseating, prevented recoil-induced bullet push-back in the tubular magazine.

Compared to my Marlin lever actions in .444 Marlin, .45-70, and .50 B&M Alaskan, any handgun charged with any .44 Magnum load is quite puny for protection in big bear country, but it beats bare hands. I have spent many nights with the thin wall of a tent between me and the Alaskan wilderness, and my favorite bunkmate has been a custom Super Blackhawk Predator with a 4.63-inch barrel built by Mag-Na-Port. It is quite fond of Buffalo Bore ammo loaded with the 305-grain hard-cast bullet. The Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan I now have weighs the same as my old gun, and I’m thinking double action might be better than single action for personal-defense use. Buffalo Bore ammo loaded with a 335-grain or 340-grain hard-cast bullet at just over 1,200 fps from its 2.5-inch barrel should deliver all the penetration needed for discouraging the biggest grizzly. While weighing a bit more and being not as handy, an iron-sighted lever-action carbine in .44 Magnum is more effective bear repellent than a revolver because it holds about twice as many cartridges, delivers more punch with each shot, and is easier to shoot accurately. In the short-barreled revolver’s favor, it is small enough to always be with you and is easier to shoot with one hand should a bear be chewing on the other.

Regardless of how it might be measured, the .44 Remington Magnum is one of the all-time great cartridges, and no hunting battery is complete without a rifle and a revolver chambered for it.

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