Bullet Selection For .44 Magnum Leverguns

When hunting in the brushy areas of western Washington the .44 Magnum revolver tends to be my first choice, but the added barrel length and extra velocity of the .44 Magnum Carbine can add nearly an extra 100 yards to the effective range of the caliber. I have a blued Marlin 1894 with the very fine Skinner aperture sights and its light weight of 6 lbs. is an easy carry for the day while the extra barrel length is quite useful, producing velocities at 100 yards rivaling revolver velocities at the muzzle.

Not surprisingly, the gun makes for a fine deer and black bear combination out to 150 yards and certainly makes connecting with the target easier at ranges beyond 75 yards. When using the best bullets available, .44 Magnum carbines are excellent for deer, hog, or even black bear.

Buying Bullets

When selecting or building big game hunting ammo for the .44 Magnum carbine, extra care to find the best in bullet quality is a must as the muzzle velocities of the carbine are a couple hundred feet per second faster than the revolver. The stress of impact on the bullet is a product of the speed of impact and the toughness of the target. So, any increase in impact velocity or increased toughness of the target will increase the stress on the bullet. Greater bullet stress is consistent with increases in bullet failure, so when driving your bullets to full speed and facing big game, pay special attention to make sure the bullet is plenty strong to withstand the stresses of impact and properly complete its task.

Additionally, almost all builders of .44 Magnum carbines use very slow twist barrels, which will not stabilize the heavy bullets used for big game with the revolver. Indeed, the Marlin has a barrel twist rate of 1-in-38″ instead of the much faster 1-in-20″ twist rate common to .44 Magnum revolvers. A 1-in-20″ twist works fine for bullets up to 330 grains but the much slower 1-in-38″ of the .44 Magnum Marlin is far too slow for heavyweights, so those shooting the Marlin Carbine are best advised to use standard weight bullets, around 240 grains, but only ones with exceptional build-quality.

Accuracy

Whenever I am shooting groups at 100 yards using aperture sights, I am quite satisfied with 1.5″ 3-shot groups. As purchased, my Marlin 1894 had a very heavy and rough trigger pull as well as a rough lever-action, but a trip to Firemaster’s Firearms in Cinebar, Wash., fixed it, smoothing out the roughness in the transit of the bolt to give me a smooth and very usable 4-lb. trigger pull.

The Marlin liked every brand of bullet tested as all produced 100-yard, 3-shot groups of about 1.5-2.0″.

Conclusions

Since all SAAMI-compliant .44 Magnum ammunition will chamber and fire from the Marlin 1894, shooters must take special care to select the finest hunting bullets, which in this shooter’s opinion should be a bonded-core bullet if selecting an expanding bullet, or the finest casting available. The LeHigh Penetrator turned in a solid performance with reliable and deep penetration, and no significant deformation of the bullet.

When hunting in thickly forested country, where long-range shots are uncommon, a lever-gun can be an excellent choice, and a lot of fun. The Marlin 1894 can put meat in the freezer with the best of them and do so with a little flavor of the Old West.

Editor’s Note: Randy Garrett is the founder and former owner of Garrett Cartridges.

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