.44 mag handi rifle

[the lefty]

In the last few days I've been reading up on the .44 mag handi rifle on this site. Many of the complaints have been that accuracy is not very good with them. It seems that the bore diameter is too large by a couple thousanths of an inch. This combined with the 1 in 38 rate of twist seems to make accuracy poor. I've been looking in to getting one of these rifles for target shooting, and possibly hunting. Since the primary use of the gun will be targets and plinking, ammo will mostly be FMJ, JSP, or JHP. The brands I should have access to are American Eagle, and probably WWB. I have no idea what grain they are. My question is, how inaccurate are these guns? I dont really expect super tight groups, the ability to hit a clay pigeon at 75-100 yards is accurate enough for what I want the gun to do. What does everyone think, for hunting pop bottles and maybe deer, would this rifle be accurate enough? Those of you who own one, can you tell me specifically what groups you have gotten, and at what range? keep in mind I will be using jacketed bullets almost exclusively. Thanks in advance for information

Nate

[Ditchdigger]

The 44 mag.is somewhat of a inbettween in the accuracy department.Some get there best accuracy with the 180's,and some with the 300 gr.ones.I got about 2 1/2" at 100 with mine when it was still just a 44 mag,but it improved with the 445 supermag reaming . It is a fun shooting gun with cast bullets( cheaper).To answer your question,it should do 3" at 75 to 85 yds. or farther. Digger

[the lefty]

Thanks for the info Digger, that sounds like it will suit my purposes just fine. Now it is just up to the budget to make it possible. thanks again

Nate

[Ranger J]

This probably comes under the category of flogging a dead mule.  Have you really read the comments a lot of us have posted regarding the accuracy or lack there of with the .44 Handis?  I guarantee that if I had before I ordered the .44 barrel I wouldn’t have!  For every one who has had good results with this barrel there have been about ten or so that have complained often loudly and long and I bet a lot more that have had poor results with it but have not complained about it.  No one wanted this barrel to be good more than myself and several others who have tried numerous different loads and different size and weight bullets with a lot of different powders.  Caveat emptor!
RJ

[the lefty]

Ranger, yes I did read quite a few of the posts. Most involved people shooting cast bullets, and handloading. Hence the reason I asked, because I will be using jacketed store bought ammo almost exclusively. I wont need to worry about finding a perfect load with the perfect powder. Also I failed to see what groups people were getting. It is possible I just missed it, but I figured I would ask anyway. No doubt I will still go through and read some more posts before making a final decision. I'm just trying to determine what groups can be expected, as it is hard to tell if people are expecting dime size groups, and are complaining that they dont get them, or that the groups are actually just all over the place.

Nate

[jbtazgrabber]

i have a 445 that was built about8 years ago it was with a duglas barrel,it shots really well.but it only likes the 200 gr. xtp....i wanted a 300 grain shooter.....killed a lot of deer with the 200....i never looked back.it just dont get any better...i have raed so much im almost gun shy to buy a h&r  44 barrel.........ha ha no pun indended..the better half is wanting one <445>.but she shoots better than i can and wants a tack driver...i checked on a barrel and other goodies to get one made up for her...the cost it not that much more than the price of a barrel that may or may not be a good shooter so im going to have one built...maybe???yes no   i dont know still havnt made up my mind....... if someone wants a 44 barrel  look up my ad in classified and give the two replies a pm......im wanting on my old brain to make a decision.....still wating and waiting.... :'(jb

[quickdtoo]

FWIW, Bajabill got a 44mag barrel fitted recently, it slugged at .430", so maybe they're tightening the bores a bit lately.

Tim

[Ranger J]

The problem is not one of cast or jacketed bullets.  The problem seems to be a combination of oversized bores; mine slugs at .432 and most factory bullets are at .429, although Hornady is at .430, and the 1 in 30 twist of the barrel.  Mine is the only one of my Handi barrels that I can not get to shoot reliably.  I started out shooting jacketed bullets and was able to only get about a five or six inch group at fifty yards.  I really shouldn’t call what it does a group it is more like a pattern, as no two bullets will be close to each other.  I tried cast bullets because I could get bigger bullets but even .432 bullets would not group.  I tried numerous powder combinations with different size bullets with no luck.  The barrel has been a real aggravating experience.  Once in a while I would get a load that seemed to show some hope, just to have it go to blazes the next time it was used.  Another problem was the barrel's tendency to throw flyers every few rounds.  All my shooting was at fifty yards and just as I thought I was making some progress I would get that one shot out of five or six that would be six or seven inches away from the others.  Wolfgang has gone through an almost identical experience with his barrel.  If I could get a .44 barrel to shoot what I consider a reasonable group at fifty yards, I would be happy with two inches; I would probably shoot the thing to death.  I really hope Handi has tightened up their barrels but I am waiting for some others to get them and give range reports.  At present if someone needs a barrel to convert to 445 SM I have one up for sale.  If you get the barrel I hope it does well but at present I am real leery of them.
RJ

[JPH45]

I agree heartily with RangerJ. My 44 had a .432 barrel and only shot .430 cast bullets well at 1300 fps and less. It shot the 270 Speer Gold Dot and the Hornady 300 XTO just fine, but it was not untill I began using .432 bullets that I got regular satisfaction from cast. I am sure that had I shot jacketed as much as I shot cast I would have seen a degredation of group size. I killed four deer with mine. Not bad, but I never felt that I was getting the best accuray and speed the 44 Mag cartridge has to to offer under all conditions.

[Ranger J]

I have killed several deer with my .44 Ruger Deerfield.  It has a 1 in 20 twist and with heavy H110 240Sp is a real tack driver.  The best results I can get with the Handi is with the Hornady bullets in 180 and 300 weight and a full load of H110.  I tried the .432 cast and got real poor results.  To be honest I was afraid to take it hunting.  It was not that a .44 bullet would not take a deer but I was afraid of those flyers that I seemed to get.  What if that great buck is out there and a flyer happens.  You have got to have confidence in your gun.  With the .44 barrel I was always afraid I had Murphy setting next to me.  
RJ

[Wolfgang]

Nate,

I have to agree with Ranger J as well as many others on the board.  I have pretty much run the entire course with this .44 and as of yet have found nothing that is really very satisfying in the accuracy department.  If you are restricting yourself to nothing but factory ammo your results might be even worse as you have no way to adjust things like bullet diameter, velocity, powder types and so on.  As Ranger said I have come up with loads that shot like barn burners and then the next time out they shot like I was shooting a shotgun at a patterning board.     If you read some of the posts on the initial topic that I posted you will see that many folks with the .44 have not been satisfied.  I am still thinking that I am going to rechamber the rifle or possibly just sell it and get something different as I have spent considerable time, effort and money on trying to get it to shoot like it should.  I have also had the problem with fliers and shot stringing.  If you get a .44 I hope it works out better for you than it did for me and many others.  Best of luck.

Wolfgang

[the lefty]

As an alternative, does anyone have any experiance with the Marlin 1894? I've seen a couple of good reviews on another forum. Actually I was looking at a lever in .44 to start with before I found out about the NEF.

[quickdtoo]

The 94 Marlin question would be best asked in the Marlin Levergun forum down the page, but I'll leave it here as there are many good folks here that may be able to answer your question, but I'd definately ask in the Marlin forum, too.

Tim

[jbtazgrabber]

the 44 marlins are excellent no problems...unless you give it to lawyer 4 a dorvice and he likes it so much he wont give it back .....like mine did   .....jb

[Ranger J]

I finally bit the bullet and sold my .44 barrel.  It will be a source of aggravation removed from my life.  I will, however be watching for range reports of .44 barrels and hoping for the best.  Hope springs eternal, as they say, and I still think that a Handi in a .44 that will shoot well, would be my favorite gun.
RJ

[Wolfgang]

I'm with Ranger, I think my barrel is going up on the auction block as well.  That or I'll make it a fance post!   I may have to look into a 45-70 barrel and shoot big heavy slow moving bullets that way.   As for the Marlin's I foolishly sold a 16inch barrelled limited edition in .44 mag.  It was a good shooter but not a tack driver.  I could usually manage 2 3/4 to 3 inch groups out of it when I did my part and the big thing was it was consistent and wouldn't shoot strays all over the place.

[coyotejoe]

Over the past 30 years or so, I've owned two of the Marlin '94s and they were 5-6moa rifles at best and I really gave them a good wringing out with a great variety of loads. Glass bedded the buttstock, freed the forstock, even shot it with the mag tube and forend removed. I'll never try another. The 1894 in .357 was an honest 1 1/2 moa rifle, as was the 336 in 30/30.

[coyotejoe]

I posted this on Saturday but it seems to have gotten lost. I did a chamber cast of an unfired .44 mag handi barrel and found the chamber is odd. It is quite oversize at the rear, .465" with a gradual taper 1.310" long going down to .459". The "throat" is just a short taper .135" long tapering down to groove diameter of .432", more like a shotgun forcing cone than a rifle chamber throat. I don't know if that is a factor in the poor accuracy of these barrels but I doubt that it would help.