44 Magnum twist rate ?

[OldBob]

 The FAQ's have the 44 Mag listed with a twist rate of 1:38, is this the current barrel or the original with the oversize bore ? I did a search and couldn't find anything about twist rate, just lots about oversize bore. I am wanting to use a 44 with a 240 gr. Lee cast bullet, given the length and weight the Lee Shooter program shows the minimum  twist rate to be 1:37, I can compensate for bore size, but the twist rate has me worried.

[quickdtoo]

1:38", old or new, 2007 and later production have tighter bores, but the same twist. If you want a faster twist, get a 2007 or later .444, it's 1:20".

Tim

[OldBob]

  Thanks Tim, I was hoping it had been changed.

[coyotejoe]

I share your concern OldBob, I never understood why the industry settled on such a slow twist. Over the years I have owned several .44 mag carbines because it is an attractive idea but never held on to any of them very long because accuracy was just not up to my standards. I've had three Marlins, two Winchesters and two of the older Ruger carbines and a good revolver would outshoot any of them. I have always believed that twist was too slow but would try out another carbine every few years in the vane hope that "this one will be a shooter", they never were. Accuracy, more than ballistics,  limits the effective range of these carbines. Many will say "so what, it's a brush gun", but the slow twist is especially problematic for "brush guns" because the bullet which is just barely stable in thin air will deflect wildly on contact with a small twig. Ruger's newer carbines have a much faster twist, 20" IIRC, and have set new standards of accuracy for the .44 Mag but other makers seem content with "good enough for a brush gun" type accuracy.

[dpe.ahoy]

Check the Rossi mod.92's in 44 mag, I think they are 1 in 20.  I'd check but mine is in the smiths to get a hole drilled and tapped.   The Handi 44 I got is doing very well with 240's haven't run any heavier thru her yet.  Have some Speer Gold Dot 270's to try.  Gonna try them in the 444's as well.  DP.

[OldBob]

  coyotejoe, thats exactly what I'm getting at, i have an old Ruger carbine in excellent condition, its a great little gun but shoots patterns instead of groups, real frustrating.

  dpe.ahoy, what 240 grain are you shooting, cast or jacketed ? And how fast are you pushing them ?

[dpe.ahoy]

OldBob, I'm using Hornady XTP 240's right now, got them sitting on top of 24.0g H-110.  Want to try LilGun as well but had several hundred loaded up and using those first.  That load shoots very good in the Handi and the Rossi as well.  DP.

[jy951]

i thought the industry standard for 44 mag was 1:20.  the rugers are 1:20, the encore rifle barrel i have is 1:20.  i thought is was just the marlins/nef that were 1:38

[coyotejoe]

Nope, revolvers have always used a faster twist of 18"-20" but for some unknown reason the early carbines were all 38" twist and none of them shot worth a hoot. Ruger made the change a few years ago with their NEW bolt, lever, and semi-auto carbines and T/C built their carbines with the same bore as the Contender pistols but Winchester, Marlin an H&R have never gotten on board. I had an early Marlin .444 which was very accurate with max loads but the higher velocity of the .444 gave the bullet more RPMs. Old .44/40s often had a twist of 32-36" and some shot pretty well but most were 6 moa rifles when tested at 100 yards.

[Ranger J]

My (new) 44 Handi Will shoot Hornady bullets up to 240 gr really well  if they are setting on a full load of H110.  I haven't tried the 300 gr ones yet.  On the other hand it will also shoot 240 Laser Cast bullets with 14  gr of Trail Boss equally well.  Anything else in between is very problematical.  I  don't really care though, I have one load that I can hunt deer with and another that I can punch paper with, what more do I need.  My Marlin 1894 barrel has very similar tastes.  My Ruger Deerfield ( 1 in 20) will shoot any jacketed bullet that will run the action well.  Problem is that it will not shoot low power loads and is not supposed to shoot cast.  I like my new Handi 44 barrel as much as I disliked my previous one!  It will do  anything I ask it to do.

RJ

[quickdtoo]

Just an FYI, even if the 1:38" current production barrels won't shoot the heavy bullets as well as you like, which I think they should with healthy loads, a simple hand reaming to 445 Supermag will solve that issue if you're not into shooting light target loads, even the old overbore barrels shot them good, but I think the tighter bore Marlin made barrels should do well as a 44mag as cptmclark learned.

Tim

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