.44 Magnum pistol ammo in a rifle

[SKULLANDCROSSBONES65]

G'day. A friend of mine has just got a .44 Magnum lever action rifle. She is getting a couple of boxes of ammo for it and said it was pistol ammo. She does not have any reloading equipment. I have said she could use my single stage press if she wanted to give it a go. She also has a .243 and I think a .222WSSM.
How will pistol ammo go in the .44 Magnum? I realise that they will not have the same velocity as dedicated rifle rounds and therefore the energy and trajectory will be reduced. Will this be the major issues?

 

[micksis86]

Mate, I've just been loading for my 44 mag lever and found that the loads are exactly the same wether for pistol or rifle. So it won't be any different except a few hundred fps more because of the longer barrel.

 

[Randy 1911]

Pistol ammo will be perfectly fine. Any ammo that is safe in a pistol will be fine in a rifle. You can find loading data for rifle only loads. But then you have to be extra careful not to shoot them in a pistol. The safest thing is to just load it with pistol data then you won't have to worry.

 

[Tom Matiska]

Most pistol ammo is fine with some exceptions:

If her rifle is a slower twist Marlin, it may not stabilze some of the loads above 265grs...

If it is a Marlin microgroove (not all marlins are) it may have fouling problems with lead loads.

If she is going to use it on bambi some pistol loadings don't do well at the higher speeds. Case in point if you get two choices of 44 loads at Winchesters sight if you click on 44 Mag rifle ammo, but many more if you click on 44 mag under the pistol section. I don't doubt "pistol" loads would kill a deer, but the edible meat/purple jelly ratio may be bad at close range.

Some reloading manuals don't recommend 180's in the longer rifle barrel for similar reasons.

 

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

When I had a .44 Marlin, I used the same ammo in that Micro grove barreled rifle as I use in my RUGER Redhawk.

Cast, 310gr. LBT bullets cast of Wheel Weights and quenched into cold water directly from the mold.

The only issue I had was due to the long length of this bullet.

If I tried to work the action rapidly, the nose of the bullet would hang up. If on the other hand I would slowly work the lever, feeding would be smooth and positive.

With some rifles however, this bullet would not work and the clip is too short to handle this big bullet.

My Marlin however, shot the 310gr bullets very well.

Years ago, my brother-in-law, had a 357 for which I loaded. Using recognised loading data for a 357 rifle, the cases would stick in that Marlin chamber, indicating higher then normal pressures.

The remaining loads which were not fired in Fred's rifle were used in my Security Six with zero problems or signs of pressure.

The point is, it may or may not work in your case, as each firearm is a rule unto itself.

Start low with some test loads to find out what the results are in your case, be safe and enjoy.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

 

[noyes]

Problem solved. 44mag. rifle pistol or pistol rifle

 

[SKULLANDCROSSBONES65]

G'day. I suspect it will be some time before she will be interested in rolling her own. She knows to keep her brass for when she is ready.
I sold her the .243 about 3 or 4 years ago and I don't think she has shot it yet, except for the day she originally tried it. That just happened to be the only time I fired it as well. I was given some .243 dies late last year. My son who is now old enough to get his shooters licence is thinking of buying the .243 off her.

 

[Cult .44]

240 grain JHP or JSP factory loads are pretty standard for .44 mag and, I find, shoot quite well out of my Marlin.

As was said previously, any factory .44 mag or .44 special will be safe. Performance is what may vary.

 

[reloader28]

I agree.
I load all mine for my pistol and then shoot them from my rifle if I want.
My cast bullets even put less lead in my rifle than they do in my pistol.

 

[Chaz88]

My dad once had a .44 mag auto loading rifle. I think it was a rugger, left over after he closed his gun shop. Some one gave him a bunch of 44 "law man" loads. Came only like 12 to a box. Very expensive, very hot. The rifle loved them. They were not to bad in 8 3/8 S&W. Hurt to shoot in anything smaller.