SteelChickenShooter
New member
This morning I sighted in my new Ruger model 77 in 44 Mag. Man- what a punch! That dry dirt cloud at the berm, first shot, hole on center left and right, this little baby will take a deer no doubt at all. The 44 Mag really developes quite a lot of power out of this barrel. First shot was center L-R, but 5 inches high. I want it to be 3 inches high at about 80 yards. I run the Leupold 2-7 adjustment down and place some Winchester White Box 240 grain hunting loads pretty close to where I want to be. I then compared a couple Remmington 44 Mag shots, and they were on the money. The Hornady ammo was tried next, but it hit way too high for what I wanted. I'd have to sight in this rifle for that ammo alone. Both the Remington and the Winchester 44 Mag hunting rounds gave me every bit of what I was looking for after some slight tweaking of the scope. I did bring other ammo brands but did not shoot them. Maybe on another range visit I may try them. My purpose today was to simply dial it in good enough for deer hunting using some boxes of ammo I already have on hand. With my most favorable range results, I'd endorse this Ruger 77/44 with 2-7 Leupold to anyone interested in deer hunting with a pistol cartridge. Compared to the same rifle in 357 Mag, I'd favor this 44. It sure packs a well placed wallop! Very well pleased. I don't care for cammo. Mine is the plain black synthetic stainless steel. I combo I happen to prefer for my local hunting conditions.