44mag Handi

[Skip_B]

I have had some moderate success with this 44mag Handi shooting at paper but to be honest I am a little discouraged in how it handles lead bullets.

I have tried to find out what the twist rate of the barrel is but haven't had any luck yet. I imagine it is 1 in 30 something but not sure.

Also, the accuracy increases when I go to jacketed bullets. Is the rifling shallow? Is that the possible problem with this rifle and lead?


I can get a 1" group with jacketed bullets @ 50 yards. Should I be happy with that?

Thanks in advance for the info!

[Badnews Bob]

1" at 50 is good enuff for me thats a dead deer at a 100 yards easy. As for the cast bullets what Dia are you useing? And have you slugged your bore? You may be useing to small of a dia bullets.  The older .44s where noted for being oversized bored dia.

[LaOtto222]

Slug your bore and buy hard cast bullets that are .001 - .002 over size. Most of the older 44's were .432" or so. The newer ones are in the.4295" -  .430" range, but you have to slug it to be sure. I have been shooting .4315" Beartooth 265GC out of mine with mixed results. They shoot well out of my Marlin 1894 (with micro groove rifling), but not so well out of my Handi. The next batch I get will probably be .431"

I have shot 265 grain slugs out of mine with out issue. I understand the slow twist rate will handle up to 300 grain bullets OK. Of course, they can not be of long design, they will have to be rather blunt and short to stabilize well.

Every one has some thing different they are looking for in accuracy. Personally I look for 2" or under @ 100 yards for the large bore pistol cartridges. To me that is plenty of accuracy, because there effective range is not much beyond that and that is plenty good enough to hit a deer's vitals with confidence.

Good Shooting and Good Luck.

[Ranger J]

My (new model) still likes slightly over sized and lighter bullets.  In jacketed bullets it will shoot ragged holes at 50 yards with Hornady 180 gr XTPs over load of H110.  My daughter was home from college the last weekend and she wanted to go to the range and we took several guns including my 1894 Marlin which has probably the same barrel or at least one with similar characteristics as the handi.  The Marlin was the last gun we 'fine tuned' and as she had never shot a lever gun I gave the job to her.  As she touched off the first of the Hornady loads I heard some 'startled words' from her.  While I have shot the Handi and the Marlin with the Hornady load quite often it was always in the middle of the day.  That day it was overcast and headed into evening and we were both surprised at the sheet of fire that came out of the muzzle of the rifle.   My Handi and the Marlin also both shoot very accurately 180 gr Oregon Trail hard cast over a load of Trail Boss.  This is a great paper load with little or no recoil.  Both guns have a similar twist ratio and bore size and do seem to prefer lighter bullets.  I had one of the older 44 Handis and never did get it to shoot well.

RJ

[Rustyinfla]

  There's a listing for all the twist rates by caliber in the FAQ's.

   I have also had  better results when ever I switch from jacket to cast or cast to jacket when I clean the barrel to pristine condition and remove all traces of metal fouling. Then use that as a baseline.

[danza]

i had a handi in the .44 mag.

i could not get it to shoot to my satisfaction and it kicked so badly i got rid of it.

[Badnews Bob]

i had a handi in the .44 mag.

i could not get it to shoot to my satisfaction and it kicked so badly i got rid of it.

I don't care much for recoil, I can handle it just don't want it.  But I really can't say that I've ever shot a .44 rifle that kicked much.

[sooter]

My 44 magnum would not shoot worth a poot so I had it rechambered to a 445 Super Mag, the muzzle recrowned and a muzzle brake added and now it shoots around 1 inch groups at 100 yards. Much better than the 3-4 inch groups (or worse) that I was getting before.

[dpe.ahoy]

Mine's a newer one and shoots better than I do.  Still have'nt gotten around to putting scope rail and scope on it to see what she will do.  But, when I can break Clay birds at 100+ yds with open sights, I'm shooting outa the seat of my pants .  Makes a boy fond of his toy , ya know.  DP