Henry Rifle Forums

Anyone on here ever chrono their .44 Mag Henry? I’ve been in a debate on Marlin Owners on the merits or lack thereof to using a .44 to hunt past 100 yards. One guy has me thinking it’s more possible than I previously did, but curious if anyone without a dog in that fight has any relevant info on .44 out of a carbine or rifle?

Hornady (stupidly in my mind) publishes data from a 7.5” barrel for their LeverEvolution rounds that were specifically designed for use in a lever action rifle. Maroons!

Redthies wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 20, 2023 10:57 am

Anyone on here ever chrono their .44 Mag Henry? I’ve been in a debate on Marlin Owners on the merits or lack thereof to using a .44 to hunt past 100 yards. One guy has me thinking it’s more possible than I previously did, but curious if anyone without a dog in that fight has any relevant info on .44 out of a carbine or rifle?

Hornady (stupidly in my mind) publishes data from a 7.5” barrel for their LeverEvolution rounds that were specifically designed for use in a lever action rifle. Maroons!

Check your manual for 44 mag data in rifle section. Some manuals show data in both sections and use a Marlin rifle for the test.

I used a chrono to develop .44 mag rifle specific loads and it worked fine. I don’t know why anyone would think it unnecessary. It gives you the least spread and best groups, and it may save on powder too. Whether it will allow humane hits at longer distances is up to your skill.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Not sure if this will completely answer your question, but over at Lucky Gunner, this guy did a comparison between .357 mag and .44 mag and included several charts which show velocity and energy over distance out of the model X's in each caliber.

Here's the link: https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/357- ... r-actions/

The big takeaway for me was that out of the carbine length barrel, with several different ammo choices, the .44 mag retains enough energy at 100yds to generally exceed the muzzle energy achieved with a 4" .44 mag revolver.

Take, for example, the Hornady 240gr XTP. At 150 yards with an approx. 5" drop, it's still retaining roughly 800ft.lb. of energy (rough eyeball from his charts) which is darn near the muzzle energy from the revolver test for each round.

Beyond 150yds is a different story, though.

Shenanigans wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:04 pm

Not sure if this will completely answer your question, but over at Lucky Gunner, this guy did a comparison between .357 mag and .44 mag and included several charts which show velocity and energy over distance out of the model X's in each caliber.

Here's the link: https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/357- ... r-actions/

The big takeaway for me was that out of the carbine length barrel, with several different ammo choices, the .44 mag retains enough energy at 100yds to generally exceed the muzzle energy achieved with a 4" .44 mag revolver.

Take, for example, the Hornady 240gr XTP. At 150 yards with an approx. 5" drop, it's still retaining roughly 800ft.lb. of energy (rough eyeball from his charts) which is darn near the muzzle energy from the revolver.

Thanks for the link. It provides exactly what I looking fir. And welcome to the Henry Forum!