44 Magnum Ballistics

.44 Magnum History:

The 44 Remington Magnum cartridge was introduced to the public in 1955 in a collaboration between Remington and Smith&Wesson. While the 44 magnum was introduced as a new and very powerful handgun cartridge, it is also a great carbine rifle cartridge as well.

The 44 magnum cartridge chambered in a good fast handling carbine rifle is the perfect rifle for hunting deer up to elk size at close range, it is extremely effective in heavy cover where shots will be under 50 yards.

The .44 Magnum (buy ammo there) has enough power and bullet energy at 50 yards in a carbine rifle to shoot clear through an elk and with a bullet diameter of .430 inch the wound channel is quite large. For those that like big heavy bullets for such work the 300 grain XTP bullet by Hornady is very accurate in a carbine rifle.

The 300 grain XTP bullet of Hornady’s delivers more than a half ton of energy at 50 yards and there is not many animals in North America that can stand up to that kind of force. The .44 Remington Magnum is an excellent short range deer and black bear cartridge for North American woods hunting.

Please note that whenever dryfiring your 44 mag, or for practicing loading and unloading, we recommend snap caps like these ones.

This first 44 magnum ballistics chart is for a rifle with the following:

Rifle barrel length: 20 Inches.
Ammunition: Hornady 300 grain XTP bullet.
Bullet diameter: .430 inch.
Bullet weight: 300 grains.
Bullet ballistic coefficient: .245.
Rifle zero: 98 yards, 2″ mid-range rise.

Range	Muzzle	25 YD	50 YD	75 YD	100 YD	150 YD	200 YD
Velocity	1350	1297	1248	1203	1162	1093	1038
Energy	1214	1120	1037	964	900	796	717
Drop	1.5	0.9	2.0	1.6	0.2	8.8	24.6

This 44 magnum rifle ballistics table is for the following:

Rifle barrel length: 20 Inches.
Ammunition: Hornady 225 grain FTX bullet.
Bullet diameter: .430 inch.
Bullet weight: 225 grains.
Bullet ballistic coefficient: .145.
Rifle zero: 122 yards, 2″ mid-range rise.

Range	Muzzle	25 YD	50 YD	75 YD	100 YD	150 YD	200 YD
Velocity	1870	1746	1629	1519	1416	1239	1106
Energy	1747	1523	1326	1153	1002	767	612
Drop	1.5	+0.4	+1.6	+2.0	+1.4	3.1	13.4

Finally, here is a bridged version of our .44 magnum handgun ballistics table:

Grain	Velocity	Energy
180	1550	960
200	1500	999
225	1410	993
240	1350	971
300	1150	881

For the rest of the handgun ballistics for this, and other calibers, please click our in depth chart.

.44 Magnum Reloading Info:

Bullet Diameter: .430 Inch.
Maximum Case Length: 1.285 Inches.
Trimmed Case Length: 1.275 Inches.
Primer Size: Large Pistol.
Maximum Cartridge Overall Length: 1.610 Inches.

We have an excellent review written by our friend Eve on this Henry 44 magnum rifle.

Also, if you’re in the market for a new gun, Brownells has some excellent options in stock at decent prices. It also helps us out if you use our link to buy.