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correct ammo for .44 mag lever rifle

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#1 ·
what is the correct ammo to use in a lever action .44 mag? I believe that it is lead nose ammo to prevent misfire from the recoil. just want to be sure. thanks & I appreciate any feedback.
 
#7 ·
I hope you read this before loading. You're getting unsafe information.
It doesn't matter whether the ammo is lead or jacketed.
For any tube-fed lever action, you should only use ammo with a flat or semi-flat nose bullet or Hornady's ammo indicated. Hollow points are OK as long as the bullet's nose is large enough in diameter so it isn't touching the primer of the round in front of it; it should only touch the RIM of the cartridge. Hold two round-nose or pointed cartridges - one in front of the other. If the bullet's nose is touching the primer of the cartridge in front, you can only load two - one in the magazine & one in the chamber. A round-nosed bullet can set off the round in front it under recoil & set off a chain reaction, resulting in injury to you & a ruined gun.
And, if you shoot handloads, make sure the primers are fully seated. Run your finger across the rim. The primers should be seated slightly below flush with the rim. If any primers are protruding, don't load those rounds into the magazine.
 
#9 ·
Untold millions of rounds of round nose soft point ammo has been loaded in tubular magazines over the past century without setting off the cartridge in front of it.
 
#15 ·
Actually I dont think I have ever seen a commercially loaded round nose 44 magnum. Leverlution not withstanding. Usually see Semi wadcutter, round nose flat point or hollow point. Even the old 44 WCF was round nose flat point. Might have something to do with the overall length as well as a carry over from rifles as the WCF was loaded in lever guns. I have seen round nose bullet molds and a hard cast with a small enough nose might cause a problem. Marlin does recommend flat nose bullets. The only mag tube explosion I have seen was an idiot that loaded pointed bullets in a 30-30 lever gun. I loaded 150 PSP in 30-30 but I was shooting a single shot. Made a big difference in ballistics. Some of the old rifles had a twist in the mag tube to prevent rounds from lining up. Biggest screw up in loading is not enough crimp. Bullet shoves back and goes boom from over pressure.
 
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#16 ·
True, I've never seen a factory 44 Mag with a round-nose bullet either. But I have seen (and purchased) some rather pointed-bullet factory ammo in the past. And I've handloaded some pointed 44 Mag bullets, mainly for my Ruger Super Redhawk for Metallic Silhouette shooting. I fired a few in my Marlin 44, but (as I mentioned) only two rounds - one in the magazine & one in the chamber. Newer shooters who may not be aware of this issue need to be careful, especially when saving money by buying handloads. We need to think about two important facts - where our hands & eyes will be when shooting, and the fact that a gun is a bomb that we hold a few inches from our face when we fire it.

Good on you mentioning the Round Nose Flat Points. I forgot to mention them. I've loaded many hundreds in my Marlin 44 Mag. They were probably designed with lever action carbines in mind.
 
#17 ·
if you look around hard enough you can find pretty much any type of bullet you might want if you reload. lead round nosed bullets have been used safely in tubular magazines for decades.

most factory 30-30 ammo is round nosed. but people do reload them with spitzer type bullets and shoot them out of the Contender pistols with greatly increased accuracy, because of much better bullets. but that is single shot. a person could do the same with a lever action rifle, by only loading two rounds at a time. but IMO, it kind of defeats the purpose of having a rifle that holds more than two rounds.plus Hornady offers ammo that works like a spitzer type bullet, with out the dangers associated with them in tubular magazine.
 
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