350 Legend or 44 Magnum

[Charlie-NY]

If it's within the regs, I'd get a 45-70 and load it any which way you like. Personally, I've gotten partial to the Hornady 250gr MonoFlex (all copper) bullets for whitetails. Far less recoil than the heavies and very lethal on whitetails. My Marlin shoots them well at 200yds but I consider the rifle a 100-150yd gun anyway.

 

[Gary in MD]

I reside in Illinois where forever they’ve required slug guns for deer hunting. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as for the past 25+ years I’ve used my trusty Ithaca Deerslayer 12 gauge to harvest deer(s) every year. More recently have used a Savage 220 20 gauge. In 2023 they will permit straight wall cartridges plus the rifle must be a single shot or modified to be a ss.

I was originally looking at a CVA scout stainless in 350 Legend. The Scout is a compact little rifle and will work well in a tree stand. I’m partial to single shots as I’ve owned a Ruger No. 1 varmint in 223 and a Browning 1885 in 22.250.

I then began to think about this same rifle in 44 magnum. I already reload for 44 mag as I own a S&W PC 44 Light Hunter. I’m thinking it would be nice to reload for the Scout and I would always have ammo.

I’ve read the Legend is good out to 200 yards where the 44 mag is more of a 150 yard gun. Most of my hunting is in the woods where 100 yards is a long shot. Occasionally near a field I might get a 150-200 yard shot.

Go with 44 mag versus the Legend? Thoughts and opinions appreciated!

Thanks

There are some counties here in MD that we have the same rules and must use the same as you.
I have one of those Savage 220 slug guns set up for when I hunt in those areas. I think I'm better off with that Savage 220 20 gauge shooting the very accurate Rem. Accutips then I would be with that straight walled cartridge crap. They are accurate and that slug hits hard and leaves a big hole!!
If a 100 yards is a long shot, then it's a no brainer. YMMV
Gary

 

[james]

Gary in MD - I agree with you my Savage 220 with Hornady slugs is a deer getter however I can't resist the temptation to try something new (excuse to purchase a new toy!)

Thanks

 

[JSH]

The slug guns have came a longggg way in the past several years. A gent had some groups @200 that shocked me, lol, better than a lot of the “orange army” that will show up in the next few weeks.

 

[Gary in MD]

James, I definitely get it!
I would be lying if the same thought hasn't crossed my mind.

 

[ChrisA]

Our Iowa rules changed so I had a 35 Sambar, aka 358 WSM, built. Prior to that, a Remington 870 with Hastings rifled slug barrel, 1x Leupold scout scope and a Remington 385 grain Core-loct Ultra was bad medicine to farther than it should've been.

That said, I missed a trotting deer with the 35 Sambar on 3x at bowhunting range last fall and wished I had an open sighted straight wall chambered rifle or my trusty 870.

 

[searcher]

I'd go .44 Mag with heavy bullets, particularly if you enjoy lighter-recoil and economical practice - as you can load way down with very inexpensive bullets.

 

[james]

I sure appreciate all the great comments!

 

[james]

Just picked up my CVA Scout single shot in 44 magnum, nice compact rifle. Sweet trigger, consistently breaks at 2 1/2 pounds. I have some Burris Signature rings, I now need to find a lower power reasonably priced scope.

 

[Gargoyle]

Just picked up my CVA Scout single shot in 44 magnum, nice compact rifle. Sweet trigger, consistently breaks at 2 1/2 pounds. I have some Burris Signature rings, I now need to find a lower power reasonably priced scope.

Hammer Bullets.

 

[6fatrat]

450 bushmaster!
Steve Bair

 

[james]

Would appreciate scope suggestions for my new CVA Scout 44 magnum. Will be using it for distances out to 150 yards. I have a couple of Leupold 2x7x33 shotgun/muzzle loader scopes and really like them however they’re no longer available.

Thanks

 

[HandgunHTR]

Would appreciate scope suggestions for my new CVA Scout 44 magnum. Will be using it for distances out to 150 yards. I have a couple of Leupold 2x7x33 shotgun/muzzle loader scopes and really like them however they’re no longer available.

Thanks

This would be my recommendation. https://cameralandny.com/shop/brand...fb2a-013a-7d2d-00163ecd2826?variation=3250934

I have one of the 4-12X on my Ruger American 6.5 Grendel. Great glass for the price point.

 

[wildcatter]

of the two i would go 44 mag---but dont forget about the 450 bushmaster--in ohio you can get an upper for an ar-15 and use it --but only allowed 3 ctgs max in the gun--i use lil' gun powder (37g) and 250 gr plastic tip bullets (2250fps) with much success--almost 3 times the energy of a 44 mag--Roger

Pretty anemic for a rifle, my encore is 14" uses a 460 S&W, and 250 grain SST's plastic tip bullets with a load of 39 grains of 4227 shoots 2560 fps. But Find for deer with a 200 grain FTX, plastic tip bullet, but heavier jacket than the SST or the 250 grain plastic tip, with 51.5 grains gives me 2786 fps.

But not only put a priority on caliber, it has to be accurate, if not it really don't matter! 3/4" at 100 and keep em under 2" @ 200 with the 2x7x Burris. The targetb is labled wrong, the bullet is the FTX, much tougher than a XTP, made strictly for the 460 S&W.

Set that 1.25" high at 100 yards, and it's dead on out to 200, only about 6" at 300 yards, 326 is the longest shot I've taken whitail at with it, and it dam sure wasn't lacking. I've never recovered a bullet, always complete pass thru's.

 

[CADDIE5]

Go with 450 Bushmaster like 6fatrat and steve bair posted. 250gr bullet at 2200fps is knockdown needed so deer doesn't run off without a blood trail. I got cva cascade xt model cr3985. Otherwise go with 444marlin caliber rifle

 

[mauser284]

Had a friend/roomate in college his Dad lost one arm in an accident maybe half of his forarm missing. He used the origanal Ruger Deerslayer in 44 Rem Mag to take limit every year for about 15 years that I knew him and for many years prior to that. I am sure one of his surviving sons now hunts with it. Some years latter I meet a family of 7 or 8 where every child in the family learned to shoot with the same model and it had been used to hunt a lot. It had been sent back and rebuilt by Ruger more than a few times. This was back when a box of 44 Rem Mag cost you $9 at K-Mart which is also why I went 44 Rem Mag origanaly as my first center fire revolver. There where bigger cartridges but as a college student I liked that I could go to my local K-Mart and pick up 44 Rem Mag back then 454 Casull and other exotics where hard to come buy and super expensive.

So all of the above said I have enough things that I reload and trying to find yet another type of brass would be a pain. If I wanted a rifle that was straight walled I would go 44 Rem Mag since I already have a pistol in that and all of the gear and componets.

On the other hand one of my sons does not own anything in 44 Rem Mag and does not reload. He went 350 Legend and on a positive note my local Walmart always has 350 Legend in stock and when deer season rolls around they have pallets of it! I live in a shotgun zone and we too can not use straight walled cartridges in a naroow well defined performance

Another advantage is that if you already own an AR/clone lower than you can get a 350 Legend upper from many quality sources for a reasonable price and no need to purchase another firearm and go through that process you can get the upper shipped to your door!

 

[ken158]

Got a buddy that was work transferred to Ohio from Virginia. He used a 44 in the VA mountains with success and bought a 350 for wood lot deer in Ohio. After two “run offs” and hours of tracking Ohio deer, he went back to the 44 and gets the bang - flop results on those big crop fed deer.

 

[bobo300]

Got both. Not impressed with the 350. I reload but the bullet selection is not great for the 350. Makers have been the best choice for it. By far the 44 with 240 gr xtpmags is hands down better

 

[searcher]

I like that .444 Marlin....
I've not shot deer with a .44 Mag rifle - but have shot several with my 8 3/8" barreled S&W revolver. Pretty effective with a GOOD bullet. Would be surely better in a longer-barreled rifle with slower powder. More power is good.....

 

[Lefty2506]

Got both. Not impressed with the 350. I reload but the bullet selection is not great for the 350. Makers have been the best choice for it. By far the 44 with 240 gr xtpmags is hands down better

Agree 100% I don't own a 350L yet, but it would be a FINE 200 yd deer cartridge so long as its loaded with an appropriate bullet. The problem is that most 9mm bullets are made for handgun speeds so the selection of appropriate hunting bullets is a lot more slim than it might appear. I'm really glad to hear that the Maker bullets are doing a good job. I know a lot of folks who use their 45 cal projectiles with great success, so it's no surprise that their 350 is doing well. I'd love to find out how their 40 cals do in a 400L. Not because I want a 400 Legend, but because I'd like to build a 40 cal smokeless muzzleloader

Our crew has taken a number of deer over the years with various 44 mags (Revolvers, Contenders, and Carbines). Single barreled pistols and carbines will add 300-400 fps to your muzzle velocity because there's no cylinder gap to bleed off the pressure. That fact adds substantially to the cartridges capability in these weapons. I've not personally tried any of the SST style bullets from any of mine. The 240gr XTP has always done just fine.

My dad always used the Winchester 250gr Supreme factory ammo because he didn't want to reload for his. He shot a nice doe head on one year, and we found the the partition style bullet in the rear hip when we were processing her. The bullet was barely even deformed. He's using 16" contender and I'd estimate his MV to be around 1900 fps, and the shot was maybe 75 yards max. The round was effective, but I didn't like the fact that it didn't even expand over its caliber size. After that, I forbade him from hunting with that ammo any more and told him I'd work up a reload for him if I needed to. Now he and are both running the same stout load of H110 under the 240gr XTP.