44 Mag Deer recipe.
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The heaviest bullet you can find with the biggest charge of 296 or H-110 you can find data for. Hard Cast is very good as well as many jacketed heavy bullets. I wouldn't use a hollow point.
BP
BP
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I dont have much experience with the 44 mag but I reload for my .454 Casull. If youd like a hardcast bullet look at Cast Performance bullets. They have gas checks and atleast in my .454 I've never had any leading. These are some great bullets, and they sure do penetrate, I've shot them through a small tree. Here is the Cast Performance website.
If you would like to try a jacketed bullet try the 240gr Hornady XPTs, you wont be sorry with these either. Winchester 296 is a good powder though you get alot of muzzle flash...which I kind of like
A friend uses this powder and bullet combo and has some really good accurate loads.
You should get several different bullets types and test each out. Any upper end (and probably a somewhat lower end load) 44 mag load will take a deer as long as you do your job. Do you reload?
If you would like to try a jacketed bullet try the 240gr Hornady XPTs, you wont be sorry with these either. Winchester 296 is a good powder though you get alot of muzzle flash...which I kind of like
A friend uses this powder and bullet combo and has some really good accurate loads.You should get several different bullets types and test each out. Any upper end (and probably a somewhat lower end load) 44 mag load will take a deer as long as you do your job. Do you reload?
I own a Ruger Model 77/.44 bolt action in .44 Magnum. The load I have the most success with is: 23.5 grains of H-110 with a Hornady 240 grain XTP bullet. Velocity is 1,750 FPS. But you should start at a lower weight of powder and work up to your best accuracy.
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I use 23 grains of 2400 with a 240 grain XTP in an old Ruger .44 Carbine - gets about 1800 fps.
The XTP is technically a hollow point, but unlike the normal HP bullets, this one has a very tough base. As a result, it expands easily even on soft tissue (lungs, heart) but won't go all to pieces and not penetrate if you hit a bone... it'll still go through.
I've had a whole bunch of one-shot kills with this combination, and never had a deer go more than about 30 yards before dropping. Most go down like they've been pole-axed. One of my hunting partners uses the same load in a Ruger 96 lever action. He shot one last year coming straight at him... went in right above the brisket, and almost made it to the south end of the animal.... he said when he hit it, it stopped dead in its tracks, stood dead still for about 5 seconds, and then just folded up.
The XTP is technically a hollow point, but unlike the normal HP bullets, this one has a very tough base. As a result, it expands easily even on soft tissue (lungs, heart) but won't go all to pieces and not penetrate if you hit a bone... it'll still go through.
I've had a whole bunch of one-shot kills with this combination, and never had a deer go more than about 30 yards before dropping. Most go down like they've been pole-axed. One of my hunting partners uses the same load in a Ruger 96 lever action. He shot one last year coming straight at him... went in right above the brisket, and almost made it to the south end of the animal.... he said when he hit it, it stopped dead in its tracks, stood dead still for about 5 seconds, and then just folded up.
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19.5 gr. Winchester 296
300 gr. Cast Performance WFN / GC
CCI 350 Primer
Got 100% penetration on a deer that was quartered toward me on a shoulder impact. The name of the game with a handgun is penetration and poking a big hole on both sides taking advantage of the large diameter a handgun gives you. I would stay away from expanding bullets of any type in a handgun....just not enough speed in a handgun to get the job done, IMO. I had a bad experience with a hornady XTP blowing up on the shoulder bone of a good-sized whitetail and not getting enough penetration. That's when i decided to use solids in all of my handguns. Cast Performance makes an EXCELLENT product. Beartooth bullets are great too.
300 gr. Cast Performance WFN / GC
CCI 350 Primer
Got 100% penetration on a deer that was quartered toward me on a shoulder impact. The name of the game with a handgun is penetration and poking a big hole on both sides taking advantage of the large diameter a handgun gives you. I would stay away from expanding bullets of any type in a handgun....just not enough speed in a handgun to get the job done, IMO. I had a bad experience with a hornady XTP blowing up on the shoulder bone of a good-sized whitetail and not getting enough penetration. That's when i decided to use solids in all of my handguns. Cast Performance makes an EXCELLENT product. Beartooth bullets are great too.
First, thanks for all of the advice.
According to the posts I am narrowed down to a 240gr or a 300gr. bullet. My buddy swears by the 300gr. but I am not quite sure yet.
Recoil is a factor as a follow up shot consideration, and if a 240gr can do the same job then OK.
By the way, I am shooting a Smith 629, 6 1/2 compensated revolver. Any final input between the two bullet weights to help me decide?
Thanks guys, Mike.
According to the posts I am narrowed down to a 240gr or a 300gr. bullet. My buddy swears by the 300gr. but I am not quite sure yet.
Recoil is a factor as a follow up shot consideration, and if a 240gr can do the same job then OK.
By the way, I am shooting a Smith 629, 6 1/2 compensated revolver. Any final input between the two bullet weights to help me decide?
Thanks guys, Mike.
I don't bother to reload .44 Magnums for deer hunting when I can buy a box of 50 Magtech 240 grain SJSP from MidwayUSA for $13.99.
Whenever I'm ordering other stuff I just stick a box or two on the order. The extra shipping amounts to mere pennies and no tax.
It's killer ammo and highly consistent out to 100 yards, which is considerably farther than most deer shots around my territory.
Whenever I'm ordering other stuff I just stick a box or two on the order. The extra shipping amounts to mere pennies and no tax.
It's killer ammo and highly consistent out to 100 yards, which is considerably farther than most deer shots around my territory.
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I'd say the recoil difference between the two would be pretty negligible, unless you load the 240 to the same velocity as the 300. Full power loads w/ either will be stout, but not unmanagable at all in a gun of normal weight. You won't even notice the recoil in the field.
If you use a quality hard cast bullet (again, strongly recommended), it probably won't matter much which weight you use. You're going to punch a nice, clean .430" hole through any whitetail you take aim at that is inside of 100yds. I would still prefer the 300gr. in the 44 mag, but go with the one your gun shoots the best. But if you're using jacketed bullets of expanding design like the hornady XTP, go w/ the heaviest weight you can find and pray that it doesn't come apart.
Get a few boxes of each type and load them up and check them out for yourself. Good luck.
If you use a quality hard cast bullet (again, strongly recommended), it probably won't matter much which weight you use. You're going to punch a nice, clean .430" hole through any whitetail you take aim at that is inside of 100yds. I would still prefer the 300gr. in the 44 mag, but go with the one your gun shoots the best. But if you're using jacketed bullets of expanding design like the hornady XTP, go w/ the heaviest weight you can find and pray that it doesn't come apart.
Get a few boxes of each type and load them up and check them out for yourself. Good luck.
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Geeze, Case, I can't believe you don't scrounge wheel weights and linotype metal and cast your own bullets so as to save a penny a shot on .44 mag ammo? You don't dig through the bullet trap for fired bullets to recycle? If you don't, and you just said you don't, you have NO idea what the meaning of frugil really is! :shock: Of course, I don't shoot a .44 mag, I like the .45 Colt and I don't hunt deer anymore, 'bout like shooting fish in a rain barrel in these parts now days and my wife won't eat it anyway. BUT, IF I was going to use my .45 Colt for deer it sure as the world would be with the 255 gr hard cast homemade bullets my Anaconda, Stainless Blackhawk and Rossi '92 dearly love, except in Nebraska in the Carbine the .45 Colt doesn't reach the minimum energy requirements without tricking out some handloads and the Game Dept doesn't buy that!
BP
BP
I used to cast bullets with wheel weight metal, sometimes mixed with a little linotype, but wearied of the mess and just started buying hard-cast slugs from a guy outside Tampa, FL. I'd just call Al and have him bring me what I needed to the next gun show in Fort Myers.Burnt Powder said:
Worked out much better -- and the bullets were excellent, much better than any I ever cast, and were really cheap, all considered.
Hell, I even made some for light .30-06 and a bunch of other calibers.
What folly -- and a PITA.
We didn't have a bullet trap at the range, but I've plucked many a chunk of good lead out of the big dirt backstop.
I've never been much of a deer hunter. One easy shot and you've got a lot of heavy hauling and work ahead.
I grew up in Central Oklahoma hunting rabbits, dove and qual with an old Winchester Model 97, which mostly belonged to anyone in the family who happened to retrieve it from behind a door at any given time.
Nobody hunted deer around there in the Fifties because there weren't any.
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so might a cast bullet be better for deer? For my .454 I have some Cast Performance 360gr solid lead bullets. These are pretty much as accurate out of my gun as the 300gr XTPs I shoot. I have never hunted with a handgun before. I'm sure a 360gr bullet will have some punch when it hits a deer, it sure makes the steel plates ring....when it doesnt go through
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Both my Smith M29 and my Ruger super blackhawk love the following load:
winchester case
winchester large pistol primer
22.0 grns of Alliant 2400
250 grn hard cast (with gascheck) LSWC
***as always reduce load by 10% and work up***
Snake
winchester case
winchester large pistol primer
22.0 grns of Alliant 2400
250 grn hard cast (with gascheck) LSWC
***as always reduce load by 10% and work up***
Snake
Now wait a minute BP, I scrounge wheel weights too, lead sheets from the local dentist offices. It ain't so bad, try it.
Tried scrounging car batteries at one time, that was a PITA.
One Saturday morning I went to the local police pistol range, they shoot into the back of a earthern dam. In about 4 hours I picked up 3, 5 gallon buckets full of lead bullets. Just picked them up off the ground like rocks, didn't even have to dig there were so many.
I guess I'm cheap too. Somebody said one time I could squeeze blood out of a turnip.
Tried scrounging car batteries at one time, that was a PITA.
One Saturday morning I went to the local police pistol range, they shoot into the back of a earthern dam. In about 4 hours I picked up 3, 5 gallon buckets full of lead bullets. Just picked them up off the ground like rocks, didn't even have to dig there were so many.
I guess I'm cheap too. Somebody said one time I could squeeze blood out of a turnip.
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Don;
You giving ME tips on scrounging? You have no idea who you are dealing with here! :lol:
I wasn't telling Case anything out of my imagination! If you saw the things I scrounge and use and do "just because I can" in reloading metalic ammunition you'd think I was certifiable! :roll: I only live a couple miles from the house with the rubber rooms! You need to think a little harder if those are the only places you've looked for lead so far! Yes, batteries are not worth the effort. Voice of experience!
BP
You giving ME tips on scrounging? You have no idea who you are dealing with here! :lol:
I wasn't telling Case anything out of my imagination! If you saw the things I scrounge and use and do "just because I can" in reloading metalic ammunition you'd think I was certifiable! :roll: I only live a couple miles from the house with the rubber rooms! You need to think a little harder if those are the only places you've looked for lead so far! Yes, batteries are not worth the effort. Voice of experience!
BP
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