What do you think of this bullet for .44 Mag hunting/woods gun?

For hunting, I would use an expanding bullet if possible.

If you couldn't get any, I would have no problem using a 300 gr 44 !

I agree with blarby. A hollow point with good expansion properties would serve better, in my opinion.

What are you hunting?

Without knowing what you're hunting, I would not recommend a silhouette bullet. They are designed to make noise when hitting a steel target. For up to medium size game I would use his Elmer K, or find a hollow-point. If you're in bear territory, I would go with a 300 gr. jacketed round designed for maximum penetration, or get a bigger gun.

I would not recommend a silhouette bullet. They are designed to make noise when hitting a steel target.

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WRONG...


That is one of the funniest things I ever heard on a gun forum... they were not designed to make more noise but to have greater knockdown power to help knock down the ram targets and not just bounce off... in silhouette, a hit does not count unless the steel target falls...

Buck, you never did say what you were hunting. But you can't go wrong with Hornady's 240gr XTP.

About 5 years ago I would have said a Remington 240gr SJHP or a Hornady XTP in the same weight.

However today after getting into cast bullets and not only working with the loads but the alloy as well I would not hesitate to recommend one of the fine bullets listed on this site, 44 Mag

I would suggest something in the 240'ish grain range for general critters both 2 & 4 legged out in the woods. If your in bear country possibly something a bit heavier. Find a load in the 1300'ish feet per second range, work it up for accuracy in your revolver, and go have fun. Either the SWC or the WFN's will work exceptionally well.

There are quite a few powders which will easily get you in this range, just pick which one you already might have, or possibly know where is, or can find some of.

The 44 is a great caliber and will do just about anything you could ask of a revolver.

WRONG...


That is one of the funniest things I ever heard on a gun forum... they were not designed to make more noise but to have greater knockdown power to help knock down the ram targets and not just bounce off... in silhouette, a hit does not count unless the steel target falls...

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IN your haste to be right, or to denigrate anothers post, I think you jumped the gun. I believe the poster meant they are designed to be used in steel shooting, ie making noise, not for hunting purposes.

I've never gotten a shot at big game with my Mod. 29 but I've done a lot of experimental work in different media with various .429 bullets. I came to the conclusion that Keith was correct, a hard cast 240-250 gr. lead SWC is the best balanced bullet for game. Expansion is hardly a question when cutting a hole that large completely through both lungs of a deer, and most other animals too. For really big animals or a Texas heart shot the reliability of deep penetration will certainly out perform any expanding bullet.

Hard cast Keith type bullets properly lubed will equal the velocity obtainable with jacketed bullets so you loose nothing there and, with careful casting and loading work, accuracy may actually be better.

Let me say first I've never killed anything with a .44 caliber pistol. Second, when I do, it WON'T be with an expanding bullet (low sectional density/poor penetration), third I agree 100% with 41 Mag. I carry a .44 Special quite a lot and shoot an obscene amount of SWC's in the 250 to 260 gr. weight range at velocities from a little over 800 to a little over 1200 fps. I find this type bullet quite accurate out to 100 yds.

35W

IN your haste to be right, or to denigrate anothers post, I think you jumped the gun. I believe the poster meant they are designed to be used in steel shooting, ie making noise, not for hunting purposes.

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They were designed for a specific use IE metallic silhouette shooting just as I stated... standard steel or speed shooting generally uses standard weight or lighter bulletts for SPEED of recovery between shots , unless a minor caliber trying to upgrade a power factor, even then the bullets are NOT chosen for the noise they make! Thats funny!

If you think allowing stupid internet comments to stand is ok maybe ya should become / or already are a news caster - they never get gun stuff right on the news either

BTW I don't take joy in having to point out the inaccuracy or ridiculous nature of another post, it is sad really- even more sad if others believe or support such drivel... Its like the folk in this country that are trying to rewrite history and insist we are not a christian nation built upon christian principles and are trying their best to remove any and all references of such from all manor of public proof and tradition...

the noise it makes when it hits a target? HAHA that is as good as someone saying Elmer Kieth preferred a 38 spl for big game hunting

I use a 300gr beartooth I use to load it with 19.5gr of 2400 but the brass was hard to get out I had to use a stick to push it out! to warm in my Ruger Blackhawk! I'l try 18.3gr.

I use 240 hornady XTPs and nosler hunting bullets. I don't think you can go wrong with either

Poor design for large game. As others have said either a WFN or Keith SWC would be much better.

Along with some of the good bullets mentioned above I have a good bullet too.
http://www.grizzlycartridge.com/store/index.php?app=ecom&ns=catshow&ref=cp44cal
Cast Performance, the sister company of Grizzly Cartridges makes a great bullet style. They have an extremely wide meplat and they have a gas check design. If you're looking for a good hunting bullet they have what you need and in many weights.

These (what you were wondering about.. a 300gr tcfp) would be pretty good for braining elephant or breaking down very large critters.. or slamming steel plates down..



The Keith SWC is just a perfect general killer of most all things.. big or small..

I have done quite a bit of experimenting with bullets in my SBH.
I come down in the same camp as 41mag, I like cast bullets and don't feel the need to shoot anything else.

For the most part, just about anything out of a 44mag will work on whitetails. Those truncated code silhouette bullets would definitely NOT be one of my first choices for a hunting load. I will not dive into the bullet design specifics (SWC vs WFN vs WLN vs etc...) as the guys above have done a pretty good job of that already.

What I have noticed is that my guns tend to shoot better when using heavy for caliber bullers as opposed to lighter ones. In the 44mag, this means in the 300-320gr range. The other advantage is that you don't need to push these bullets at blistering speed to get them to work well. A 300gr WFN (~80% meplat) pushed at 1100fps will blow through just about anything in North America.

When you work up your loads, concentrate on the accuracy first. The 44mag has more than enough power at any velocity.

My personal favorite hunting bullet: Beartooth 300gr WFN

I have never had one of these not produce a complete pass through, even when going through both shoulders on a big hog.

The other thing I noticed about the Missouri bullets is that they are only offered in .430". If your bullet launcher happens to be a Ruger, then you will be better off with either a .431" or .432" bullet. Ruger reams their cylinder throats to between .431 and .432. Shooting bullets smaller than that results in poor accuracy and leading.

Walkalong said:

A poor choice simply because of the small meplat. You want a wide meplat like the LBT WFN bullets. Pick your weight.

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I agree. With that bullet shape they would prolly just zip through an animal. For lead bullets I would think a large meplat for greater tissue damage would be better. Notice description of the bullet "silhouette", for knocking down steel targets...

While your looking around and considering the bullets to purchase, it might go a long ways to give a couple of different ones a try.

The ones I pointed to over at Montana have shot excellent from both my and my friends Ruger Redhawks up to around 1300fps. We decided to cut the loads there simply to keep recoil down to a controllable level for follow up shots.

That said The Cast Performance WFN's were actually the first I really got involved with, but it was for my 454. They are also what got me into casting my own as well due to the awesome performance I got from them. Of course once I started pouring for the big dog, I just had to pursue other calibers as well. It's a viscous circle for sure so be warned.

In reading through hundreds of write ups, and contacting others who load and shoot the calibers I do, the overwhelming theme has been you don't have to drive the cast loads to full magnum velocities to get extraordinary results from them. Anything between 1000, and 1300fps seems to be the magic window to work with. In most of my revolvers this has shown to be true. Once you get started work with powders like Unique, 2400, or AA-5,7, or 9, depending on your purpose. Your really not looking for the rear spanking kick on the bottom that 296 or H110 provide. While they do serve a purpose with some loads I have backed off using them due to the narrow range in which you have to work verses some of the other powders.

Hope this helps.