44 mag Deer Load

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Catpop

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44 mag eastern whitetail load.

Need actual experienced handgun hunters opinion of

44 mag 7 1/2" barrel RUGER SBH
265 NOE kieth, brn 12
10.0 - 10.5 unique
1100 +/- to 1225 fps
50 yards max distance
 
Well in Maryland (fwiw) to be a legal handgun hunter for deer, you must have a handgun with at least a 6" barrel, AND be launching your projectile at a velocity that when computed with your bullet weight = at least 700 foot-pounds of energy. Your 265 grain at 1100 fps = 712 foot-pounds.
:thumbup:

LD
 
I have killed a mule deer with a 4" S&W Model 29 .44 mag shooting factory 180 gr. Remington HP bullets. It dropped at the shot. Hitting it in the base of the neck was responsible for that. Whether it would be as effective with a chest hit, I can't say for sure. However, any large projectile perforating both lungs and/or heart would be fatal to the recipient.
 
Seems like a lot of lead for Unique. If that's the load your gun likes, then like the drunken fellow above me said, "+/- 1200 fps will be more than adequate". 50 yard whitetails should drop very well if you do your part with this load.
 
your recipe looks like it's good to go! Should work great.

I'm a big fan of Unique. It's my preference in 9mm Luger, 40s&w, 45acp, and 125-140 gr 357 mag.
But in 44 mag with a 240 gr XTP (the heaviest I've gone with it) I actually prefer IMR 4227. It's the only cartridge that I really like this powder in. It's well suited for "heavy for caliber" payloads, IMO.
Just throwin that out there
 
A 44cal pill weighing 200-300grn hitting 800-1200fps is going to punch a big hole in deer. Big holes through hearts and lungs kill deer. It's really that easy.

Like many 44mag-o-philes, I run XTP's to get the most out of my revolvers. This data isn't available in any reloading manual and exceeds listed data for standard seating depths, proceed at your own risk: I run 300grn XTP's over 22.0grn H110/W296 seated to the second cannelure which puts the nose right at the end of a Ruger SBH cylinder, and taps off about 1,325fps in my 7.5" SBH. Wanna put a hole in a whitetail? This one does it.

Punching holes in deer at 50yrds is like 1st gear for 44mag.
 
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I've been shooting and loading the .44 Magnum for 20+ years. During that time, I've only loaded heavy loads of 240-300gr XTP's over H110. Awesome combo and have shot them through a 7.5" Super Blackhawk, 9.5" Super Redhawk and 14" T/C Contender.

However, I do have a load ready for shooting/testing using 240gr XTP and 10.0gr of Unique. I plan on seeing how it shoots out of the Super Blackhawk soon.
 
If you don’t kill one with that load, it’s because you missed, made a very poor shot, or you simply sat at home on the couch and didn’t go. You put that combo in the “sweet spot” and you’re going to be headed to the taxidermist or the processor, maybe both.
 
I run 240xtps over 11.5grn of longshot as my mid range/everyday load. It generates 1250 from my sbh, and while i haven't shot any animals with it yet, it blows the crap out of green coconuts, and water jugs. It will also hit and crack head size blue rocks at 100yds with the same hold that hits just high at 50.

If your getting the same velocity with 265s, i think youve got plenty of oomph.
 
I see the Brinell for your bullet is 12. Have you had much leading in the bore at 1200 fps? I'd like to know if I can expand my choice of bullets and suppliers.

For years I have tried to buy lead bullets for 1000+ fps loads I shoot in .357 and.44 Mag or .45 Colt at 18 Brinell. I will say so far so good for me on the leading front.
 
I personally found that hardness is second to boolit/bore fit. Get it big enough to seal the bore and leading will disappear or be greatly reduced. Almost 100% of what I shoot is 9-12 brn, air cooled clip on ww. .430 and .431
Leading at 1200 was no worse than at 1100, but I think .4325 or .433 might would solve even that. Problem is right now I'm stuck with a .4315 cylinder throat.
 
Sounds good to me. I've killed a bunch of critters with similar loads.

A lot of people like XTP's but IMHO, they are old technology and I've seen way too many of them fail to trust them.


i have used the same revolver with a 240 xtp (required to use expanding type ammunition in iowa) at around 1200fps with good results
Cast bullets are considered "expanding". Seems to be a lot of folks who believe cast bullets are contrary to that requirement but it is not the case.
 
I figure that load will punch right through!

I like the XTP, but I do not like it one bit if I cannot give it enough speed. That flat cast bullet will do pretty much the same good thing every time at moderate velocity, even if you are not blowing its socks off with a pound of h110 lol.

As far as lead hardness, I shoot most of mine quite soft, especially when coated and/or gas checked. As was mentioned above, bore fit solves a lot of problems. I try to use the fattest bullet I can get to chamber okay and go from there. Seems to take A LOT of fiddling out of the process for me. Good luck!

The castboolits site will help a lot if you have not been there yet!
 
Yeah, I just finished Ruger bh over size bore 357 fat boolit quest! I've got lots of data there!
My new sbh came with a .429 bore so it has been easier to work with.
 
Cast bullets are considered "expanding". Seems to be a lot of folks who believe cast bullets are contrary to that requirement but it is not the case.

this is actually not the first time i have heard this, but i wasnt confident in the source the first time. ill have to look into this more. thanks!
 
this is actually not the first time i have heard this, but i wasnt confident in the source the first time. ill have to look into this more. thanks!
Line up a half dozen 1 gallon jugs full of water in a straight row and fire a cast bullet into them, and see how deep it goes and how much it expands.
 
In my sbh, 21.5 grains of 2400 under any good 240 grain bullet. I happen to use either xtp hollow points or hard cast swc. 30 years of one shot kills let' me know my load works. Always approach full loads slowly.
 
I've killed several deer with a 6 1/2" M-24 .44 Special and loads a bit lighter than your intended. Shot through most of them. My .44 mag loads are close to yours, just a bit hotter.

You will be fine. Good luck.
 
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