Favorite .44 mag hunting boolit?

[Oklahoma Rebel]

SPEAK UP! what is everyone's favorite hunting boolit for deer, hog, and all the way up to moose? interested to hear your responses.,
Travis

[RoadBike]

I haven't started casting yet. Still collecting equipment and lead. So I can't quote my favorite mould. That said, I've had good luck with Randy Garret's Hammerheads in my Super Redhawk. For personal handloads, Ive had good luck with the 320gr SSK boolit (powered by Win 296) from Penn Bullets.

[shoot-n-lead]

I shoot one bullet for everything...plinking to hunting, in all of my many 44 revolvers...429421. I used to cast a lot of different bullets...but this one does the job. I shoot 180gr wadcutter's in my Marlin 1894...and that is the only bullet that I shoot in it, now...serves my purpose with the rifle...plinking to hunting.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I wont have a 44 till January, then ill have the cash to get a 44 SBH 7.5, and so far I want a 429421 for all purpose woods carry, and then an accurate 43-310R, which has a bore riding nose section w/medium-wide meplat, then send it to erik ohlen for a cramer type hp conversion, with hp, shallow cone type hp, and flat point pins. sounds like a winning combination to me! anyways keep the favorite boolits coming!

[runfiverun]

429667

[SSGOldfart]

A 250gr SWC Keith style is my go-to for the 44mag,I also have it in a Gas Check design.

[marlin39a]

Lyman 429244 Gas Checked. Cast hard.

[Hickory]

The 429421 is an excellent boolits, but the 429640 HP cast with a mostly lead/tin alloy to a BHN of 14-15 will kill deer better than the 429421 will.
For a heavier and tougher animals I'd go to the 429421.

[stubert]

Lee 310 grain gas check. Will shoot through anything and is very accurate.

[murf205]

Lyman 429421. Elmer got it right a looooong time ago. For the bigger critters I load a 310 Lee GC. I take this load to Alaska for fishing trips when you just don't have enough hands for a rifle. Other than that, the 250 gr swc will do the trick(but it is sure fun to experiment with others). BTW, you don't have to drive the boolits at warp speed. They'll shoot through a Buick at 1050-1200fps.

[44man]

All good boolits but the Lee 310 is a wonder on deer. I like the LBT 320 WLNGC too so I tried to duplicate it but made the ogive as close to the 11° forcing cone I could and it drops at 330 gr. Cast hard, it works for me. It is so accurate all my friends come to cast them from my home made mold.
Only caution is it is too heavy for a S&W, too much inertia on parts. The 265 RD is a super boolit in the 29's, etc. So is the 429421. Ruger's love my heavy boolits.
The Lee 310 was designed by some of our members here and it is just--- RIGHT!
Don't fool with a HP in the .44, just never needed.

[Thumbcocker]

I have used 429421's cast of ACWW, 429421 hp's cast of 50/50, and a NOE Ranch Dog 265RNFP. Guess what. Every deer hit correctly died. Mostly they went about 25-30 yards and fell over. Same as with a .50 cal round ball, .50 cal great plains boolit, Breneke 12 gage slug, and Lyman 525 grain cast slug. The only bang flops I ever got were with spine hits. Maybe I just haven't found the magic boolit yet.

[RoadBike]

If you think that a heavy bullet might be in your 44 future, check out length of cylinder on SBH vs. SRH. I know that the cylinder on my SRH is longer than the one on my S&W M29. I can load the 320gr SSK long, and it will fit the SRH fine, but it pokes out the end of the cylinder on the M29. Not sure about cylinder length on SBH.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

AS 44man mentions, heavy for caliber bullets can be hard on guns.

The RUGER BlackHawk is a tough gun, but shooting a steady diet of 310 - 325gr bullets from a BH Hunter, I damaged the cylinder pin and the spring loaded cross pin.

However with a RUGER RedHawk, and a steady diet of 310gr Lead Bullet Technology (LBT) bullets at 1300fps from a 5.5" barrel, it takes a lick'in and just keeps on tick'in. One really tough gun!!!!! In spades!!!!

However, this past Summer I found that I have come to the place where heavy handgun loads are not as much fun as they were even 5 years ago.

So, currently checking out a 275gr Wide Flat Nose (WFN) cast bullet from a Accurate Molds 4 cavity mold.

Hear this lovers of the semi wad cutter bullet styles, I AM NOT saying that your choice will not or does not take game. Too much history and game taken to say that, But ----------------

Some reading of Veral Smiths (LBT) book might be of interest to you if your looking at making a bullet choice.

For years it has been said that a semi-wad cutter style bullet will cut a full dia. hole through tissue because of the sharp forward shoulder/driving band. Maybe. maybe not ??

Vearl indicates that the high velocity flow of body fluids and tissue back from the Semi-wad cutter meplat PREVENTS the shoulder from ever contacting tissue, leaving behind a smaller then expected wound channel.

This is one of the reasons for the development of the WFN bullet profile.

Again from Vearl's writings, he indicates that a full wad cutter is about as good as it gets for handgun taking of game with cast bullets.

The problem is the lack of stability from full wad cutter bullets at much beyond paper punching ranges.

So this was another reason for the development of the Wide Flat Nose bullet profile. Design a bullet with as large a meplat as possible while still maintaining bullet stability to reasonable hunting ranges.

Personal experience with a WFN cast bullet fired from a 45/70 has shown with a growing pile of deer and two elk, that the WFN is HIGHLY EFFECTIVE in taking game.

So, I hope that this Fall might bring the opportunity to take a critter with the .444/.44 WFN 275gr cast bullet from my RUGER 77/44.

Velocity will be nearly the same as with my 45/70, and maybe a touch higher, so I expect the only slightly smaller meplat on the .431 sized bullet to get er done on deer at 100yds ranges.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Tom W.]

What stubert said. With H110.

[Blackwater]

A lot of general truth has been spoken here, and the only thing I can add is that for me, if for no other, I'll take whatever my gun shoots best. As long as the bullet is .44 and has a flat point, I think placement is much more important than the other details of a good deer load. That means accuracy is THE most important thing, I think. The bigger the flat the better, and the difference between a flat pointed bullet and a rounded one was substantiated by a friend of mine who grew up hunting hogs and deer in the swamps with a Colt SAA and usually, black powder loads in .45 Colt with the old Lyman 454190 with the tiny flat on the nose.

When he went to a Keith type SWC, his kills came very significantly quicker, and they just worked very significantly better than the #190's. And he's shot over 1,000 deer in his time, easily, with just about everything you can name from .22 LR to .375 H&H. He's never had a chance with anything over .375, except for his old #1 Ruger. Any big diameter, flat pointed bullet has done yeoman work on deer, whether from pistol or rifle, or for that matter, muzzle loader as well. But it's always been about shot placement and angle, no matter what the caliber.

I've autopsied over 300 deer I've cleaned and the damage done inside has varied little, but the shot placement was always paramount in getting the kinds of reactions to the shot that we all want in the field. That's why I'd go with the accuracy factor, and be SURE I can place my shots from hunting positions in at least a 5" circle at whatever range I felt comfortable shooting at to get a very quick kill.

If I did that, I think I'd eat plenty of venison. Style means little once the rubber meets the road.

[murf205]

O.K. Kidd, what Crusty Deary Ole,Coot said about the Super RedHawk is true. I never shot a SBH enough to hurt it but when I had them(3) I did'nt shoot 310gr boolits either. I HAVE shot a ton of them through a SRH and it is the toughest revolver I ever laid my paws on and it is scary accurate. If you save a few more bucks or even if you buy a used one you will never be sorry. BTW, it is a LOT more comfortable to shoot than a SBH. My 2cents worth.

[stubert]

I load the 300 gr. Lee to 1.71 for my 7.5" Redhawk with 20.8 gr. of 296. It is not uncomfortable to shoot, however that same load in my 7.5" Super blackhawk which was magna-ported sucked.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

accurate mold #43260K 168130168131
with some 2400 under it

[44man]

My SBH, 10-1/2" was bought the year it came out, for IHMSA. Early 80's and for many years it has had a steady diet of heavies. 310, 320 and 330. 21.5 gr of 296 and 21 with the 330.
It has exceeded 81,000 rounds and uncounted tin can loads with lighter boolits, Unique and 231.
There is no measurable wear other then a little sandblasting on the cone edges. Accuracy has not changed. It has seen thousands and thousands of shots with the Hornady 240 SIL and 240 to 300 XTP's. The SIL bullet loves 23.5 gr of 296 but the 240 XTP prefers 24 gr. The 300 XTP drops to 20.5 gr. I use only Fed 150 primers in the .44.
Of course, it did not take long to put Pachmeyer grips on it. I have about worn away the filler behind the guard!
I had a SRH for years and loved it but a friend talked me out of it so I could buy my .475 BFR. I can't part with my old SBH. It can be a bear to shoot with the long barrel wanting to droop out on me.
But not long ago I could hold it better and did this off hand at 100 yards for 3 shots. 168132
It has never been as accurate as the SRH, maybe the best revolver ever made. Neighbor down the road has a SRH and talks about selling it but still has not committed. I want it and shot 1" groups at 100 with it but he can't hit his foot if he put the gun in his shoe! Yeah, same guy that loses many deer with rifles.
Crusty brought up good points and I don't like a Keith either, the meplat works but the shoulder has to go, it was for paper.
Blackwater also made good points. Accuracy and placement with no more need said.
I can't wait for the season, venison is getting low. made the best ever backstraps and tenderloins last week. left them in large pieces, coated heavy with Omaha steak seasoning and seared on the grill, shut the lid and kept them a little pink inside. I never seen meat vanish from the table like they did. Carol had some no name brand sweet and spicy BBQ sauce that beat all the expensive stuff, hands down. I think she bought it at the dollar store. I am getting hungry, might smoke a shoulder.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

so most of you agree the super redhawk would be a tougher gun, and a better choice? if I went with it the 480 ruger is back to being a consideration.... geez this is a tough choice. I like the convenience of the swing out cylinder, I just assumed more moving parts= less strength and reliability, is that not true in tthis case, if the redhawk is overbuilt, I like overbuilt things

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Mine is not a "Super" but it is one tough gun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CDOC

[tdoyka]

i used to own a srh in 44 mag. that gun shot alot of 200-240gr xtp with an over the top load of win296 and it never burped. i was young and dumb once, ok a bunch of times!!! i did flatten and crater alot of primers, but never did srh ever fail. i shudder of what i did years ago, blowing primers and cases cracking, ewww, i'm glad that never got hurt. i am also glad of a 44 that likes unique and a 250gr boolit too!

[sw282]

Hunting 44 boolit?? First meat l bloodied using a 44 was the original Super Vel in the 70s...Those were 180jhp l think..Cast boolit was a Lee 240gr swc using the old pan lube method... Then l discovered IHMSA and shot the Lee 240 or Speer 240swaged...8-9gr Unique for either...My guns were a SW 29 8" and a SBH Silh. After we lost our range in 80 l got out of Silh..Casting too..l sold the Ruger but kept the Smith..
Fast forward 35 years l got back in IHMSA couple yrs back. I still shoot a Smith with a red dot on it now...l shoot / cast 2 dif 44molds now...Both H&G ..One is 503 250gr Keith SWC...Other is Thompson232gr w gc...One is accurate as the other..Thompson is close to my old Lee 240swc..
That Lee definitely has and WILL KILL

[MT Gianni]

44 round ball will kill deer dead, the 429421 will also. Elk and Moose I would prefer a heavier bullet but would not pass up a shot if available. Moose have an annoying ability to soak up a lot of lead and jacketed, they tend to die on their feet then drop. I would prefer a rifle.

[44man]

Not much either the .44 or .480 can't do.
My only consideration is enough weight for penetration and keeping energy higher for distance.
If you shoot slower boolits a little expansion would be best, it is amazing how much penetration boolits have even if slow but you still want to impart energy and best way is some upset.
I would not look for less then the best accuracy and surly not super fast expansion.

[murf205]

so most of you agree the super redhawk would be a tougher gun, and a better choice? if I went with it the 480 ruger is back to being a consideration.... geez this is a tough choice. I like the convenience of the swing out cylinder, I just assumed more moving parts= less strength and reliability, is that not true in tthis case, if the redhawk is overbuilt, I like overbuilt things

Well Kidd, if you like over built things, you will LOVE a SRH. The way the cylinder locks up in the front and rear really contributes to the amazing accuracy of these revolvers. Mine has a 9" barreland is not the handiest to carry but my hunting has been primarily stand hunting. I carry it with a sling, but if you have a 7" gun, there are lots of holsters for your "woods carry" You will never be sorry you bought one.

[firebyprolong]

429244 hp cast 1-18 over 18 grains 2400 is my round of choice in my 629. It has done a dandy job on everything I've ever needed to shoot with. Nice expansion and no problematic leading. It's an easy shooting load that fits the 629 very well. My super black hawk gets the Keith 429421 2400 max bear and dinosaur loads and both guns are sighted accordingly. It a system that works well and keeps me from beating a 629 to pieces. Both load handle deer with ease but the hp really smacks deer down and keeps them there.