445 SuperMag rifle load needed for deer and hogs

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Originally Posted by rockrat

If you have to go jacketed, then I would recommend the Hornady 265 or IIRC Speer makes a 270 gold dot. Cast, why not the Lee 310gr boolit

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before i started to use cast exclusively, i used a 10.5" ruger sbh in 44 mag and 240gr xtp with a stiff, stiff charge of win296. it was going around 1550-1600+/-fps(?), i never chronoed it. i would kill deer at 15 -140+/- yards. it would expand quite nicely out to about 125+/- yards. but 140+/- yards it didn't do much, it went thru the doe and it didn't expand. now this was only 1 shot at 140+/- yards, so i can't reliably say the the 240gr xtp doesn't expand at 140+/- yards. the doe didn't care, she ran about 30-40 yards and then she died. i didn't complain either.

now i use a 5.5" ruger sbh in 44mag that is "doomed":bigsmyl2: to be a 44spl with a 250gr keith(coww with a smidge of tin) and 7.5gr of unique. i have killed deer at 10' - 53 yards(i have a laser range finder now). they are all one shot kills. i use a tc encore with 24" barrel in 444 marlin. back in the day(when my shoulder didn't hurt) it would go around 2300fps in a 275gr ranch dog(coww and a smidge of tin) with a stiff charge of rel 7 or a 280gr gc lfn with a stiff charge of rel 7 or h4198. the rd wouldn't go as far as the lfn. the rd would go 150 yards and then the accuracy fell off. the lfn would go 250 yards. i don't know about its accuracy, but it fell 2 1/2 - 3" at 300 yards. now i use a 280gr gc wfn with 25.5gr of 2400 with a tuft of dacron(i think it goes 1700fps, my chrono was destroyed by a boolit[smilie=1:). i have set my limit to 150 yards using big bore rifles. i have seen bucks and does that go beyond my limit but i don't take them. i have another tc encore in a 24" barrel in 500 linebaugh with a 460gr gc lfn(22bhn, bought from montana bullets) and a charge of hs-6(around 1200-1300fps). that gun will go 125 yards, the extra yards aren't that important to me.

pardon me for say,(and i do) but there is a difference between bullets and boolits. loading a boolit will be a completely different ball game. i'm on the 15 yard line, i have 85 yards to go, 3rd down and 10 and the 1st quarter. this is coming from a guy that has 15 or so years using cast. heck, i use a cast iron pot and coleman stove to make boolits.

Not a 445, but I'm running a .460 with 46.5 grains of IMR4227 with a 225 grain Hornady FTX. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 2300 and change. Longest shot was this year was 235 yards, dropped on the shot. Same results with two others just not as far out. Your .445 will be plenty good at 200 with the right projectile. Attachment 213391

My original thinking was to try and fire a lighter cast bullet at a higher velocity to achieve flatter trajectory so I came here to ask for suggestions on what bullet profile would give me the best chance of achieving that. I figured a 250 grain bullet would be a plenty big enough chunck of lead to shoot through any white tail and just about any hog. My thinking was that while the heavier bullets would provide more penitration I have to wonder how much more would be needed than what a solid 250 grain slug would provide. I have never fired cast in a rifle before but I have shot a lot of 250 keiths in my 44 mag revolver and im convenced that a 250 keith at 1000fps will shoot through and through any deer in the woods. Im new and eager to learn but im courious as to why everyone is recommending heavier bullets?

I have some 250lfn bullets coming and will start testing them and go from there. It may be a couple weeks but I will be happy to post results as I go.

Lighter boolits have bigger velocity loss than heavier bullets with the same "shape".

At 200 yards, a lighter boolit may start of faster, but then loose so much that it is much slower in the second half of its travel.

"Time in flight" is a big input into drift. Lighter can have more "time in flight". On the other hand, more weight increases mass which reduces the sidewards acceleration due to wind. This is why lighter is not always "better".

It all gets kind of complicated. However, you do not need to know the details.

You can just pick various boolits with a known BC, estimate muzzle velocity and then calculate wind drift at 200 yards using an on-line tool. For any one "shape", there will be a "sweet spot" weight that minimizes drift. Think of it as:

- Any less and the boolit "slows down too much" in the second half of the trip.

- Any heavier and it is "too slow to start with".

However, for wind drift "smoother" is always better. The big meplat that is so popular today is definitely not in the "direction of goodness" for less wind drift. A smallish meplat in a RNFP is probably a good choice for a ling range 44 slug in your velocity range.

With almost all powder choices you are going to be dealing with a full case of powder. Some may even require a bit of compression for best results. I would think that a cast Bullet of 240-250 grains in 445 will not give enough resistance to get the most consistent results. Even then you’re going to be looking at 23-2400 fps and the pressure ceiling of the bullet. I may be wrong though.

Beanhead,

Just my opinion and we all have them, and surely no offense to Larry and his great looking bullets, but a hollow point would NOT be my choice for a cast bullet.

The reason, because there is no expansion controlling jacket on cast bullets, cast bullet expansion is and always be a factor of bullet alloy and hardness coupled with impact velocity. What would expand classically and wonderfully at say 75yds. would likely be devastating at 30yds. or of questionable expansion at 200yds.

I'm fully aware that the writings of Veral Smith in his book, "Jacketed Performance With Cast Bullets" is another opinion, but in your search for information, you would do well to add that book to your reading list. Or go on line and check out a possible LBT (Lead Bullet Technology) web site.

Then Semi-Wad Cutter (SWC) bullets. They have been good bullets for many years, but the statement that the sharp wad cutter shoulder cuts a full caliber wound channel in tissue may or may not be fact. Veral does address this subject also.

However, I have for some years now used a large meplat bullet in my 45/70 (deer and elk) and this past Fall in a little .44 mag. rifle (Took two deer 2017) and am very impressed with the results, providing of course proper shot placement. This bullet is typically called a Wide Flat Nose (WFN) or on some longer bullets, a Long Flat Nose (LFN).

With this bullet profile and design, I am NOT reliant on bullet "expansion" for results. If it happens, so be it, but I am not planning, expecting or relying on it for results.

And yes, there are a bunch of commercial casters that can supply cast WFN bullets.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot