Really Heavy Subsonic .44 Boolit

[oldcaster]

longbow
I use a 44Caliber LBTGC 300gn sized 0.432 on 14.7gn WW296 F155 1.53OAL (slightly compressed crimped over canalure) 1050fps in a TC contender 10" 1-20 twist. Always 4" at 200 sometimes at 250yds (depending on me ). At 300yds 7-8" and evidence of keyhole. I believe this is the limits on weight/cal./speed/twist rate.
I have proved this to myself with 800 rounds of this load in most all weather conditions.100yds 18" high, 200yds "0", 250yds 23" low, 300yds 58" low, I have been useing a Bushnell 2-6 long eye relief with a .01" shim under scope on rear mount to be able to "0" 200yds. A pain if you need to have your "0" at different distances .
I love this load/gun, shooting steel targets the gun moves out of the way and I see the impact and hear the ring a second later, a bit under 2 seconds from boom to ring at 250yds. If you have a spotter they can see the bullet falling into the target for about the last half of it's flight.

[longbow]

oldcaster:

Thanks for that. Good info.

I am not sure how fast a 400 gr. boolit can be pushed using .44 mag brass but in a rifle with 20"+ barrel it should do okay.

Like I said, I can't use a suppressor so subsonic isn't a requirement but the goal is similar ~ heavy boolit, moderate powder charge and velocities to 1200 or maybe 1400 FPS. It might actually be better to keep it subsonic to avoid going transonic on the way to the target.

Have you ever pushed yours into supersonic range? If so how was accuracy?

The info I have found so far indicates that 1:16" twist should be good for 400 gr. length but if you are finding long range instability with a 300 gr. in 1:20" maybe a tighter twist than 1:16" is required. Mind you trajectory will be pretty steep much past 200 yards anyway.

I should check twist used in some of the old .40 and .44 BP rifles as some of those were shot at fairly long range and used heavy boolits.

Good stuff. Thanks again.

Longbow

[mutley223rem]

Any update to this? Thinking to rifling my .410 to use heavy bullet subsonic speeds.

[dustydog]

I have a 44 mag integrally supresed encore that srt did for me that has a 1 in 10 twist, I load with a nosler 300 gr to 1050 with no problems with bullet stability.i opened up the hollow point a little and filled the cavity with 100% silicone it is very effitive on our whitetails.the actual barrel length inside the suppressor is 12 inches long.it is harder to keep it slow enough than it is to go super sonic.im pretty sure itll shoot thru at least two deer standing side by side.

[Digital Dan]

Heavy bullets work either side of Mach 1 with a 20" twist. I'm not giving consideration to length increase for a given weight due to large grease grooves, hollow points etc.

300 grain paper patch w/MV in the 1600 fps range:





The PP bullets do nasty stuff to critters:




320 grain at subsonic velocity:

[longbow]

I'm still "window shopping"/dreaming. Toy money is tight so no progress.

I would really like to try that subsonic Gunn designed boolit though. I think it would be ideal in a .45-70 or scaled down to fit .444 brass. With a slight change in design to be a nose bore rider with crimp groove moved back it should work in .44 mag. It comes out just over 400 grs. scaled to .44.

[Tackleberry41]

I had no trouble getting a 44mag to go subsonic. Not something I was going to do yet another barrel stub in for a faster twist. A 290gr NOE mold works fine out of a rossi single shot. Nothing special done except the powder charge to keep it going slow.

[PositiveCaster]

I have had a .50 Whisper for 25 years, it's in a 14" Contender barrel. I used boolits, but most loads were 647 to 750 grain jacketed launched between 950 and 1050 fps. Quite accurate in the 10" twist barrel. Back in 1996 I shot a 46" bull moose with a 515-grain WCWW RCBS bullet at ~1150 fps. That bullet may still be going.....


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[M.A.D]

I run these through a Number 3 in 45-70 with a 12 inch 1-10 twist barrel.. 660 grain bore rider...