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Thread: Cast boolit .44 special venison

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub
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    Cast boolit .44 special venison

    Hi all, pretty new here but not new to casting. Loving this site so far, seems friendly and tons of good info. I hang out on Rugerforum.com a lot. Thought I'd post a pic of two little meat deer I was able to take this past season. Killed them about 10 minutes apart about 200 yards from my back door. Have had a stand back there in a little patch of woods between our little rural subdivision and some CRP ground with a big creek beyond that. It's a real deer corridor.

    The sixgun was my S&W model 24-3 4", load was the Lyman 429244 HP, straight WW metal, air cooled, 17.0 of 2400. Both one shot-kills, both ran about 25-30 yards and piled up.



    Grendel99 asked if I could post a pic or two of the bullets (I shoulda known to do that, right?) so here's a few I made right quick. Sixgun are the aforementioned 24-3 and a custom .44 special on an OM Ruger flattop .357 built for me by John Gallagher from nearby Jasper, Alabama.

    c


    This was the first bullet mold I bought when I started casting back about 1980. I've got a few other molds now, but favor these for my hunting .44s. You can see I need a different top punch, this one rings my bullet noses a bit, but I don't reckon it hurts anything. I use the same bullet in my 7 1/2" OM flattop .44 mag with AA-9 or 2400 for about 1300 fps, and have killed several deer with that load, too. Yet to recover a bullet, so I don't know if I'm getting any expansion or not. I'd like to think so, but stuff just falls over dead anyway, so I'm not too worried about it. Thanks for the kind words and interest, really enjoying the forum.
    Last edited by 6GUNSONLY; 08-11-2017 at 01:44 AM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    Congratulations, very well done! The Ray Thompson bullet is a very good one & I'm sure you are sold on it! Some nice venison there.

    Dick

  3. #3
    Boolit Bub
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    Hey Dick, I think I know you from "that other" forum. Ha. Thanks for the comments.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master 475/480's Avatar
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    Well done and good shooting.

    Sean

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
    Lefty SRH's Avatar
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    Very nice.
    I did something simliar the first winter in our new home, a few years ago. My wife and I moved to the county and Im able to hunt in my backyard. I took an alpha doe at 35yds with my Ruger Flat top Blackhawk .44spl.
    Hunting with a handgun is especially ejoyable!
    "In GOD We Trust"

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


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    Very nicely done. It is great to harvest game from your own property, and from a cast boolit you cast and handloaded. It is especially noteworthy to do it with a handgun at 35 yards with open sights. And a double to boot! I have never killed a deer with a handgun, but I would like to remedy that this coming season. Welcome to the forum. You are off to a good start even if you are an over-achiever on this deal. congratulations.
    Mark 5:34 And He said to her (Jesus speaking), "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction."

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy



    Old Scribe's Avatar
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    Pretty neat going. Enjoy the harvest.
    "Well Stanley, here's another nice mess you got me into!" Oliver Hardy

  8. #8
    Boolit Master 35 Whelen's Avatar
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    Good shooting!

    I've been using the .44 Special now for about 3 or 4 years and killed a few head of game behind the house. My hunting load typically runs a 258 gr. SWC, from an RCBS 44-250KT mould, 950-1000 fps.

    18 yds.-



    22 yds.-



    45 +/- yds.-



    44 yds.-



    35W
    The biggest waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn't care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions.
    There are people who, for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand.

    NRA Life Member

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy Grendel99's Avatar
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    Awesome, well done. Can we get a pic or two of some of the bullets? I have the same mold that was HP'ed by Eric but I havent shot anything with it yet.

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy Gibbs44's Avatar
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    Very nice, I can't seem to get one to walk in front of my 7mm mag. Good shooting.
    Sully

  11. #11
    Moderator Emeritus

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    Great post, 6GUNSONLY! Welcome to the forum. Treetop
    "Treetop"
    Sgt. USMC
    1968-71

    "Accuracy has a suppressive power all by itself."
    Lt. Gen. George Flynn, USMC

    “The Second Amendment was not written to protect your right to shoot deer.
    It was written to protect your right to shoot tyrants…”
    Judge Andrew Napolitano

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy Grendel99's Avatar
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    Looks awesome, thanks for pics!

  13. #13
    Cast Boolits Owner



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    Welcome aboard! 44 Special is one of my all time favorites. Great post BTW.

    Take care,
    Robert
    "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion."
    - Albert Camus -

  14. #14
    Boolit Master smkummer's Avatar
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    My guess is that your not getting expansion unless its hitting bone but that is just a guess. Your probably about 12 BHN hardness ( if your wheel weight mixture is 2/3 clip on and 1/3 stick on) and that will seem hard compared to a factory jacketed soft hollow point that my finger nail can scratch/dent. And its really a moot point as it works fine and dead is dead.

  15. #15
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    good job!!!


    i'm using a 250gr mihek hp and it is a 20:1 mix(20 lead and 1 tin, 10 bhn or thereabouts) that i use in my 44. although i haven't killed a deer with it yet.

  16. #16
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    The only .44 Specials I have owned are a Charter Bulldog and a Taurus, which is a slightly more substantial gun, but not much. Not sure either would handle those kinds of loads and would be painful to shoot if they could.

    Nice to see guys using guns with ballistics like this to take deer. Seems like everybody wants to load monster loads to handgun hunt. All are nice deer, congrats on a good hunt with a good weapon.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by richhodg66 View Post
    The only .44 Specials I have owned are a Charter Bulldog and a Taurus, which is a slightly more substantial gun, but not much. Not sure either would handle those kinds of loads and would be painful to shoot if they could.

    Nice to see guys using guns with ballistics like this to take deer. Seems like everybody wants to load monster loads to handgun hunt. All are nice deer, congrats on a good hunt with a good weapon.
    i use a ruger sbh(4 5/8" barrel) in 44 mag. but i find that the 44 sp is the case to go to. the only reason i use the 44mag is boolit weight. i don't care how much speed it should get, 800-1000 fps is fine by me. heck, i'll take 700fps as long as its accurate to kill deer with.

  18. #18
    Moderator Emeritus

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    Good job, good post, and thanks for the pics! I have yet to take a deer with my own Flat Top .44 Sp., but maybe this year? A friend handled mine, and went out and bought his own in .44 Spec. Now, he's thinking about having Turnbull case color the frame, and having it dolled up! These guns really take a deep hold on a purchaser, don't they? Love your grips, BTW. Is it bone of some sort?

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    I just love posts like these nice accurate bullet putting down deer. No hyper velocity wam bang flop just accurate shooting and great hunting.

  20. #20
    Boolit Man
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    Cool

    Nice post. I have two .44's, a Vaquero and a 6 1/2" SBH but have only killed paper so far, but whitetail is on the bucket list. Keep yer powder dry...........robin

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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