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Thread: question about cast bullets in 44 mag

  1. #21
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    I'm out of that game but I will say the American Whitetail Deer is NOT bulletproof.

    A cast lead 44 projectile of 240-260 grains with a flat point or a HP, put in the right place, will easily kill a deer cleanly.

    A friend of mine uses a short lever action chambered in 44 mag and he reports outstanding results with shots under 100 yards.
    Another friend had an old Ruger 44 carbine and only used jacketed bullets, he also had outstanding results.
    Those guns have longer barrels than a handgun but I don't think the reduction of velocity with a shorter barrel is a big deal if the ranges are reasonable.

    It's just not that difficult to cleanly bring down a deer. A soft 240-260 grain flat point or HP bullet going 1000 fps or better will do the trick.

    In another era, a lot of whitetail deer fell to a soft lead 36 caliber round balls travelling at much slower speeds.

  2. #22
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    Never used them in handguns, but have shot a few deer with .44 bullets in sabots through an inline muzzle loader and the cast SWCs do a lot better than the Hornady XTPs I used once.

    Personally, I'd go with cast. For the past nine years, all I've used is cast and arrows and have averaged two deer a year. The cast have been 7mm, .30s, .32s, 35s, a .45-70 and those muzzle loader bullets I talked about. All of them worked fine and I never had to look far to find the deer. I can't see where a cast wouldn't do anything and more than a jacketed bullet would in a .44.

  3. #23
    Boolit Buddy catkiller45's Avatar
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    Appreciate your replies...lets go back to the ports possibly plugging....If they do will this
    have any effect on accuracy? And if they do,it should make it more quiet? this is my first
    ever ported weapon..Been a long time since I used open sights as well...john
    keep on rolling along.no matter what happens just keep rolling

  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master Tatume's Avatar
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    At one time I was shooting a Mag-na-port gun in Precision Pistol competition. Lead accumulated in the ports, and as I said, it was easily removed with the point of a pocket knife. It did not completely block the ports. It did not affect the sound signature of the gun. It did not affect accuracy. It was just ugly, and I would remove it every now and again. Don't let it worry you; just shoot the gun, and every few thousand shots, clear the ports with your pocket knife.

  5. #25
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    Stick with cast. To cut back on fouling in ports, dip the muzzle in Ed's Red or Moly. Neither are a total cure, but they help.
    The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
    John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"

    Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!


  6. #26
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    For some years I hunted deer with a Ruger SBH and at first used jacketed at full power, but before long, it became obvious I was generating a lot more horsepower than the task called for. I graduated to using the Lyman 429215 cast SWC with GC cast of WW's with a touch of tin over enough propellant to get them up to 1100-1200 FPS. They shot comfortably and accurately with a flat trajectory out to the distance I was interested in taking a shot, 80-100 yards or so, max. I never recovered one from a deer. They were all shoot-throughs and they never went far. One of those through the boiler room or the lungs and they piled up within a few yards.

  7. #27
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    I don't believe that anything jacketed would touch my LBT WFN cast boolits in my .44 Mag., .454 Casull, or 45/70, jacketed bullets may show some advantages at longer ranges in the smaller cals. like .30 cal.

  8. #28
    Boolit Grand Master fredj338's Avatar
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    None of my revolvers see jacketed bullets. There really isn't anything a jacketed bullet does better than a lead bullet, though they are more forgiving accuracy wise than a lead bullet. Deer don't require a lot of penetration on broadside shots, so a heavy LHP works just as well as a JHP. The other option is run a soft WNFP about 1300fps. Not staying inside any deer & does a lot of damage along its way out.
    EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
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  9. #29
    Boolit Buddy kingrj's Avatar
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    I have killed a lot of deer with the .44 mag in various handguns...Alot with JHP's and a few less with cast SWC's...I have never recovered a hardcast SWC in a deer but I have recovered many of the JHP's..None ran more than 50 yards with either bullet. I have had insufficient penetration out of light (200 grain) JHP's so I mostly use hard cast bullets in my .44's now. But some of my guns just will not shoot my full power cast bullet loads with good accuracy so I use heavy JHP's in those guns. I can tell you that a full power hard cast SWC WILL shoot completely through a smallish whitetail from front to back but a JHP will not. Take you pick!

  10. #30
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    There you have it so far. Some like myself will tell you that ports can and do plug and others tell you that no ports never plug. You asked a question on a cast bullet forum and got slammed and it happens a lot here some don't play well with others. I maintain that while cast bullets are accurate jacketed are more accurate. I would suggest that you open a few manuals read a few books and make up your mind that way because here on this forum you will probably get a somewhat slanted view in favor of cast bullets. Getting back to the Deer hunting... My suggestions is to hunt with the jacketed but then again that's me my opinion and will thousands of opinions here on the forum.

  11. #31
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    To be specific.......Elmer's 250 grain cast bullet!

  12. #32
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    There are a lot of copy's out there some are close to Elmer's 429421 mold number and some are just close. So who is making Elmer's 250 gr cast bullet to Elmer's specifications ?

  13. #33
    Boolit Grand Master Bazoo's Avatar
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    I've not taken deer with a 44 mag. My take on it is, If you're going to cast your own, go for cast. But if you're going to buy cast from a company, use jacketed. Confidence is important.

    Hornady xtp 44 hold up well in the ones I've recovered from earth, federal factory jacketed had core separations though.

  14. #34
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    Lead is faster with the same charge, maybe it because the bullets are custom fit but copper is stickier. Accuracy with lead is better than I am. I wouldn't contaminate my bores with copper now that they are seasoned and I just run a brush then dry patch to clean them.
    Mal

    Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.

  15. #35
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    in by humble opinion both will kill deer. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. I personally think it comes down to the amount of time and effort you are willing to put into it. With cast boolits you have to put in more time and effort to find a boolit design and alloy and load that works reasonably well in your firearm. There are a lot more variables that go into casting boolits. It can be easier to just buy your jacketed boolits because all thats left is to develop a load for said jacked boolit. But wheres the fun in that?

    just my $.02

  16. #36
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    Sadly, I do not own a 44M But my wife does! She saw a 3.75" SBH she just had to have and well, you never argue with SWMBO. Seriously though, she LOVES Rugers and loved the way it balanced. I told her "Well you know, a new caliber means new dies, molds, and such." The look on her face was one of sadness, "Oh. okay." Thats when I told her, "I already have dies and a 240gr mold to load for a friend. Get that sucker!" So far I have the Lee C429-240SWC and and oddball I got in a trade, a 429-208WC. She likes the 240 at 1250fps, and the wadcutter at 1000fps. I think she likes the WC loads so she can show off, she is deadly accurate with that one. I'm pretty sure the WC would be a good pigbuster.

    My personal favorite since the 1970s is a S&W M57 8 3/8" in 41 Mag. I have however picked up a couple in the last few years that are growing on me, 2 Old Model Ruger Vaqueros (SBH Frames), both 5 1/2", one in 38-40, and the other in 45 Colt. I also scored a NEF Buffalo Classic in 45 Colt. I'm liking both 'warmer' loads for the 45, but also some 45RB loads at 900fps. Quiet like a 22lr., hits like a hammer. Cast for me, since 1975.
    Last edited by fcvan; 08-24-2019 at 06:01 PM.
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  17. #37
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    Well, reading back through this thread, you have quite a few guys who have killed deer with both jacketed and cast in .44s and they overwhelmingly say go with cast. Then you have one or maybe two who mention no game shot with either who say "well, jacketed are better just because, so there".

    Whose advice are you gonna take? People with experience or people shrieking theories?

  18. #38
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    Back when I was younger I used a 242 gr cb flat nose out of a Marlin 1894. One shot and done. It’t miller time.Don’t need no stinkin j-words with holes.
    But that’s just me.
    Follow me

  19. #39
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    The truth is that either will do the job IF you can put them in the right spot. Find a load that you can put into a 4" group at the farthest range you intend to shoot. Don't sacrifice accuracy for power, a max load that will cause a miss is worse than a less powerfull load. Then practice till you can hit what you aim at.

    A Good semi wadcutter or Keith style bullet in cast will be more than adequate for deer from either a rifle or handgun. My Dada buddy killed several with a 44 special with heavy loads in his SAA.

  20. #40
    Boolit Master gnostic's Avatar
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    I load a 250 grain air cooled range scrap SWC GC, with either 2400 or WW296 near max with total confidence...

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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
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check