First cast bboolit and first handgun deer kill. Finally!!!

[Motor]

I finally got my first whitetail deer kill today with a cast boolit. It was also my first handgun deer kill.

Approximately 65 yards with a 500 S&W using a Lee 440gr with powder coating no gas check pushed with 27.5gr Lil-gun.

The shot was fairly steep down hill. The boolit clipped the bottom edge of the spine going in and went through the far side lung. I think it damaged the near side lung too.

Since it clipped the spine he went straight down then bled out. It's a nice size deer although it was only spike which makes it another first I suppose and that is first buck with handgun and cast boolits.

Motor

[Hamish]

Good for you! (It definitely makes it sweeter, doesn't it?)

[Bazoo]

Congratulations. I've yet to get one with a handgun or cast. That said, both are on the short list for next year as my season is over here except for ML. Might borrow a ML off a friend but it ain't the same as using your own.

[Kylongrifle32]

Congratulations on your harvest. I got my first buck with a handgun 44 mag and cast boolit this year. Then took a doe with a cast boolit in a 38-55 mini Sharps. Been shooting nothing but my own reloads for over 35 years but it a little bit sweeter when your also using a boolit that you poured and seated in your own ammo.

[bosterr]

I'm curious Motor, what velocity do you think you're getting with your 440 gr. load?

Monday I took a small 6 point with my BFR .475 Linebaugh, also a spine hit. At 35 yds. away it appeared and I was seated. There's a blowed down tree suspended laying across my line of sight so I had to "grow" a bit higher to clear the bullets path over the log. The crosshair looked good when the gun fired, but for some reason the shot went high. Of course it dropped right there and I had to finish it off with one through the ribs. I use an Accurate 395 gr. RFGC with a near max charge of H110. This is the 7th deer in 6 years I've taken with this gun. I never got the DRT that others have reported with this caliber even though all the rest were double lung hits. I just can't bring myself to aim for a shoulder and ruin a lot of meat.

[Motor]

I'm curious Motor, what velocity do you think you're getting with your 440 gr. load?

Monday I took a small 6 point with my BFR .475 Linebaugh, also a spine hit. At 35 yds. away it appeared and I was seated. There's a blowed down tree suspended laying across my line of sight so I had to "grow" a bit higher to clear the bullets path over the log. The crosshair looked good when the gun fired, but for some reason the shot went high. Of course it dropped right there and I had to finish it off with one through the ribs. I use an Accurate 395 gr. RFGC with a near max charge of H110. This is the 7th deer in 6 years I've taken with this gun. I never got the DRT that others have reported with this caliber even though all the rest were double lung hits. I just can't bring myself to aim for a shoulder and ruin a lot of meat.

The load I'm using is .2gr (27.5 vs 27.3) more than the starting load listed in the Lyman cast bullet manual. It's supposed to be approximately 1450fps.

I have found this load to be a good balance between recoil and power. Compared to what the 500 is capable of this is a light load but 440gr (basically 1oz) of boolit at 1450fps is a little more than light.

I have shot these with 13gr Unique also. You could shoot them all day long and know it would work on deer but the Lil-gun gun load is simply much better all around as a hunting load in a scoped handgun.

Motor

[725]

A fine list of "firsts". Congrats.

[444ttd]

congrats!!!!!

[Texas by God]

Nothing like starting at the top caliber wise, congratulations. I've only killed three deer with handguns but no cast - yet. It is exciting for sure!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[smoked turkey]

Congratulations Motor on your spike buck and being a handgun kill makes it special. It sounds like you made a great shot in that it put the deer down immediately. I have done that on a few instances, when my shot was just a touch high, but still did the job. That spike will make great table fare, and with a minimal loss of meat.

[derek45]

[T-Bird]

Congrats! Think you used enuf gun?

[PositiveCaster]

The load I'm using is .2gr (27.5 vs 27.3) more than the starting load listed in the Lyman cast bullet manual. It's supposed to be approximately 1450fps....

Hodgdon lists their starting load as 30.0 grains for 1483 fps and 40,200 psi. But the exact velocity doesn’t matter at that range or target, it worked. Congratulations on the buck! I shot my first handgun deer 30 years ago with my .45 LC Ruger and the Lee 255 RF bullet over 9 grains of Unique. Also a “light load”, it worked well too.



.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Nice! That boolit is probably still going...

[white eagle]

nice
that works for me

[cwlongshot]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

My pop borrowed my 50 S&W H&R handi rifle one year some years back.

I liked that LEE 440 too!! I loaded it with 5744 powder. Pop and I where walking a tote road still hunting together. I stop he walks past not stopping then he stops and I walk up passing him not stopping. Well as I started to walk a buck breaks beside him and crossed trail in front of both. Of coarse I have no safe shot. But pop does. I SEEAR, that deer was PUSHED DOWN!!! Tracked in snow SHOWED he was lifted out of foot prints and body slammed!! Shot was high shoulder. DRT!

Good bullet!!

CW

[Motor]

Thanks for all the kind words guys. My brother has taken several deer with his 500 using my cast boolits. He actually uses a Lee 250gr REAL muzzleloader boolit with only 12gr unique.
I've tried to get him to switch to the 440gr even if it's only with the 13gr unique load. Events of recent may have finally changed his mind.

After shooting probably a hundred or more of the 250gr 12gr unique loads it has shown itself to be powder position sensitive. I've yet to have this issue with the 13gr unique load using the 440gr but the heavier boolit combined with possibly a tighter crimp and the fact that the 440 takes up more case capacity could be why it's been reliable.

After hunting season is over I'm going to start looking over different options for him. One option may just simply be to increase his charge weight and use either a magnum primer or a rifle primer.

Motor

[skeettx]

Good luck on the adventure
Mike

[Motor]

Good luck on the adventure
Mike

Thanks Mike. I looked at the Lyman manual again and 12gr unique is the start load for a 375gr boolit at like 1060fps. Those 250s I load may be down below 900. On a scoped gun the 250s need to be 3" high at 50 yards to be zero at 100. That's pretty slow.

Motor

[onelight]

Congratulations , that is a day to remember !