44 Mold suggestions

[baugh55grfmj]

I will soon be getting a HP mold for the 44mag. I need some suggestions. I want the quickest kill for whitetails. I have thought about the Lyman 429640, or getting the Lee 310gr and have Eric make it a HP mold. Or Have Eric make one cavity in my 429421 mold a hp. I read the keith HP is more of a controlled expansion which you would still get excellent penetration. I was leaning more toward the Lyman 429640, that is the Devastator right? Any of you gents ever kill anything with a Hollow point boolit?

[GP100man]

Well ,after many deer shot I prefer a solid ,especially in calibers beginning in 4 ,less meat damage ,but just as dead .

The worst was a deer at 7yds with a 140gr HP Gameking screaming out of a 357 ,nearly took the far shoulder off ,ruined the whole thing .

I have the 429421 & it`ll do the job & then some.

In my opinion ,in the handgun hunting world HPs are over rated.
Do I have HP molds ?? yes but I hunt with solids.

[runfiverun]

quickest kill ????
shoot it in the brain.
a hollow point doesn't kill any faster or slower than a flat point does.
it may not even kill as fast.
it might create more internal damage but if the blood don't come out you'll never be able to follow the animal.
using a hollowpoint is not the same as using a normal boolit you have to create an alloy and velocity window that that alloy works within.
you have to balance the toughness of the boolit,the hollow points depth,the velocity,and the penetration.
in other words you have to test.

[Blammer]

This HP in my 44mag did a dandy job on the white tail at 70 yds. It was a good solid shot and the deer ran about as far as usual, 40yds and then keeled over.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Cast%20boolits/DSCN7761.jpg
on the left is the 50 cal on the right is the 44 cal

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Cast%20boolits/DSCN8129.jpg
Here is the entrance hole and the exit was just as large.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/2012%20Deer/DSCN8832.jpg

[cbrick]

you have to balance the toughness of the boolit, the hollow points depth, the velocity, and the penetration. in other words you have to test.

Very, very true, a lot of testing. You can't just poke a hole in the front of the bullet and solve all the problems of the world. The alloy you use, the width, depth & shape of the HP, the velocity you shoot it at, the distance to the target all have a profound effect on the HP performance. After you achieve the proper alloy that will mushroom without simply fragmenting without penetration you now need to get that softer more malleable alloy to shoot well without leading up the gun.

Plus if you are new to casting the HP can be more difficult to cast. Better IMHO to learn to cast quality solids and graduate to learning HP's. As GP100man said, less meat damage, good hole on both sides and dead is dead. A HP will not make them deader.

Rick

[baugh55grfmj]

Yeah, thats what I figured. I have been using Elmer's formula of 16 to 1 alloy and 22.5gr of 2400 excellent accuracy. a bit of leading after about 10 shots. The accuracy is so good though I figured I wouldn't change anything. I've tried ww and Lyman#2 with still a bit of leading. The 16:1 boolits I've pulled out of sand berm at the range had the best mushroom. I just figured since I hunt near a big swamp that if I could limit the distance the deer runs it would save me wet boots, and lets face it hollow points look cool too.

[Larry Gibson]

56747baugh55grfmj

Don't get scared away by all the "rocket science" deemed necessary to use HP cast bullets. The wheel has already been invented by numerous here. Yes a proper HP design and alloy are needed but it's all been worked out. Proper HP cast bullets do, most often, kill quicker with heart/lungshots on deer, elk, coyote's and pigs. I use cast HPs for hunting when I have a choice in all my rifles and handguns having learned over 40+ years how much more effective they can be. My preference for hunting with my 3 .44 magnum revolvers and Contender is the 429640 Devestator. Cast of 20-1, 16-1 or COWWs + 2% tin + 50% lead (which depends on muzzle velocity and game to be used on although 20-1 is very good "all around") expansion has always been very good and penetration has always been entirely adequate with mostly through and through on deer. I've never, in many game animals killed with such, had any "shoulder blow ups" or lack of "penetration" as the horror stories would lead us to believe.

With the 429640HP Devestator the design work is all done so all you have to do is cast of the correct alloy for the velocity and game to shot. You won't go wrong with the 429640HP.

Larry Gibson

[uaskme]

Why people shoot shoulders with HPs I will never understand. People shot shoulders when they needed to hit mass for bullet expansion. Old habits are hard to break.

[41 mag fan]

Around here the old wives tale was, and i'll hear it occasionally still, is hit a deer in the shoulder and break it, they'll run the valleys instead of trying to climb the spoil banks.

[Three44s]

I'm partial to the RCBS 250 without modification.


Three 44s