.44 Magnum Boolit with Wide Nose...Good Defensive Woods Boolit?

[Southern Shooter]

My sons each have a Ruger .44 Magnum Blackhawk and my daughter has a S&W 629. I am looking for boolits that would cause sufficient damage at the milder end of velocity. These would be for protection in the woods and mountains of Utah and an occasional visit to Wyoming.

What do you folks think of these bullet designs? The one on the left should weigh in at 250 grains and the one on the right at 260 grains. What would be an effective velocity to shoot for? My thinking in keeping on the milder side of velocity is so they would have a chance at a follow-up shot, if needed.
9025590256

[Blammer]

here's a full wadcutter, that should work nicely.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Cast%20boolits/DSCN7429.jpg (http://s54.photobucket.com/user/blammer8mm/media/Cast%20boolits/DSCN7429.jpg.html)

OR I would look into a wadcutter in 44 cal like this one

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=129

[Blammer]

and my RSRH with them in it.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/ruger/DSCN7436.jpg (http://s54.photobucket.com/user/blammer8mm/media/ruger/DSCN7436.jpg.html)

[Blammer]

as far as velocity, I'd load them to whatever velocity you are comfortable shooting them rapid fire with.

pretty much any speed will do the job.

[Gibbs44]

Looks like a lead plug. How do they shoot?

[seaboltm]

Protection against what? 2 legs, 4 legs? Things that bite? For 2 legged threats, canine, and feline threats, ANY 44 magnum would be much more than sufficient including the two examples you are asking about. If you are talking about bigger potential threats such as the ursus variety, my preference would start at 300 grains cast hardball alloy in 44 magnum with we me wishing I had my 375H&H or 45/70.

[bhn22]

This is what the 260s look like in person

90269

[paul h]

7gr of unique will push most 240-260 gr cast in the 44 mag 700 fps, 10 gr will produce 1000 fps. Adjust loads for best accuracy/shootability.

I don't think you'll see a tremendous difference in terminal performance between various bullet designs of swc's, lfn's, wfn's, rf's, etc with meplats in the ~75-80% of bullet dia range. Good penetration and a wound channel of about 1 1/2" dia.

[375RUGER]

It takes a lot to stop a boolit like the 2 you put in the OP, either one will work fine. My old standby that I call a warm target load is 8.2 g 700-X over a 240g SWC. Now I shoot 7.6g 700X under a 260g Keith HP.
These will be in the neighborhood of 1050-1150fps and mild enough really that my wife used the 240g load to qualify for her CWP revolver.

[Blammer]

Looks like a lead plug. How do they shoot?

they shoot just fine out to about 75 yds.

[300savage]

either one of those loaded in the 1050 to 1100 fps range will be reasonably comfortable to shoot and will put a big hole through whatever creature you care to shoot defensively.
if i were hunting where shots could be a bit longer i would bring it on up into the real 44 mag territory and be looking at 1200 to 1300 fps or even a tad hotter.
but inside 20 yards you dont need so much heat but if i may say so no amount of fast follow ups even comes close to a cool headed ,and well placed first shot.
i have had to stop a few critters hell bent on doing me damage and honestly i never even considered needing to shoot twice.
i have though but it was an after thought shot to insure they were not going to get back up.
but then the only bear i have shot at close range that was wounded and wanting me i shot and dropped before he got started to me at about 30 feet with a 30-06.
awareness, having your firearm in your hand or quickly accessable and the presence of mind to make that all important first shot break bone is crucial. to get mentally prepared to stop an attack first forget about taking out the vitals, most stirred up creatures ,including a person can live long enough to reach you and kill you without a heart or lungs.
but a shattered pelvis, a shot anywhere along the spine will stop, or severely slow them down enough for your next well placed shot to the head.
even a shoulder shot, breaking major bone will usually buy you enough time to accurately place your next killing shot.
the single biggest mistake i feel is shooting for the center of chest no matter the size of cannon your packing. remember you are not trying to kill them with your first shot, you are trying to simply keep them from reaching you.
you can then kill them at your leisure.

[white eagle]

well said 300

[27judge]

Check your PM with a mold offer tks ken

[AlaskanGuy]

Imagine yourself in front of something like this.
90364
Now, while i agree with what was said above about breaking bone, a grumpy grumpy bear prolly wont give you much of a shoulder shot... A head shot is very risky due to bullet deflection...

If it was me, with just my 44, i shoot for center mass and keep shooting till the offender is dead, or i am dead...

Just my opinion...

AG

[seaboltm]

Well said AlaskanGuy. I have hunted in coastal Washington State and Oregon with a 44 magnum Marlin lever action. I once saw bear claw marks in a tree that I could barely touch standing on my tip toes and extending the rifle up the side of the tree. The marks were fresh. I went back to my truck figuring I didn't have enough gun.

[300savage]

AG i admit i have never had to face down anything like that for damd sure. there is a lot of shoulders showing in that pic however, in fact more shoulder than chest by a good margin.
truth be told however if that thing was running at me i would probably shoot my own foot off most likely.
the bear i shot was a wounded blackie in new mexico i was trailing up. he had finally took a stand and laid a trap for me and was hiding in brush watching his backtrail and waiting.
luckily for me i had a hunting partner behind me with binos picking the brush apart before i would advance.
i did get within thirty feet before my partner saw just the side of his nose and alerted me.
i was then able to place a 180 partition right where his neck joined his high shoulder. broke his back and folded him like a cheap suit.
standing over him and looking back his blood trail it was easy to see how he planned his ambush, if my backup had not seen him i had about three more strides before i would have been in his ambush position.
not sure if i could have gotten a killing shot off or not in that time, i was on hyper alert and had one in the chamber , safety off.
i knew i was getting really close but truth be told it was stupid close and even though we were creeping i still almost had to prove it at twety feet. dumb..
the other creepy thing i realized how darn smart they can be, wow, i could not have set a better trap if you had given me hours, he did it in minutes while bleeding out.

[AlaskanGuy]

Well, i must say, that most of the time a brownie or blackie has his head down when comming to eat ya... A head up could be just a bluff... But with a bear, who knows.... Different strokes for different bears... Here is something that you might find interesting...

90440

And this is what folks say that do it for a living... And I quote...

" One of the oldest and most well known rumors for shot
placement on Alaskan Bear or any bears, is to make your
first shot break the front shoulders. This is the worst advice
anyone can give on shot placement for Trophy Alaskan
bears. The most important shot is your first one, and we
need to make it count. The shot should be placed to take out
the lungs of the bear. By taking out the lungs it is the
deadliest shot placement a hunter can make on a bear
guaranteeing the harvest of your Alaskan brown bear, grizzly
bear or black bear. By placing your first shot in the lung
region, you're most likely hitting other major organs of the
Alaskan bear. For the brown bear and grizzly bear, after the
first shot is placed precisely and accurately your next follow
up shots can be placed in any general kill zone the Alaskan
bear presents to you as the hunter and keep shooting until
the weapon is empty. I hope this helps you with your
questions about how to best place a shot on an Alaskan
bear hunt. I would also like to bring your attention to the
image below and the bear shooting angles image on the
right. It shows how a bears shoulder and the leg bone is in
front of the vitals when the bears leg is straight and not
forward. A very important thing to remember when hunting
the Alaskan brown bear, grizzly bear and black bear.

Ag

[300savage]

AG that is a great chart, yet i would like to just say there is a great deal of difference in shot placement on an unsuspecting target and a yicked off aggressive one.
a shot through the lungs of an animal that runs away from you lets you sit down , smoke a cigar and wait for him to die.
a shot through the lungs of a big dangerous animal running at you is a good way for you to die.
i did not shoot that bear where i did by accident, i broke his back so that it would put him on the ground and he would stay there.
the next one finished the deal.
if possible i tremendously prefer my backup shots to be finishers, not trying to save my sorry carcass hope its going to work this time shots.