44 Mag Rifle Load for Deer Hunting Aircooled or Water Dropped ?

[Themoose]

I've been working up loads for two 44 magnum rifles for deer hunting... a Rem 788 and a Ruger 77/44. Each has a length limitation imposed by the clips. I have narrowed in on a load using the LBT 270LFN mould... casting a .433 GC bullet sized to .432. I am using Starline brass, WLP primers powered by H110. The longer tube of the 788 is running around 1825 FPS and the carbine length Ruger is averaging 1780 FPS. All testing has been done with water dropped bullets cast from wheel weights.

Given the above information, I would be interested in hearing the benefits or ill effects of using air cooled bullets in the same loads. My overall objective is to develop a highly reliable hunting round for whitetails. I have fired a few hundred rounds in this project to date. If I choose to try aircooled bullets, what differences would you expect that I would find, if any?


Thanks in advance for your opinions.

TheMoose

[725]

If the air-cooled are accurate and don't lead the barrel, you're set. Deer are not hard to kill cleanly, and at that weight and speed you better have freezer space ready.

[Piedmont]

Two hundred seventy grains isn't a long bullet. Expansion will occur at the speeds you are shooting with air-cooled. So your penetration might not be what you wanted (it also might suit you completely). It will hit harder if it expands.

The other side of that is you don't need a LFN .44 to expand, and at high velocities it will blow a big hole just from the splatter off that nose.

I think it will be highly reliable either way.

I envy you for that 788. What accuracy are you getting with those full loads from it? Is it shooting more accurately than the Ruger?

[Bullshop Junior]

I prefer air cooled in my Rossi 454. 300gn boolits of air cooled ww make almost identical mushrooms to the 300gn Hornady XTP both loaded over the same charge of H110.

[AZ-JIM]

Im using air cooled 429421's in my 788 with Ben's Red lube, at 1600+ fps. No issues

az-jim

[Themoose]

Piedmont,

The only answer that I can give on the 788 accuracy is "I think so"... I developed the loads for the Ruger as it was brand new and had not been shot. Yesterday was the first time I took the 788 to try the Ruger load... It started out fine, but then I had issues with vertical stringing... then seemed to stabilize then start to stray again... towards the end of the session I figured out what was happening... I had loaned the rifle to a good friend last deer season... he is much shorter than I and he had moved the scope way back so that he could see... the rings were loose. I did have some clusters of 4 shots smaller than a half dollar... so, that is why I said "I think so". The Ruger has been an experience for me... It is not a tack driver by any measure, but will consistently shoot 5 shot groups within 2.5-3" with 4 of them in 1.5" or so...I shot a 10 shot group with it that measured a tad over 3", 7 were under 2" and 5 were within 1.5".... From reading what I can on this forum, I believe the issue is the tension on the brass. A few years back the 788 outshot another Ruger 77 and a Marlin 94 that I no longer own.. my only issue with the 788 has been the fragility of the clips.

TheMoose

[missionary5155]

Greetings
My 414 Supermag (sorry no 44's) I run 265 grains GC at 1550 fps air cooled and they expand well through a chest. Have not tried a spine shot. But that would be instant I think. Illinois does not trust us to use center fire rifles yet but that is what I would still do. 1600 fps with heavy boolits are corn cruncher smashers.
I would not try a large buck shoulder shot though. I would want a water dropped for that as they will still expand in soft tissue but not to double the diameter like an aircooled will.
I hunt river bottoms so all my deer are close. Most are under 20 yards so I do not need long range velocity. I figure anything I pop a deer with at or better than the old 38-55 loads is more than adequete for my shooting. Has never failed yet in any caliber .375 and up.
Mike in Peru