hunting loads for 20" winchester 94 in 44 mag??

[Joe88XJ]

I have decided to use the above mentioned rifle to hunt deer this year...looking for bullet/powder combos that work well....I have read most people say H110 or 296 powder with a 240 gr JSP...guys are saying hollowpoint bullets dont expand much more than the soft point....a guy was saying the hollowpoints could come apart when fired...anybody here of such a thing? How will cast boolits perform by comparison? I am not new to reloading..just new to this caliber in a rifle. Thanks in advance guys!

[hornady308]

You had better slug the barrel. My nearly new Winchester slugs at .432, so accuracy with Cu jackets is around 4-5" at 100 yards. Cast at .433 and .434 are much more accurate. My rifle also prefers lighter weight bullets in the 200-240 grain range.

[1johnlb]

Not trying to be a smart xxx but a 44 Cal. hole is plenty big for hunting. Their not going far after being hit by it.

I have a 94ae in 44 with a 16" barrel and I have yet to notice a hornady xtp to come apart. It's a great hunting rifle, in brush and at longer distances if you can calculate the drop. Easy to find a blood trail to if they happen to walk away.

[nagantguy]

Have the trapper model, the Lee 310 grain mold over a near max load of h 110 is a DTR. My daughter just shot it this weekend and all fine rounds were in a two inch string at 35 yards and all five went through a green 10 inch poplar log the exit holes bigger than the entry. The same load out of my black hawk is a proven deer getter. Don't need anything that bigbor bad fer deer but I do like me big bores and big chuncks of lead.

[Lonegun1894]

I have a H&R .44Mag, a Winchester 94 in .45 Colt, and a Rossi 92 in .45 Colt. Hunting performance wise, there's not much if any difference for me hunting deer and hogs with them performance wise. The .44 I use a .434" 235gr RNFP cast in a NOE mold, and push it with 10.0grs Unique, same powder charge I use with the .45 Colts. Most of my shots are inside 100yds, or at least I like the challenge of making sure my shots are inside 100, and I try to see how close I can get, but I practice out to 200yds with all these rifles, and groups are 6" or less at 200 with all of them, but the catch is the drop, and more so since I'm not trying to blow these rifles up by trying to hotrod them to mimic a 7mm Mags trajectory.

As has been said, slug your bore cause SAAMI spec for a .44 MAg rifle is .432" instead of the .429-.430" as used in handguns, and mine gave me a bit of grief til I started using a bullet big enough. I haven't used a .44 HP to take game yet, but a cast FP works great and doesn't need a lot of velocity behind it. I have pushed these 235s in the H&R up to just shy of 2K, but it isn't needed. I have taken hogs with this rifle and a Lee 240gr SWC pushed by 2.7grs Unique, which is going quite a bit less than 1000 fps, but those shots were inside of 50 yds and were more for discreet pest control than true hunting, so I would recommend the 10.0gr Unique load so you have more range than the 2.7, which is about like bowhunting with a rifle where range is concerned. IIRC, a lot of Winchester 94s in .44 Mag have the slow twist rate of 1:38" like my H&R, so you may or may not be able to stabilize the true heavies in it, but the standard 240ish gr bullets work fine for deer. I'd say find any load that is accurate in your rifle and go make meat.

[jlchucker]

Try some Lyman 429215 boolits in your 44 magnum 94. You may like them. My 94 Trapper was significantly more accurate with that boolit than with the heavier ones. I found that 2400 powder works best for me. You don't need heavier boolits than that on deer, just an accurate load.

[helice]

I have a single shot stainless rifle in 44 mag. The first shots from it were Remington 240 gr SoftPoints. They went into the target sideway and it wasn't a group, it was a pattern. My 444 has an "over .429" bore too. As said above - slug your bore and get boolits that fit. Once you know your bore diameter make request here for some samples . Time has proven to me that the men here are not only helpful but generous. You will discover why cast boolits are so amazing.

[Joe88XJ]

Thanks for all of the input guys I will slug the barrel and post my findings.

[Airman Basic]

Have the same rifle. Micro-groove rifling. Tried cast in it before everybody told me it wouldn't work. 240 grain Keith RCBS SWC sized .432 and 25 grains of H4227 has killed lots of stuff out to 100 yards and a little better. Target load of 6 grains of Bullseye or 8 grains of Unique and the same boolit is also accurate, and, truth be told, would probably kill the same deer, but the 4227 load does hit with authority.

[centershot]

My "go-to" load for the 44 is 24 gr. of 296 with a Hornady 240 gr. HP. I've used it for years in a Contender pistol with no problems at all. This year, I'm using my Marlin carbine with a cast 250 gr. RNFP over 12 gr. of Unique, we'll see how that works out!

[DougGuy]

I was good reading all these posts until I got to this one:
250 gr. RNFP over 12 gr. of Unique, we'll see how that works out! That is a scary load. Unique can be VERY spiky over 10.0gr in .45 Colt cases with that same boolit, I would NOT touch off one with 11.0gr for any reason, and you are putting 12.0gr in a .44 magnum case under a 250gr boolit that has to be seated deep enough to cycle in a levergun? Might want to go back and re-read wherever you got that load data from, because I think it is more than just a tad over the edge there.... Unique is too fast of a powder for a heavy boolit in a magnum loading. You would be MUCH better off with 296/H110, 2400, LilGun, AA#9, N110, instead of Unique, LET ALONE 12.0gr of it!

OP, I had XTP bullets shedding jackets and fragmenting into the meat from a 7 1/2" SBH, so for my own experience, I wouldn't recommend them. The best factory load I -ever- used in a .44 was Winchester Partition Gold, 250gr partition hollowpoint. VERY effective on deer. I don't think they sell them anymore so I reamed my cylinder throats, recut the forcing cone, and switched that ol' SBH over to shooting cast boolits and only cast from here on out.

A levergun is a great choice within 100yds, and the .44 or .45 caliber either one is a great choice with cast boolits, and it is true hollowpoints are not needed and not really advised being that we have cast boolit designs with wide meplats, gas checks, the wound channels are dramatic and devastating, penetration is not an issue as the heavy weight flat nose boolits are almost never recovered, game goes down quickly and humanely. My choice is the Lee C430-310-RF cast in 50/50 ww/pure lead +2% tin. It is a gas check boolit that will let you use a softer alloy that expands nicely but again, same as a hollowpoint, expansion is not really needed, but doesn't hurt. You would have to seat in the top crimp groove I think, and it would be wise to size to .432" but this boolit would be my choice:


http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Reloading/a93849e1-8296-4617-b4ff-6ae3e1b9b1c0_zpsdf33f23a.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Reloading/a93849e1-8296-4617-b4ff-6ae3e1b9b1c0_zpsdf33f23a.jpg.html)

[Joe88XJ]

Thanks for the input...what does SBH stand for?

I was good reading all these posts until I got to this one: That is a scary load. Unique can be VERY spiky over 10.0gr in .45 Colt cases with that same boolit, I would NOT touch off one with 11.0gr for any reason, and you are putting 12.0gr in a .44 magnum case under a 250gr boolit that has to be seated deep enough to cycle in a levergun? Might want to go back and re-read wherever you got that load data from, because I think it is more than just a tad over the edge there.... Unique is too fast of a powder for a heavy boolit in a magnum loading. You would be MUCH better off with 296/H110, 2400, LilGun, AA#9, N110, instead of Unique, LET ALONE 12.0gr of it!

OP, I had XTP bullets shedding jackets and fragmenting into the meat from a 7 1/2" SBH, so for my own experience, I wouldn't recommend them. The best factory load I -ever- used in a .44 was Winchester Partition Gold, 250gr partition hollowpoint. VERY effective on deer. I don't think they sell them anymore so I reamed my cylinder throats, recut the forcing cone, and switched that ol' SBH over to shooting cast boolits and only cast from here on out.

A levergun is a great choice within 100yds, and the .44 or .45 caliber either one is a great choice with cast boolits, and it is true hollowpoints are not needed and not really advised being that we have cast boolit designs with wide meplats, gas checks, the wound channels are dramatic and devastating, penetration is not an issue as the heavy weight flat nose boolits are almost never recovered, game goes down quickly and humanely. My choice is the Lee C430-310-RF cast in 50/50 ww/pure lead +2% tin. It is a gas check boolit that will let you use a softer alloy that expands nicely but again, same as a hollowpoint, expansion is not really needed, but doesn't hurt. You would have to seat in the top crimp groove I think, and it would be wise to size to .432" but this boolit would be my choice:


http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Reloading/a93849e1-8296-4617-b4ff-6ae3e1b9b1c0_zpsdf33f23a.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Reloading/a93849e1-8296-4617-b4ff-6ae3e1b9b1c0_zpsdf33f23a.jpg.html)

[Joe88XJ]

ok so I slugged my barrel and it appears to be the micro groove rifling and it measured .432 each time except for one spot on the slug that measured .433....I measured on several different spots on the slug ...ie measured at 12, 3, and 6 o'clock. so I am presuming I need a cast .432 bullet?

[Joe88XJ]

I just googled the Lee C430-310-RF mold you mentioned and in the description it states it produces a .430 size bullet....how do you size the bullet to .432 when it is only .430 to begin with?? I am new to casting...dont have any of the gear yet but it looks like Ill be getting into it now. :-)
Joe

I was good reading all these posts until I got to this one: That is a scary load. Unique can be VERY spiky over 10.0gr in .45 Colt cases with that same boolit, I would NOT touch off one with 11.0gr for any reason, and you are putting 12.0gr in a .44 magnum case under a 250gr boolit that has to be seated deep enough to cycle in a levergun? Might want to go back and re-read wherever you got that load data from, because I think it is more than just a tad over the edge there.... Unique is too fast of a powder for a heavy boolit in a magnum loading. You would be MUCH better off with 296/H110, 2400, LilGun, AA#9, N110, instead of Unique, LET ALONE 12.0gr of it!

OP, I had XTP bullets shedding jackets and fragmenting into the meat from a 7 1/2" SBH, so for my own experience, I wouldn't recommend them. The best factory load I -ever- used in a .44 was Winchester Partition Gold, 250gr partition hollowpoint. VERY effective on deer. I don't think they sell them anymore so I reamed my cylinder throats, recut the forcing cone, and switched that ol' SBH over to shooting cast boolits and only cast from here on out.

A levergun is a great choice within 100yds, and the .44 or .45 caliber either one is a great choice with cast boolits, and it is true hollowpoints are not needed and not really advised being that we have cast boolit designs with wide meplats, gas checks, the wound channels are dramatic and devastating, penetration is not an issue as the heavy weight flat nose boolits are almost never recovered, game goes down quickly and humanely. My choice is the Lee C430-310-RF cast in 50/50 ww/pure lead +2% tin. It is a gas check boolit that will let you use a softer alloy that expands nicely but again, same as a hollowpoint, expansion is not really needed, but doesn't hurt. You would have to seat in the top crimp groove I think, and it would be wise to size to .432" but this boolit would be my choice:


http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Reloading/a93849e1-8296-4617-b4ff-6ae3e1b9b1c0_zpsdf33f23a.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Reloading/a93849e1-8296-4617-b4ff-6ae3e1b9b1c0_zpsdf33f23a.jpg.html)

[725]

+1 for the 429215.

[Joe88XJ]

I dont have enough time or posts on this forum yet to post in the want to buy section so here goes...does anybody have 50 or 100 of the bullets mentioned in this thread sized to .432 or .433 I could buy to try out? I am assuming that I cant buy these bullets sized to the diameters mentioned at my local gunshop can I?
Joe

[Airman Basic]

Try some of these
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=custom+sized+cast+bullets

[rondog]

This Winchester Silvertip bullet in my 16" .44mag Trapper.....

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/ammo%20and%20reloading/DSC_0007.jpg

Punched clear through this mulie doe without even slowing down. She was down in seconds. Entered on the right, exited on the left, no idea how well it expanded or even if it did, bullet not recovered. Range about 50 yards. I bet you could probably just use LSWC target bullets and do just fine, but don't take that as advice.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/hunting/DSC_0019.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/hunting/DSC_0020.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/hunting/DSC_0031.jpg

[Joe88XJ]

ALL right! All right! :-)

Try some of these
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=custom+sized+cast+bullets

[Lonegun1894]

SBH is the acronym a lot of us use for a Ruger Super Blackhawk revolver.

[OverMax]

I only shoot cast. Make my 44 H.P.s on a drill press. They are nasty looking and nasty do'in. But you should slug your barrel first as commented earlier by another member here. He actually gave you good sound advice.