best black bear hard cast design 44 Mag

[castmiester]

240 250 grain.... for Black bear hunting. I emailed Double Tap ammo about thier hard cast 240 hard cast bullet. I think they said it's 22 BHN. Basically want a hard enough cast to penetrate the top of it's head in a deer stand. I thought about a solid bullet too.

As far as a solid... guess just any one would be good ? Is there any one in particular that is better than another?

[racepres]

Lee 310 RF GC
I would Not hesitate..
Been awhile, but, I do Not remember Blackies being that hard to kill...
Pigs???? Now they can be difficult..

[fredj338]

With solids, I dont think the 300gr+ give you much more over a good 240-250gr. A cast bullet too hard can shatter on impact with bone. If making my own, I am fine with something in the 18-22bhn range & 250gr WNFP or Keith.

[mehavey]

See https://thefiringline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4966385&postcount=1

[mnewcomb59]

300s are overkill, shoot slower and hit way high.

A hardish 240 WFN will penetrate about 50% deeper than "elk & bear" rifle bullets. A 300 WFN will penetrate twice as far as a 180 grain 30-06 . A 30-06 180 soft point goes about 24" in gel and a 240 WFN hard cast goes about 34". The faster lighter bullet will make a wider hole and still break any 2 major bones. Frontal quartering will break a shoulder and a femur. Rear quartering will break a femur and a shoulder.

[castmiester]

With solids, I dont think the 300gr+ give you much more over a good 240-250gr. A cast bullet too hard can shatter on impact with bone. If making my own, I am fine with something in the 18-22bhn range & 250gr WNFP or Keith.

that's the idea.... killing is one thing, stopping them is another.

[mehavey]

Re the OP:
He's not loading for general hunting.
He's trying to smash through a black bear skull -- from the top.

[castmiester]

anything wrong with a little added insurance ?

[Bigslug]

As far as a solid... guess just any one would be good ?

Yep.


Is there any one in particular that is better than another?

Nope.

Pretty much any .30-.34" meplat flat point solid in the 240-275 grain range at firm .44 Special to light .44 Mag velocities should be all that's needed and then some. I can't think of any reason to venture into harder than air cooled wheelweight+2% (12-14 BHN) but one could certainly heat treat/water-quench it for BHN's into the 20's that would be heavier and tougher than the same bullet cast of linotype.

Accurate 43-255D was my crack at a do-all .44 pill, though tumble lube at as-cast diameter may or may not be your thing.

[Milky Duck]

Ive been chasing the 'holy grail" of bail loads for pigs..getting closer with a pure lead really soft flat pointed powder coated 212grn cast jobbie.

at full noise they end up about 1/4 inch thick
and close to 3/4 in round..like a fat coin
still awaiting results with a gallery load level..mate shoulder shot two pigs both 70ish pount the other day and both dropped on spot.
in your case over penetration wont be an issue so pretty much anything will work,just find a load you can shoot accurately and do so again quickly in fast follow up senario. Im PICKING if projectile will go through a 2x4 plank it will smash through skull,of bear??...... you DO want some velocity/shock as well in case you do hit skull but miss brain off to one side..enough to knock it down/out if that makes sense???a true subsonic load lacks any shock power and a near miss of vitals can be disastrous.

[waksupi]

There is a member here, I think he goes by Sixshot. He has killed more bears with pistols than anyone I know of. Hopefully he will see this topic. I think you are already heading the wrong way going with commercially cast hard cast.

Bear skulls are not all that thick. Looking at a large one on my shelf, I would say the bone is under 1/4"

[castmiester]

There is a member here, I think he goes by Sixshot. He has killed more bears with pistols than anyone I know of. Hopefully he will see this topic. I think you are already heading the wrong way going with commercially cast hard cast.

Bear skulls are not all that thick. Looking at a large one on my shelf, I would say the bone is under 1/4"

I agree... I just read a Taxidermist article and he said 1 to 1 and half inches for Griz. Black bear a bit less than 1 inch. I got into a conversation with a guy locally that told me hard cast or solid bullet. So African plains game maybe, cape buffalo or the like ?

[Bass Ackward]

I can tell ya my secret if you promise not to tell anyone else.

Load more than one in your gun.

[castmiester]

I can tell ya my secret if you promise not to tell anyone else.

Load more than one in your gun.

I can tell you a secret if will tell some one else....

Years ago friend told me about a bear that a friend of his shot with not enough gun, the bear with one swipe knocked the tree down, and my buddy had to finish it. Even with enough gun/caliber.... or with more than one shot might not mean anything to a Peesed off shot up bear. They are so full of adrenaline they don't know they're dying.

[725]

Lee 310 and don't look back. Great boolit for hunting

[Bass Ackward]

Well crap, that’s the fun of it. Bad news though, not enough gun is not solved with a perfect design.

[castmiester]

Well crap, that’s the fun of it. Bad news though, not enough gun is not solved with a perfect design.

When you say design I guess you're including BHN.... my main objective was hardness, not cast design.

[Bass Ackward]

Hardness is relative to design, weight, and strike velocity. Every design and hardness has a minimum and a maximum effective range. That minimum and maximum range will change based upon the shot you will take. (Bone or soft tissue). Use the wrong combination outside of those parameters and failure is often the result. And only “YOUR” test results will give you the confidence of your bullet selection. Wet newsprint and beef bone will answer your question better than anyone’s advice here cause YOUR confidence to take, then place the shot is all that matters.

[Barry54]

I’ve put several boxes of 40 grain 22s into the brain of pigs up to full grown hogs on the farm over the years. I usually go for a straight on shot from contact to about 20 feet distance. Bang/flop and some kicking. One hog a family selected must have known what was going on. Wouldn’t come up closer no matter how much I shook a bucket of corn. So I braced on a fence post and reached out there. I hit where I always do, but because of the longer distance it hit at a raking angle instead of perpendicular. Instead of the usual bang/flop I had a bleeding squealing hog running around to go finish off in front of paying customers. I’ll never forget that lesson.

[DougGuy]

Hard to beat tried and tested 50/50+2% on pretty much any game in the lower 48. I like the Lee 310 cast where I can scratch it with a thumbnail, and soft lube.

The MAIN ingredient? Shot placement is KEY!

[Thumbcocker]

I agree... I just read a Taxidermist article and he said 1 to 1 and half inches for Griz. Black bear a bit less than 1 inch. I got into a conversation with a guy locally that told me hard cast or solid bullet. So African plains game maybe, cape buffalo or the like ?I have never shot a bear or a Cape Buffalo. Sixshot has. These were all acww 265rnfp at right at 1400 fps. The non gascheck version of the Lyman Devestator. The Kudu was finished by the PH with a .375 but would have died. Note the thickness of the bone and the result. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20240223/576e326fd970814e0911d00e293255f9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20240223/025ea8a639d043a627682ddee13fae3d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20240223/f8acf97200dc17c15f6aab66f4587388.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20240223/45ee9f69564582b5364b852d81bdcff0.jpg

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