longbow
09-05-2006, 10:06 PM
I have a question for for you all.
First I guess a comment, then a question.
I have been trying to get a heavy boolit approx. 300 gr. to work in my Marlin 1894 .44 mag with 1:38" twist.
So far I have tried cast 300 gr. truncated cone point, paper patched 300 gr. and Speer jacketed 300 gr. (the cast weren't working for me so I broke down and bought copper jacketed).
My results so far using Blue Dot, IMR 4227 and Hodgdon H110 indicate that the bullets do not stabilize. The hottest load I have used is 21 gr. H110 with a 300 gr. paper patched. This gives me very flattened primers and is in my opinion about the max. for my gun. Good accuracy at 50 yards, mediocre at 75 yards, sideways at 100 yards.
The Greenhills formula tells me that the max. boolit length is about 0.7" which limits the weight to about 265/270 gr. with 1:38 twist.
Starrbow tells me that he has had good success with wide flat nose 300 gr. boolits and I have read that others have had good results as well. So far all my loads with 300 gr. boolits, including the Speer copper jacketed, have given poor accuracy at anything beyond 75 yards - some even keyholing at 100 yards yet the 265 gr. cast have given good accuracy to 200 yards.
Guns and Ammo printed an article "Make Mine A .44" in June 2005. The article was promoting the heavyweight non-expanding brass boolits of Belt Mountain and the penetrating qualities of heavy non-expanding boolits including Garret 330 gr., Buffalo Bore 340 gr. and the Belt Mountain 300 gr.. The boolits these heavyweights were compared to were a 240 gr. jacketed soft point, Buffalo bore 270 gr. soft point and a cast semi wadcutter 240 gr.. Strangely enough the 240 gr. semiwadcutter was loaded to over 300 FPS slower in both rifle and handgun but at 1234 FPS (slower than any other heavy weight boolit) it penetrated 30" compared to 36" for the Belt Mountain at 1330 FPS and and out penetrated the Buffalo Bore 340 at 1323 FPS by 2".
The point was that the heavy slow non-expanding boolits penetrate better than a high velocity expanding boolit - which they did. Yet the lighter loaded 240 gr. semiwadcutter gave the heavy weights a run for their money.
I have written two letters to Guns and Ammo questioning the logic of using such low velocity loads for the lead semwadcutter and just what it might have done at 1600 to 1700 FPS - no response.
I like heavy bullets but have to question the results of this test which indicates to me that a hard cast (or brass like the Belt Mountain) mid weight boolit can equal or better the heavy weights.
Okay - now the question(s):
Have any of you run tests to determine the maximum practical weight for a boolit in a .44? Obviously at some point you simply run out of room for powder, but what is the optimum weight bullet to give the best penetration?
Also, since penetration without accuracy is somewhat pointless, what is the maximum accurate range of heavy boolits in the 1:38 twist?
A .44 mag Marlin surely isn't a long range weapon but the boolit should be stabilized over the useful range of the cartridge.
I would appreciate whatever info any of you may have.
Longbow
First I guess a comment, then a question.
I have been trying to get a heavy boolit approx. 300 gr. to work in my Marlin 1894 .44 mag with 1:38" twist.
So far I have tried cast 300 gr. truncated cone point, paper patched 300 gr. and Speer jacketed 300 gr. (the cast weren't working for me so I broke down and bought copper jacketed).
My results so far using Blue Dot, IMR 4227 and Hodgdon H110 indicate that the bullets do not stabilize. The hottest load I have used is 21 gr. H110 with a 300 gr. paper patched. This gives me very flattened primers and is in my opinion about the max. for my gun. Good accuracy at 50 yards, mediocre at 75 yards, sideways at 100 yards.
The Greenhills formula tells me that the max. boolit length is about 0.7" which limits the weight to about 265/270 gr. with 1:38 twist.
Starrbow tells me that he has had good success with wide flat nose 300 gr. boolits and I have read that others have had good results as well. So far all my loads with 300 gr. boolits, including the Speer copper jacketed, have given poor accuracy at anything beyond 75 yards - some even keyholing at 100 yards yet the 265 gr. cast have given good accuracy to 200 yards.
Guns and Ammo printed an article "Make Mine A .44" in June 2005. The article was promoting the heavyweight non-expanding brass boolits of Belt Mountain and the penetrating qualities of heavy non-expanding boolits including Garret 330 gr., Buffalo Bore 340 gr. and the Belt Mountain 300 gr.. The boolits these heavyweights were compared to were a 240 gr. jacketed soft point, Buffalo bore 270 gr. soft point and a cast semi wadcutter 240 gr.. Strangely enough the 240 gr. semiwadcutter was loaded to over 300 FPS slower in both rifle and handgun but at 1234 FPS (slower than any other heavy weight boolit) it penetrated 30" compared to 36" for the Belt Mountain at 1330 FPS and and out penetrated the Buffalo Bore 340 at 1323 FPS by 2".
The point was that the heavy slow non-expanding boolits penetrate better than a high velocity expanding boolit - which they did. Yet the lighter loaded 240 gr. semiwadcutter gave the heavy weights a run for their money.
I have written two letters to Guns and Ammo questioning the logic of using such low velocity loads for the lead semwadcutter and just what it might have done at 1600 to 1700 FPS - no response.
I like heavy bullets but have to question the results of this test which indicates to me that a hard cast (or brass like the Belt Mountain) mid weight boolit can equal or better the heavy weights.
Okay - now the question(s):
Have any of you run tests to determine the maximum practical weight for a boolit in a .44? Obviously at some point you simply run out of room for powder, but what is the optimum weight bullet to give the best penetration?
Also, since penetration without accuracy is somewhat pointless, what is the maximum accurate range of heavy boolits in the 1:38 twist?
A .44 mag Marlin surely isn't a long range weapon but the boolit should be stabilized over the useful range of the cartridge.
I would appreciate whatever info any of you may have.
Longbow