Anyone hunted with the 44 mag lee HP?

I had some some fun and casted up a few today. I've been using the devistators but figured I'd have fun and try a few of these once I size and GC em. Anyone ever use these on whitetails? I casted mine out if 50/50 and ac them. Will be shooting them outta a 77/44. My devistors are around 270gr and these were 236 gr w/o PC or a GC check yet so I'm guessing around 245 gr set and done. I'm sure they are not going to be as violent as the bigger hp on the devistors but courious to see how they do with on game performance.

http://i.imgur.com/I60234q.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Dgwran5.jpg

What are "devistors"? Never heard that one before.

I'm guessing these
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...oint-gas-check

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Originally Posted by rondog

What are "devistors"? Never heard that one before.

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My iPad doesn't like to spell...Lyman devastators....

http://i.imgur.com/q4dTvS0.jpg

My experience with the Kieth 44 SWC in a 10" Contender tells me that a 44 SWC is more than enough bullet without the HP. YMMV, but 20-some years of dead deer don't lie.

Triplebeards,

I'd say, after much success with a wide flat nose cast in the 45/70 and last Fall taking two deer with a WFN cast of 275/280gr fired from my RUGER 77/44, WHY?????

Both 2017 deer dropped where they stood, one from a side to side behind the shoulders shot at a measured 95 - 100yds and the other much closer.

On both, 100% pass through, the bullet on the second completely penetrating the neck bone on a frontal shot, then going on through the shoulder blade and exiting.

Muzzle velocity with the .44 WFN - 1750fps.

With the 45/70 on a growing pile of deer and with a velocity of 1650fps, every deer has dropped where it stood with one exception where the bullet struck at about the diaphragm on a side to side shot.

Hollow point cast bullet may be fun to cast, and way cool to look at but are simply NOT needed not even considering the possible excess damage to good meat.

By the way, my WFN 45/70 bullet has also accounted for 3 elk.

So no, I have not hunted with the lee H.P. and won't or with any other H.P. for that matter. Simply not needed with a good Wide Flat Nose cast!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

Crusty, I have a lee 310 mold and will cast up some 50/50 for the try outs but yes, I like the looks of the HP. Maybe some day it will wear off. I have tons of 310's casted of straight coww but would want them a lot softer for whitetails.

45 cal aint a 44
hp's are fun to cast
not sure why so many get bent about using them
there is more than one way to paddle a canoe

Triplebeards,

I use water quenched 50/50 in the 45/70 and WFN but last years .44 deer were taken with water quenched clip on wheel weights.

Nice thing with the WFN is that I don't need to deal with the always questionable cast bullet expansion. That big meplat takes care it.

When I decided to go with the 45/70, I did it with one thought in mind and that was to use my own cast bullet.

Did a lot of reading and even then needed to approach that first cast boolet critter with a measure of faith that the glowing reports I'd read so many of were in fact true.

My first 45/70 deer was taken with a 355gr WFN and a muzzle velocity of 2300fps. Once was enough of that, not only was the critter down instantly, but it left me wondering just what in the world I'd turned loose on the game population. Huge wound channel!

Much better was the 465gr WFN that I then went to at 1650fps and the .44 - WFN 275/280gr did nothing to sour my impression of the awesome results I've seen on deer and elk.

I didn't have as tight of groups as I desired, plenty good enough for 100yd deer, but will be testing a new 240gr WFN soon, hoping to tighten up the groups a bit.

If there is some expansion with the WFN, well and good, but with the big meplat there is no need for it.

Have a great day, be safe and enjoy!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

White Eagle,

I guess I'd get "bent" as you put it simply because I want consistency and reliability.

Expansion with cast bullet will always and forever depend on the alloy and the velocity at impact. Without the controlling factor of the jacket, they simply do not have the degree of consistency and reliability I personally expect in an expanding bullet.

With the Wide Flat Nose of the large meplat cast bullets, I do not need to deal with possible over expansion with an overly soft alloy or excess velocity at impact, or possibly the reverse should the alloy be too soft or the impact velocity too low.

I have not said that H.P. bullet were not "fun" to cast and in fact said earlier that the O.P. examples were way cool. They are.

No, the .44 is not .45 caliber, but I have already posted of the excellent results seen this past Fall with a couple .44 WFN cast bullets. Those were .44 bullets and fired from the same 77/44 platform as spoken of by Triplebeards .

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

Listen to CDOC. He is giving it to you straight. The last animal I shot with a hollow point bullet was a doe thirty years ago. The Lyman 457122 destroyed the onside shoulder and about six inches of the backstrap. I went to the 480 grain flat nosed bullet and never looked back. Three trips to Africa and a pile of deer and hogs as well as several buffalo and elk have told me I made the right decision.

I usually shoot air cooled 50/50 COWW and lead sheeting, otherwise it is straight wheel weights. I have only recovered one bullet, and it was from a buffalo four years ago. Try the 460-480 grain flatnosed bullet. You won't regret it.

Sharps guy,

The 460 - 480gr are likely a bit heavy ;-) for the .44, but your point is well made. Nothing like years of experience to show the best result!

Maybe not the most fun, or as cool, but reliable/dependable.

I would not be dropping back from the 275/280 gr .444 bullet I loaded in the 77/44, except for the desire of possibly shrinking my group size. They shoot great in my son's triple four, but I'm at about 3" groups at 100yds. from the 77/44 As said earlier, they took deer cleanly, but I'd like nicer/smaller groups so maybe the 240gr WFN will do that.

CDOC

I guess that's where consistency and reliability in casting comes into play

I don't have a 44, but I do have a 40-65 and a 40-70 Sharps Straight. A Lyman 403169 is a 40 caliber 250 grain bullet with a good flat nose. At 200 yards, a deer or hog will not hold that bullet at any angle, and it will shoot completely through a 5 inch diameter sweet gum tree. 58 grains of 2f drives it at 1487 out of the 40-65 with almost no recoil--less than a .223, in fact.

Based on the performance of the 250 grain 40 caliber bullet and the 480 grain 45 caliber bullet in my rifles, I would be comfortable in saying that the 44 caliber flatnosed bullet will do anything you need it to, including elk and bear.

Someone has had to hunt with this boolit...

http://i.imgur.com/gJuSTIH.jpg

I had one mold and decided the hp and nose was too small for my liking. I went back to the 429421 and the SSK 265 TC.

I have an RCBS 245gr that is almost the same shape as that Lee. A few years ago I made some softer 50/50/2% and HP'd with 1/8". 2 dead deer with 2 shots that year and complete pass thru's on both at 1660fps from my rifle. One was thru the neck for an instadrop, the other thru the chest with about a 1 1/2" exit and the chest cavity was completely destroyed. I mean nothing but jelly. She ran about 50yds somehow.

The last deer I shot was with my Vaquero and an air cooled COWW 245gr RCBS SWC (260gr from mine) with a larger meplat. Looks like a Keith boolit. 1250fps. She was walking so it went thru the off shoulder and out. She dropped almost to the ground got up and ran about 20yds and her butt came up over her head and never twitched again. Not as much internal damage and you could eat right up to the hole.

Made a cast boolit believer out of my son-in-law that was with me:D

I have that Lee mold and with the gas check and the Lee Alux tumble lube, mine average 246 grains. I have contemplated filling the hollow cavity with ATV, has anyone tried this? I doubt that you will see any material difference in the effect of the 245-246 grain v/s the 270 grain HP's on deer. BTW, you make pretty bullets. Keep yer powder dry..…….robin

I haven't filled the HP area on these but glued in an air soft BB on the devastators. They were too long to chamber on my 77/44 so i sanded them flat even with the cavity. they looked cheezy so I just plinked with them instead of testing on water jugs.

I casted about 10lbs of 50/50 w 2% pewter of the lee 310's today to test along with these and some devastators with a 80/20 mix i made and added another 6% of pewter to the total weight.

I wondering how much expansion I would get on a soft bodied whitetail with a 50/50 lee 310 on a a broadside shot if no bone is hit?(i know the first comment is going to be I don't need expansion...I do for a better chance of an instant kill and and better energy transfer...I want a bullet that will give me the best odds is going to stop a deer in its tracks as I hunt on my property line and have a hunter that sits 60 yards from me. Ill take a deer that dropped in its tracks every time with blood shot meat over a hole I can eat to. I have more deer meat in my freezer than I know what to do with as we speak. I feed a HP boolit is going to give way more shock with the pedals either expanding or blowing off VS poking a hole in and out of deer like an arrow. I've shot dozens of deer with arrows and hard bullets like the Noslers bonded white tipped version of the ballistic tips, they all sail right through the animal and it acts as if it was never hit...unless backbone or the head is hit of course. I want some shocking power and energy transfer. If I can accomplish this with a really soft flat point boolit great. Lets hear about it with photos(actual proof) of of big boolit mushrooms.

A really good read for many would be Veral Smith's (of LBT - Lead Bullet Technology) writing in his book, "Jacketed Performance With Cast Bullets".

It may be available on the LBT web site or even possibly all or portions of the book.

The last address I have for LBT is, Lead Bullet Technology, HCR 62 Box 145, Moyie Springs, Id., 83845

Does Veral know everything about cast bullets? I doubt it as none of us do. However, he has tested extensively and many of his views are well proven by many cast bullet hunters.

Example ----- The effectiveness of the large meplat - Wide or Long Flat Nose - on game animals.

Nothing at all wrong with experimenting and testing, but in the case of effective cast bullet hunting bullets it has already been done and proven for you.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

If you need an instadrop you need to be shooting in the neck. They will not twitch and it is extremely easy to do. People underestimate their ability about a neck shot until they try it. If you can shoot a 4" group at 100yds then a neck shot is very doable at that distance. Deer are very easy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

Triplebeards,

I'd say, after much success with a wide flat nose cast in the 45/70 and last Fall taking two deer with a WFN cast of 275/280gr fired from my RUGER 77/44, WHY?????

Both 2017 deer dropped where they stood, one from a side to side behind the shoulders shot at a measured 95 - 100yds and the other much closer.

On both, 100% pass through, the bullet on the second completely penetrating the neck bone on a frontal shot, then going on through the shoulder blade and exiting.

Muzzle velocity with the .44 WFN - 1750fps.

With the 45/70 on a growing pile of deer and with a velocity of 1650fps, every deer has dropped where it stood with one exception where the bullet struck at about the diaphragm on a side to side shot.

Hollow point cast bullet may be fun to cast, and way cool to look at but are simply NOT needed not even considering the possible excess damage to good meat.

By the way, my WFN 45/70 bullet has also accounted for 3 elk.

So no, I have not hunted with the lee H.P. and won't or with any other H.P. for that matter. Simply not needed with a good Wide Flat Nose cast!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

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That is what is nice about opinions you can have one you can express it. But it does not make the rule of Universe.

I have used hollow points with even lower velocity with great success. One load I absolutely love is in my 480 Ruger rifles. 270 grain HP GC real soft lead over 9.0 grains of Universal velocity right around 1000 FPS drops deer and varmints in there tracks. Fun load to shoot and very effective. I say just goes with what works.

I also have a SWC HP mold from MiHec for the 45 LC that load with nice easy dose of Unique in my Henry Carbine is allot of fun to shoot and it is also very effective on deer and varmints.

I agree WFN is good design and very effective as well but different designs have good history and meaning.

One f the things I really like about this site is th diverse collaboration of ideas and ingenuity.

Interesting, I haven't seen that boolit before. Big Devastator .44 fan here.

Just loaded some up. They are loaded at 1.575" at the top lube groove pretty short compaired to my 1.640" devastators.

http://i.imgur.com/LbRf0Cn.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/uDUkXxf.jpg

Love the colours - it's like a lolly shop! :D

I had a worst experience with them and I will not use them ever again

44 caliber hole kills things --- HP or not (As Elmer proved many times )

I tried a few loads with them at a hundred yards out of my 77/44. The gun doesn't like them at all. Maybe I'll load them a little longer and try again. Devastators I got to shoot sub MOA. Think I'll just stick with them for now.