44 mag Deer Load

[ACrowe25]

Hey guys,

Just looking for your opinion here. I just picked up a Ruger SRH (7.5") in 44 mag. Looking to hopefully take it out this season and chase a whitetail (if I'm comfortable with my accuracy). I'm casting a LEE 240 grain SWC GC boolit from straight WW (water droped) and will be loading that for hunting purposes.

Now I'm just wondering how heavy a load needs to be to be "humane". I don't want to just injure an animal (I'm sure no one does). Whitetail aren't made of steel, so don't need to be too much over packed IMO. But I'm not sure where that line is...

Currently the only spare powder I have on hand is w231, so I will be loading up a few hundred 44 mags (after a work up) with this. But how heavy does it need to be? Can w231 provide this? If not I was thinking I would switch to aa2400 if need be, but I'd rather not unless needed. Opinions?

[Outpost75]

In my .44 RBH my general purpose " go to" load is the Saeco #441 260-gr. Keith SWC with 7.2 grainz of Bullseye, which gives about 900 fps from a 5-1/2" barrel, is accurate, pleasant to shoot, and kills dverything. About 8 grs. of W231 will do the same thing.

[nicholst55]

Hodgdon shows 5.5 grains as starting and 11.0 grains as max with a cast 240 grain bullet; 800 FPS to start and 1334 at max charge. I've never used a powder as fast as W231 in the .44 Mag myself, but it sure looks like it would work.

[runfiverun]

i have shot a grundle of 44 mags with 7 and 7.5 grs of 231 and a 250 gr boolit.
i think they would do pretty well on a deer out to 40-50 yds.
water dropping is not necessary, i generally add some soft lead in the mix and air cool.

[Cosmiceyes]

Here is a picture of a Ruger 44 mag that pipe-bombed on fast powders that only fill half the case.11 grains is the recommended max of w231 for a speed of 1000fps.
2400 starts a 17.4 grains with 1207 fps maxing out at 19.2 gr for 1317fps.
There is a lot I don't know about you or where an how you hunt. So I'll do the me thing. If I can rest my pistol(7 1/2 inch Ruger SBH Stainless) I will shot the Kieth Style Wad-cutter at the deers lungs out to 200 meters.I use the same load to knock down Rams at 200 meters.I use the same lead compound.You can't make pistol bullets mushroom much at most hunted kill ranges.What you rely on is the clean round hole going through the deer.100 yards max run to pile up.Whether I use 358 caliber,41 caliber,or 44 caliber I shoot for the large target lungs over small heart target.I'm going for dinner,not bragging rights.
I have taken my rifle out to hunt every year for so many years.I started carrying a pistol to quick finish kill.I walk real slow,stopping a lot to look around.I have scared myself when I realized how close I was to the deer.Pull out the revolver,and drop the deer.I only shoot my rifle at the range now.
Attachment 74920

[The Kid]

I shot a 429421 cast a little softer than straight WW diagonally through a 6ft black bear two weekends ago. I was using my Bisley Hunter with a 7.5" barrel and my goto 44 load of 10gr unique in starline cases. This load moves out at around 1100fps, has light recoil and blast, zero leading and great accuracy. The bear was shot in the center of the shoulder, which was crushed, and the slug exited the opposite flank, 13yd shot and a 13yd death run. I've never shot a whitetail with a 44 but I can't imagine this not working out to the 50yd line.

[Hickory]

I use to shoot deer with the 429421, never recovered a boolit.
I started using layman's 429640 hp and does a little better job of putting them down.
At 75 yrds or less 1200 fps is all you need.

[44man]

I would use 23.5 to 24 gr of 296 or H110 with that boolit. Find where it is accurate. Use a Fed 150 primer--(Yeah, I know.) 2400 will also work.
A hole is a hole only without energy placed in the deer. Stay away from those light loads or trying to get velocity with fast powders.
The .44 is the best deer gun ever from 1300 to 1400 fps. No expansion needed and a hard boolit works but not at 800 to 900 fps. You will lose deer, believe me.

[1Shirt]

Hard to beat Elmers load, but would not argue with 44Man either!
1Shirt!

[nagantguy]

I would use 23.5 to 24 gr of 296 or H110 with that boolit. Find where it is accurate. Use a Fed 150 primer--(Yeah, I know.) 2400 will also work.
A hole is a hole only without energy placed in the deer. Stay away from those light loads or trying to get velocity with fast powders.
The .44 is the best deer gun ever from 1300 to 1400 fps. No expansion needed and a hard boolit works but not at 800 to 900 fps. You will lose deer, believe me.

I am in your corner my friend a 260 grain cast with gas check over a good dose of h110at right around 1350 fps is my stand by go to .44 load very accurate and hard hitting out of rifle or revolver, never owned one this load won't shoot well in. Lots of venison in the freezer to prove it and a few hogs and bears as well.

[35 Whelen]

Question: How does a .44 caliber, 250 gr. bullet @ 1350 fps through the lungs of a deer kill better than the same bullet @ 950 fps through the same lungs? It seems to me it would be the same as pushing a sharpened hoe handle through the chest of a deer; pushed fast or pushed slow, there are still holes in the lungs.

35W

[DougGuy]

I never use fast powders in .44 or .45 Colt. 2400 in the .44 magnum is about as good as it needs to get for me. I have used 296 but found 2400 just works best.

I am with 44man on the velocity. Also, you are good with the SWC GC design, the wide flat nose boolit will cut a golfball sized wound channel all the way through a deer, 1300f/s will leave a much more devastating wound channel than 950f/s which if the animal runs at all, it won't run very far.

When I get into the real heavyweight boolits, 260gr+ I don't try to push them for the max velocity, I try to keep them at least supersonic or close to it.

[44man]

Attachment 75016

Question: How does a .44 caliber, 250 gr. bullet @ 1350 fps through the lungs of a deer kill better than the same bullet @ 950 fps through the same lungs? It seems to me it would be the same as pushing a sharpened hoe handle through the chest of a deer; pushed fast or pushed slow, there are still holes in the lungs.
You need energy inside the deer. Just poking a hole is not enough and deer can go 100 to 200 yards with no blood trail. I shoot 6 to 7 deer a season and have over 450 deer kills, I did orchard control in Ohio. The wrong energy placement or lack thereof does little inside an animal.
I am sure you do not hunt with armor piercing bullets in your rifle.
This is proper revolver damage at the right velocity.

35W

[MT Chambers]

Question: How does a .44 caliber, 250 gr. bullet @ 1350 fps through the lungs of a deer kill better than the same bullet @ 950 fps through the same lungs? It seems to me it would be the same as pushing a sharpened hoe handle through the chest of a deer; pushed fast or pushed slow, there are still holes in the lungs.

35W

I believe that the main dif. is TRAJECTORY.

[onegunred]

HYDROSTSTIC shock.

[Piedmont]

Question: How does a .44 caliber, 250 gr. bullet @ 1350 fps through the lungs of a deer kill better than the same bullet @ 950 fps through the same lungs? It seems to me it would be the same as pushing a sharpened hoe handle through the chest of a deer; pushed fast or pushed slow, there are still holes in the lungs.

35W

Not sure it kills "better" because he will die either way, but the faster bullet makes a bigger hole, so probably kills faster, or at least potentially does. There is a splash effect of soft tissue off the meplat. Speed up the bullet and you get a bigger splash, so a bigger hole. Veral Smith of LBT has written on this and so has Marshall Stanton at Beartooth Bullets. Beartooth Boolits has a website and I think there is an article on there somewhere explaining this should you want to read about it.

[35 Whelen]

Not sure it kills "better" because he will die either way, but the faster bullet makes a bigger hole, so probably kills faster, or at least potentially does. There is a splash effect of soft tissue off the meplat. Speed up the bullet and you get a bigger splash, so a bigger hole. Veral Smith of LBT has written on this and so has Marshall Stanton at Beartooth Bullets. Beartooth Boolits has a website and I think there is an article on there somewhere explaining this should you want to read about it.

That's what I was looking for! Makes perfect sense.

Energy, to my way of thinking, is derived from a mathematical formula and therefore really only serves the purpose of comparing the relative power of similar caliber/weight projectiles and has almost nothing to do with killing. If energy were relevant and were a concrete indication of the killing potential of a projectile, then a 55 gr. .22 caliber bullet with 1200 ft. lbs. of energy would have the same potential to kill as a 405 gr. .45 caliber bullet with the same amount of energy.

Good discussion!

35W

[Ed K]

This is Veral's DV formula put to a chart. A Boolit needs to be in the green zone for a high probability kill. Note that it is based off of meplat and a Keith and LFN are similar (red is WFN, blue is LFN).

[44man]

Attachment 75050Muzzle energy figures have nothing to do with killing at all. A bullet can have 8000# of muzzle energy and poke a hole. It is always the bullet and where it places energy.
you need to understand that every single gun from the .22 to the largest rifle ever depends on the bullet for the animal hunted. You either adjust the bullet for the velocity or adjust the velocity to the bullet.
Rifle bullets are made for all sizes of game so a 150 to 165 gr in the 30-06 is a good deer bullet, but the 180 is for larger animals. Why do you think a revolver is different?
A .44 at 800 fps will go through a deer and so will a sharp stick. Add a blade to the stick. Would you shoot field points at a deer or do you use a broad head?
Do you really hunt or do you read books?
I can show what a WLN does at 1316 fps, can you show the same at 700 to 800 fps/
.44 mag, WLN at 1316 fps.

[Ed K]

44man's 1300fps WLN is in the middle of the green zone (blue arrow). A sub-1000fps SWC is not even on the chart (purple). Again this is Veral's work - I'm just painting the picture.