.41 Mag SWC, no blood

[LeadHead72]

After finally finding a very nice, used 41 Magnum in a Ruger Redhawk a few years ago I decided to take up handgun hunting to add a bit of a challenge during firearm deer season. Since 2 years ago I have taken 3 deer and a coyote with it (and my son has taken 1 deer with it) and I am very happy with the gun. However, I am using a 215 grain commercial cast SWC and am getting no blood trails. They're loaded with 19.5gr of H-110 which isn't super hot but it isn't exactly a slouch, either. Of 3 deer taken this weekend the only blood that we found was two drops from my buck which made it about 70 yards with a hole through his heart. What's the deal?

[sixshot]

Is the bullet exiting? I'm guessing all the blood is staying inside. Many commercial cast bullets are very hard & some have a small meplat so you don't get much of an exit wound. You can do maybe 3 things here, shoot the deer with a bullet that is a bit softer, has a wider meplat & perhaps a bit faster although I think your velocity is fine.
I've taken maybe 35-40 deer in 4 different states, 2 elk, 3-4 antelope, bears & a couple of African plains game with the 41 magnum but I never use 215 gr bullets, nothing lighter than the 230 gr Keith from a Saeco mold or a 250 gr from an LBT mold. I've also taken feral hogs & Javelina with the same set up, never had any problem getting blood trails but usually I can walk right up to the animal. I always try to shoot my bullets as soft as I can & still maintain accuracy, no more.
My 250 gr WFN 41 bullet has a wider meplat than the famous Keith 44 bullet. Gemsbok, South Africa, August 2021 with a Freedom Arms 41 magnum & a 250 WFN, never took a step.

Dick

[quilbilly]

You didn't mention whether the shots on the deer passed all the way through. I have found in my terminal ballistics tests that commercial cast boolits (and especially plated) were too hard for my needs and performed a bit better when melted down and alloyed with about 50% pure. The wound channels were larger and expansion was significant with the softer alloy. In my most recent tests with a 357 cal. 190 gr. SWC, the boolit expanded to .7".

[LeadHead72]

All were pass through except for the buck, yet his wound was lower on the body than the others so a blood trail would have seemed more likely.

[LeadHead72]

Gotta say I am pleased with the minimal meat loss due to bruising with this gun, especially compared to a 12 gauge slug.

[missionary5155]

Howdy
First Congratulations for smacking and tracking down that bean eater.

I have used a Dan Wesson 41 Mag 8" with at least a 240 grain and most always with a 265FNGC cast of 50-50 (range scrap / wheel weight) chugging along at 1150 fps. It expands well to .50 and never have recovered a slug.
I have no concern about leading (very little with one shot) . Very accurate from our DW. Most corn crunchers are leaking a goodly amount real easy to follow when this slug rips through the heart and lungs.

But we also bust both shoulders with the same load if possible as at 71 I tire of having to follow deer through the river bottoms.
I have not yet had to follow any deer very far that took a caliber .50 hit through the shoulders.
A high lung hit will fill the lungs with blood and you will not see much until it falls over even with an exit.

[Thumbcocker]

How big is the meplate? Pics?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Smoke4320]

I would suggest going up in weight and way down in bullet softness . Commercial cast tend to run on the very hard side and you usually will not get much expansion

[MT Gianni]

If you are not yet casting, look for a commercial caster who can get softer bullets for you.

[LeadHead72]

If you are not yet casting, look for a commercial caster who can get softer bullets for you.

I've been accumulating everything I need to cast my own but haven't actually taken the plunge and dropped any lead yet. This is the one I've been using.

[taco650]

I've been accumulating everything I need to cast my own but haven't actually taken the plunge and dropped any lead yet. This is the one I've been using.

Take the plunge! Be warned though, it can be a slippery slope and next thing you know you'll never want to buy another bullet and picking up every wheelweight you find in parking lots LOL! At least that's been my experience.
Congrats on the deer also.

[Jim22]

I've been accumulating everything I need to cast my own but haven't actually taken the plunge and dropped any lead yet. This is the one I've been using.

That boolit has a nice wide meplat. But if it is very hard it will do little damage. The size of the flat point (meplat) will not help it expand if it is too hard. Also if it's light in weight. The load you are using sounds like it is below maximum. That means the boolit is not moving very fast. That will also work to prevent expansion.

You have elicited some good comments. I agree with a heavier, softer boolit. Push it so it doesn't leave lead in the barrel. When you cast your own you can tailor that. Good boolit lube will halp to prevent bore leading. So will powder coating the boolits.

I would like to see expansion in the animal but complete pass through for a good blood trail. That means some casting, loading, and testing but that's the fun isn't it?

Jim

[sixshot]

Powder coated bullets allows you to go with a soft bullet but also keep the velocity up without leading. I call it a poor man's gas check. Also if you're doing a lot of shooting it's better to go with a flat base bullet rather than the bevel base. Your meplat looks fine but I think the hardness is causing you some grief. With powder coating I try to stay around 8-10 BHN if the accuracy stays with me, if not I nudge it up just a bit, no more than I have to.
I actually used powder coated cast HP's on 3 animals in Africa & got amazing penetration on all 3, with complete penetration on my Kudu although it was a 45 caliber HP. Let the heavy bullets do the work.

Dick

[OFFSHORE]

I shoot a 10mm Auto (just a step below the 41 mag) with a Accurate 40-200C boolit in the 1270+ fps range with great success. My alloy is 30:1 (50/50 COWW & soft lead + 1 lb. pewter) with a BHN of 13/15 according to my Lee Hardness Tester. I am mainly a tree saddle hunter, so I'm shooting in a down ward angle all the time, and on deer and hogs 75 yds. or less, I get a total pass-thru shots 95% of the time. With the bullet exiting low on the off side I tend to get very good blood trails and usually see the animal die/drop within sight. I think with a softer bullet as mentioned above, and a low exit channel you would experience better blood trials. . .just my $.02 on that.

My favorite hunting handguns are the Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter models. I have the 44 Mag and 45 LC, I've been trying to get the 41 Mag to complete my collection. . .they are hard to come by and very pricey!!! I really like the .41 caliber and owned a 41 Supermag for a while and harvested A LOT of critters with it. . .then there was a club member who had more $money$ then sense who just HAD TO HAVE IT!!! so, I sold it.

Start casting your own boolits, you'll really enjoy it and tailor loads that your firearms digest nicely. As mentioned above. . .it is damn addicting!!! I have MANY molds, always looking at new ones, and a stock pile of lead and alloying material, I just keep tinkering until I find the perfect boolit for each gun. That gives me an excuse to go buy a new one and tinker some more. They need to start having meetings for people like me/us. . .I'm an addict, I'll admit!!! Deer hunting (hunting of any sort, really) and bullet crafting are my sicknesses/vices - but I can think of a lot worse!!! Hang on to that 41 Mag and master it, it's a great cartridge. Good luck and happy hunting.

[M-Tecs]

Like others stated the bullet is most likely on the hard side and is it is producing a small hole that is easily plugged with fat.

[Ernest]

with soft skinned animals like deer soft gas checked Hollow points are your friend ! I don't have as much hand gun experience as some of the people on here but my experience has been quicker kills and larger blood trails with the above combination.

[Winger Ed.]

At handgun speeds, I'd guess the boolit goes in by stretching the hide & tissue,
getting inside, then closing back up, almost closing the hole and keeping the big pink cloud inside.

Sort of like pushing a hole in, or through rubber without too much trauma,
rather than pushing everything ahead of it like a big shock wave does.

[HD.375]

well, if it were me, with XXX hundred commercials, i would painstakingly drill out shallow HPs.... in fact im possibly going to do this with my 375 Winchester hard casts.....

tell me why not

[Shopdog]

Winger post #17,IME has a lot to do with it. Think RN vs SWC.... now think,that commercial SWC vs home cast. The sharper/crisper you can keep all foward edges the better. This heavily favors home cast.

I shoot varmints with cast rigs at starting JB velocity/pressure. A smaller,but sharper meplat beats larger,more rounded edges everytime in how far the chunks fly. A HP is another approach. You can then play with the internal shape of the hole,or even divet. If you go with a hole,try finding the right sized Torx bit and swage it down in there. Not necessarily recommending this,just sayin you have options to explore.

Part of the problem is gravity. One reason hunting from a tree stand(which I'm sorta not "into") is that your exit hole is like a drain,or leak hole. There's just no way the blood is gonna remain in the chest cavity.... it's running out the bttm.

[badguybuster]

I have been tempted to that with some Montana Bulletworks hard cast I picked up.