Had a jacketed boolit fail me. Count me in

[Bigoledude]

Since Katrina passed through my house and took all my possessions off with her, I've been forced into SLOWLY re-aquiring some guns. I thought I would go the same-caliber route I had been reading about since I was a kid (50 or so years). So, I bought a Taurus Raging Bull in .44 mag and, a Marlin 1894 also in .44 mag.

Here's what happened; My 4 sons got all of us together for a hunting/camping trip. My eldest put me on a stand he had been baiting for me. I had the Marlin with me. The big Russian showed up with his entire harem and their chirrens. I was a little twisted to the left side but, that wasn't bad since I'm right handed. He was quartering towards me. The shot was about 45 yards and I put the stinkin' rotten 240 grain jacketed hollow core into his shoulder. It obviously caused him a little discomfort because he ran around in about a 60 foot circle for about 20 seconds before he joined the rest in putting some distance between me and him. The whole time he was circling, I was encouraging him to hurry by emptying the magazine in his general direction. He was not limping or dragging a foot or leg. OK, I guess it's remotely possible that I missed. Personally, I think that this hollow core garbage blew-up upon contact with the mud-impregnated bristles, tough skin, and gristle plate without penetratin' into the grits.

Just prior to the trip a local guy sold me 500 of some pretty nice looking Keith-style boolits (240 grain). I am stiil trying to put together enough reloading equipment to build-my-own so, I am still shooting store-bought fare. My wife is convinced that we should concentrate our efforts towards things like drywall, insulation, furniture and appliances. I hate when that happens!

Since I am a man of few words I will get to the point. I am convinced a good hard-cast would certainly do the job. However, is 240 grains enough to poke a hole through both sides? I think they mic at about .430. Is that enough width? How wide should I go? Will the little marlin hold up if I put a steady diet of heavy (300 grain) stuff through it? Last question; How finicky are the Marlins in respect to length if I decided to try a good 300 grain bullet?

BTW it drivz me crazie how ya'll play wit the word bullit.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Elmer Keith always thought so.

[Buckshot]

..............HA! I shot a feral hog at 60 yards broadside with a 405gr paper patched slug from a 45-70 at 1600 fps, and all he did was grunt and fall down. Dead. The boolit is still going I think.

I'm honestly sorry to hear of the trouble the hurricane caused you, and so many others. I'm waiting for the big shaker here in So. Calif.

I don't own any 44 mags but it has the juice to do the deed. Like most anything short of a 105mm howitzer, placement naturally is important. I believe you are correct in blaming the bullet. Hardly need a HP for pigs. Maybe a good heavily constructed SP.

Many years ago not long after I got married in 1975 I was an assistant mgr at a K-Mart. The store security manager went pig hunting with a couple other guys up along the central coast here in California. I didn't know what he used till it was story time after they got back. He used a 30 M1 carbine to completely piss off a porker

The pigs were in some brush at the bottom of this little shallow ravine type deal. He and his partner were chunking rocks in amongst the bushes to get the pigs to come out. Some finally did and he shot one in the head. This really enraged the pig and luckily enough his partner had a M29 S&W that took care of the issue.

The little (I assume) 110gr slug plowed a furrow of flesh up as it skidded along the pigs skull and then almost removed an ear.

At that time in my career I couldn't quite say what was wrong with using a M1 carbine for pigs. But somehow or the other I inherently knew that it might not have been the best choice.

BTW, welcome to the board. Uh, the Boolit thing is kind of like a secret handshake or one of those decoder rings, I suppose . It's been around the majority of this group going on about 7 years or more now.

.....................Buckshot

[Bret4207]

Welcome B.O.D- Ye handle' too long to spell this hour of the mornin'. Best of luck in your rebuilding too. Nature has a way of making you feel insignificant from time to time, eh? Hope it all turns out for the best for you.

As for the 44. No hogs running wild around here, but the holler point's probably not the design to use on something akin to a tank. A good 240-260 SWC or FN design loaded to the heavy side should penetrate into the ol' boiler room on pretty much anything short of a D-6. There are a variety of designs and most work well. If you're limited to buying boolits for a while, don't get sold on the "hard" boolit idea. Nice soft ones work good too, and there are often less problems with leading, boolit fit, etc. OTOH- If your Marlin has a Micro groove barrel they sometimes handle harder boolits better, or so I'm told. Can't help on OAL, somebody else will I'm sure.

[azrednek]

"He used a 30 M1 carbine to completely piss off a porker"
A book I read about 30 years ago written by an Arizona hunting guide about his experiences from apx 1935-50. He told about being asked to track a Javalina that was attacking tourists at one of the old infamous desert dude ranches in the area of the Lost Duchman's Gold Mine. After tracking down and dispatching the little porker they discovered a lump in his head. Turned out the lump was a 30 Carbine slug and the wound had completely healed over, apparently giving the porker a nasty headache. Might have been an exaggeration by the author to sell books. He specualted the slug was from a WW2 era GI. The area about 10-20 miles from the dude ranch, now known as Florence Junction was used by the army during the war for artillery practice.

[Ricochet]

The Marlin 1894 won't handle cartridges one bit longer than the factory 240 grain jacketed bullets. Mine doesn't like to feed Keith or SWC lead bullets.

[Dale53]

I believe that the Marlin 94 will handle the Lee 310 gr .44 bullet (C430-310-RF) as far as overall length by using the front most crimping groove. That gives SAAMI length. I have used this in a Ruger .44 auto with success by loading "short". However, the bullet has a VERY wide meplat (.350") and this may or may not present feeding problems in the Marlin. The only way to tell is to try it. I will tell you this, this bullet is the most accurate bullet I have ever shot in a .44 magnum revolver (both S&W and Ruger). Several of the better shots in our local club just rave about the accuracy.

I have only shot one deer with it. Instant kill, but the shot broke the neck and most anything would have worked with that placement. Frankly, a good Keith bullet is all a deer requires but the 310 Lee should be just what the doctor ordered for the bigger porkers.

Dale53

[fatnhappy]

I have a lyman "300" grain 429650 and it's nose profile is identical to the 429421. If you feed a 421 reliably I can't see why the 650 would be any different.

Back when i was stationed in Southern Kaliforniastan pig hunting was all the rage. We used to call a BBQ sized hog a "weber" cuz it fit on the grill. I have personally shot exactly one boar, weber +1 sized, with the .44 mag. I used a 421 and punched it through both front shoulders at around 10 yards. I had to walk about 11 yards to my hog.