.44 Mag for deer (results)

R

Rick R

New member
Earlier this year I got a quantity of hard cast 325gr SWC/GC bullets for the old .44 Magnum. I found a load that pushes them at about 1250fps from my 6" 629 and is pretty accurate to boot and decided to use that gun for deer hunting.

Opening day at about 11:30AM, a fork horn walked to within fifteen yards of where I was sitting and presented a shot looking at me with his body quartering slightly. At the sound of the shot he took off like a bee stung him, thrashed across the little valley we were in and piled up on the other side with a crash that sounded like a car wreck probably about 100 yards away. I followed a blood trail that looked like he'd been shot with a broadhead.

That SWC cut a perfectly round hole all the way through both lungs, it looked like if you'd held the carcass at the proper angle you could have seen daylight! I'd read the reports that the SWC's worked well on game but I'd tried using JHP's in the past. I'm impressed, very little meat damage and very dead deer. That 325gr bullet may be a bit heavy for deer but after seeing how well it worked I'm convinced.

Rick
 
I shot the deer with my 6" mdl 629, it's got an underlugged barrel and unfluted cylinder, and iron sights. I think they started calling them the "classic hunter" sometime after they made my gun. Recoil is stiff from the 6", shooting them in my 4" Mountain Gun is a whole nuther matter :eek:

I've still got to get a .44 rifle, then I'd feel well equiped in the .44 department. Maybe the jolly fat guy will bring me one for Christmas.

Rick
 
I shoot a load like that in my .44s but when you shoot the 1250fps in 6 inch in 20 inch carbine it will go 1600fps and will KICK big time(it does in my B-92 Browning) but works real good to 100yds.
 
325gr @ 1250 from a 629? That's heap big medicine!

Sounds like it's getting on the heavy side, to ever be a steady diet out of your Mtn Revolver. ;)


Good load. Nice to see someone do it right, with reasonable expectations for how the game should react.

Good report. Enjoy your venison!

-Matt
 
I only shot the heavy load through the Mountain Gun to see how it grouped. With the upgrades the MG is probably stronger than the 6" gun but light weight guns and heavy bullets = big recoil. It's stout but not uncontrollable from the 6", a friend who has a Marlin rifle fired three of them at a gong one evening and pronounced the recoil to be like a 20 gauge high brass load.

Most normally my .44's get fed a 240 SWC load with 10.0gr Unique which seems to be easier on all concerned, and which probably would do a pretty good job on deer, but being a handloader and getting those 325gr bullets I had to come up with a super secret deer slaying load!:D

Rick

PS ~ Jerky is in the dehydrater as we speak.
 
Ooops must skimmed over the 6" 629 part. I bought a Marlin Model 336 in .44 last year and love it. I haven't hunted with it, but it's a fun plinkin gun.
 
Congrats!

I found out the hard way that a heavy bullet works better on whitetails a few years ago. Using a fast pet handload with a 200 grain JHP out of a 10" TC Contender gave me terrible results. Not enough penetration and no exit wound. I killed two deer with it and it took a lot of tracking to finally find them.

When I switched to a heavier JSP bullet performance improved dramatically.

I found out the same thing when trying to use 240gr JHPs out of my muzzleloader. Lots of tracking and almost a couple of lost deer. When I switched to a heavy buffalo bullet things became much better.

Good Shooting
RED
 
I have found using my 44 mag scoped SuperRedHawk 7 1/2 that 240gr bullets are the best for deer like animals and are the most accurate as well. I use Hornady's 240gr XTP/240gr Speer Golddot's using WW296 at 24gr max load using win brass/CCI mag primers, heavy crimp, 1525 fps, drops deer like a heart beat, this year got a young buck on the hoof at 30 yards with my SuperRedHawk, all the practice and working up loads came all together when it counted. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.
Rmouleart_5658.jpg
 
Hey! but wid one-a dees here magnums, it don't matter.

Shoot 'em in da hoof, spin 'em around & knock 'em back 100 yards ....

;)
 
Rmouleart,
That's about the size of the deer I shot, only I had to let him get closer as I was using open sights :p
I may try the XTP's again someday, but I've still got a couple hundred rounds of these SWC's to hold me for a while. Who knows some day the T-Rex may make comeback and I'll need all that penetration.

Good shootin' and good venison.

Rick
 
Going out tomorrow here in PA with a bunch of guys that also use a handgun to hunt deer. Should be fun driving deer trying to harvest deer with handguns.

Ron
 
I believe that's a bullet hole just above the right shoulder. The guts are taken out from the bottom boys. Nice shot Rmouleart!
 
Rmouleart,

Nice shot. I too hunt with a Super Redhawk. Mine has the 9.5" barrel. I have a 2x6x32 Bushnell on it. I also hunt with a Super Blackhawk with a 10.5" barrel and open sights. Ruger revolvers are great hunting guns.

Jim
 
Godd hunt, sir.

One thought: Now you've seen the wound channel, and the lack of damage to the surrounding meat, that a HCSWC slug does, let me add my personal tactics to this post.

If possible I try to take the shoulder as well as some vital organs. The wound channel is the same, with very little meat damage, usually much less trailing time/distance when you break the shoulder as well.

Welcome to the addiction of handgun hunting!!!!
 
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