44 mag general purpose round?

*sigh* Here we go again with ANOTHER discussion about bear defense. Lets use logic to shake this out. Most black bears aren't 300 pounds, even more black bear aren't breaking into your house or property, and still even more of all those bears are scarred literally ****less by people noises etc. If you find your self in close proximity to one of these killer black bears (sarcasm) your best defense will be all the noise you make while you either go for or attempt to draw your pistol. I have come with in 30' (amongst dozens of others) of a record 488 pound boar(He was arrow stuck that fall by a close friend, said bear now resides on friends living room wall), you know what he said when he saw me? "AHHHHHH!!! HUMAN!!! RUN AWAY!!!!" And meerly injuring a blackie, short of cornering it or threatening its young, will cause them to make haste in a direction that doesn't involve you, fences, or thick brush be damned.

The reality is the greatest danger to you comes in the form of wolves....on two legs. Therefore, in My opinion, take that for what its worth, ypur round of choice is fine. Lest ye be marching off into griz country, then we all know ypu had better well have close air support:rolleyes::D
 
I understand, but these aren't for hunting black bear, just repelling them yet allowing you to have the same load for "in-town" errands.
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I think using "repel" by itself is a rather poor choice of words. ;)

Had you said "repel boarders" (arrrh!! :D) it probably wouldn't have drawn much comment. I don't know about today (so much knowledge seems to have been lost..) but at one time, the most famous pistols for "repelling boarders" in the animal sense, were Howdah pistols. Specifically made to be something that would convince a tiger not to climb onto the back of the elephant with you.
:D

Plus I think you have the order of power needed reversed. Hunting bear can successfully be done with the lower powered ammo, just as it can be done with lower powered cartridges as well. When hunting, YOU pick the shot, and the bear isn't charging or already chawin' on you.

DEFENSE (aka "repel boarders!! arrr!) , on the other hand, it a different matter, you don't get to wait for just the right shot. For defense, a lower power load, and especially a bullet designed for a human adversary are poor choices.

and, speaking of knowledge lost...

Cast lead a "footnote" to .44 mag reloading? I just heard Elmer Keith jump out out his grave and gasp!
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That sound you hear is Elmer, climbing out of his grave, chomping his cigar, and getting ready to slap you silly with his ten gallon Stetson. Repeatedly.:eek:

Elmer developed the .44 Magnum with cast bullets. His own. 240/250gr weight over 22gr of 2400. And he used standard, not magnum primers with that load.
 
I don't take any chances with bears--here's my bear gun.
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Lead bullets are only ubiquitous for the 44 Magnum to the bullet caster or wild catter. 6 of 10 bullets shown in the Cast Bullet Handbook by Lyman for the 44 Magnum are gas checks. Also, use of H110 where shown is consistently indicating magnum primers.

I use lead bullets but certainly not full power and definitely not with H110. Will agree that 2400 gives a good load. Part of what makes lead and 44 magnum work is that, aside from substantial pressure levels, all of the bullets over 200 grain are rated (in Lyman) at velocities considered suitable for lead bullets (subsonic levels). For commonly available commercial offerings of ammo for 44 Magnum, such as might be available in distribution to LGSs, or even load data from bullet makers or powder companies, lead bullets are not well represented, with Accurate leading the way in load data. The Lyman book is an essential resource. The more common bullet for the modern 44 Magnum is the semi-jacketed flat point or other jacketed variants.

I think the majority of 44 Magnum gun owners are shooting store bought ammo, which will most likely be jacketed in some form. Bullet casters and those loading for 44 Mag with purchased lead bullets are likely the exceptions by a wide margin, a "footnote" if you will.
 
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Speer builds a 270 grain bullet that produces a good sized wound channel within deer sized animals with deep 100% penetration every time. I've never recovered an expanded bullet.

Jack
 
I do load the 240 DC--I would think the 270's would lose gas fast at distance--about how far out and through what kind of weapon you getting complete pass-through on medium game with? Just curious.
 
While black bears scare easily, I find that many dont fully respect how dangerous black bears can be just because they pale in comparison to Grizzlys in size. There is no guarantee that a black bear will be scared off, and even if that black bear isnt 300lbs+, a 250lb black bear is a whole lot different than a 250lb man.
 
everyone agrees that a 200 gr. hp 44 mag at 1,050 fps is far from optimal for defense against black bear, I mean two shots of that will probably just make it mad. however, I haven't seen very large black bear in the south Appalachians or near by areas...while im sure there is a 450 pounder out there, the 300 pounds I mentioned is very generous. again, this isn't for hunting black bear, its a round question about using the same round that is very much top notch for defense against criminal attack, yet still being good enough to deal with the average southern black bear. again, not for hunting.

thanks to all that chimed in. as usual its been fun.
 
For whatever its worth: My general purpose load for the .44 Magnum is with a 240 gr. coated semi-wadcutter bullet with 10.0 grs. Hodgdon's HS-6 powder. Estimated velocity is 1,000 f.p.s. and vwery accurate with mild recoil.

Bob Wright
 
stagpanther said:
I do load the 240 DC--I would think the 270's would lose gas fast at distance--about how far out and through what kind of weapon you getting complete pass-through on medium game with? Just curious.
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Not much of a sample, but I shot a large Midwestern whitetail buck quartering toward me at about 20 yds. with a 6½" S&W 629. It entered the left shoulder and exited behind the right shoulder through the ribs and gone. Impact velocity should have been around 1200 ft. per second. He ran about 30 yards and dropped.
 
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