Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns hunting handgun for shooting Whitetails 40 yds max range?

I think i figured out LFN (lead flat nose maybe) but i dont know what LBT or WFN stands for....please clarify.......Hb

Lead Bullets Technology


Wide Flat Nose

Lead Bullet Technology brand mold

Long Flat Nose



Wide Flat Nose

Cool, a good looking bullet.......Hb

Those LBT WFN hammer stuff. You'll love them.

I want a bullet that will blow through and leave an exit wound with a broadside shot on a Whitetail, this could be it.....maybe a keith hardcast lead would be a good choice also but im not sure how much expansion i would get.........Hb

With hardcast at handgun speeds and deer level resistance you shouldn't be counting on expansion. You should count on how big of a "damage cylinder" the bullet makes while driving through. Generally the bigger the meplat the better the damage.

Notice how on those LBT designs the transition from flat meplat to nose ogive has a relatively sharp corner. You don't want a significant radius there.

The classic Keith is a good bullet, but its meplat is smaller than the LFN and WFN designs. In a 44 a Keith meplat is going to be about .270", where a LFN will go .300" and a WFN something like .340" across. Despite being full bullet diameter, the top edge of the first driving band of the Keith does not overcome the meplat size deficit. This is one technical point where I don't agree with Brian Pearce. He cites the marking up of the top of the driving band on recovered Keith bullets as evidence it was doing damage. That is true to some degree, but the damage to the target is greater with the LBT designs, never mind the appearance of bullets recovered from test medium.

The balancing act is getting a very blunt bullet to still be easy to work with. The LFN design is sometimes easier to work with than the WFN.

If you don't want to go LBT, the Lyman 429244 is a gas checked SWC design with a bigger than Keith meplat at .300" for the particular mold I've had forever. Sized to fit the cylinder throats and being gas checked, this bullet cast from wheelweight metal sweetened with a little tin is a good performer. Add enough Unique for 1100 fps or so and it will thoroughly ventilate a deer right through the shoulders and still be easy on you and the Smith 29.

Excellent post Mathman, you have taught me something I didnt know........Thanks Hb

I used to cast and shoot a bunch of bullets with my father. All the tire shops that serviced the company cars kept buckets of used wheelweights for Pop. There is no telling how many Lyman 452630, 358156, 429244, and 429215's we cast and shot.

Enough Unique will be 10gr BTW. Goes 1170fps out of my 5.5" SBH and blows through stuff. Of course I never caught one when I was using 9gr either. Easy on guns, easy on your hands, but hard on critters if placed right. I've used the Lyman 429244, 429421, RCBS 250KT, and 250 WFN LBT with those loads and all were satisfactory.

Only problem is I need to find factory loads that meet my needs as I sold off all my reloading equipment several years ago........Any suggestions?..........Hb

I have a buddy who doesn't reload and he only shoots Winchester white box 240gr SP out of his 4" performance center 629. I was skeptical when I first met him but he's killed a handful of black bears and one charging 8' grizzly with one shot apiece. And the grizzly was not a head shot, center of the chest at 10 yards folded him up like a cheap lawn chair. Pretty hard to argue with that.

The various 180 and 240 grain Remington loads seem much softer than either the HP or SP 240 from Winchester.

Parabellum Research does a bunch of loads for the 44 Mag. Their stock varies considerably. If you find something you like, don't expect they'll have it the week before your hunt.

If you can find them these should leave an ouchie on critters: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/24...-lead-wide-flat-nose-gas-check-box-of-50

Wow! For a box of 50 that aint bad at all and I bet they would put the hurt on a Whitetail.......Thanks Bearcat......Hb

GP100 357 factory works great.

In all seriousness HB,

I would find a used single stage press, used balance beam scale, used dies, and get loading again. Today's prices are simply retarded for .44 magnum ammo, if one wants to stay proficient.

It would not take long at all, when reloading .44 magnum to recoup the initial expenses.

I suppose if a guy is very well off, that is one thing, but most I know would be better off investing a little bit of money in used equipment, and simply rolling their own.

There are some very good deals to be had on used reloading stuff out there, if a guy is patient.

CHEERS!

I still use a hand press a lot for handgun hunting ammo.

During the lean years working night time security, I reloaded 45 colt ammo using a Lee Loader...



even made a custom scoop:



sexy...

Just found this thread. I really like my Smith 629 Classic with a five inch barrel. I use the Speer Blaser load which gives me around 1100 fps according to my Chrony. I have killed deer very cleanly out to 60 yards with it and used it to kill a bunch of hogs. It doesn't have much recoil,it's really accurate,and it kills stuff very dead.

The Blaser loads with the 240 grain hollow point have exited so far on every critter that I've shot with it.