Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Lead 44 mag for whitetail

I just acquired a Rossi M92, 24 inch stainless in 44 Mag. I'm thinking of using it for whitetail this fall. I was wondering what y'alls' experience is with cast lead bullets.

I've got a Lee C429-240-SWC mold, aluminum gas checks and a bunch of lead in various hardnesses.

They won't bounce off. I've used that bullet cast of pure lead in muzzle loaders with sabots in the past. Can't advise velocity, but I was only shooting 80 grains of pyrodex, so it probably wasn't much more than you will get out of your setup. They were quite deadly.

Jacketed bullets have never been down the barrel. And I’ve never recovered a cast either.

I had a Browning 92 in 44 mag and it would never feed a SWC. The classic Keith bullets in 240 or heavier made an overall length too long to clear the magazine. Other SWCs would catch on the bullet's shoulders and jam up.
So I am not sure if the Rossi copy of the Winchester M92 is going to be any better.

That said, I have killed a pretty large number of deer as well as elk and bears with SWC and LBT lead bullet all fired from revolvers and all (so far) and been 1 shot kills with most falling fairly quickly. I have also killed many ranch animals (horses and cattle) with my 44 magnum handguns and again I have had excellent success. So if you are going to use a cast bullet in the lever action you may need a mold that makes a bullet that has no sharp shoulder. An LBT type wide flat nose Gas Checked type is the best, but the cannelure has to set the bullet inside the case deep enough to feed.

If you get a mold to cast a bullet that is compatible with the rifle you'll have no problems at all killing deer

I've killed deer with a similar bullet in 44 revolvers. Load was 10 grains of Unique, which gave about 1,000 fps at the muzzle. I had to use 44 Special cases to make that bullet feed in a Marlin lever gun. I agree with szihn that an LBT design would be a better choice.


Okie John

I think I have shot about a half-dozen with the .44 using everything from 240 SWC's through 300 XTP's. If I were going to pick, I'd use a good SWC or Sierra's plain-jane 240 JHP, goosed to 1200 fps or better, and I'd try and nail the spine at the shoulder. Penetration in the right spot beats expansion in the wrong spot, ever time.

That combo should have no problem killing deer. Does your gun have the octagon barrel? My LGS has had one on the shelf for a few months.

Yes, 24" octagonal stainless.

My Rossi in .45 Colt feeds SWC well, hopefully your .44 does. It drops them with authority, at least within 60 yards. I can't speak from experience beyond that. My loads are beyond standard .45 loads, but not quite up to max-for-blackhawk data.

My experience is that they kill deer stone cold dead if you hit em in the front half.

Mine are all over about 80 gns of 777 2f, but the bullet doesnt know what its shot from.


Only a sample of 3.5 decades and a crap ton of 100lb NJ deer.
Not sure how I am doing it without a nightforce or a 6.5 creedmor, but it'l worwk and you will love it.

Nice gun, btw!

^ this

I like lead. 240-250 will work though I prefer more. That's not a bullet I'd choose though. 1) Meplat is too small. 2) The transition from 'shoulder' to meplat is rounded making what meplat there is less effective. In other words, it's truly a sh*t bullet design ... ease of casting taking priority over effectiveness in shooting. Fortunately, .44 is so much more than the minimum needed to kill a deer that it'll probably work out ok anyway.

I don't happen to have a .44 carbine right now and my bullets are selected for revolvers. The RCBS 250 grain SWCs (they've had 3 varieties over the years) and the Lyman 429421 are much better than the Lee bullet you mention because the meplat has a sharp corner at the edge which is much more effective .. and it is larger. My favorites, though, are the LBT 300 grain WLN bullets.

I shoot a Missouri BC 240 SWC out of my Ruger Marlin 1894. No kills with it yet, but good accuracy and no feeding problems. Loading 9 grains HP-38/W231 and velocity is around 1350 fps from a 20” barrel.

Bad the Fing Bone! Hell yeah!

I'm gonna try to 357 mag one this year, then on to the model 69 combat mag in 44!

My Rossi wouldn't feed Keith bullets in Magnum cases (too long), but if I loaded Keith bullets in .44 Special cases, it fed quite well. That was in two Rossi's I had (20" and a 16"). I do NOT know if they'd feed in the next Rossi, but in my two carbines, they worked like a champ. I had quit casting by that time, though, and mostly used commercially cast RNFP for fun shooting. I usually got 4" groups at 100 yards with 240 XTPs with AA#9, and they killed deer really dead.

Find a LEE RANCH DOG MOLD. They are made for lever guns & work great in the dozen or so I've got. Size 'em 2 thous. over bore dia. & go forth and kill stuff!!

Scott

I just bought a (Ruger) Marlin 1894 a couple weeks ago. I'd said that if they ever went to 1/20 twist, I'd buy one. They did and I did. Tried some 300 grain WFNs I had loaded for my 77/44. They grouped good at 50, but don't choot worth a chit at 100 yards.

I was kinda disappointed, but WFNs will do that. Or, I have another problem, but regardless, some time will be spent this weekend finding out. I found out that this rifle can handle an OAL 0f 1.710", so I'm going to try some Beartooth Bullets 300 grain Dual crimp groove LFN GCs at that length. These bullets are no longer in production and I'll have to figure something out if they shoot good. I'll reshoot at 25 yards to rezero and then move further out

Another one I'm going to try is Sierra's 300 grain Sports Masters, a jacketed flat-nose that has a very hard core, so expansion is minimal at the speeds I'll push it (1500 to 1550 fps). It also is for long cylinders and if crimped in the cannelure OAL is 1.725", but have no fear, there is a Lee FCD here, and 1.710" it is.

Another option I have already loaded up (I've had a 44 mag rifle and several pistols previously) is the standard 240 grain/H110 loads.

All that is assuming I don't have another issue with the gun besides bullets being WFNs, which can be inaccurate at long(er) range.

We'll find out. I would prefer a LFN GC to a jacketed bullet, and would like that to be a 300 grain one.

I bought some 250 grain WFNGC (wide flat nose gas check) hard cast bullets to use in my 1-38” twist 1894. Pushed at 1500-1700 fps I can’t imagine catching one inside a deer. Haven’t shot anything yet with this combo.

Ron