Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions 444P and BIG cast bullets on deer

Anyone use the LEE 310gr gas check cast bullets in their 444 on deer size game? I worked up a fairly accurate load with these bullets in my 444P and plan on useing it this season which opens in the morning here in TN. Just currious as to how these heavy bullets perform.
Thanks

I haven't used that particular bullet. I've used the Beartooth 330gr gas check. Shot one deer, broadside behind the shoulder from a little over a 100yds, he ran maybe 50yds. Bullet exited after breaking 1 rib. Damage to internals was not excessive. I'd say go for it. I was using a 444S rifle.

This is the first time the 444 has seen any action. I decided to leave my 1895 GS 45-70 on allert and ready in the safe, iff needed. I had some 265gr Hornady's loaded that were also accurate in the 444 but thought it would be different to take a deer with a bullet I moulded, and sized, and worked up a load for.
Different srtokes for different folks, I guess.
THANKS

I shoot the 310 Lee in my Winchester. This bullet requires a shorter COAL due to the wide meplat � it will not make the turn into the magazine from the loading gate at 2.550�.
The Lee bullet shoots well in my rifle and kills deer very well- but � I have experienced quicker kills using the 270-grain Speer Gold Dot and believe it or not the bulk 240-grain Remington 44 Magnum bullets. The difference has been a deer dead on its feet making a run of 50 to 75 yards before running out of oxygen when hit with the 310-grain Lee cast about 14 BHN and a deer dropping in its tracks when hit with the 240-grain bullets.
The 240-grain bullets do loose a lot of weight in a 120 to 140- pound deer and leave a very small exit wound.
The 310-grain Lee bullet gives you a big entrance and exit wound � when the bullets are cast soft enough to upset � with a good size blood splash on the off side.

I have the 240 & 270gr Speer GD on hand. Wish I had posted this earlier so that I could have been better informed and worked up a load for them. Oh well! I guess ill shoot for both shoulders and hope for the best. My maximum shot is only 50 yards in heavy thick cover and my 444P will cloverleaf three shots in a 50 cent circle at 50 yards. Hummm! Mabe a head shot is in order! Ill letcha know the outcome!
Thanks

BTW: My bullets are cast from wheel weights and gas checked and sized with the LEE sizer die. Pretty hard I guess!

With today�s wheel weight you are probably not to hard as long as you are quenching them in water or heat treating them.
I shoot the 310-grain as cast with the gas check applied using a stick and hand lube them with Lee stick Alox.
My softer bullets slug up pretty well on a broadside shot and expand quite a bit on a shoulder shot.
You will kill light deer quickly with the big Lee bullet cast hard but they will probably run 50- to 100-yards. Our whitetail deer don�t have enough mass to cause the hard cast bullets to upset. The jacketed pistol bullets seem to upset and expand very well and provide quite a shock to their system. When I hunt from a ground blind with an average shot 75 yards or less the 240-grain bullet gives very good results putting the deer on the ground within a step or so and I don�t have to hunt them up in the cedar. The 270-grain Speer seems to work a little better for longer ranges and open country. The Speer Gold Dot retains more weight and gives a bigger exit wound with a good blood splash on the ground. If the deer runs I generally have small flecks of blood from the beginning with the volume of blood increasing quickly. The .30 caliber bullets will give a blood splash at the exit wound but generally there will be very little blood for 15- to 25-yards before we see a good blood trail. In the tall cedar and heavy cover this can cause trouble following up a deer you know is dead and lying with 100-yards of where you stand. I am assuming you hunt in thick stuff as I do.
I�m not as experienced as many others on this board but that�s how it work for me and I hope I expressed myself clearly � in others words I believe what you have loaded will work well on lung shots and quite well on shoulder shots. I look forward to hearing your report.
Incidentally, I like a compressed load of Hodgdon 4198 with the 310-grain Lee bullet. This load giving good accuracy and power from my short barrel Timber rifle. While some powders put out a ball of fire IMR and Hodgdon 4198 will put out a tongue of fire and jets up the ports. This can be a problem right at the close of the hunting day and I have spent an evening or two with flashlight in hand as a deer which I could see well disappeared in the flash and I had no idea which direction it went. I switched to bullets which open up quickly and are heavy enough to retain weight and exit to eliminate this. I enjoy the rifle but my family does not hunt with me when I am using it due to the noises and blast of gases from the ports.