Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns smaller varmits and the 44mag

Has anybody got any bullet suggestions for using a 44mag on woodchuck size varmits? The 240 300XTP's and 225barnsXPB. punch holes in them. Big holes,but just holes. Had a couple run on me last year. that were hit a little further south than I would care to admit. Speer has a 200grain HP that they list for a 44 special. Or the HP copper plated lead from Berry's or Rainer. Has anybody tried these?

Anybody's 180 grain JHP, Sierra makes a good one and I think Remington does too. Those are two that I heard are pretty soft and should open up on a woodchuck sized animal.

The only .44 bullet I ever punched through a similar sized animal was a Lyman #429215, 215 grain SWCGC at maybe 1000-1050 fps shooting jackrabbits. It worked, not a real red mist effect but it knocked the crap out of them right then and there.

The Speer 225 gr JSWCHP hits small stuff hard...one can get the velocity up there with 'em too. It has been my favorite non-big game bullet for a long time. dvnv

I shot a good size coyote a while back using factory 44 mag cci blazer 200 grain hollow points out of 5 " bbl 629 classic. Did a tremendous amount of damage on exit.

Try any bullet weight and design that would fall into the "personal defense" category, i.e. the 180 - 210 gr. range, JHPs or LHPs. What you're looking for is a bullet designed to open up fast, like in a self-defense round, with limited penetration and maximum rapid expansion potential. Take a look at any of the "personal defense round" tests in the glossy handgun mags for either the .44 Mag or the .44 Spl. Bullets that perform well in those tests ought to be the ticket for groundhogs if you use a .44 Mag.

As for personal experience with the .44, I can't say as I've tried it. However, I used the same analysis on bullets and loads for the .357 Mag on the same critters, and can tell you that the 125 JHPs, and the Winchester 105 and 110 gr. loads have rather impressive results when they meet a whistlepig.

I destroyed a running jack rabbit at 20 yards with a 180 (hydra-shock ?) out of my anaconda. Should do pretty much the same thing on a woodchuck.

Conrad