Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers Why the heavy 44 caliber bullets?

I have used the 44 magnum in a variety of rifles, some I wish I still had on a bunch of deer and feral hogs. Some of the hogs were over 300 pounds. Generally I used bullets in the 240 to 250 grain weight range pushed variously to speeds between 1500 and 1800 fps. I have never recovered a cast bullet in game, specifically the Lyman 429421, a flat based semi wadcutter. I usually shoot for bone and have gotten very good results. Jacketed bullets in 240 grains generally the old Speer Magnum SP bullet, the pre XTP Hornady HP and Winchester's version have generally given me the same performance though I load them to top velocities. Why if you get all the penetration needed would you choose a heavier bullet?

If you get all the penetration you need with the 250, don't choose the heavier bullet!

Guy

I'm limited to whatever works in my Ruger Carbine. 240gr. Hornadys so far have worked on medium pigs. I plan on trying some other ones for function when I get a chance.

A friend has had good luck with the old style 265gr. Hornady designed for the .444 Marlin. He has killed many big hogs with them. By now he is probably running low on those soft point bullets. Every time he brings that old Ruger Auto Carbine out someone asks if he would be willing to sell it. Me included.

I recently picked up a Marlin in 444 so I looked for my old loading notes, this being my third 444. Back in 1978 I shot a couple of deer with the Remington factory 240 grain load and in my notes I wrote a bit much for east Texas Whitetails but OK. I then loaded some of what I thought were the same bullet from Remington in 240 grains to top speeds using H4198. The notes have remarks like "cut deer nearly in half, way too much for the little deer". I went to a cast bullet which back in those days the 240 was a standard and I still have the same mold to play with. I loaded the marlin down to 1800 fps and things were fine again. Turns out the 240 gr. bullet sold by Remington was not the same one in the factory load and 2300 fps was too much for it. Back in the seventies there were some feral hogs around but I rarely saw any to shoot at. I can see the heavies as having some use for bigger game or if the lighter bullets don't shoot well enough in your rifle. I have some 300 gr. Nosler HP's I got from SPS for a song and they are nicely accurate but I am most likely just going to shoot them up for barrel break in. I have ordered some 265 gr. Superperformance from Hornady to hunt with and get some full length brass. I got the rifle with 50 of the rubber tipped 265 gr factory loads, shot ten up and have been using the short brass to play with loading several different bullets. The suck part is to crimp I have to use a 44 magnum seating die! Short cases just to use a funny looking rubber tipped bullet? WTH!

I had a 77/44 that I shot Beartooth 300 grain WFNs out of, at about 1580 fps. Nothing I shot stopped the bullet. I got to where I was quite comfortable with that setup against our Black Bear around here, which are not particularly big, and of course deer were no issue.

I shoot the same bullet out of my 4.62" SuperBlackhawk at 1190 fps, and it continues to bore deep. I haven't caught one yet.

That's penetration enough for me, I don't see the need to go heavier. I like the 300 grain in a .44 Mag. I had thought about the 250s for mitigating recoil, but new grips addressed that.

If I had a mold for a good 300 gr. WFN I would probably shoot them just because. Think I will wait til I stop one of the 429421 bullets though before I buy one.

That's kinda how I feel about the 300 and going heavier, but then again I've never tried a 250 grain LBT.

The 300 grain does increase recoil. I thought it was uncomfortable to shoot them and was going to A: Get a Redhawk. I find the recoil characteristics more comfortable. B: Try some 250 LBTs, maybe hold them at 1200 fps, or C: Try some different grips.

I don't care for Pachmayer grips but saw someone post about some extended grips that also filled the hand better, so I tried them. What a difference! I ended up keeping the SBH and leaving the load alone.

I still want to try some 250s, though.

I shoot 240 SWC in my super Blackhawk over 11gr of unique. Does all I need. I just worked up a load with 270gr deep curls over h110 for my 77/44 and it seems to like them very well. About 1.5" at 100. They are kinda stout in the revolver and really unneccesary for 35yd shots. I loaded them to be a 125yd rifle load and it seems to work fine. I'll see what they do to a doe next week hopefully

The 300gr gives you an SD of .232, which would allow you to texas heart shoot a big hog effectively.

Strangely enough the stubby 240-250 grain cast bullets will do this also. Out of handguns and rifles.

I ground off the bottom of my 444 seating die so I could crimp the shorter cases. Works well. Actually ended up with two sets of dies, so I use the shorter seater for the shorter brass, and the longer seater for the longer brass.

I don't think the funny looking bullets give you much in actual ballistic advantage. I got a bunch of once-fired short Hornady brass nearly for nothing, and they work exceptionally well with some cast bullets that don't want to fit my leade in regular brass, without crimping out of the crimp groove. It works okay using a Lee FCD, but it also works to use shorter brass.

If you can stomach Lee moulds, the Lee 44 310 is pretty slick. And comes in a 6-cavity mould for less than $50 bucks. One good casting session, and you've paid for it several times.

I have no issues with LEE molds and have several. As soon as I stop one of the bullets from the mold I have I will look for a different one.

Be advised the twist rate of a lot of 44 mag rifles will not stabilize 300 grain bullets. Max weight in my Marlin rifle is 270 grains. Marshall Stanton of Beartooth Bullets covers this well on his website.

Shoot the heavies 'cause they are what I have. 300 paper patched and 320 greasers. My 77/44 is allergic to copper jackets and like to pretend it's a buffalo gun.

Well I had to order a LEE 310 gr. mold to get the free shipping and a friend gave me 2 boxes of Nosler 300 gr. HP's to go along with the box of them I bought for my muzzleloader. Found a nice accurate load pushing the 300 gr. JHP's using 29.0 grains of IMR 4227 and will burn these up before I get to casting bullets. Hopefully they won't be going too fast for the design of the bullet. And last thursday I went out to my new lease only to find it over run with feral hogs, even saw a bunch of them in broad daylight! Some big ones too. Going out to hunt them wednesday and thursday, hopefully get to test one of the soft pistol bullets on at least one. Decided to chrony one and came up with 1698 fps, the recovered bullet from my backstop held together pretty good and weighs 277 grains.

Pigs gonna hate you.

SPLAT!

Greasy hole, 5 shots.......

I shot a bull buffalo through the chest with one of those 300gr Nosler HPs out of my old 20” 444 Marlin. He died and pronto. Bullet exited and didn’t show any signs of coming apart, no fragments I could find and an exit about the size of a half dollar.