Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Which .44 Mag Ammo

Phil, 1st, I would be surprised if any of those Bears, especially in your area,,,,, that you encountered during those few times with Bear-Spray actually retained any thoughts of caution/fear..... just my thoughts,
Oh, and by the way,,,,, that last ditch 9mm, came in pretty handy I'd say.....
You take Care...
Lj

Are those 270gr Deep Curls any good? Will they penatrate far enough. I,m shooting a S&W with 6.5" barrel. Has anyone shot anything with them?

They are a compromise weight. I wish they still sold the 300gr version. I would (and will, as I have some loaded up in 444 brass) use them for hunting big animals, but I would pick different bullets for last-ditch self-defense against big bears.

Those 300’s or 305’s from Buffalo Bore are sledgehammers. They’re both loaded to 1,325 fps.

Yep. 305s in my revolvers.

Yep. Good choice for your application pard...😎

Yeah, the nerve to question Chris about bears! He knows all about bears because he got to watch at least a zillion Al Gross ads!

😉

Bears live past 30 years and are likely twice as smart as a dog. They do have long memories and like every animal, pain is a memory stimulator.

Phil,
you should tell to all those internet expert when a big boy ripped off the electrical fence around one of your camp and [bleep] up the whole camp after he figured out how not be hit by the fence.... I bet our brown bears are smarter than 50% of the morons writing on those forums
I call people "[bleep]"

That is not nice!!!

Cannot argue, but you bent feelers!

More likely to carry a .475 or .480Ruger with ~400gr WFN or a 330 Lehigh solid.

For a .44:

300-320gr WFN GC..

I've only hunted Alaska twice. The first time was in 1980 and I carried a Ruger 7 1/2" SBH. The second time was last year and I carried a S&W 4" Model 629. Both times my bullets were handloads with Lyman #429244 250 grain gas checked bullets cast from wheel weights.

Not in Alaska, but one of those bullets from my Ruger didn't have any problem putting down a black bear.

I have been carrying my 329 loaded with BB Dangerous Game rounds. Solid copper with a wide meplat. I feel better knowing I won’t die of lead poisoning when the bear shoves it up my a$$. But seriously, this copper round is supposed to penetrate better than hard cast lead. Not needing the heaviest hard cast bullet helps recoil and follow up shots.

Yeah, stocked up on 265gr WFN Lehigh copper solids...while they're still available.

I have a few of those B.B. Lehigh.
I am curious how those stack up against a good 300 grain flat nose hard cast as to penetration.
The same curiosity regarding the 480, 330 grain against the 410 hard cast.
The 300 grain Lehigh in 45 Colt, in theory I would guess would be more of a penetrator than the 325-335 hard cast.
The 380 grain Lehigh in the 45-70 also looks promising.

That's what I used for a lot of years. Truth is I came closer to having to drop the hammer on a moose than a bear, and I've been around a lot of bears, but as long as there are plenty of fish don't seem to be the same risk. The moose came charging out of the brush because of a new calf. Fortunately for us while the cow, wanted to stomp some people she didn't want to get far enough away from her calf to get all the way to us. I typically carried a Ruger Super blackhawk with a 5-1/2" barrel. Apparently there's something mysterious about which gun you carry according to one guy who couldn't say what he carried in his before he found out what you were carrying. I carried that because I've carried a Single Action gun for over 50 years and they point very well for me. I put a lot of faith in that first bullet going where I want it to go.

The 250 to 300 gr Keith style hard cast penetrates and kills well out of .44 Magnum. Shot about 300 plus testing them in the early 80,s now 35 years later I find I can shoot the 10 mm with greater accuracy and faster than my old 44 mag so I use it loaded with 220 gr hard cast, one 10MM may not stop something but it has 14 friends that are ready to help.

Shooting the 44 mag and the 10 side by side was quite revealing to me.

As what's been said before placement and penetration are what matters most.

Shot a lot of big halibut in the 80,s with my 44 HP bullets of that era would not penetrate the head but hard cast bullets would. Some going through water first the hard cast always would. A friend of mine did not believe me when I told him that he later told me you were right.

Shot several small skinned out Brown Bear bullet testing with hard cast bullets and most would penetrate through shoulder areas. 250 and 300 gr hard cast out of a 44 magnum.

My 44 protection load is 320 gr. Hard cast WFN at 1200 fast. From my 4 5/8 inch super blackhawk.
I don't run that ammo in my S&W mountain gun.
45 colt- 340 gr. Hard cast.
480 ruger 425 gr. Hard cast.
10 mm 220 gr. Buffalo Bore.
357 mag. 200 gr. Hard cast.
I like them big heavy and hard.

6 rounds of 44 magnum with double action trigger pull or 15 rounds of 9 or 40 from a semi-auto? I'd venture a guess that 99 % of all shooters would be more effective with a 9 or 40 in a speed drill. I never got good with double action rapid fire from my Redhawk. I was okay with my P-95.