Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 44 mag black bear loads

I'm looking for some stiff 44 mag loads for my SBH. This is for point blank kill shots/back up only. I so not care if cast or jacketed bullets. I have about 2 lbs of H110 on hand.

FWIW I have been loading up H110 to very near the max (within 1 gr of max) for the Hornady 265gr RNFP interlock (I believe) on the Hodgdons website with WW brass (don't think it really matters) CCI primers for both revolver and marlin 1894ss. Controllable in the revolver and pretty accurate in the rifle. I wanted a load that could be shared in both. I also consulted/cross referenced with the current Hornady manual.

Be safe and have fun

Patty

I have some loaded with 21gr h110 (1600 FPS out of rifle) they are great to shoot out of rifle and not bad out of the SBH.
I just may stick with this load
Thanks

With what bullet??

Hornady 265 RNFP's

I�ve killed many black bears with a handgun and been in two straight up fights. JHP�s are THE way to go on black bear. Hard cast tends to zip right through the bear with much less dramatic results. I�ve hunted with both and I will always take JHP over hard cast on black bear**. Now if it was anything larger, I�d maybe sing a different song. But on this subject, I have seen the dramatic difference. When you hit a blackie with a 240 JHP, you can see his muscle tone go flaccid for a second. Sometimes they drop right there and sometimes they don�t. I only got that response once with a cast solid and that�s when I broke a shoulder, but he still didn�t go down as quickly as with a JHP.

Now when I hunted black bears with a .44 mag, we used plain old 240 JHP�s and we absolutely loved the results�DRT!! These days you have much better bullets than I did, like the 240 Gold Dot and the 240 XTP. Don�t let people con you into thinking that a black bear is some sort of super-animal. They�re not that big and they�re not that tough. I�ve killed several with a .357, but after my closest call, graduated up to the .44 mag, which is just plain perfect for black bear.

I would say that those who claim you have to have a hard cast bullet, just haven�t killed many or any black bears.

**In magnum cartridges

To add to what you said, JJHACK has a very good post on this subject. An excerpt:

"One other thing to consider, don�t think that just because you load a heavy hard cast bullet you have the most powerful load for your gun. This is a very common mistake. Those big heavy bullets will often whistle clean through a big bear like a field tipped arrow. The bears will die but often show little bullet impact reaction. They also tend to run off and die a great distance away. In my experience a high velocity hollow point bullet will cause a significant impact reaction and almost always allow an additional shot while the bear is stunned. The bullets about 240-260 grains in weight as fast as you can drive them will always show a greater impact effect then the heavy hard cast bullets do. They don�t penetrate as well or break big bones as well, but they don�t need to on a black bear. I have shot clean through many many black bears broadside with a 240-grain hollow point bullet at 1200-1300fps muzzle velocity. Upon impact the bears will stop and spin around biting at the wound and struggle to move away. With the many I have shot using a 300 plus grain hard cast bullets, they have launched out of sight like a rocket. Showing little if any reaction to being hit."

The whole thread is here. Doesn't mention specific loads but it's a very good read.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...&topic=0&Search=true#Post1861208

AMEN.

240 XTPs over a stout load of 2400 is my choice, based solidly on JJHacks reccomendation.

Kevin agreeing just provesw it is all the more correct.

BMT

Wow - Good thread by JJHack. When I read that, I can tell he's a man who has spent some time around black bears.

After my grandfather died, I went bear hunting and realized that I didn't really need to hunt bears anymore. They're smelly and I don't much care for the taste of the meat. I figured out, I enjoyed the chase (hunted with dogs), but I really just liked hunting with grandpa; so I gave up bear hunting.

I have some 240 XTP stuffed over 24gr H110 they shot around 1750 in my 92 Rossi, and are pleasant to shoot in my Revolver. I'm looking of a "finishing" shot load I hunt with my 350 (or 92 Rossi) with all the nasty brush around here I's care not to pack my rifles down into these nasty brush hole so I carry the Black hawk for finishing shot (i do this for deer also) So far I've never needed it, I kinda like having two free hands to navigate through the brush.
Thanks for the help guys

A quality wide flat point hard cast will make sort work of any bear are any othe rtype of game. Anyone that says different is not expereinced with them IMHO


LBT style flat points(not the point Semi Wadcitter style) are very effective



The Bear on the left came in on us while working a Moose kill and I can assure you that the LBT flat point hard cast worked exceptionaly well and in dramatic fashion. A proper wide nose flat point is the only way to go IMHO

jwp - Your choice for Griz is without question; but have you seen a side by side on black bear? I'm a huge fan of the WFN bullet, but the JHP is THE medicine for black bear.

Not all black bears are itty bitty and personally I would want to be prepared for the worst case scenario in every case. Small meplats don't do much damage, but wide meplats do much internal damage.......

IMHO I use a wide flat point on every thing and have yet to expereince a problem

This picture is of a pig that was hit with wide flat point hard cast and notice that the leg is missing, because it pulled off during skinning



That was a lot of damage IMHO

This Fallow was taken with a wide flat point hard cast and it took out a 3 to 4 inch section of lung tissue. velocity 1380 FPS





This exit was created by a wide flat point hard cast at only 950 FPS





Big, little, short, or tall wide flat point hard kills'em all.

You're a poet and don't even know it!

I use flat points for everything as well. Again, I want to be prepared for the worst case scenario and not wish I wasn't carrying hollow-points........

jwp - Neither of us can dismiss our personal experiences. Glad to hear the WFN is working out in that little mouse gun of yours:)

Maybe, but not the 180s.I had a friend try it (didn't ask me ), thinking it would be the bomb. Instead it bombed. At about 30 yards, none made it into the chest cavity. FWIW.

I like NP, hard cast Keith or WFN. JMO

I use 20grs of H110 behind the 300gr Hornady XTP in my Super Blackhawk. It is just under the max load, but is very accurate.

180's are good bullets for defense against two legged varmints and they're great on coyotes; but other than that, the 180 JHP is a poor choice. I wouldn't use it for deer and certainly not for bear; there's no sectional density and with the 180's velocity tends to be rather high, which means the bullet expands all the more and gives you less and less penetration.

No, it's 240 or bigger. I would say go with a 300 grain bullet, but my experience in the field has shown me that the 240 JHP works perfectly, so I just don't see a need for anything heavier...but I'll never fault anyone if they feel the need to go heavier.

I have used a 200 grain WFN (and you thought such a thing doesn't exist)against bear with ok results. The bullet in question is a Saeco cast bullet for the .44-40. It's supposed to be a "cowboy" bullet, but when you look at the profile, it's an abbreviated WFN.

The one bear I killed with that bullet died quite well. The bullet is thin on sectional density, but it's a solid so you still get some decent penetration. I didn't get full penetration, but it did rip a decent hole through the chest cavity, giving a wound that you would expect from a WFN, with about half the penetration.

This was my cast bullet load for deer and coyotes. Velocity is high, recoil is fairly low and penetration is decent. Plus, the bullet is home cast, meaning it's a bit more accurate than commercial bullets and as cheap as a bullet can get.

I have seen the Hornady 265 grain 44 cal bullet completely exit Elk, but the 300 Hornady 300 grain XTP would not. I am not interested in a 300 grain hollow point with limited penetration. The 265 grainer was designed for the 444 Marlin and was harder than the 300 XTP

The A large hole completely through any animal kills and kills well and the wide flat point hard cast bullets produce each and every time without question. Anytime that I am looking for personal protection against any bear or hunting them, make mine a wide flat point hard cast.

Larry Kelly was loaded with 240 grain hollow points when a Bear broke into his camp and he shot it 6 times without ever getting adequate penetration and luckily his guide finally got a rifle into action and killed the bear. Larry stopped using hollow points after that experience...