what 44 mag ammo.for.whitetails

czeger

New member
picked up a ruger super redhawk for deer season here in ohio someone reccomend a factory load to use shots will be under 75 yards
 


What length of barrel? I am in Ohio also.
Find the bullet you want and check the website for a load.
I hunt with a 10in Blackhawk. I just bought ammo a few years ago, Winchester soft points.
 
I've killed a bunch of hogs with Federal Eagle & Winchester white box 240 gr. JSP's. If they will put down a boar, should do fine for deer.
 
You do not need more than a good 180 grain bullet at that range.

PMC sells excellent 180 grain ammo that uses Sierra's JHC bullet. It is advertised as 1400 FPS and if so should be around 800 ft lbs of thump. Plenty for any deer at 75 yards or less. And because it is not going to have as much bark and recoil as some of the heavier loads it should be quite a bit easier to get proficient with.

If I was hunting deer with a .44 Magnum and using factory loads this ammo would be what I would use.
 
I've been using hornady 240gr XTP's and it will pop them out to 75 and farther. I have killed 4 does and a buck in the last few years with that factory load. The closest was 98yds and the farthest was 112yds. All with my 629 classic. But I do have a scope on it.
 
I've been using handloaded 240gr XTP's out of my SRH for several years. Always puts the deer down.

Our bear season is running now, so I'm carrying the 300gr XTP's for a little more oomph and penetration.
 
The XTP's perform really well. My son has killed 3 deer with the 180's and all 3 had excellent controlled expansion. This was with some reall low velocity hand loads.
 
Im going to go against the grain on this one. I would avoid jacketed factory loads in the .44 mag. Most jacketed bullets will splash when they contact shoulders similar to plastic tip varmint bullets. Yet they will preform fine on broadside lung shots. Then the tougher jacketed bullets like hornady and Speer produce may not expand at all. Speer actually produces a heavy jacketed bullet that does not expand and was designed to preform like a cast bullet. Cast bullets are reliable performers on big game driving full caliber holes clean thourgh deer. The two most used cast designs are the Keith SWC and the LBT. The LBT comes in many different forms WLN, WFN, ect. These slugs do not seem to be accurate when driven below 1200fps. Federal makes a 300 gr factory load with a LBT style slug that is only doing 1000fps. That was the most inaccurate load I've used in the .44 mag. The Keith styled swc bullets are accurate at any velocity, drive clean full caliber holes and have preformed well for me at long range. If federal had used a 300gr swc in there factory load I believe it would have made a excellent load. Most factory .44 mag loads are watered down from original loadings. The winchester 240 gr factory load runs around 1100fps and is not much more powerful then my pet load for my .45 colt. This load is standard pressure not +p it pushes rcbs mold 45/270/saa at 285 gr around 900fps. In not saying jacketed bullets are worthless on game in handguns, nor am I trying to start an argument or mean to come off as the other opinion's posted are wrong. It's just my experience that Keith styled SWC bullets work. They don't cause wear to the gun like jacketed bullets. I've seen quit a few model 19 smiths with cracked forcing cones from having thousands of full house jacketed loads ran thourgh them. They are accurate at low velocity 750fps +- unlike the LBT designs and even at those slow speeds will still drive clean holes on game. If you are not a handloader I'm not sure if the Keith slugs are produce in factory fodder but I would check Cor-Bon and buffalo bore. Even if you chose to use soft points they will work just not at any angle.
Good luck LB
 
Originally Posted By: LeadbellyIm going to go against the grain on this one. I would avoid jacketed factory loads in the .44 mag. Most jacketed bullets will splash when they contact shoulders similar to plastic tip varmint bullets. Even if you chose to use soft points they will work just not at any angle.
Good luck LB

First off, I can appreciate your thoughts in general and I killed my last handgun whitetail using a 270gr Keith style bullet from Tommy @ Leadheads.

That said, there is a reason why I recommend the Speer Uni-Cor/Deep Curl BONDED bullets over all other jacketed offerings.

I have pushed said 270gr bullet as fast as it can possibly be pushed out of a 444 Marlin with 22" barrel. MUCH faster than any handgun can push it. Also load it for my buds S&W "Dirty Harry Special". Have taken numerous deer/black bear with it. It don't splash, retains a HIGH amount of weight, and being bonded core, is a MUCH tougher bullet than the XTP ever was.

The Deep Curl is one of the best kept secrets out there IMO. They are very moderately priced, and performance is crazy good, IME.

Years ago I did penetration tests between the Speer Uni-Cor and Hornady XTPs. In terms of penetration and weight retention the Speer bullet was the clear cut winner. It really wasn't even close.

10 years ago we had 2 black bears hanging side-by side. Both were close to same size, and both were hit similarly. I shot mine with the 270gr Speer/444 Marlin. Other guy shot his with 350gr XTP/450 Marlin. When skinning the bears, everybody kept saying "Damm, what did you hit this thing with?". The wound channel was impressive to say the least. Nobody ever said a word about the damage done to the other bear. The Speer reatined more weight and drove deeper than the XTP, and it showed. I still have the bullet. Nice expansion and retained over 90% of it's weight. Pretty impressive.

The solid copper Barnes bullets are another good option IMO. Of course, they are not jacketed, but unlike a cast bullet, they will expand, but won't splash......
 
I can't help but wonder why so many people out there think that a 75 yard deer would require ammo of the same power needed to kill much larger game. I never shot a deer with anything larger than a .357 Mag and never needed more than one shot. Why anyone should think that the same ammo that you might use for a cape buffalo is what you should also use on deer is beyond me.

Deer and not that big and are not hard to kill with a decent shot. Punch a hole through one with 180 grain HP or simply a hard cast SWC at 1000-1200 FPS and he aint going nowhere.
 
What I like about the Speer bullets is that you are getting premium grade performance for the price of standard grade bullet. So why NOT buy it? Can't go wrong IMO.......
 
2much,
Man you quote like a reporter
smile.gif
left out the part where I mentioned the speers. Those deep curls sound like they preform well outta rifles I know if out penetrated the .458 350gr hornady that i have killed a few deer with it must be a great bullet. But I doubt those hold any advantage over Lyman mold 429-421 cast out of midway hardball with bnh of 16. That mold has proven accurate at velocities of 750-1200fps without a hint of leading. Some six guns have leading issues due to rough forcing cone and or chambers if so Lyman mold 429-244 should be used which is a gas checked design. Gas checked bullets wear barrels faster and cost more but are much cheaper than the 270gr deep curl @ $15 per 50 ct box. As to the lead head bullets mentioned, while a good bullet that has preformed well they are cast with a bnh 22+ which is way to hard for .44 mag velocities IMHO. Very hard cast bullets CAN shatter when they contact bone and are usally not as accurate as softer alloys. Hard alloy bullets do quite well in guns with shallow grooves. My 1989 smith and wesson 625 .45acp has very shallow grooves and performs well with hard alloys, when I have tried using soft alloy slugs in it poor accuracy and leading occur.
What I'm saying is with my experience with commercial cast bullets that are way to hard I can see how you prefer the 270gr deep curls. When new bullets are designed people automatically think they are better than old products and sometimes they are right but hunting, loading and fixing broke revolvers since I was a kid I'm going to stick with proven Keith styled swc cast of proper alloyed bullets that cut clean full caliber holes, causing more tissue damage than other cast and jacketed non expanding bullet designs.
 
Originally Posted By: RustydustI can't help but wonder why so many people out there think that a 75 yard deer would require ammo of the same power needed to kill much larger game. I never shot a deer with anything larger than a .357 Mag and never needed more than one shot. Why anyone should think that the same ammo that you might use for a cape buffalo is what you should also use on deer is beyond me.

Deer and not that big and are not hard to kill with a decent shot. Punch a hole through one with 180 grain HP or simply a hard cast SWC at 1000-1200 FPS and he aint going nowhere.
My thoughts exactly my go to deer load is rcbs mold 45/270/saa that drop from the mold at 285 gr. when pushed at 850-900 fps out of my .45 colt they cut clean holes in game giving a good blood trail. That load is easy on the ears and is in no way overkill.
 
I don't disagree with what you are saying about cast bullets. Just keep in mind the OP was talking about deer and factory loads.

However, when you say jacketed bullets will "splash" and cannot be used "at any angle", I can tell you that this is absolutely not true of the bonded Speer bullets of which I speak.

As for the Leadheads being too hard, I actually questioned Tommy on this very subject. I then spoke to John Linebaugh about it. He kinda laughed at me a bit, and then told me his son Dustin killed a grizzly bear with said Keith style bullet. I no longer have any doubts, and the bullets work wonderfully IME.

I'm not saying I prefer the Deep Curls to cast, but I will say that on deer and black bear sized critters they have worked extremely well for me.

FWIW, my current handgun hunting loads are loaded with Keith style SWCs, not Deep Curls. Either will kill deer better than well........
 


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