44 Magnum 1250 fps for a hunting load

[Eb1]

I am planning on using a 240 grain LSWC from Missouri Bullet Company over 18.5 grains 2400 for 1250ish fps to hunt deer and hogs this year in the thick stuff, and leave the 30-30 at home at least for a few hunts.

Shots will be no further than 50 yards when in the woods. Do you think this will be a decent loading? It is accurate from my SBH, so I am not worried about accuracy, but this will be my first handgun hunting experience. Just want a second opinion.

Thanks.

The 25-06 gets the call for most of the season, but I would like to put some meat on the table with my 44 Magnum.

 

[MCgunner]

That's plenty.. I've hunted with less, 165 grain .357 magnum moving at 1470 for just shy of 800 ft lbs. They didn't go more'n 20 yards with a solid hit. .44 caliber bullets are mo bedda.

 

[buck460XVR]

...............sounds like a good load to me.

 

[Buzzard]

240 LSWC @ 1250 will bore a rather lovely hole through most thin-skinned game.

 

[Eb1]

My revolver also shoots the 270 grain Speer GDFP very accurately at around 1050 fps. Would there be any relevance to switch to that load over the 240 LSWC. I am new to lead boolit hunting. Always have used jacketed, but it just seems customary to use lead in the .44 Magnum. I just want to make sure I get a clean kill with a nice blood trail if needed. I have to fess up. I did shoot a deer with a 170 grain lead hard cast, too hard I think once, and we never found that deer. It was a great shot. I saw where it hit, and was at 25 yards, but there wasn't much blood, and the deer never went down. I figure it just ran and ran until it fell over dead, but the trail was thin, real then. Then went through a creek, and that was it. No more blood.

Just trying to get some assurance that if I put that 18 bhn slug where it goes it might flatten a little, and leave a nice blood trail for me in case it doesn't go down immediately.

 

[rcmodel]

18.5 grains 2400 / 240 LSWC is a starting load. It will get you about 1,150 FPS.
20.6 will get you about 1,275.

But regardless of that, the 18.5 grain load will shoot clear through a deer, and will be all the power necessary to kill one.

rc

 

[Eb1]

I was going off azar's QUICKLOAD data, but I will take the chrony out to verify tomorrow. 20 grains of 2400 with a 250 grain LSWC lists as 1390 fps from Alliant.

 

[shaggy430]

yep

 

[flipajig]

Im loading a LSWC with 2400 and if i remember right 19.5 grn out of my SBH and they are running around 1200fps plenty fast for deer and pigs. One thing I will recomend is pratice and pratice and when you think that your good enough pratice some more.
A good rule of thum is if you can put all 6 In a papper plate every time not just once that is your max range. IMO I wish you luck and welcom to the world of hand gun hunting.

 

[Eb1]

Thank you, flipajig. I am switching up some on the loading. I will report back.

 

[Walkalong]

Just trying to get some assurance that if I put that 18 bhn slug where it goes it might flatten a little, and leave a nice blood trail for me in case it doesn't go down immediately.

An LBT wide meplat design is what you want for game using hard cast lead. It doesn't have to expand. Of course those Speer 270 Gr GD's will work too. Another option is a pain to cast. A soft nose with a hard back half. Works a lot like a partition bullet. A serious pain to cast though.

 

[Eb1]

WOW!! That is what I am talking about! I gotta get me some of those suckers.... Those look like a flying tree trunk. Nice.

 

[Buzzard]

What will you be hunting, Eb? Deer or Buicks?

Seriously, a 240 grain Keith LSWC fired from a .44 Mag isn't going to expand or deviate from where you put it. It'll bore a very nice hole through most forms of life just as straight as a rail. Short of Brown Bear or Moose, you shouldn't have a problem hunting most animals in North America with the load you're working on. If it'll drop feral hogs, it'll stop deer.

 

[Eb1]

Buzzard, just ordered 100 Beartooth GC WFN 250 grain boolits @ .431. I am going to work up a load with those for hunting I think, and leave the 240 LSWC for the Trail Boss loads for practice, friends and family.

The 240 grain LSWC bullet is a Missouri Bullet Company bevel base bullet. I feel that they are wonderful boolits, and I have not experienced any leading per-say that was significant enough to wobble or keyhole a bullet. Even after 100 rounds of full power loadings.
I am shooting off-hand, and I know that load development is a "tail chase" when shooting off-hand, but with my 9mm XD off-hand and handloads I can knock out an "X" ring at 25 yards. So even though this 240 grain loading showed promise. I think I am backing off it, and going with a .340 meplate (I like the big meplate) for my hunting loads.

Like I was saying it is 250 grains, and I thought real hard about the 300 grain WFN GC Bearthooth boolit, but figured it was a bit much for the whitetails around here, and I figure that the 250 grain with that huge meplate will do just fine for what I am going to use it for. Although in the back of my mind I feel that my gun likes heavier bullet/boolits because it shoots a 270 grain Speer bullet pretty darn good off-hand. Here is the kicker with that load though. The starting load is the most accurate. Both Alliant and Speer say that 15.5 is the starting load. I haven't chrony'd the load, but I figure what? 950 fps at most. I mean a 270 grain bullet at 950 fps is nothing to sneer at, but a magnum loading I feel it is not.

I am still in the works. I have another thread discussing my failures with 2400 and the MBC LSWC at full power loads, but have had great success @ 15 yards with Trail Boss, and the boolit loads easy, and I since they are reasonably priced, I will be going with this company for more of my plinking loads. I just hope the Beartooth bullets a .431 and a GC will load up to magnum velocities with accuracy out to 50 yards. I have a Weaver Stainless mount ordered, and a Bushnell Red Dot to put on the SBH. I don't have a revolver scope right now.

So in closing. I am crossing my fingers that the Beartooth flying tree trunk will give good accuracy with magnum velocity, and October gets here real soon!

 

[azar]

I was going off azar's QUICKLOAD data, but I will take the chrony out to verify tomorrow. 20 grains of 2400 with a 250 grain LSWC lists as 1390 fps from Alliant.

Just a quick note, I've found that QuickLOAD can be quite accurate in predicting velocity in some guns with certain powders. I've also found it can be quite inaccurate at other times as well. In a large rifle I've had it be as much as 150 fps higher than chronographed results. Just FYI.