ORIGINAL: Nitrolseds
got a freind that is shooting a rifle that shoots 44mags
and I have a taurus 44 with a 8"brl and he tells me that I am not going to be happy with the take down power of the 44
I find this hard to beleive I beleive that he is probably shooting bottom dollar ammo
well any how I am curious as to what loads and bullets every one would recomend in this aplication
I told him to save me some brass and I would get dies and try to see what I could come up with for him
he said that the bullet must be jacketed but the lead can be visable at the tip dont know why but its his gun so ok
well any how please fill me in on what you would load
he wants me to load it a little hot but not going crazy that were going to mess the gun up
What application?? What are you trying to "take down"?
I once had a Winchester M94 in .44 Mag., and also an S%W Model 29 Revolver same caliber.
My standard load for target shooting, silhouette shooting, deer hunting, jackrabbits and killing armadillos was the same load used by old Elmer Keith, the "inventor" of the .44 magnum cartridge. Elmer did more testing of bullet types and shapes, and powders, of anyone ever when he came up with the .44 Magnum. he knew more about effective handgun ammo ever, then and even now. ALL through experience. His final loadconsisted of the Lyman 429421 250-grain bullet cast of medium-hard alloy with a load of 22 grains of Hercules 2400 powder. The MV from a 6.5" barrel was 1250 FPS, and it made close to 1750 out of the rifle. This is an excellent load even today. I tried various jacketed bullets, and none of them were any better, some alot worse. Many are too soft to penetrate deeply enough on larger critters.
You will NOT be disappointed by the .44 Magnum pistol, but just like any round, the bullet has to hit the right spot!! (There is nothing magical about the killing power of a .44 Magnum, just because it is labelled "Magnum", Dirty Harry notwithstanding! If you use jacketed softpoint or hollowpoint bullets for deer, shoot them broadside behind the shoulder, as these types of bullets will NOT givve you the penetration needed for raking shots! If you want deep penetration, use the Keith-type 250-grain semiwadcutters or the LBT flatnose bullets made by CAST PERFORMANCE BULLET Co.