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Thread: RFI: Mid-Range 44 Mag Load

  1. #1

    RFI: Mid-Range 44 Mag Load

    There’s a chance that I’ll hunt blacktails this year with my trusty S&W Model 29-2, so I need a load for the train-up. Normally I’d load up a 5-gallon bucket full of 250-grain Keith SWCs at about 1,000 fps, but that’s not happening this year so I need a good mid-range factory 44 Magnum load that’s about like that one. I’d prefer a cast bullet but would use jacketed. No interest in swaged bullets or blazing hot loads. Even a warm-ish 44 Special load would work if it had a decent bullet and didn’t cost a fortune.

    What’s out there?

    Thanks,


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  2. #2
    Not cheap, but a proper bullet at a good velocity:

    https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...ct_detail&p=88

    Buffalo Bore 44spl, 255gr Keith at a rated 1,000fps.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by oregon45 View Post
    Not cheap, but a proper bullet at a good velocity:

    https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...ct_detail&p=88

    Buffalo Bore 44spl, 255gr Keith at a rated 1,000fps.
    I saw this question earlier on my phone and intended to come back and post a link to exactly that when I got on a proper computer.

    For personal reasons I won't clutter up your thread with, I prefer not to patronize Buffalo Bore, so I'd also offer this load from Double Tap and this load from Grizzly as alternatives. Not quite as fast, but I don't think a 120lb blacktail will know the difference.
    I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter
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    Location
    Texas
    Look at Blazer Gold Dot .44 Spl available at sgammo for $36 per box of 50. http://sgammo.com

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Lester Polfus View Post
    Not quite as fast, but I don't think a 120lb blacktail will know the difference.
    These blacktails are more like 60-80 pounds. I’d go G19 but that’s illegal.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by okie john View Post
    These blacktails are more like 60-80 pounds. I’d go G19 but that’s illegal.


    Okie John
    Let us know how it goes. I'm primarily a longbow hunter, but this year I've got some nagging elbow issues so I bought a modern tag. Looks like I'll be hunting deer here on the property with a .357.

    Are you hunting in Washington or Oregon? On page 91 of my Washington regs, it say:s

    "Big game, except cougar, may be hunted with
    handguns with a minimum barrel length of
    4 inches per manufacturers specification,
    and fire a minimum .24 caliber centerfire
    cartridge. The minimum for cougar is a .22
    caliber centerfire handgun. Rimfire handguns
    are not legal for big game."

    According to the Glock website, the G19 barrel is 4.02" long.

    Although I just read the "weapons restrictions" areas rules that say:

    "Modern firearm tag holders may hunt during
    established modern firearm seasons with
    bows and arrows; crossbows; muzzleloaders;
    revolver-type handguns; semi-automatic
    handguns of .40 (10mm) caliber or larger;
    or shotguns, so long as the equipment and
    ammunition complies with department rules."

    That's an interesting contradiction. Outside the weapons restriction areas, you can use .24 caliber or larger auto pistols, but inside one it has to .40 or bigger?
    I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Lester Polfus View Post
    Let us know how it goes. I'm primarily a longbow hunter, but this year I've got some nagging elbow issues so I bought a modern tag. Looks like I'll be hunting deer here on the property with a .357.

    Are you hunting in Washington or Oregon? On page 91 of my Washington regs, it say:s

    "Big game, except cougar, may be hunted with
    handguns with a minimum barrel length of
    4 inches per manufacturers specification,
    and fire a minimum .24 caliber centerfire
    cartridge. The minimum for cougar is a .22
    caliber centerfire handgun. Rimfire handguns
    are not legal for big game."

    According to the Glock website, the G19 barrel is 4.02" long.

    Although I just read the "weapons restrictions" areas rules that say:

    "Modern firearm tag holders may hunt during
    established modern firearm seasons with
    bows and arrows; crossbows; muzzleloaders;
    revolver-type handguns; semi-automatic
    handguns of .40 (10mm) caliber or larger;
    or shotguns, so long as the equipment and
    ammunition complies with department rules."

    That's an interesting contradiction. Outside the weapons restriction areas, you can use .24 caliber or larger auto pistols, but inside one it has to .40 or bigger?
    I'm hunting in Washington, and you're right.

    As far as I can tell, the goal of firearm restriction areas is to keep high-velocity cartridges out of the woods. Those areas are in the western part of the state on the suburban fringes, the more densely populated islands, on the shores of the Salish Sea or the Columbia River, or some combination of the above. We have heavy commercial and pleasure boat traffic in those areas and high-velocity cartridges pose a ricochet hazard around water, so it makes some sense. The rule would also prohibit higher-velocity pistols like 7.62 Tokarev, 357 SIG, etc., perhaps for the same reason.

    All of those areas are ideal for handgun hunting since the brush is dense and the shots are close, but it’s also meth country and a lot of shitheads move through those woods at all hours. Most serious handgun hunters probably wouldn’t use a 9mm semi-auto, so I think the idea is to make life difficult for Inbred Jed out on logging roads who might be tempted to see deer or elk as targets of opportunity, especially after dark. There’s just too much chance of hitting a house or barn that you couldn’t see because it was just beyond the glow of your headlights.

    In other words, go east if you want to road hunt with a 9mm.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  8. #8
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    America
    Sounds like a 1911 .45 ACP would work great.

  9. #9
    Here are some other possibilities

    https://www.underwoodammo.com/collec...dge_44-special

    Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

  10. #10
    I've used and carried the Grizzly 44 special +P load in various 44 mags. It's basically a Skeeter Skelton load, but with a nice big WFN. I never tested it past 25 yards but it was very very accurate at 25yds out of my M69. I would guess it would not fly as well as a keith style bullet at longer distances. If I can get off my lazy ass I could maybe test it tomorrow, I was going to the range anyway, could maybe test it at 50.

    Also used the Buffalo Bore 44 special 255gr load, which worked well. But it might hurt to buy, especially if you load your own.

    HSM is another good and cheap option. They have a very mild 240 grain hard cast SWC load that is 44 magnum, but pretty mild, way more mild than most factory loaded JHP's, they claim 1150 fps and that felt about right: like a 44 special +p+. I think it's labeled "Cowboy Action." They come in boxes of 50 and cost like $28-$30. Ie 1/4 the price per round of the Buffalo Bore.

    I've had good luck with the HSM stuff in many calibers, as cheap as their boxes look. Their loading are often pretty sensible for big bores. I also like Grizzly, which loads a Skeeter type load in both 44 special and 45 colt, not to mention hotter stuff. I've always had great luck with Buffalo Bore but it does cost a penny or two.

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