44mag bullet for hunting

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bud69

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Hi
I just scored a nice 1894 in 44mag
I plan to use on whitetail and blackbear
What you guys use for hunting in term of bullet
The xtp from hornady seem populair but im affraid of lack of penetration on black bear the xtp is hp
 
bud69 said:
Hi
I just scored a nice 1894 in 44mag
I plan to use on whitetail and blackbear
What you guys use for hunting in term of bullet
The xtp from hornady seem populair but im affraid of lack of penetration on black bear the xtp is hp
Click to expand...

I speak from experience and a 44mag with a hunting round on whitetail deer within 100 yards and in the boiler room is enough.

I used my 12" barrel Henry lever with a 240gr bullet @ 1358 fps on my 2017 deer at 80 yards and retrieved it 60 yards away from where I shot it.

No experience with 44mag on a black bear, used my 45-70 with a hardcast for my 2017 black bear at 80 yards and retrieved it 30 yards from where I shot it.
 
hornady 225gr ftx works very well, wouldn't use hollow points for hunting they completely fall apart with little penetration, they are for hand gun velocity
 
Personally, I would go with a 240 cast SWC before the XTP... I have killed deer and had clients kill bears with the 240 cast SWC with good results... I prefer the .45/70 to the .44, but the little .44 will be enough if you place the bullet well.
 
I use 300gr Sierra JSP at 1400fps in my lee metford i rebarreled to 44 mag. For deer and nusance animals around the farm. But thats a bolt action you may not be able to run that bullet. I also load 1.800 OAL.

If you are able to and want to use it. Its a friggen hammer i can tell you that.
 
Im a bowhunter so all my bait are under 30M but this year i will try it whit this toy
Im affraid of cast bullet for the leading into the barrel i have no exp whit lead bullet
i know i need a gc to push cast bullet over 1000fps but can lead bullet are accurate at 1600fps ?
 
Yes it sure can. With the proper lube, hardness a gc you can push lead at 3000fps without leading provided the fit is correct.

I shoot non gas check bullets upto 1650fps without leading issues. Again proper fit is key, for me its the largest diameter i can fit in a case and still chamber the round without any resistance if the barrel is not the best shape. My 71\84 mauser likes lead .004 over slug size as do a few of my older rifles, but my newer rifles with good bores shoot 0.002" over slug size very well and no leading issues
for my non gas check loads I use this formula to get a idea for what the lead hardness should be
"Simply multiply the alloy BHN by 1,422. or divide the pressure by 1,422
Example: Alloy BHN of 12 multiplied by 1422 = 17,064. An alloy of 12 BHN should be used with a load that develops a "minimum" of 17,000 psi."
 
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Hornady 240gr CL-SIL bullets (on the right next to the 240gr XTP HP) shoot clear through at close range launched at around 1700 fps. Not currently listed on their website so must have been discontinued(?). I should give the 265gr Interlocks a try.

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/44-cal-430-265-gr-interlock-fp#!/

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Hornady 265 interlock may be a good option, if they shoot OK in the rifle. I watched quite a large moose go down from a 100 yds, one shot, with an 1894 Marlin and this bullet.
 
hoytcanon said:
Personally, I would go with a 240 cast SWC before the XTP... I have killed deer and had clients kill bears with the 240 cast SWC with good results... I prefer the .45/70 to the .44, but the little .44 will be enough if you place the bullet well.
Click to expand...

I agree. Not sure why anyone would use anything but a cast SWC. 240gr and up.
 
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