.44, no exit wound.

customdeluxe

customdeluxe

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I have shot two deer now with the same ammunition, and both times no exit wound. The first deer was a head on shot in the chest, so I can understand that the bullet might not come out. The last one was completely broadside at about 25 yards, and still no exit wound.
I'm not complaining, two rounds, two deer, no messy hole in the other side. It's just that I heard this round had a habit of making a mess of things, and it doesn't. Just curious if anyone has had similar experiences.
 
I've always understood the .44 to be a fat/slow bullet. Nothing wrong with it. But from what I heard, it started out as a handgun bullet (during the wild west days) and instead of carrying two types of ammo, the rifle was built around the cartridge. So one would have the same ammo for his six gun and rifle.
 
the_big_mike said:
I'd prefer an exit wound myself.
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I used to, but I changed my thinking.

If there is no exit hole, then every pound of energy that bullet had upon entry was distributed in the animal.

I find no exit hole is a bit more peace of mind than a pass through. Let me correct that since I can't control it. I like the fact that all of the energy was dumped into the animal instead of passing through. Semantics really, they both resultin a full freezer.

I hit my moose this year at 110 yds stright on with no exit (.308) and he went about 10 feet and piled up. Heart and lungs need to work to walk;)

Either way, a pass through or no exit, the bullet needs to hit in the right spot.
 
the only drawback to no exit wound, MIGHT be less of a blood trail to follow ,should the animal disappear into the bush. however my buddy shot a calf moose at 60 yds. in 06 with a .303 british, and there was no exit, but the calf fell down within 20 yds. he found a perfectly expanded winchester 180 gr. softppoint lodged in a steak later.
 
the_big_mike said:
I'd prefer an exit wound myself.
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If the bullet consistantly "bang flops" critters, I don't care if it doesen't exit, exits, or does a jig!
Big and slow or fast and light, both have disadvantages and advantages.
If a person hunts within the capabilitiews of himself and the equipment he is using, everything is fine.
The paerson BTW, is ALWAYS the weakest link in the equation!:D
Cat
 
I had the same experience last friday with a 44-40, no exit wound and the deer never took another step. Im not sure we are talking about the same cartridge but as far as I know the slow movers allow a hunter to eat right up the hole, at least it has in my case.
 
If you your talkin' about the 44/40, it is what it is, a good old deer gun. If your talkin' bout the .44 Mag., alot can be done to jack things up a bit over factory loads which use bullets that are soft and short. Bullets over 300grs. with a flat pt. cast hard will give you as much penetration as you need. This utility is not avail. in the 44/40 due to pressure limitations.
 
Optimal results would be that the bullet passed through the animal and lodged in the hide on the opposite side. For a little more penetration you might want to look at the new .44 ammo Hornaday has come out with released at the NASGW show last week. Will be on the market for the fall 08 for sure.
 
ben hunchak said:
If you your talkin' about the 44/40, it is what it is, a good old deer gun. If your talkin' bout the .44 Mag., alot can be done to jack things up a bit over factory loads which use bullets that are soft and short. Bullets over 300grs. with a flat pt. cast hard will give you as much penetration as you need. This utility is not avail. in the 44/40 due to pressure limitations.
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I used to cast a 320 gr. hard cast .44 bullet in a JD Jones mold back in the early '80s. We used to get ~1420 fps out of a 10" barreled Dan Wesson .44 Mag revolver. Of course I only shot steel with that round, but hard to see that not penetrating a deer size animal when fired out of a carbine at sensible hunting ranges.
 
Correction. There was an exit. It wasn't big and I didn't notice it until the hide came off. What a mess. Turns out the bullet took a bit of a right hand turn and splattered the guts on the way through. I thought I had cut them when I was gutting it.
 
The HP or hard cast seems to be a constant argument on the US based handgun hunting forums. MY only experience with this is out of my Muzzleloader but it seems to me pistol bullets have very narrow performance bands. The plan was for this year to use Nosler partition HG's but a late trigger failure stopped that. May be worth a try.
 
I dropped my buck with a 30-06 earlier last week.

It punched right through the animal, leaving an exit wound.

It WAS a spine hit, but it would have exited had it been in the boiler room.

If I'm going to track a deer I want a visible blood trail.

Yes, the bullet expends energy leaving the animal BUT this aids significantly in tracking (as what has already been said.)

Better to have and need not, then need and not have... or something along those lines.
 
I've used a Ruger 96/44 on a few deer with factory loads. I have never ever had an exit wound. At around 100 yds, I got the same result as a 30 yd. shot. Both scenarios had the bullet enter the lungs, and make a hell of a mess. Both deer only walked a few yds and layed down.

Exit or not, I liked the performance of a 44 mag under 100 yds.
 
customdeluxe, intersting, I had the same experience with a jacketed SP 240 grain .44 mag bullet that deflected inside the body cavity of a deer.

I shoot a deer broad side, and in the lungs at about 15 yards, the bullet then deflected 90 degree's, went out through the belly and ended up in the hindquarter bone !

The deer then ran for about 30 yards before expiring and dropping.
 
open-sights said:
Optimal results would be that the bullet passed through the animal and lodged in the hide on the opposite side. For a little more penetration you might want to look at the new .44 ammo Hornaday has come out with released at the NASGW show last week. Will be on the market for the fall 08 for sure.
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I made a shot on whitetail buck a few years back with my .44 Marlin. The deer was quartering away at about 135 yards. My handload of a 265 Hornady jacketed flat-point over 55 grains of H335 at about 2100fps broke a rib, unleashed all hell in the boiler room and proceeded to shatter the opposing shoulder. The bullet was trapped in the hide. It had expanded to nearly .70 cal. The deer jumped straint up in the air and came straight back down again....didn't move after that.

Gotta love big bores. Remember that the starting diameter of the bullet in this class is close to if not bigger than an expanded ullet in many other popular medium game calibers.
 
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I shot 2,1 with my 44 mag with a 200gr. X bullet.Shot was a bit forward & the 2 front legs were very damaged,large exit wound, but deer dropped on the spot.DAN>>>
 
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