.44-40 deer kill

madtrapper143

madtrapper143

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Gentlemen: A while back I asked if a .44-40 was a reasonable deer cartridge. I received several responses ranging from "Oh ya!" to "are you kidding?" Well over the weekend I had a nice fat spike whitetail walk within 60 yards of me and my 1912 manufactured model 92 Winchester in .44 W.C.F. I shot him when he turned broadside and hit him a little back striking his liver. The bullet (200 grain WW factory load) did not exit. He went into the buck brush very sick. About 1 minute later he came back into view at about 35 yards. One shot broke his neck. Having some first hand experience I now voice this opinion of the .44 W.C.F. as a deer cartridge. Wait for a broadside shot. Keep it within 100 yards. And be prepared to track. Other than that he will make some fine winter meat in north country.

cheers Darryl
 
I know an old fella that would take his 44-40 with him as he floated down the river in a canoe. He would spot a moose on the bank and get close (50 to 75 yds) and plug it in the neck.
He said that with proper placement that is was very rare that he would have to shoot more than once. So yes ,the 44-40 would work for deer.:50cal:
 
personally, I prefer bang flops. And I prefer to have a little bit of leeway in my shot placement, and drift estimates. And exit wounds are nice if you do need to track anything.

But, it's an indisputable fact that the 44-40 has taken far more than its fair share of deer
 
A 60 yard broadside shot that doesn't exit sounds like a great definition for 'marginal cartridge'.

Sure you've got venison, but you're a good enough shot to take a neck shot with iron sights--lots of hunters aren't. I'd argue that for the vast majority of hunters (all those guys at the range this weekend but not the rest of the year) something at least in the 800-900 ft./lbs range is much more appropriate. That's not teh souper magnum BTW, that's a level easily reached by the .38-55 out to 100 yards.
 
The power needed?

Foot pounds of energy is really a poor way to estimate a bullets effect on game. The 38-55 just mentioned as being not too impressive on the ballistic figure, used to be considered an excellent cartridge for moose. I've seen the streaks of cut, black hair extending on the snow behind the moose where a 38-55 went through and the moose would go a doubtful fifty yards. Put a good bullet from a 30-06 in the ribs of a moose and it will likely trot off at least as far. I have known trappers that shot moose with a 44-40. And they almost never lost a wounded animal.
 
I shot him when he turned broadside and hit him a little back striking his liver. About 1 minute later he came back into view at about 35 yards


What could have happened had he not came back out to you??
How far would it have wandered with virtually no blood trail to follow from only an entrance wound!

Sounds to me like you were very lucky!!
As I said in your other thread about 44-40s, I would NOT hunt with one with factory loads! There's so much more in the old girl by handloading. I'm gonna guess at 30% ballistic improvement.
 
Congratulations. The 44/40 has taken a lot of deer. There was one old fellow who swore it was the only Moose cartridge and had taken many over the years. I will admit that the modern factory loads are a little anemic. I have a couple old 44/40's and reload for them. I prefer a velocity of around 1,300 fps and the model '92 can easily handle 1,600 fps with the proper powder.
 
Senior, I forgot to mention that there was a very trackable blood trail from the broadside liver hit. I just didn't find it until I had killed him with the second shot. The first shot was a non survivable wound and the duration between it and the second shot was about 1 minute. I am just relaying my experience with the .44-40 I agree there are MUCH better rounds out there for deer hunting. The .44-40 will kill deer subject to distance, shot placement and hunter ability. I am not trading off any of my other rifles to hunt solely with the .44 WCF. I wouldn't even think of shooting a moose with it but as some others have seen it will work there also.
cheers Darryl
 
Darryl,

Your experience is typical. And your thoughts on range and shot placement are right on. Good for you for placing two great shots into the deer. No surprise to me that you do it with iron sights.
 
Thanks Randy. I just got off the phone with Lee Precision in the states. I ordered a .44 WCF set of dies, a .44WCF factory crimp die , a 200 grain Fat nose bullet mold (.429dia) and a lube and size kit in .429 dia. I have a recipe that will move that 200 grain lead bullet (gas checked) at 1800 fps. Safe in my 92. That will offer complete penetration on a deer and make tracking much easier. I must admit the factory loads are mild.

cheers Darryl
 
UPDATE: I skinned the deer this evening and discovered that the round did completely penetrate the deer. I was shooting some what downhill and the old .44 WCF 200 grain soft nose did exit at the lower abdomen. The hole was no larger than the entry and was plugged with fat. (I have seen this before with .30-30's and 12 gauge slugs) I feel better knowing that at least the factory load can go through a deer at effective ranges. Never the less I am currently making efforts to improve the .44 WCF for hunting. I will keep you posted.

cheers Darryl
 
When we skinned mine, we found that not only had the bullet exited, pieces of the spine had also punched holes.
Like yours, the exit and entrance were approximately the same size.
This year, I'll try a somewhat faster load, only slightly faster than the Winchester factory load. Last years load, loafed along at 900fps.
 
I think I am getting abut 1300 FPS with my 92 SRC. My dad killed alot of deer with a Cooey model 64 .22 semi 40grain bullet at 1250 fps vs 200 grain bullet at 1300 fps in the .44 WCF. I really hope people don't think I am "stunting" with the .44-40 I just like the old gun and I am gratefull I have an opportunity to put her back to work.

cheers Darryl
 
Darryl, in this day and age, when most people think you need a 338 Win Mag for Whitetail deer, they will think you are stunting. I never appreciated the penetration of slow moving heavy bullets until I actually started using them. Admittedly, I've only used 45/70's and 38/55's but all my bullets were chugging along pretty slow and all of them completely penetrated. There was a thread on another forum a couple years ago about actual experience with the 44/40 on deer. Most reported complete penetration and the distance between where the deer was shot and were it dropped was pretty much the same as with all the modern high powered rifles. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I once pumped three 12 Ga slugs into a running deer. It gave no sign of being hit and kept on trucking, finally dropping about 40 yards past where it first got hit. Upon cleaning the deer, I noted that all three slugs went through the vital organs, with one punching a hole through the top of the heart and another slug opening up the bottom of the heart. Range for all three shots was less than 25 yards. It just goes to show that deer don't always drop dead on the spot just because they were hit with massive stopping power.
 
madtrapper143 said:
I think I am getting abut 1300 FPS with my 92 SRC. My dad killed alot of deer with a Cooey model 64 .22 semi 40grain bullet at 1250 fps vs 200 grain bullet at 1300 fps in the .44 WCF. I really hope people don't think I am "stunting" with the .44-40 I just like the old gun and I am gratefull I have an opportunity to put her back to work.

cheers Darryl
Click to expand...

You better be careful Darryl, pretty soon somebody from the hunting section will jump in and tell you a 44-40 isn't enough for deer.!!
 
Congratz on your deer can't wait to here a range report on those handloads your where talking about as I would like to get myself a 44WCF
 
Good show, I always wanted to pickup one of those guys, maybe a 38-40 as well.
As for the high speed vs big bore, if the bullet goes through then there is too much energy needed, the ideal is to expend all the energy into the deer and only have the skin break for a blood trail, sounds like just what that "tiny" 44-40 did for you and John Y Canuck. A needle may kill you but so will a sledge hammer, ha ha.
 
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