I am picking up one of the Ranch hand 44mags. I have no experiance with the 44 or any other hand gun load for hunting or bear defense. What would be recommended as far as bullet type and weight. I live in heavy Grizzly country and have many dangerous encounters each year pursuing Cougar and black bear with my hounds. This gun would be for close up use on a bayed up bear or cougar which is mauling a dog. I am tired of using my boot as one of these times, things will not work out in my favor.
44 mag loads
- Thread starter chilcotin
- Start date
- Location
- Niagara Region, Ontario. For now
The determining factor here is the gun in question. Personally I would go with something else if you want to shoot some real hot loads, and use it for any type of defence in the woods.
2 things:
1) gvanzeggelaar - you can load those quite a bit hotter than 18 grains if you have the right gun!
That said I would not be using hollow points on a grizz. You need penetration to get to the vitals and a fast moving hollow point will expand before doing the damage required to save your life.
2) Are we talking about a Rossi Ranch Hand mares leg type gun?
With no stock there are 2 issues. Cycling the gun and reacquiring sights is much more difficult, and recoil out of a full house 44 will make quick follow up shots even more difficult. I would not bet my life on such a gun. Accuracy and speed are the 2 most important things if you ever would be facing down a grizzly, and such a gun handicaps you in both these areas.
All that said, I was loading up to 21 grains of 2400 behind a jacketed 240 gr bullet in my Ruger Redhawk. You may find this load will disintegrate the Rossi, but as someone already mentioned 18 grains works. LOL
2 things:
1) gvanzeggelaar - you can load those quite a bit hotter than 18 grains if you have the right gun!
That said I would not be using hollow points on a grizz. You need penetration to get to the vitals and a fast moving hollow point will expand before doing the damage required to save your life.
2) Are we talking about a Rossi Ranch Hand mares leg type gun?
With no stock there are 2 issues. Cycling the gun and reacquiring sights is much more difficult, and recoil out of a full house 44 will make quick follow up shots even more difficult. I would not bet my life on such a gun. Accuracy and speed are the 2 most important things if you ever would be facing down a grizzly, and such a gun handicaps you in both these areas.
All that said, I was loading up to 21 grains of 2400 behind a jacketed 240 gr bullet in my Ruger Redhawk. You may find this load will disintegrate the Rossi, but as someone already mentioned 18 grains works. LOL
I'm in the early stages of doing load development for a Ruger 77/44 with the intention of using it as a bush/farm gun. Current loads are a 300 grain Hornady XTP and a Speer 270 grain Deep Curl soft point under maximum loads of Hodgdon H110. For arm's length encounters with a large animal, I would rather have better penetration using a heavier bullet going slower than a lighter bullet going faster. I'd also like to do some testing of the Swift A-Frame .430" bullets but haven't been able to locate any in Canada.
I haven't done penetration tests on these rounds yet. Test firing showed these are not uncomfortable to shoot from the shoulder in the Ruger but the Ranch Hand might not as pleasant.
I haven't done penetration tests on these rounds yet. Test firing showed these are not uncomfortable to shoot from the shoulder in the Ruger but the Ranch Hand might not as pleasant.
Mine don't exceed maximum length. COL 1.60" and they fit in the Ruger's detachable magazine with room to spare. I can't say for certain whether they'd feed in a Ranch Hand but I suspect they would.
I used a 44 mag in a marlin 1894 for awhile, on bear and cat up close with dogs and just used the federal factory 240 hp. It worked great, shut them down fast and seemed to stay in , and do a lot of damage, which I liked, instead of passing through the other side like a heavier bullet or hard cast. The black bears in question were large, 6'8" on up
Northman999
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Yukon
The determining factor here is the gun in question. Personally I would go with something else if you want to shoot some real hot loads, and use it for any type of defence in the woods.
2 things:
1) gvanzeggelaar - you can load those quite a bit hotter than 18 grains if you have the right gun!
That said I would not be using hollow points on a grizz. You need penetration to get to the vitals and a fast moving hollow point will expand before doing the damage required to save your life.
2) Are we talking about a Rossi Ranch Hand mares leg type gun?
With no stock there are 2 issues. Cycling the gun and reacquiring sights is much more difficult, and recoil out of a full house 44 will make quick follow up shots even more difficult. I would not bet my life on such a gun. Accuracy and speed are the 2 most important things if you ever would be facing down a grizzly, and such a gun handicaps you in both these areas.
All that said, I was loading up to 21 grains of 2400 behind a jacketed 240 gr bullet in my Ruger Redhawk. You may find this load will disintegrate the Rossi, but as someone already mentioned 18 grains works. LOL
You have got to be kidding with this part of your post!
You thinking that your 44 mag loads are going to disintegrate the Rossi 92 action that is also chambered in 454 Casull?
That seems strange since the .454 Casull is rated to over 60 000 cup, while the 44 magnum is rated to a much more moderate 40 000 cup.
Do some poking around on the internet.
Guys are loading their 20" .454 model 92's to over 2000 fps with 300 gr bullets and generating around 3000 ft/lbs of energy...
Guys have tested the 20" Model 92 rifles with hundreds of rounds of full power .454 handloads and not found fault with the strength of the rifle...
I could go on and on...
The Rossi is not the fanciest thing on the block, and fit and finish are good, but not great, the sights are often considered in need of upgrading, and the actions can sometimes be a bit gritty, but any (sane) .44 magnum load disintigrating them is just silliness...
Rant off...
To speak to the OP's question, for bear defence, I would get some good hard cast 300 gr GCFP bullets and load them as fast as I could.
Last edited:
- Location
- Niagara Region, Ontario. For now
You have got to be kidding with this part of your post!
You thinking that your 44 mag loads are going to disintegrate the Rossi 92 action that is also chambered in 454 Casull?
That seems strange since the .454 Casull is rated to over 60 000 cup, while the 44 magnum is rated to a much more moderate 40 000 cup.
Do some poking around on the internet.
Guys are loading their 20" .454 model 92's to over 2000 fps with 300 gr bullets and generating around 3000 ft/lbs of energy...
Guys have tested the 20" Model 92 rifles with hundreds of rounds of full power .454 handloads and not found fault with the strength of the rifle...
I could go on and on...
The Rossi is not the fanciest thing on the block, and fit and finish are good, but not great, the sights are often considered in need of upgrading, and the actions can sometimes be a bit gritty, but any (sane) .44 magnum load disintigrating them is just silliness...
Rant off...
To speak to the OP's question, for bear defence, I would get some good hard cast 300 gr GCFP bullets and load them as fast as I could.
I thought the "LOL" at the end of that sentence was enough to avoid this. It was a obviously a joke. Take a second and relax.
A little touchy aren't we? Someone have an inferiority complex going on here?
Brazilian or American, I could care less. I'm no hater.
Thanks for all the input guys, its all good stuff.
Bam Bam you have got the right idea. I hate packing a full length rifle around chasing hounds every day for months on end. I get lazy and leave it in the truck, sometimes this backfires and I end up using a stick or worse my boot to defend my dogs.
My first choice would be a hand gun but it not worth the hassle, the Ranch Hand in a back holster would be the ticket.
Bam Bam you have got the right idea. I hate packing a full length rifle around chasing hounds every day for months on end. I get lazy and leave it in the truck, sometimes this backfires and I end up using a stick or worse my boot to defend my dogs.
My first choice would be a hand gun but it not worth the hassle, the Ranch Hand in a back holster would be the ticket.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
It would be a close thing. I wouldn't shoot a bear with a handgun if I thought I had another option, so chances are I would have waited to the last possible moment. It would happen fast and within spitting distance. The bullet has the terminal performance do the job, but there is more to the problem than ballistics or marksmanship. Frankly, it comes down to luck and timing. If the bear makes contact before I can shoot, my chances aren't so good. If I shoot before he makes contact, his chances aren't so good. Either way, chance plays a big part in the outcome and compares favorably to having no handgun and no chance.
The only viable stopping shot with a handgun is the head. Actually no, that isn't quite accurate, the head is big, and shooting blindly into the head won't stop the bear; the brain is the key. The good news is that the head will be the part of the bear that is closest to you. The bad news is, that the brain is small and narrow compared to the huge bulk of the head, and the head is in constant motion. But don't count me out. I've been around bears enough to keep my cool when a dangerous situation arises and I know what my target indicators are. So yes, I think that if a guy can keep his head, if he has the knowledge of how to solve the problem, and if he has the time to make a good shot; then his chances are better then even.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Not as comfortable as I'd be with a hot loaded .45/70, but if it was all I had sure. There was a gal here who carried an old tube fed Ruger .44 semi-auto as her bear gun, and she was confident she could make it work. The other thing to consider is that the bear you are most likely to have trouble with is a sub-adult, in which case you are faced with a 4-600 pound bear rather than a big one.
