.44 Mag. (rifle) penetration test

[josquin]

I posted this to some correspondents on 24 Hr. Campfire a while ago and thought it might be useful/interesting here as well. It came about after having to shoot a black bear that got into my neighbour's alpacas for a bit of breakfast in May. My Marlin 1894 was loaded with Hornady 265 gr. FP, a bullet usually reserved for the 444. I recently read a comment somewhere that Hornady says this bullet will begin to expand at around 1500 fps, and although I haven't chrono'd the loads, I think the MV is somewhere around 1600. The bear was shot at around 25 yards. Fortunately, it was "DRT" due to the first shot hitting the spine- a good thing to have happen at 4am!

I decided to do a penetration test between that bullet, the 240 gr. XTP and a 240 gr. hard cast.
FWIW, here are the results:

The test medium was newsprint alternating with 1/2" ply, soaked and drained.

I made one bundle for each bullet type and fired at 25 yards.

The Hornady 265 gr. FP over 21.9 gr. of H110 just penetrated the last board and dented the newsprint of the last bundle:

I then fired a 240 gr. XTP over 23 gr. of H110 at the second bundle. It did nearly as well, but stopped at the beginning of the last piece of 1/2" ply:

I then fired the Bullet Barn 240 gr. RNFP, over 20 gr. of 2400. It went clear through the entire bundle and ended up in the berm behind. I repeated the test with a piece of 2 x 12" at the back. It went through that as well, but there were some fragments stuck in the board below the exit hole. Perhaps it hit a rock in the berm and shattered.

Exit hole of 240 gr. HC:

(Yes, I noticed that all the bullets seem to have ended up in adverts for lawyers!)

As to the condition of the bullets after their ordeal:

Certainly no problems with expansion in this medium.

Stuart

 

[444shooter]

Very informative, thanks!
For penetration, hard cast sure performs.

 

[ben hunchak]

Testing with heavy (320 gr.) hardcast bullets in the .44 Mag. or 480gr. in the 45/70 quite often show double the penetration w/some expansion, compared to expensive jacketed bullets, many of which flatten when they hit big bones. Hardcast bullets over BHN 22 or so have shown to shatter on large bone, and other "hard" material.

 

[josquin]

Ben, do you find the 320 gr. stabilize OK in the Marlin 1894? I've often heard it said that the slow twist (1-38") won't stabilize these long bullets.

Stuart

 

[SUPERMAG]

penetration

We all have to remember that Hard Cast should penetrate much better than a JSP or JHP as the lead in these rounds will be Soft. Only better would be a solid or FMJ round.

The best and hardest round I use in my 44's is a 265 gr swagged lino-type lead round it is the same size as a slug as a 300 hard cast just that much lighter because of the tin and antimony. Hard to make but fun to shoot steel with .

Another fun round is take a 40 S&W casing soften, and use for the jacket of 44 jsp using a wheel weight core makes excellent 300gr 44JSP rounds.

thanks

supermag

 

[ElmerFudd]

How far did the bullet go in the bear?

Sure penetration is important but for killing you don't want it exiting do you? You want it to expand and do as much damage as possible.

Supermag, can you expand on using a 40 S&W case? I am not sure what you mean. Perhaps a new thread would be best.


Fudd

 

[ben hunchak]

My Marlin '94 has the Ballard rifling and shoots the 320grain bullets very well, not sure if the big broad flat point may cause hiccups with feeding in some guns.....Ben

 

[sgt.rock]

I'd rather have 2 bleeding wounds per shot than a single, especially if the hide slides over the hole and there is no blood for tracking. Often a good bullet can cause massive destruction to the intended channel and still deliver as much energy as a bullet that stops too soon. Its more a measure of the bullets efficiency of design than anything. But everyone has an opinion on pass through bullets.

 

[josquin]

How far did the bullet go in the bear?..

Unfortunately we didn't do an autopsy but I saw no signs of exit wounds so my guess is that they didn't exit. (4 rounds total.) The issue of bullets exiting and expanding vs. FN cast has been argued to death but since bears are "self-sealing" to some extent I would think an exit is less important. A FN HC bullet (even a measly 240gr ) would likely punch through both shoulders so what it lacks in expansion would be made up for by other damage.

Ben- my 1894 is an older one with a microgroove barrel but it seems to shoot the 240's OK. 320's would be fun if it stabilizes them.

Stuart

 

[mg34]

i shot a deer using a 240 gr hp jacketed loaded to rifle data and dropped him in his tracks. my bullet went into the heart and lung area and stopped on the skin on the other side of the deer. the hp opened up nice and destroyed the lungs as he did not know what hit him.

 

[blacksmithden]

I did a fairly unscientific test a year or so ago using factory 240 grain jacketed bullets and my 240 grain cast bullets. I lined up a bunch of 55 gallon drums and fired into the row lengthwise.

The factory jacketed bullets went through the first barrel, into the second and dented the far side of the second barrel.
My home made cast bullets went through the first two barrels, into the third, and dented the far side of the third.

There wasn't much left of the factory slugs except small shards.
The cast ones were definately missing some mass, but for there was still a lot of intact slug left.

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot deer and bear with the cast bullets. If I had my choice though, I'd rather use at least a semi-wadcutter or full wadcutter. That would do a little more ripping and tearing on the way through than my round nose stuff. If you got a bad shot on a deer and didn't hit anything vital, at least with two half inch plus holes in it, it isn't going to run away for 3 days and the blood trail should be massive.

 

[beretta boy]

Deer ... 240 gr. 44 Rem Mag factory round - through both lungs, taking some of the lung material out the far side. Deer travelled 2 wonky steps before piling up.

Black bear... same load. Neck, up near the butt of the ear. Straight through removing a chunk of spine. Yogi dropped like a sack of cement. Bang flop.

 

[Northman999]

My brother shot black bears with his Browning model 92 in 44 mag, using Remington factory 240's. All bears killed with one round; three bullets not recovered from broadside boiler shots that went straight though and one recovered from a shot from through the boiler towards the front of the animal that then travelled through the opposite front shoulder and came to rest just under the hide. Lots of penetration. All animals shot under 100 yards.