Sighting In The .44mag

[Glanceblamm]

After an eternity (45days to include some time in the hospital) I will get the chance to sight in my brand new SBH in the .44mag with the 71/2” barrel very soon.

This caliber is new to me and I have been thinking about starting out with the entry level hunting loads, a 240gr moving around 1,100fps and sighting in two to three inches high at 50yds then checking the POI at 30-75& 100yds.

I do use plinking loads for general shooting and the 850-900fps loads should balance out well at the 30yd & 50yd marks without re-adjusting the iron sights?
Perhaps I need to start with a heavier bullet going a little faster to flatten out the trajectory curve at the 75 to 100yd marks?
Your Thoughts Are Appreciated…keep in mind that we are going to shoot now & Deer hunt latter.
Thanks
GB

[Graybeard]

A 240-260 grain bullet pushed to around 1000 fps is an ideal choice for most hunting that you're likely to do. If you use cast bullets not jacketed it should easily shoot all the way thru game to the size of elk or even moose. Jacketed bullets aren't likely to expand going that slow and they are supposed to expand to do their job properly but if you chose one with a proper meplat to begin with then it can in effect act like a cast and do an OK job without expansion.

One of my all time favorite bullets and likely the one I've shot more of from the .44 mag than any other is the Lyman 429244, it's a Thompson designed semi wadcutter that from my alloy weights 242 grains before adding the gas check and lube. From #2 alloy it's supposed to weight 255 I think. I'd trust that bullet at 1000-1100 fps for anything I'd do with a .44 magnum. We used to use it in competition and hunting both over 17.0-17.5 grains of 2400. It was superbly accurate and killed as well as anything I've used on deer.

[Lloyd Smale]

sight your gun in at 25 yards and shoot it. Put a bunch of time with it at that and when your accuracy both in field conditions and load work up is to your liking move a taget out to 75 yards and sight it in there or better yet sight it in to the max range your going to hunt at.  Theres no guarantee that a bullet sighted in at one range is going to hit at another. Every load and every gun are slightly differnt. Ive had loads that shot to poa at 25 yards be 8 inches to the right at 100 yards and loads that if figured with velocity should be hitting at a certain point down range make me scratch my head when they did the opposite. Lot of guys have differnt ways to do it. But for an open sighted 6 gun ive allways like a 75 yards zero. It keeps it close enough to poa at 25 and is still pretty close at 100.

[irold]

I have another suggestion, a scope .  I realize hunting with iron sights is more of a challenge, etc, etc. but ....been there , done that. You didn't mention your age, but as the body ages so does the eyes....a hundred yards with iron sights looking through old eyes...we have to be realistic.   When I was hunting with my SRH, it was open sighted.....I used the 50 to 60 yard mark as my max distance.  Finally, I had to face reality,........now I have scopes on my hunting handguns.  Now 75 to 100 yard shots ( with any available rest ) are possible.  In closing..........shooting from the range is completely different from walking or posting in the woods. Good Luck, handgun hunting is truly rewarding.

[wncchester]

Lloyd says to "sight your gun in at 25 yards and shoot it."  I surely agree.

Unlike rifles and high BC bullets, increased velocity with a heavy, flat-nosed bullet from a handgun doesn't do much for trajectory.  Higher speeds do, of course, increase impact energy, at both ends.  But the power of a 240 gr. slug at 1100-1200 fps is easily enough to do the job for whitetail deer at 80-90 yards, maybe more if you can shoot well.  It is easier to shoot well with a modest load.

The .44 Mag and a Keith bullet still reigns!

[irold]

Sorry, one more thing, All my handgun scopes are "low" power.  Unless your hunting the fields, or from sandbags, the high power stuff is trouble, at least for me in western Pa....A 2X or 4X is what I hunt with, prefering the 2X in the woods.  Better FOV, shows less movement, etc  Again  Good luck

[Glanceblamm]

Thanks for the replys. I was actually fishing for the optimum tragectorys for this caliber at the suggested or higher velocitys where the bullet would be no more than 4” above or 4” below point of aim with the far end yardage being an unknown. The 75yd sight in sounds really good and within the ballpark for Deer hunting especially.

My worse case example of testing the curve was when I was setting up my blk-pwdr pistol with a 9” barrel to take a coyote. I figured that it needed to shoot fairly flat for this chore out to 100yds with that 127gr ball moving over 1,000 w/35gr FFF….
She shot great at 100yds but the point of impact back at the 50yd mark was a whopping 11” high!…this was probably meant a great chance for a clean miss anywhere from 40 to 80yds on that size of a critter. Far better to sight this piece in a couple inches high at 50yds and settle for a max range of 75yds making it a point not to shoot beyond that.

I figure that the .44 should do much, much, better than this, especially considering that there is no worse a projectile as a round ball unless it would be a cube.
Am going to go ahead and start at 25yds as suggested & work from there.

(irold, I just turned 50 & the eyes are doing ok…For Now!)