Anybody use .44's on predators and/or varmints?

[Plainsman]

It's been said that the 180 gr in .44 was meant for varminting!  I'd say it would be EXPLOSIVE enough for it, but what about saving hides?  I'd like to see a good hardcast in the 200-215gr range for that.

Do you use something in .44 on this size game and what bullet are you using?

Thanks!

[Frog123]

I don't kow what results you're looking for but the 180 gr JHP and the 240 gr JHP are devastating on 'yote sized animals. I had a real problem with feral dogs in this area and had to put a few down. The .44 handled the task extremely well. At about the 40 to 50 yd mark the bullets out of my handgun ( an 8 1/2 " stainless interarms virginia dragoon ) seemed to be in their prime. A buddy of mine handloaded cast bullets for his ruger redhawk and had better success (less pelt damage, better accuracy) with his scoped handgun than I did with my open sited SA revolver. These were .44 mags with over 8" barrels. My other .44 is a 4" Charter Arms .44 special that I carry everywhere. I shot some 180 gr cast bullets out of it recently and have been really impressed with its accuracy potential with this load. Still waiting for something that needs to be shot to walk out in front of it. My most memorable kill with the .44. My uncle had a stocked catfish pond where the fish stock was being devastated along with some baby ducks who had become dinner for a very large alligator snapping turtle. I was told to keep a gun with me at all time in case I spotted the turtle. One Sunday after church I went fishing, when I got to the pond I noticed something unusual on the far side of the pond. It was the snapping turtle sunning himself on the far bank with his mouth open. I took a steady rest across my lawn chair on the turtle and squeezed off a single action shot with the big dragoon. At the report dirt clods went skyward and the turtle flew up and over landing on his back. No kicking, no struggling to right his self. The 240 gr Speer Gold Dot Hollowpoint caught the 14 pound duck killer just to the left and low of his right leg and exited along the base of his tail near the center of his shell, flipping the turtle up and over nearly splitting him in half in the process. End of the pond raider.



Frog
:toast:

[Plainsman]

FROG: Those 180 gr cast bullets, were they factory or did you cast them?  If you cast them yourself, what mold did you use?  I'd like to get a lightweight .44 mold as well.

From your description of loads, that's what I'm looking for.  Something that won't damage pelts or ruin a lot of meat on smaller critters.  When I want to BLOW something up, I'll use the HP's!  :-D

[Frog123]

Sorry about that Plainsman, I fibbed a little. I thought these cast bullets we were shooting were 180gr they're actually 190gr cast bullets. They're cast by a guy who lives two counties over and runs a reloading and a small cast bullet business on the side. The bullets are SWC style, flat base, hard cast with a single grease groove. If you're still interested I can give you his name, address and phone number. The guy sells most of his stuff out of his shop at his house and at the local gun shows, but said he will ship to those interested. My buddy picked these up at local gun show a while back. His quality is quite good. He hand inspects each bullet before it is boxed and sold. Sorry for any confusion... :oops:


Frog

[Plainsman]

190...180...close enough!

I would really like to know what kind of molds he is using.  I don't buy cast bullets anymore, I like to MAKE my own!  If you could find out which molds he uses it would be most helpful.

Thanks!