44 mag bullet for rifle and pistol

[mattmillerrx]

The short story is I want one bullet and load in my Super Redhawk and 1894 Marlin.  I thought hard cast would be nice here but have not been completely satisfied with the results.  I will use the rest of these hard cast for some medium loads for practice. 

Would you go soft point for this purpose or something like the XTP's?

My purpose for the pistol is deer hunting.  The rifle might see deer hunting but is mostly for target and I like to carry it coyote hunting some.

With that info what do you think of the 200 gr XTP?  Another option I have looked (because they are cheap) is Magtech 240 gr sjsp?

Also, keep in mind my plans here are for a medium-heavy load to help keep the recoil down to a level I can shoot it well.  The reason for the 200 gr XTP is to keep recoil down, wondering about good expansion from the pistol and possible fragmentation from the rifle.

Let me know about your experiences and thoughts on this.
MGM

[Badnews Bob]

One of my go to bullets for this is the Remmy bulk 240gr sp, They are cheap and perform well out of my rifle and pistol.

[Catfish]

My favorite .44 bullet is the 240 gr. Sierra. They have the best combination of accuracy and terminal preformance of any I have tried, and I have tried most of them over the years. The Remmy bulk bullets are a real good choice too, you will give up just a little in accuracy but terminal preformanes is excellant. The Hornady XTP bullets have excellant accuracy, but lack alittle in terminal preformance at handgun velocities. The Speer Gold Dot are not bad bullets eather.

[Cheesehead]

One of my go to bullets for this is the Remmy bulk 240gr sp, They are cheap and perform well out of my rifle and pistol.

I have had the same experience with Remington 240's in bulk. My next purchase will be a 2000 pack, I like them so much.

Cheese

[Bigeasy]

If you want to keep handgun recoil down, then you want a light for caliber bullet, or a heavier bullet at way reduced velocity, which makes it act as a solid.  I think the 200 grain XTP is a good choice.  XTP's hold together well, and should expand and offer decent penetration at about 1200 fps from a handgun with relativley low recoil.  That same load and bullet out of a rifle barrel (say 1600 / 1700 fps) should work well on coyote, though I would want a heavier bullet for deer when using the rifle.

Larry

[HL]

+2 For the Rem 240 flat nose bullets. Very accurate out of my 1894. Same out of my Redhawk or contender.

[Autorim]

I am very partial to Sierra and Nosler bullets - mostly because I have a long history of success. Either in 240 grain weight should work well.

[cwlongshot]

What has been your problem with hardcast? What bullet are you using? Maybe a different profile, like a WFGC or LBT profile will increase the performance!!

I am no fan of light bullets for hunting handguns, ESP those above 41 caliber. The big 44 has plenty of diameter to be an excellent performer in a hard cast bullet on game.

If you want a good jacketed bullet, yes the XTP is an excellent choice, you may also want to try the Speer Gold Dot line. I really like the 270SP in my 44 rifles. I haven't shot any game with a 44 pistol in many years. IIRC it was a Hog and the discontinued Winchester 250gr Black Tallons worked perfectly!!

CW

[mattmillerrx]

I originally had the problem in my post but took it out because I did not want that to become the focus of my question. 

The Super Redhawk I just got at an auction a few months back it was a NRA special edition made in 1998 that someone put away NIB.  It was listed in the sale bill as Ruger 98 pistol.  I had bid on several big bores that day running them to what I thought they were worth and stopping, it took some real will power on a couple.  This one I thought would be a ruger 89 auto pistol.  The bidding had dropped to 200 dollars before they even held the gun up.  I bid right away, did not know if the gun was in good shape or not as I did not look at it before the sale because you had to give them a number and they brought the gun to you to look at and this one was listed wrong.  Anyway, I got it for about 50 less than a good used one goes for and was just hoping it was in good condition.  When I got up there to get the gun it was NIB.

The reason I tell this story is because this kind of thing never happens to me and I believe this gun to have a rough bore being new.  I want to shoot jackets in it for awhile and will most likely go back to cast at some point.

Bigeasy--thanks for the response on recoil.  That is what I am looking for with this loading.

What made me think of the lighter bullet at a less than max velocity is a youth deer load I once used in my 30-06 that used a lighter bullet at about the same velocity, if not a little slower than the heavy bullets with full house loads.  These were pleasant to shoot and work great on game.  I thought I might give it a try in the handgun.

I found a couple of similar threads else where and think the 200 gr XTP is worth doing some test with.  Not sure I will go with it until then but the more I have read I think I will give it try.  If that don't work out the Remmy is up next.

[Lloyd Smale]

not much of a fan of jacketed pistol bullets buy have had good luck with the speer half jackets. they tend to be very accurate in my guns and open up easily if your looking for expansion.

[matthewquigley]

lee mold  300 grain WFN      wheelweight alloy with 1% tin added   water dropped  shot as cast   lubed with  a mix of 13oz vaseline/1lbcanning parrafin wax   6 purple crayons 1 large table spoon of stp oil treatment       i shoot it over 21.5 grains H110   in win cases with win WLP primers      shoots good in a rifle or pistol  and it will kill anything that walks in north america        with decent shot placement it will drop whitetails like a lightning strike
 another good one is 240 JSP    or hardcast  .431 dia keith   or 240 XTP   over 24.0 H110   is good for light to medium game
  i have shot all of these out of smiths, rugers handi rifles rossi rifles   and several diff lever guns   and they work !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mikey]

Matt:  you have two different sporting arms there that will each require tailored handloads to perform.  They will both shoot jacketed, of course; they may shoot .430 jacketed better than .429. 

But, Marlin rifles in pistol calibers are known to be overbore and you may need to go to a .431 or even .432 cast slug in the rifle to get it to shoot cast accurately. 

The Ruger - I would slug the barrel and make certain your cast bullets are properly sized for that bore. 

It sounds like a nice combination but each may require its own tailored loads.  jmtcw.

[mattmillerrx]

The ole Marlin never has liked bullets bigger than the 240's.  Seems like it did so so with some 260's but the 300's made nice shotgun patterns. 

I have to ask, do the crayons have to be purple?

Lloyd, I knew you were not a fan of jacket's.  Some of your post and others on here have inspired me to give cast a try.  I have had good luck with them in other calibers, including a 30-06.  Although, I have not started casting my own yet.  I will some day.  I agree with the semi-jacket and have used them in my Marlin in the past.  I also know from some of your post that you are not recoil shy.  When I first got a .357 mag revolver, I could not shoot it well.  I went and got a .22lr revolver to match (both smith's).  I had to learn to shoot a revolver first, then I learned to handle the recoil of the .357 (which now seems like nothing) and now I need to work my way up with the .44 mag.  I am shooting it well and managed a 2 in group at 80 yards with some left over factory loads I had.  But my cast loads, were grouping in the 6 to 8 in range.  Am glad I shot the factory load group before I left that day, I really thought it was more me and not the loads up to that point.  I knew the loads were not doing to good as I shot some a 25 yrds that day as well.  Don't worry Lloyd, I have not given up on cast yet.

[Mikey]

Matt:  go right down to Veral Smith's forum and read his posts and responses about bore lapping Marlin rifles to shoot cast slugs.  He is the definitive expert. 

[matthewquigley]

purple crayons   are for color   my fav        quigleys magic bullet lube

[mattmillerrx]

The Marlin is in good shape, it is the Ruger that needs some work but I thought about giving bore lapping a try.  I have already read those post.

thanks,
MGM