44 mag input

[wonderman4]

I am not crapping in anyone's nest, so take this as just my opinion.

I do not shoot anything harder than wheel weights, and I do not do that very often.

I have been shooting cast bullets since sometime in 1967, prolly the summer of that year.

Believe me when I say I used to cast bullets so hard that I could shoot them thru an 18" diameter willow tree and they would look as if they were just cast, except for the rifling marks.

Those things would lead barrels like crazy. I learned my lesson from that. Nowadays, I shoot from an 8 to about a 14 BHN bullet. Mostly the 8's go into 45ACP and 38 Special. The 14's go in my higher velocity ammo, such as 44Mag, 454 Casull, 500 S&W, and various rifle ammo, including my 460 WBY.

Here is an example of what my cast bullets look like before and after.

 

[scpaul]

I am not crapping in anyone's nest, so take this as just my opinion.

I do not shoot anything harder than wheel weights, and I do not do that very often.

I have been shooting cast bullets since sometime in 1967, prolly the summer of that year.

Believe me when I say I used to cast bullets so hard that I could shoot them thru an 18" diameter willow tree and they would look as if they were just cast, except for the rifling marks.

Those things would lead barrels like crazy. I learned my lesson from that. Nowadays, I shoot from an 8 to about a 14 BHN bullet. Mostly the 8's go into 45ACP and 38 Special. The 14's go in my higher velocity ammo, such as 44Mag, 454 Casull, 500 S&W, and various rifle ammo, including my 460 WBY.

Here is an example of what my cast bullets look like before and after.

Few years back I got some 240 gr LFN that were supposed to be rated for 44 mag, it took me days to clean the lead from that 8" barrel. The ONLY way I would even consider it is if they are gas checked and still don't really want to. I will say when I shot a deer it was like they got hit with a sledgehammer. I might consider trying them in my Charter Arms 44 sp Bulldog. If I remember right the mv is 7 or 800 fps.

 

[wonderman4]

scpaul: the best way I know of to remove barrel leading is with copper choreboy. Wrap it around a mop, soak it in a solvent (I like Bore Tech C4) and scrub it out. Takes a lot less time than you would think.......mater of minutes instead of days.

Make sure the chore boy IS copper and not copper plated steel. I get mine from Wally World.

 

[hunterbob]

I've got some PMC 240 grain TCSP. anyone have any input at all on this round? Thanks

240 hr JHP or SP will destroy whatever it hits . I always used 296 powder with a heavy crimp for 30 years. Not hot loads either.

Any of theb

 

[hunterbob]

scpaul: the best way I know of to remove barrel leading is with copper choreboy. Wrap it around a mop, soak it in a solvent (I like Bore Tech C4) and scrub it out. Takes a lot less time than you would think.......mater of minutes instead of days.

Make sure the chore boy IS copper and not copper plated steel. I get mine from Wally World.

I bought a special lead removal tool. It had small copper screen patches to pull through the barrel. It cleaned the lead out perfectly when I made lead wad cutters
for a 357 after seeing the results.
I would never shoot lead bullets in my 44 though after seeing the results.

 

[WYO300RUM]

I bought a special lead removal tool. It had small copper screen patches to pull through the barrel. It cleaned the lead out perfectly when I made lead wad cutters
for a 357 after seeing the results.
I would never shoot lead bullets in my 44 though after seeing the results.

Lewis lead remover ? I never have used it but acquired on from a bunch of things I got from someone who died. It was never used like a lot of the older things .

 

[memtb]

I missed this bear with my recurve. The aluminum arrow bouncing off the rocks behind him made him run kind of in my direction. I dropped the bow and drew the 3" S&W 629 loaded with 240 gr PMC Starfires my friend had loaned me (hunting in grizzly country) and shot him as he ran past me. He didn't go far. Definitely not long range, but the Starfire worked fine and I would expect the soft point to work well, too.

View attachment 470315

A lot bigger than my 44 Mag handgun bear, but my story is also a bit unusual.

I was using my S&W 629, with my homegrown 265 grain cast bullets. I was trying to handgun hunt a bear, but spooked the bear (winded me) as I approached my tree stand a my bait. She ran off but not terribly frightened. I went into the dark timber attempting a stalk on her, and heard her tearing into a rotted log with her back to me. She turned, giving me a broadside shot at about 30 yards. At the shot she immediately went down, then was getting back up when I tapped her again….down for the count! I didn't see where the first shot hit her, but did see the 2nd shot impact. It turns out that the 2nd shot was not necessary…..the first shot was a bit low taking her through the heart! To this day……the first and last big game animal that I've actually shot through the heart! memtb

 

[WYO300RUM]

A lot bigger than my 44 Mag handgun bear, but my story is also a bit unusual.

I was using my S&W 629, with my homegrown 265 grain cast bullets. I was trying to handgun hunt a bear, but spooked the bear (winded me) as I approached my tree stand a my bait. She ran off but not terrib frightened. I went into the dark timber attempting a stalk on her, and heard her tearing into a rotted log with her back to me. She turned, giving me a broadside shot at about 30 yards. At the shot she immediately went down, then was getting back up when I tapped her again….down for the count! I didn't see where the first shot hit her, but did see the 2nd shot impact. It turns out that the 2nd shot was not necessary…..the first shot was a bit low taking her through the heart! To this day……the first and last big game animal that I've actually shot through the heart! memtb

View attachment 471359

Were you in college then ? That bear's color looked like a panda...
Cool combo

 

[Old Rooster]

I fought lead fouling until I learned to coat hard cast bullets with Powder Coat.
Plenty of videos on youtube on how to do it.
Lead never touches the bore and never had to scrub lead out of bores ever since.
The last Blackie I killed was around the mid 1980's with a gas checked hard cast Cast performance 300 gr bullet at 22 B H,the bullet exited and he ran about 6 feet.Farmers complained that he had been raiding everybodies chicken coups.It stopped that day,just saying.....

 

[memtb]

Were you in college then ? That bear's color looked like a panda...
Cool combo

She was a beautiful little bear…..though pretty badly rubbed, which I did notice at the time. So, to add a bit of romantics to my story…..I shot a "naked" blond!

And, thanks for the age compliment…..I was 36 and some change! College: I did go to college, "once"…..LSU was playing Alabama in Tiger Stadium! memtb

 

[hunterbob]

Lewis lead remover ? I never have used it but acquired on from a bunch of things I got from someone who died. It was never used like a lot of the older things .

Yup, it was an expandable rubber, on the end where you fit a small copper screen..

 

[hunterbob]

I am not crapping in anyone's nest, so take this as just my opinion.

I do not shoot anything harder than wheel weights, and I do not do that very often.

I have been shooting cast bullets since sometime in 1967, prolly the summer of that year.

Believe me when I say I used to cast bullets so hard that I could shoot them thru an 18" diameter willow tree and they would look as if they were just cast, except for the rifling marks.

Those things would lead barrels like crazy. I learned my lesson from that. Nowadays, I shoot from an 8 to about a 14 BHN bullet. Mostly the 8's go into 45ACP and 38 Special. The 14's go in my higher velocity ammo, such as 44Mag, 454 Casull, 500 S&W, and various rifle ammo, including my 460 WBY.

Here is an example of what my cast bullets look like before and after.

Looks like you got the right recipe.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Elmer Keith is the Father of the 44 Magnum. His classic load of a home cast 240gr Keith SWC and 22gr of 2400 powder has killed everything that walks in North America. l have hunted and shot this bullet in IHMSA silhouettes for 50 years. lt kills everything, from 55 pound steel rams @ 200 meters or deer and bear @ 50 yards. A 44Magnum is NOT a long range cartridge for HUNTING. l grew up hunting deer with a shotgun behind hounds. l later moved to an area that does not allow dog hunting. Same thick woods as the South Carolina Low Country tho.
My new hunting style was from an elevated stand where 90% of the shots was 50 yds or less. To me, the obvious choice was a 44 Magnum revolver with open sights and 6'' to 8'' barrel. This leaves both hands to climb a tree or ladder stand. l still ''HUNT'' steel rams @ 200 meters with my 44. My big game Long Range Hunting is for prairie dogs ONLY with a 222 Remington varmint rifle

Here's a sad fact. John Lachuk was the developer of the 44 magnum. Elmer Keith got the idea from John. How do I know this? I saw the original notes and the dates John kept.

 

[Old Rooster]

Thats a great memory to have!