Hi guys,

Have not posted for a long time, but read the forum everyday. This place is such a great source of information.

Anyway, this fall if me and my son draw our eastern Colorado deer tags, I would like to try to hunt with my 44 mag. My son is not ready for handgun hunting yet. I have a Ruger Super Blackhawk with the 10-1/2" barrel. I shoot pretty good out to 50 yards or so. I would not take a shot past that.

Does anyone have any good loads I might try for deer hunting. What bullets weights do you use for mule deer.
I have been shooting this pistol for 26 years and have only
shot handloads with 240 grain hollow points. Is this enough for deer at 50 yards or do I need to get up to the 300 grain weights.

Thanks to all who reply and keep up the good topics on this forum. Reading this forum everyday is addictive but it's like air - gotta have it to survive.

Its a lot of personal choice and what your gun shoots best, a good 240g HP (ie xtp or golddot) will be more than sufficent for mule deer, especially at the range you are considering. Personally I like a heaver bullet at a slower speed ( IE a 270 g golddot at about 1150-1200 fps) I also shoot 300g cast at about 1100 fps. We used to kill coyote's and whitetail with the 180g super-vel load, never had a problem except it tended to destroy a little more meat. My suggestion is to shoot what you are used to, because you can't kill anything if you don't hit it. only my 2 cents worth

I spent a bunch of years with the 44 mag and found that I always had the best luck with a hard cast lead bullet in the 255 grain weight at between 1200 and 1350 fps. These seemed to outkill the jacketed bullets by a wide margain.

Sir,

I absolutely think that your gun and load is up for your intended purpose. If the 240s have worked for you in the past, and you can shoot them straight, I don't see any use in fixing something that's not broken.

Having said that, there is also nothing wrong with experimenting, if you have the time and inclination. For myself personally, if I know for whatever reason the range is going to be short, I will always opt for more bullet weight. For short range work, there is no issue with reach, a heavier bullet can be stressed harder while still giving adequate penetration.

It's all good either way- the 240s will kill any deer that a fellow can shoot- but it is a whole lot of fun to work something new up.

Good luck, good hunting.

Steve

I will have to agree with faucettb. A good 250 or 255 grain cast bullet at around 1200 fps will do in anything a 44 mag shooter is comfortable shooting. I cast my own 429421's (250 grain Kieth bullet, Lyman mold) and I like them for both Nancy and Sven loads. You'll probably end up with a little leading but with proper cleaning it's not very much work to take care of.