I am going to be buying a Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 Mag. As I read it 8gr. of Unique under a 250gr. Keith will give me 900fps. Is this enough for deer at 50 yards and under?

Thanks,

Lanark Sixgunne

Welcome to the forum. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

Yes it should be. I hunted for years with various 44 mag revolvers and found the best killing power at between 1200 and 1250 fps with a 255 grain gas checked Kieth style hardcast bullet.

Nothing wrong with loading the 44 down for plinking, but for hunting my 1250 loads were mild and killed like lightening.

Kind of like putting a four cylinder pinto motor into a corvette. It'll still get you down the road, but you could've had a V8.

Yes, it will work. I base this upon the numerous deer I've killed using a .44 Special load that uses a 240 SWC at 900 fps. As long as the load is accurate in your revolver, and you can place your shots, you'll have no problems.

My current 29-2 shoots better with a load that uses the same bullet at a bit higher velocity -- right at 1150 fps -- and this is still comfortable to shoot.

For hunting I would up it to 10.0 grains. Not much recoil in a SBK. The 8.0 is a good light load for practice.

Do you fellas feel it would break through the shoulder or should he limit his shots to the heart lung area at 900 fps?

Do you fellas feel it would break through the shoulder or should he limit his shots to the heart lung area at 900 fps?

That kinda depends on a few things the way I interpret it.

Muzzle Velocity/powder charge.
distance to/from intended target.
Angle of the shot....shooting down, quartering, ect.
Bullet construction, weight. Type of bullet.

At 900FPS, a shot from a pistol is going to loose velocity a bit at say 50 yards, and may not have the oomph to penetrate the shoulder, but then again, it might. Hate to sound so ambigous[sp?], but alot of variables in play there.

using the penetration calculator, and selecting Marshall's 250 Keith,
which has a melplat of .300,

you get:
Relative Penetration Index of 39.68 with a 250 grain bullet and a .300" meplat diameter.

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tab_images/line.gif

If you go by Thornily's guage, you get a stopping power of:
Relative Stopping Power Scale of 61 with a 250 grain bullet, a velocity of 900 fps., and diameter of .429".

45 Antelope50 Deer100Black Bear (To account for 350- 500 lbs. bear.)120Elk, Moose, Kudu, Zebra, Large African Safari Plains Game 150Lion, Leopard, Grizzly Bear, Brown Bear250Hippopotamus , Rhinoceros, Cape Buffalo, Elephant

foot pounds calculator:
Energy of 450 foot-pounds for a 250 grain bullet at 900 fps

The one thing that the biggest "if" in the question, is the hunter himself. Can he make proper shot placement at distances from 25-50 yards with a handgun?

The bullet/load combo should have the power to do the job in regards to a dead deer.

But then I have hit a deer with a rifle shot thru both shoulder bones and chest cavity, that took another shot to finish the job. [guess that deer did not want to quit!] The rifle was a .308


If I was the hunter, I believe that I would try to stalk in as close as possible with the handgun, then go for the Boiler room.

Here's a link to the calculators:

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/rescources/index.htm

My handgun load was 320g cast at around 1100fps. That made tons of venison and I never lost a deer I shot with it. Used it in a 10" SBH and it hit like a rifle.

I think the lighter bullet at the lower velocity might not always go through, but I've not tried it.

Hard cast at that velocity is plenty but hunting is not punching paper. Shot placement is key and practice from hunting positions is very reveiling with the revolver. It gets to be a lot of art and not science. I see your location may allow you pretty consistant rests for the hunting shots and this is to your advantage.

44 specials do well in a quality speer gold dot or hornady xtp for jacketed bullets but I would go with a quality hard cast bullet and not any production hard cast unless it is the newer custom stuff by car-bon or I think federal has a round with a cast performance LBT type bullet.

If you handload, there is only one choice.BTB


Now. All that being said and without going into all my reasons why, I will be carrying my 5.5 inch 44 SBH loaded with a Hornady swagged 240 gr SWC at about 850 fps a lot this year in the woods and hope to get that shot that allows me to place a nice tender whitetail in the dirt. If that perfect allighnment of the planets does not occur the rifle or bow of choice for that day will be doing the talking.

I do just adore my green dot load for the equalizer.

With due respect.......but why ???

Not trying to be a hard arse,but the idea behind being a ethical hunter,a hunter that other hunters can be proud of,is a quick kill. A humane kill.

I know,I know,if shot thru the eye socket with a .22 short, fired out of a 2" pocket pistol, a deer will.......blah,blah,blah.

Fine,agreed,now boost up those velocities to penetrate and cause some of that much needed hydrostatic shock.

Make other hunters proud. ---pruhdlr

Sorry. Can't take the bait. I said I am not going into why. It just did not seem to follow the thread started here but I did not feel honest not saying I would be doing something a little out of kilter with what I said.

If that was unclear, then again sorry.

Ethics are what you do when no one is watching.

So as far as I see it, the question of why is done.

Let's please move the thread along, or if it has run it's course, we'll close it out.

Nuthin' wrong with ethics.