.44 Magnum for Elk

Here's a load from Handloader Magazine writer is using a super red hawk 7.5 inch barrel.
He list a 310 oregon trail true shot bullet WNFP-GC H110 23.0 grains for a velocity of 1,495 COL 1.645

300 grain hornady XTP Lil'Gun 22.5 grains for a velocity of 1,386 COL 1.734

This is from the April 2010 Handloader magazine in an artical called +P loads for the 44 mag. Those loads listed were max loads and the PSI is 45-48,000 PSI. Work up slowly! Also these are loads for Ruger only firearms...specifically Super Red Hawk with it's LONG cylinder and brute strength.[Weight]

CapLock-Thanks for the load data.

SA Friday-Thanks for the phisics lesson.

I guess no I will make some bullets and chrono them.[Beer]

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Originally Posted by CapLock

Here's a load from Handloader Magazine writer is using a super red hawk 7.5 inch barrel.
He list a 310 oregon trail true shot bullet WNFP-GC H110 23.0 grains for a velocity of 1,495 COL 1.645

300 grain hornady XTP Lil'Gun 22.5 grains for a velocity of 1,386 COL 1.734

This is from the April 2010 Handloader magazine in an artical called +P loads for the 44 mag. Those loads listed were max loads and the PSI is 45-48,000 PSI. Work up slowly! Also these are loads for Ruger only firearms...specifically Super Red Hawk with it's LONG cylinder and brute strength.[Weight]

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The Lyman 47th edition reloading manual has Thompson Condenter loads in the back of the pistol charts, and the 44 mag TC chart also says it can be used in Ruger Red and black hawks. They are hot-hot. I loaded (max)of H110 with Speer 240gr HP's and out of my Redhawk you could feel the cuncussion in your nasel passages. They are not for the feint of heart or new reloaders, IMO. I don't usually recommend them, nor do I post them where some may try the loads without realizing the sensitivity of running the pressure edge or working up a load.

Thanks for that info SA, I may have that edition, so I will check it out.

Out of a 4 in barrel it shot nice for me.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=765870

I have taken half a dozen big game animals with handguns now and FWIW here is my a$$*le.... er, I mean opinion.

A handgun bullet has a lot more in common with an arrow than it does with a rifle bullet. You are poking a hole in vital organs to cause blood loss, thereby killing the animal. This is in contrast to the hydrostatic shock that will cause an animal hit with a high powered rifle to fall over dead almost instantly. You need the handgun bullet to carry enough energy to reliably penentrate far enough to cause this injury. I don't remember where I picked this up, but a long time ago someone told me that to shoot an animal with a handgun ethically, at the moment of impact it should still have double the energy (in ft/lbs) of the weight of the animal. I have treated this factoid as gossip, and I have yet to make a kill that I didn't consider clean and ethical.

Ballistic coefficient info is avail. on all bullet manufacture's websites, if you are shooting factory ammo so is rough velocity (for handloading, find someone with a chrono). With these two peices of info and the average weight of whatever you are shooting at (cow elk, buck deer, etc), you can calculate your maximum distance to target, and it will amaze you how close you really need to be. I took my first couple of handgun-shot animals with a 44mag, and then upgraded to a 454 and finally to a 460 xvr. This is not to say that you can't kill the heck out of something with a 44mag, just be very careful with your yardages.

Also, forget the JHPs for anything other than humans. Think about it; a 44 caliber solid is larger than an expanded 30cal bullet. Take the reliable penetration (and better BC) of a solid.


I also think long and hard about where the animal can go after the hit. So far, I have been really lucky in that every animal that I have shot with a sidearm has been dead within a matter of seconds or minutes, but you have to think like a bowhunter and not shoot at anything that is really close to a property boundry or an impenetrable (to humans) forest.

On kind of a cool side note, with the load that I developed with my 460xvr, I can ethically shoot a deer well over 150 yards (as far as energy is concerned) so I practice all the time on paper plates out to this distance, and set 150 as my maximum. Last year I hit my buck at 128 yards (prone with a bipod), he took about ten steps and 30 seconds to fall over dead.

Happy hunting! There is nothing like shooting something that big with a handgun.

All good info from everyone. This is why I love everyone on this site[Beer]

I carry my .44, along with my 30-06 in the woods. As a back up, I bring my semi auto .44 carbine, just in case I break the stock on my bolt action or something stupid happens. I look at it this way; by the time I get my 30-06 scoped on something that is within 100 yards, I can line up the sights on my pistol and knock it down within that range. Hell, the pistol only weighs 39 ounces plus the cartridges. The reality is, I think I started carrying it while hunting in case a bear jumps out at me. My brother had one sneak up on him when he was sitting, the bear got to within 25 feet of him before he knew it was there. Scary stuff! Yet he took the time to take pics instead of beatin' feet . . . dummy! If he'd not of had the pics, nobody in camp would have believed him . . . that was his logic.

If you really want to use your .44 mag, try this load "330-GR SUPER-HARD-CAST GC LONG-HAMMERHEAD AT 1400-FPS" from these guys: http://www.garrettcartridges.com/products.asp

They say a Ruger can handle the pressure this load will generate.

For Elk
you should use a Core bonded bullet, Sold copper bullet, Heat treated Lead with gas check or a Sold Brass bullet.

Hornady 300gr xtp may not work people tell me that the jacket comes off too easy. Barnes makes 225gr sold copper bullet that does good

on ammo Cor Bon makes a great line for the 44mag and Grizzly has a great line of boned core and sold brass "called the PUNCH" 44 mag ammo