44 mag load for tomorrow

[pennsylvaniaboy]

So I am whitetail hubting tomorrow and will have my 5" SBH. I have 2 loads that run well out of this- 240gr SWC @1100fps and 240gr JHP @ 1325fps. Print pretty close @ 25yds, I will stretch out more today. The 1100 fps is easier on recoil etc but doubt I will get a follow up shot if I miss the first time anyways.

Thoughts? I think both will do the job

[potatojudge]

The JHP load will be better on trajectory if you are stretching the range, but up close I think I'd pick the SWC. JHPs can and do fail for various reasons, the SWC is a little more fail proof.

Both should work just fine, so maybe see how they do at longer ranges if that's the type of shot you could get.

[bradshaw]

Nov 26, 2017 10:03:28 GMT -5 pennsylvaniaboy said:

So I am whitetail hubting tomorrow and will have my 5" SBH. I have 2 loads that run well out of this- 240gr SWC @1100fps and 240gr JHP @ 1325fps. Print pretty close @ 25yds, I will stretch out more today. The 1100 fps is easier on recoil etc but doubt I will get a follow up shot if I miss the first time anyways.

Thoughts? I think both will do the job

*****

240 cast SWC @ 1100 fps vs 240 JHP @ 1325 fps
1) Are velocities actual or taken from print? Presuming velocities are chronographed from your SBH 5-inch, a description of bullets would help. If the jacketed bullet is a Sierra 240 JHC, Nosler 240 JHP, or Hornady 240 XTP, there is no question these bullet impart punch. If I were tracking a buck in the mountains, I would take any of these bullets @ 1,325 fps over a hard cast 240 SWC @ 1,100 fps.

You probably won’t be tracking. Likelihood of snow----remote. Tracking conditions altogether lacking. The above JHPs work through the shoulder, work through the lungs, work through the liver. These bullets offer a larger hemorrhagic sphere than the cast 240, especially if the cast bullet is hard.

If the 240 JHP is some gray market bullet of unknown ancestry, I would sooner trust the cast 240 SWC. If the cast is low on Brinell, or POWDER COATED and therefore annealed, it becomes a better puncher on the soft skin whitetail.

2) Do you shoot one bullet better than the other? in the event you group one substantially better than the other, might as well strap it on with the load you shoot better.
Good hunting,
David Bradshaw

[pennsylvaniaboy]

All numbers are print from Georgia arms. Not hand loads. Range is prolly 50yds max

[bigbrowndog]

Placed in the correct spot for the bullet to be most effective, take the one you shoot better. If the bullet gets placed incorrectly but satisfactorily, I’d lean more on the JHP provided you know which one it is. If the bullet is placed incorrectly and not satisfactorily I’d want as much penetration as I could get so that as many bones as possible could get broken and provide an exit wound, so I’d lean on the cast bullet.
Only you can decide when, where, and how to shoot your animal, but you owe the animal as Swift a death as possible. On game the size and build of deer, it’s hard to screw up with a good JHP, but it can be done if you don’t place the bullet properly.

Trapr

[pennsylvaniaboy]

I shoot the cast better so it seems on targets.

[lws]

Cast through both shoulders !

[bigbrowndog]

That’d be my choice at this point.

Trapr

[sixshot]

Living & hunting in the west all my life I took to cast bullets early & for 2 reasons. First was, they were always as accurate for me as a jacketed bullet. The other reason was there was never a bad angle with cast bullets. For 50 years I've used the 41, 44 & 45 mostly to take about everything in north america except for the big bears. I have passed up many bad shots but I never worried about bad angles with cast, I knew I could always drive that cast bullet into the vitals from any angle regardless of how the animals were standing. I also knew I couldn't do that with a jacketed bullet.

In the last few years my cast bullets have just gotten better because of powder coating. I have always shot my cast bullets towards the soft side & now with powder coating I shoot them even softer. If you're "probably going to be shooting 50 yds or less, either bullet will work but you mention shooting the cast bullet somewhat better. Most cast bullet shooters use the high shoulder shot for a quick, anchor type shot. If you're using a hard cast that's where I'd place my bullet. If you're using the jacketed HP's anywhere in the vitals is going to get the job done from a 44 magnum, end of story.

[coldtriggerfinger]

So , which bullet did you use and how did it work ?