one of the most effective and UNDER RATED revolver calibers, at least in my opinion, is the 44 mag,
and even the more the underrated 357 mag, benefits from cast bullets and reloading in skilled hands, now Id point out right off,
that while both are lethal in experienced hands and ....
that any hunting revolver will lose significant velocity with a barrel length of under 5" and a 6"-10" barrel gives you a longer sight radius and more velocity
,the 44 mag is hardly the only good choice in a hunting caliber revolver,
the 357 mag, 445 dwsm, 480 ruger, 460 and 500 S&W jump into mind
both the proper bullet design and at least a 6"-10" barrel will consistently help make any revolver,
used for hunting more effective, and making hitting a target a bit easier.
you don't need to load to absolute max velocities as it really adds stress to the gun with little or no benefit in the pistols effectiveness in the field , someone always brings up the fact that theres stronger pistols than the 629 S&W or that the 480 ruger, 454 cassull or 500 S&W have more power, but think it thru, if a 44 mag with hard cast 300 grain bullets, can consistently push bullets fast enough that it zips thru game from most angles, there's little gained on deer and even ELK by using a more powerful revolver, within reasonable revolver ranges, which for most guys will be WELL UNDER 75-100 yards , when you limit shots to the range you can place all your shots in a 6" circle from field positions.
the hard cast 260-310 grain bullets make the well tuned revolver in 44 mag capable of killing anything walking in north America, with good well placed hits, even the big bears have been dropped many times in the past with good hits.
hard cast bullets are "NOT SOLIDS" but they are very slow expending and as such the, high weight retention and limited frontal area tends to allow much deeper penetration,its rare for me to find fired slugs as most exit,but judging from a few I do see, my 44 slugs rarely expand to more than 50 cal. or lose weight while a common hollow point can loose 40%-70% of its weight and expand to over 80 cal.
cast your alloy from 5% tin and 95% wheel weight mix and you'll seldom have accuracy or performance issues if you place shots well and know game anatomy.
it should be obvious that it will require a great deal of practice , and practice require a great deal of ammo to be used on a consistent basis, thus hand loading your own ammo and casting your own bullets seems like a logical option
http://www.handloads.com/misc/linebaugh ... .tests.asp
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0000690227
If you have a 44 mag revolver, and reload, use this bullet mold, cast from 95% wheel weights and 5% tin by weight
or something similar like this below
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0152660650
size and lube to about a 1/2 thousandth larger than your bore diam.
load over 20 grains of H110
and go hunting , the hard cast 300 grain slugs do a fine job on deer and hogs
I used a 21 grain charge of H110 under a LEE 310 grain hard cast 44 cal. bullet seated out to the lower crimp groove
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/5...cf-430-diameter-310-grain-flat-nose-gas-check
MOLD DC C 430-310-RF
if you really want to maximize any large bore revolvers lethality you'll most likely want to order a custom bullet mold, to produce an exceptionally effective hard cast gas check bullet design, luckily mountain molds will work with you to produce most of the bullet molds you might want if you can,t find a commercially available design you like, the key is maximizing penetration and having a 80%-85% wide melplat (flat nose) to maximize the tissue destruction,in a gas check design, that keeps the bore clean, in a weight that you can push to at least 1300 fps, the bullet below is decent in a 44 mag , where 1370 fps is not hard to reach, and almost perfect for hunting ammo in a 445 DWSP where it can easily be pushed to over 1570 fps in a 10" barrel revolver, using max safe charges of H110 powder.
now I got asked why I would spend $100 on a custom mold to cast these and what the advantage would be over a $30 LEE 310 grain mold, and truthfully the difference is not huge.
btw most rifles chambered for bore sizes like 358, 375, .416, .430, and 458 caliber cartridges respond well to properly cast bullet use.
obviously rifle twist rates and bullet designs must match fairly well, to get the best results and velocity's kept under 2000 fps tend to produce decent accuracy
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/0000690858/double-cavity-mold-c430-310-rf
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=43-300B-D.png
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply....llet-mould-number-429650-44-caliber-300-grain
to many guys get into reloading and think they need to maximize the cartridges velocity, to make effective ammo
but the experience Ive had is that an accurate load with a heavy cast bullet with a wide front melplate (flat nose) does a very effective job and costs a good deal less than jacketed bullets that may not open reliably at under 1300fps
while its true you can push the lighter bullets faster the lighter bullets don't always exit nor are they as accurate in many guns out to about 100 or so yards that most game will be shot at with a 44 mag.
Id point out the 41 mag, 480 ruger, 460 and 500 S&W revolvers are all effective on large game in the hands of a good shot,
provided a heavy for caliber gas check bullet is used that's proven to be accurate in your revolver
while lighter bullets , pushed to high velocity, may shoot flatter, at longer ranges ,penetration in some cases suffers
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... pe=Handgun
http://www.handgunsmag.com/ammunition/4 ... ndex2.html
http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_ ... ing%20Data
http://www.handgunsmag.com/ammunition/44mag_081005/
and even the more the underrated 357 mag, benefits from cast bullets and reloading in skilled hands, now Id point out right off,
that while both are lethal in experienced hands and ....
that any hunting revolver will lose significant velocity with a barrel length of under 5" and a 6"-10" barrel gives you a longer sight radius and more velocity
,the 44 mag is hardly the only good choice in a hunting caliber revolver,
the 357 mag, 445 dwsm, 480 ruger, 460 and 500 S&W jump into mind
both the proper bullet design and at least a 6"-10" barrel will consistently help make any revolver,
used for hunting more effective, and making hitting a target a bit easier.
you don't need to load to absolute max velocities as it really adds stress to the gun with little or no benefit in the pistols effectiveness in the field , someone always brings up the fact that theres stronger pistols than the 629 S&W or that the 480 ruger, 454 cassull or 500 S&W have more power, but think it thru, if a 44 mag with hard cast 300 grain bullets, can consistently push bullets fast enough that it zips thru game from most angles, there's little gained on deer and even ELK by using a more powerful revolver, within reasonable revolver ranges, which for most guys will be WELL UNDER 75-100 yards , when you limit shots to the range you can place all your shots in a 6" circle from field positions.
the hard cast 260-310 grain bullets make the well tuned revolver in 44 mag capable of killing anything walking in north America, with good well placed hits, even the big bears have been dropped many times in the past with good hits.
hard cast bullets are "NOT SOLIDS" but they are very slow expending and as such the, high weight retention and limited frontal area tends to allow much deeper penetration,its rare for me to find fired slugs as most exit,but judging from a few I do see, my 44 slugs rarely expand to more than 50 cal. or lose weight while a common hollow point can loose 40%-70% of its weight and expand to over 80 cal.
cast your alloy from 5% tin and 95% wheel weight mix and you'll seldom have accuracy or performance issues if you place shots well and know game anatomy.
it should be obvious that it will require a great deal of practice , and practice require a great deal of ammo to be used on a consistent basis, thus hand loading your own ammo and casting your own bullets seems like a logical option
http://www.handloads.com/misc/linebaugh ... .tests.asp
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0000690227
If you have a 44 mag revolver, and reload, use this bullet mold, cast from 95% wheel weights and 5% tin by weight
or something similar like this below
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0152660650
size and lube to about a 1/2 thousandth larger than your bore diam.
load over 20 grains of H110
and go hunting , the hard cast 300 grain slugs do a fine job on deer and hogs
I used a 21 grain charge of H110 under a LEE 310 grain hard cast 44 cal. bullet seated out to the lower crimp groove
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/5...cf-430-diameter-310-grain-flat-nose-gas-check
MOLD DC C 430-310-RF
if you really want to maximize any large bore revolvers lethality you'll most likely want to order a custom bullet mold, to produce an exceptionally effective hard cast gas check bullet design, luckily mountain molds will work with you to produce most of the bullet molds you might want if you can,t find a commercially available design you like, the key is maximizing penetration and having a 80%-85% wide melplat (flat nose) to maximize the tissue destruction,in a gas check design, that keeps the bore clean, in a weight that you can push to at least 1300 fps, the bullet below is decent in a 44 mag , where 1370 fps is not hard to reach, and almost perfect for hunting ammo in a 445 DWSP where it can easily be pushed to over 1570 fps in a 10" barrel revolver, using max safe charges of H110 powder.
now I got asked why I would spend $100 on a custom mold to cast these and what the advantage would be over a $30 LEE 310 grain mold, and truthfully the difference is not huge.
btw most rifles chambered for bore sizes like 358, 375, .416, .430, and 458 caliber cartridges respond well to properly cast bullet use.
obviously rifle twist rates and bullet designs must match fairly well, to get the best results and velocity's kept under 2000 fps tend to produce decent accuracy
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/0000690858/double-cavity-mold-c430-310-rf
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=43-300B-D.png
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply....llet-mould-number-429650-44-caliber-300-grain
tips on bullet casting alloys
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=bullet+casting+alloys&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=1d1fff8f1cbf7d1f32c97104f242ca86fef3983f http://www.lasc.us/SAAMIMaxPressure.htm...
garage.grumpysperformance.com
but the experience Ive had is that an accurate load with a heavy cast bullet with a wide front melplate (flat nose) does a very effective job and costs a good deal less than jacketed bullets that may not open reliably at under 1300fps
while its true you can push the lighter bullets faster the lighter bullets don't always exit nor are they as accurate in many guns out to about 100 or so yards that most game will be shot at with a 44 mag.
Id point out the 41 mag, 480 ruger, 460 and 500 S&W revolvers are all effective on large game in the hands of a good shot,
provided a heavy for caliber gas check bullet is used that's proven to be accurate in your revolver
while lighter bullets , pushed to high velocity, may shoot flatter, at longer ranges ,penetration in some cases suffers
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... pe=Handgun
http://www.handgunsmag.com/ammunition/4 ... ndex2.html
http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_ ... ing%20Data
http://www.handgunsmag.com/ammunition/44mag_081005/
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