Looking for advice on a .44 mag factory load for deer.

Have a model 29 (6 inch barrel) and model 629 Mountain Gun (4inch) and looking to hunt northern whitetail with them.

Shots will be 50 yards max, likely shorter.

With full patch loads, can shoot the model 29 accurately enough for hunting, not so much the 629.

So the questions are two fold.

-For the model 29, what is a good factory load for deer. Do hollowpoints give enough penetration, or soft points?

-For the 629, any suggestions for lower recoil factory loads suitable for whitetail?

As to shot placement, will these rounds penetrate through a front shoulder, or lung shots only.(don't really want them running over to the neighbors property, and my .308 has never failed me.)

Georgia Arms has a couple of choices in their .44 Mag "Deer Stopper" line. The 200 grain hollow point is clocking in at 1650 fps. I'd say that will do the job in the distances you're looking at.

http://www.georgia-arms.com/44-rem-mag-3/

Mr. Hancock beat me to it, I love the 200 grain JHP also, I even have shot it in Blazer aluminum cased cartridges in 44 mag and I think the 200 is the way to go, plenty of velocity out of the 6 inch as I shoot the same 29. I would not hesitate using this round for the whitetail.

Pete

Any of the 240 grain rounds will do the job nicely.

Any full power 240 gr JHP load will work out of either revolver. Some
expansion and complete penetration on lung shots. I don't think a
shoulder shot is necessary to put them down fairly quickly with the 44.

cv540- I have some experience with the .44 mag and whitetails, so I'll make a few observations.

The various 200 grain JHP loads will work on broadside heart / lung shots. But I question their penetration on raking or shoulder shots.

The 240 grain factory loads (XTP's and WW White Box) have worked well for me, offering expansion and better penetration than the 200 JHP's Loadings using the Barnes all copper bullets also work well.

The 300 grain XTP will penetrate deep, and usually expand some, and is a good choice as well.

A hard cast semi-wadcutter or LBT type bullet with a big, flat nose (Federal Cast Core, various Buffalo Bore / Garret type loadings of 250 grains or over, will offer the deepest penetration. Hard cast bullets though, often do not drop game as quickly as expanding bullets when used on lung shots. They work best when heavy bone is hit, such as the shoulder, as this seems to transfer more striking energy into the deer. I like heavy cast loads, but usually hunt areas where I don't have to worry about the deer traveling a little before recovery.

When all is said and done, as long as you stick to broadside heart / lung shots, the various 240 grain loads (I like the XTP and WW White Box) will work fine, as do the Barnes all copper bullets. I would use them in either gun, though the 6 inch would be the better choice, as you shoot more accurately with it, and have higher confidence with it. They offer a little better penetration than the 200 grain HP's if your angle is off some, or you make a shoulder hit.

Larry

Only time I lost a deer was with a 180gr. JHP. Changed to a hard cast 240 SWC loaded to 1200fps and never lost another. A big hole to let air in and and a bigger hole on the off side to let the blood out.

I would also tend to use a heavier JHP or LHP. I want complete penetration on broadside shots & sometimes you can't wait for that. So a bullet that can reach vitals from any reasonable angle. Maybe a 200gr XTP but I would lean 240gr JHP. Light wt mountain gun, time to get into handloading. A 250gr LSWC or LHP @ 1100fps is easy to shoot & won't likely stay inside any deer at any reasonable angles.

__________________
NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I agree with the above.Heavier is better.This is all that's left of a Remington 180Gr.JHP recovered from a very large doe at about 50 yards or so.Shot was from elevated position and entered above shoulder and below the spine.As you can see the core is completely missing from this photo.Grenaded through the lungs and the deer only went about 20 yards before dropping.Entrance wound was the size of a tennis ball and the jacket you see here was recovered about an inch under the hide.It literally exploded and I was very fortunate it played out the way it did.

__________________
I'm just here for the guns.

Look at the Deer Grenade from Buffalo Bore. It's what they call a medium hard cast. it's a 240 gr. semi wadcutter.

At the ranges your talking about any full powered 44 mag load is going to work fine for whitetails, id do some range time with your gun and find a load thats accurate in your gun.

Remington's 240 gr SJHP will do what you want. I've been loading them down somewhat from full factory and they still work very, very well. At the time they were introduced, they were the most expensively developed hunting bullet in the industry.

I've recovered all but one. Retained weight has been in the 99% range with outstanding penetration. One entered rt rear rib cage and after traversing the body was recovered in the left shoulder muscles just under the skin.

When I was deer hunting with a handgun I had a Ruger Super Blachawk 5 1/2", and a 629-5 Mountain Gun. My deer load for years was a 240gr XTP loaded at just under max load which did a fine job on anything in Texas.

Currently the only 44 I have is the Mountain Gun, and I have standardized on two loads. For strapping on in black bear country I load a 250gr hard cast Keith just under max load which runs about 1200 FPS from the 4" barrel, and the same bullet in 44 special at about 900 FPS. I no longer hunt deer with a handgun, but as others have said any 240 gr HP or Flat Point will work.

As a practical matter, you don't need the biggest, baddest load for whitetail.

In 44, any load with 240 gr projectile at 44 special velocities will work just fine.

I've killed whitetail (and mule deer) with 45acp 200 gr cast SWC at about 1000 fps: the same hand load I use for everything from target shooting to sd to hunting. Works great as long as you hit what you're shooting at and take shots only within 50 yards.

Find something you shoot well within those limits and you're good to go.

Understand that no handgun will give you 308 performance.

Just my experience, of course.

I have shot a few deer with Model 29s. Used a 8 3/8 and a 4''

Shots were at a max of 60 yards.

I used hand loads, but they were very similar to factory 240 grain JHPs and I would trust the results were quite similar.

__________________
14 S&W Revs none with locks!

As noted , for "only" whitetails , and at the moderate distances you describe any full power .44Mag load will be more than fatal to a whitetail , and can be loaded down quite a bit and still be plenty. The Rem Medimum Velocity .44 Mag from a cpl decades ago ( 240gr lead kinda flat point @ nominal 1000fps) was introduced at the urging of the late Hal Swigget. He believed it to be a fine load for Texas whitetail.

Any full power 240jhp will work. I like the R-P scallop jacket.

It would be ideal for you to handload for your Mountain Gun , so you could tailor a load to your recoil level preference. Off the top of my head , I recall the FiochiUSA loading of 200gr XTP was loaded moderatly , at amybe 3/4 throttle. Perhaps that would prove suitable in your MG . ( Bearing in mind that broadside-ish chest shots called for.)

Check out Underwoods offerings. They make some pretty potent 44 mag.

__________________
-Mike-