Am shifting to handgun hunting for big game (too old to lug my trusty 30-06)so I got a 629-6. Hunt dark timber, so a 75 yd shot on elk is really long. What load (prefer factory, but I probably will get into reloading) would you recommend? Don't want to pound the gun apart practicing/sighting!

Am shifting to handgun hunting for big game (too old to lug my trusty 30-06)so I got a 629-6. Hunt dark timber, so a 75 yd shot on elk is really long. What load (prefer factory, but I probably will get into reloading) would you recommend? Don't want to pound the gun apart practicing/sighting!

Good Luck!
Getting inside 75 yards on Elk? You'd better be able to shape shift! IMO, it's not enough gun for anything but perfect shot placement with any loading? And it wouldn't be cricket, to allow a wounded wapiti an agonized lingering death.
But again, JOMO?

I agree with Spotteddog; but JMO.

At least use a rifle in 44Mag with a 300gr bullet.

My personal opinion would be to use a 44Mag as a last resort if nothing else was available and my family was hungry.

__________________
Doug "N Frame Addict"
CO

While I'm not an elk hunter, somehow, people are hunting and killing elk every year with bows, so I'm inclined to think that it's somewhat possible to get within handgun range of an elk. I'm quite certain those bowhunters aren't taking 100+ yard shots with their bows to get elk. Probably not easy by any stretch, but if it was easy, everybody would do it.

With that said, The only .44 Magnum factory load coming to mind would likely be the Federal 300 Castcore round. A 300 grain LFN at 1050 fps will be likely to make holes on both sides of an elk, broad side. Also, there's the Buffalo Bore rounds, a 305 LFN at a claimed 1300 fps. I don't know that that's a load I'd shoot in any S&W .44 Magnum, though.

I regularly handload a Keith LSWC (roughly 260-265 grains) to 1300 fps from my 6 inch 29, and Elmer Keith used this load to take nearly every big game animal in North America, including wapiti and mule deer. Not that I'm intimating I'm anywhere near his equal, mind you, but that load is.

Thanks all for the advice. I've gotten within 50 yards on bulls twice in the last two years during the November season. Didn't get a clean brush-free standing broadside shot, so I didn't shoot. My secret for getting close? I've been still hunting for 40 years and my arthritis slows me down Archery season, you can call them in & that's "easier" to get close, but my calling sounds like a dying goose so I hunt mulies with my bow instead.

DJINCO, hadn't thought of a 44 rifle. Kinda got stuck in either/or. Maybe a Trapper with a ghost ring would work.

Vanilla Gorilla,I agree about the Buffalo Bore stuff & I'll check into the Federal load. BTW, do you cast your own Keith LSWC or is there a good source?

UncleWray, I cast my own now, but I have used Keith bullets from Magnus, with very good results.

UW,
I'd forgotten to use my arthritis as a stalking technique? Cracking my knuckles anymore sounds like the action on an 86' Winchester being racked! Yeah, it can be done. Some folks let their desires get ahead of their abilities. I doubt that being so in your case! A short .44 Mag carbine sounds the ticket to me. And you can use most of the high performance loads that way too.
And WELCOME!

Groo here
Try to find a copy or J.D. Jones's
Handgun hunter book.
SSk helped to start the heavy bullet handgun
movement.
Heavy bullets made correctly have taken
the largest game.
Your 44 will work if it is fed correctly and
you hit the right place.

Uncle Wray,

I've killed SEVERAL elk from bow distances to well over a hundred yds with a .44 mag, .45 Colt and the Casull. You can do it cleanly with a .44 magnum handgun. I use my own handloads with 275 or 300 gr LBT's in the forty four.

Federal loads a 300 gr CastCore lead load that would be PERFECT for Your situation. I'm not speaking from internet knowledge but practical knowledge. Even a 250 gr Keith slug at a mere 1100 fps will shoot right THROUGH a mature bull. I've done it! The penetration of a hard cast slug at a moderate speed from a .41, .44 or .45 handgun will AMAZE you.

DO be aware of whats BEHIND your intended victim. I once did a two for one "trick shot" on mule deer that turned into a real mess. Only had ONE tag!!

FN in MT