Another weather set back - very cloudy and rainy for most of Saturday and today. Not good chronograph weather. I hope to run several different batches of the 300g WFNGC w/H110 and WLP primers at the next available opportunity.

Come on borealis, us lazy folks are anxiously awaiting your results so we can copy your fine work.

There is a possibility of a break in the weather this weekend. I'm watching closely and ready to dash to the range at the first hint of solid sunshine. But it is looking to be a brutal day on the bench, given that I've got 4 batches of the 300g WFNGC/H110/WLP fodder to test and 6 batches of 350g 45-70 gov. hunting ammo to run over the chronograph as well.

Hopefully, I'll post the .44 magnum results sometime this weekend.

I just purchased a new 629 and have ordered the Hornady XTP 300 gr I'll be following the recipe in the book and was planning on using this as a back up while in the woods Do you believe I should have gone with the 300g WFNGC intead of the xtp's? It was my understanding that the 300 XTPs core holds together very well yet still expands. Am I off track?

Please explain more about "in the woods". What part of the country are your woods, and what animal would you most likely be defending yourself against?

I have been carrying a MG loaded with 300gr Speer Coated Lead Bonded UniCore FP in Colorado while flyfishing. I am most interested in borealis's findings because I want to switch to a hard cast bullet that does not expand, but penetrates to the max for black bears that I might sneak up on by mistake.

99.9 percent in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Black bear would be the largest
thing I would encounter. Two legged critters would be the meanest.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: shomstead,

Thanks for your clarification of your intent. I don't think you are off base at all, and I will let someone more knowledgeable than I adress your question, but my thinking on bears is that penetration trumps expansion any day. From everything I have read, when that unfortunate situation faces us with a bear in the field, you want to break down the bear as soon as possible. That could be a head shot, center mass shot, or shoulder shot. I want the hardest, strongest, meanest bullet I can find to do the job with my puny 44 magnum. The hard cast solution seems to be the most logical for me.

borealis is from Alaska and faces even more of a challeng than we do haveing even bigger bears to deal with, therefore I am watching his test very closely. Those guys in Alaska have a lot more experiance than I do dealing with close encounters with bears.

shomstead,
As myanof said, you should have plenty of punch for an Appalachian black bear using the Hornady XTP 300g loads. Having visited the Appalachians, I agree the two-legged critters might be more of a concern, especially if you stumble across somebody's "special garden plot".

Up here, I occasionally encounter coastal brown bears on some of my outdoor adventures. They are *very* large and have very thick hides and large, heavy bones. My goal is to create as hefty a load as can be safely used in my Mountain Gun, using a fairly hard, heavy bullet. The intent is to have a load capable of good penetration against thick hides and capable of breaking large bones. There are many that would point out that a large rifle or shotgun (loaded with slugs) is better for this. I absolutely agree and carry my .45-70 whenever possible. The Mountain Gun is my secondary weapon. It is fairly light and compact, so it doesn't get left behind on my treks. I can also attest that there are thickets that you cannot swing a long-arm in, so the MG works nicely as a backup under these circumstances.

On a separate note, this weekend's hopes for another trip to the range were trashed by clouds, rain and wind. As I drove south of town on Friday evening the wind and rain were blowing hard and whipping up whitecaps along Turnagain Arm. I am looking for an opportunity later during the week. On the positive side, the silver salmon still bite and fight well on the Kenai, even in the rain. I didn't waste the weekend frowning out the window at the weather

I haven't carried my .44 mag hunting for a while. The last couple of years I've only had a couple of days to hunt rifle season -- been concentrating more on muzzle loader season.

Anyway, in my Ruger Super RedHawk, I worked up a load with the 300 gr. LBT WMN double crimp groove. I think I bought them from Beartooth Bullets. OAL is 1.775, which works in the Ruger, but the bullet is flush with the cylinder in my 629 MG. Seating the bullet long leaves more powder capacity, and I slowly worked my way up to 23.5 gr H-110 and a velocity of 1280 fps. All six shots extract with almost no effort and there is no other sign of high pressure. I miked case expansion just above the head -- I don't remember the numbers, but it was no more than a standard load. I used new RP brass. I never have shot a deer with this load, but with a meplat of .320", I know it will work well. Maybe this year. . .

Wow! That load would be flush with the cylinder on a Mountain Gun. It sounds like your double crimp is holding very well. You didn't mention any problems with binding up the cylinder. BTW, what primer are you using with your loads?

There is absolutely no cylinder binding or any sign of high pressure. The empty cases almost fall out. But there is a lot of lead extending beyond the case, making room for a bit extra powder. Neither LBT nor Beartooth Bullets gave any load info, other than advise on how to work up your own load. I concider that load safe ONLY in MY particular SRH. No way would I use it in my 629 MG. The face of the bullet is indead flush with the cylinder!

The bullet has a double crimp groove to enable the hand loader to have two different OAL using the same bullet. I used the rear crimp groove for the longest OAL length for use in my Ruger. I could use the front crimp groove in my S&W, but then I would be starting from scratch on the load data. (I've limited myself to ~250 gr. bullets in the MG). I do use a HEAVY crimp, though.

LBT/Cast Performance/Beartooth sure make some interesting bullets!

I forgot to mention primers. I use Winchester Large Pistol primers.

Ditto on the heavy crimp. Likewise, I'd have to agree that your load is better suited to your SRH. I'll be interested to see if my next batch yields more acceptable data with the WLP primers.

I just received my dies today. The new 4 inch 629 is supposed to be in tomorrow. I'll be putting together some loads using 200gr Hornady XTPs and 300gr Hornady XTPs. I noticed that the load data in the Hornady book is for a Ruger Redhawk with a 7 1/2 inch barrel. I planned on starting at the lowest and working my way up. If I am staying in the "black" with the Hornady loads the 629 4 inch should be able to handle them correct?

Is there a significant difference between the Mountain gun and the regular 629 other then that it is tapped out for a scope?

Stay with in the recommendations of the Hornady loads for 44 Magnum and you will be fine. The only differance is you will not get as much speed out of your four inch barrel as the loads in the book tested with a 7 1/2 barrel. The rule of thumb (not always accurate) is you should loose about 100fps per inch of barrel you are lacking. That equates to the loss of 350fps from a 7 1/2 in barrel to a 4in barrel. The guys who have chronos can comment on this one.

If the Hornady loads in your book are exclusively for a Red Hawk, you need to be very cautious, because a Red Hawk is built stronger than a 629, but I suspect the loads you are seeing were merely tested with a Ruger Redhawk, and are fine for any modern 44 Magnum in good working order.

As far as the MG, it is a 629 excluding the barrel. MGs have a tapered barrel like the old 44 Specials from Smith. Other than a few cosmetic differances, that's it. That slimmer lighter barrel seems to make a differance in heavy load capability. The good news about the MG is they are a bit lighter than a regular 629. I hope this helps.

I did get a break in the clouds this last weekend, but ran into another delay in testing the 300g WFNGC/H110/WLP loads. This time the borrowed chronograph was out of order. I was told it had been dropped. From what I could see it looks like the drop snapped off both legs of the rear screen right at the base. I gotta wonder how the "dropper" accomplished that. Its time to start socking away pocket change to buy my own chronograph.

Since I will be in Prince William Sound hunting Sitka Blacktail, I will not be testing loads this weekend either. I'll post again when a weather opportunity and a chronograph present themselves.