Can someone please offer some suggestions for for a good elk and black bear .44 magnum load?

I'm planning to take my Ruger Redhawk elk hunting with me this year. Where we're going, it's a combination of long shots in between large areas of thick, dense forest. Based on past experience, it's certainly possible to get a 50 or 60 yard shot in the Aspens.

I was hoping to perhaps use a 300 grain cast bullet such as this wide flat nose gas check by Cast Performance but I will defer to the experience of others. Please keep in mind this will be shot from a 4.2" barrel. While I do want enough force delivered to the target, I would like to avoid excessive unburned powder being sent into the air and/or unnecessary muzzle blast. I'm not sure which way to do this that is sensible or if that's even possible with this revolver. I need some help.

Any and all advice is appreciated. Thank you.

Your bullet choice is a good one. How fast do you want to push the bullet?

Boolit choice is good but why such a short barrel? Too many problems with POI changes from recoil, blast so you need ear protection, powder choices for complete burn, short sight radius so you need a more perfect picture and sight adjustments are harder.
A guy will use a 14" barrel on a pistol but will buy a 4" on a revolver?????? That shortens effective range.

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
Boolit choice is good but why such a short barrel? Too many problems with POI changes from recoil, blast so you need ear protection, powder choices for complete burn, short sight radius so you need a more perfect picture and sight adjustments are harder.
A guy will use a 14" barrel on a pistol but will buy a 4" on a revolver?????? That shortens effective range.

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Nothing at all wrong with a 4" barrel as a matter of fact I shoot the 4" S&W offhand better than I do longer tubes. Barrel length does not effect powder choice at all. I do not like revolvers with barrels longer than 6 inches.

Balance is the most iomportant factor to me and long barreled revolvers are too barrel heavy for my tastes

quote:

Originally posted by jwp475:
Your bullet choice is a good one. How fast do you want to push the bullet?

I don't have a specific velocity in mind. I only need it to be able to reliably stop an elk or black bear at 50 yards.

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
Boolit choice is good but why such a short barrel?

This is for carrying in the mountains while elk hnting or for running around from one pasture to the next while hog hunting and jumping fences. I will have my .300 Win Mag for longer shots on elk/bear. I understand what you mean about longer barrels and sight radius but this revolver is also for protection and needs to be "handy" and balanced.

Thank you for the feedback thus far. Glad to hear the bullet I'm considering is good. What about a 250 grain WFN? Feedback I am receiving elsewhere indicates this may be more realistic for the barrel length I am using, especially considering the amount/type of powder needed to send it.

For the purposes you describe, a good hard cast from 250 grain Keith up to the 300's work fine. I have killed an elk with a 250 Keith and a moderate Blue Dot load with both shoulders broken, bullet under far side hide. S&W 29 with a 6" barrel. Don't worry about the barrel length, burnt powder. Select a known load that shoots well for you and go hunting. The 44 and such depends not on FPS to do it's work. Some data from Accurate Arms below. It is tough to beat a heavy cast and Number 9 powder at listed loads for Game.
Lead Bullets
No.7 200 LC RN FP 15.3 1,229 17.0 1,397 34,800 1.560
No.7 240 MCB SWC 14.7 1,180 16.3 1,341 34,539 1.560
No.9 220 MCB RN FP 19.7 1,340 21.9 1,523 34,800 1.560
No.9 240 LC SWC 18.1 1,255 20.2 1,426 34,452 1.560
No.9 275 CP WFNPB 15.9 1,106 17.7 1,242 34,800 1.695
No.9 300 LC TC 15.4 1,081 17.2 1,214 34,800 1.720
No.9 320 CP WFNGC 14.6 1,070 16.3 1,216 34,626 1.665
4100 200 MCB RN FP 22.6 1,500 24.9 1,650 25,649 1.565
4100 255 CP WFNGC 18.5 1,285 20.5 1,414 25,718 1.610
4100 300 CP WFNGC 16.7 1,225 18.4 1,347 32,259 1.590
4100 310 OT WN FP 16.5 1,171 18.2 1,288 27,787 1.635
4100 320 CP WLNGC 16.4 1,179 18.1 1,297 31,796 1.695
5744 240 LC SWC 21.6 1,272 24.0 1,446 34,500 1.560
5744 320 CP WFNGC 16.2 952 18.0 1,082 27,800 1.665

Thats a good boolit,but for a 50-60 yd shot 1,000 to 1,100 FPS is ample so you really do not need a gas check. 17.5 to 19 grs of H110 with a Magnum Primer should get you there.That should be very accurate and pleasant to shoot.Good luck,OB PS these type boolits work best on shoulder shots.

Use the 300 grainer and be done with it. The 4-inch barrel will serve you well for backup duty and it can double as a primary hunting tool in a pinch.

I use a 300grn WFNGC at 19-19.5grn H110. Should do the job nicely.

I load a 405 grain cast bullet (.340 meplat) at 1020 fps out of my 5.5" and 4 inch Redhawks. Easy to shoot, accurate, and penetrates like all get out. Should stop just about anything you care to hunt out to 50 yards.

I would think a 300 cast and a load of H110 would be great. Just work up the load til you figure the recoil is what you can handle or at max whatever comes first.

I'm shooting 300 grain Lazer cast slugs over 21.5 grains of H110 out of an old Ruger Bisley Vaquero 5.5" barrel. The Ruger Redhawk is probably more stoutly built than the old Vaqueros from Ruger. This is not a pleasant load to shot as recoil will get your attention but performance down range is phenomenal and lethal

Appears there is at least one that doesn't hunt at altitude climbing mountains chasing game. A 4" or 5" sixgun is ideal for such hunting.

My most used bullet has been the 250 Keith, I've taken a lot of game with that bullet & 21 grs of 2400, I've used the 320 gr LBT slug with 21.5 grs of H110 on 4 elk, all one shot kills.

Dick

your thoughts are on track. Basicaly any hard cast bullet 240 grain or heavier at a 1000-1300 fps will do just fine. Nothing wrong with erroring on the heavy side. Only thing i would change is your bullet design. Ive probaly loaded as many 44 rounds and anyone in the country and have at least 20 differnt 44mag rifles and handguns and if i had to recomend one bullet design to someone looking for a fast way to find accuracy id recomend a LFN and ill add that id recomend an lfn with a gas check. Im a bit old school and do like keiths but nothing is easier to work with then an lfn. The fly better then any other bullet design are easier to stabilize at about any speed and have a big enough metplat that no animal is going to know the difference whether hit by one of them or a wfn. Wfns are at the bottom of my list of bullet likes. About the only time i use them is when using a smaller caliber like a 357 or 41 for hunting big game when i know the distance wont be out past 50 yards. wfns are in my experience the toughest bullet to work with when trying to find accurate loads.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Thompson:
My most used bullet has been the 250 Keith, I've taken a lot of game with that bullet & 21 grs of 2400, I've used the 320 gr LBT slug with 21.5 grs of H110 on 4 elk, all one shot kills.

Dick

Very good loads.

Here is a write up on a Beartooth bullet with data in pistol and carbine. In the REAL WORLD this might be what you are looking for.
http://www.beartoothbullets.com/open_sight/index.htm It is the 2nd article on page.

Ive loaded these 330gr. Penn bullets (SSK) copy with 22 grs 296 and 155 Fed primers, good for about 1400fps from my Redhawk, should knock a bears dick in the dirt, Id think. You need to Profile crimp on the lower crimp groove to fit the extra powder, of course. Now if I knew how to post a pic I could show you the pic, grrrrrr