I am going to develop a load mainly for my Winchester Trapper [16" barrel] 44 Mag Lever rifle that might also be used in a 44 Mag Revolver.

I will mostly be using my 240 Keith SWC in my revolver, but they will not feed in the Lever rifle.

A little History:

My first deer rifle was a Ruger 44 Mag Deerstalker. I killed a lot of deer with that rifle, all with perfect results. This was back in the 1960's and I first used the 240gr factory loads from Winchester, the Soft Nosed HP, and from Remington, the S and later the SJHP, and the Norma 240gr SP.
When I started reloading I used the 2 Remington bullets and the Norma bullet, then later the Sierra HP and the Speer SP. I have used 2400 and H 110 in the rifle.
I have never recovered a single bullet from a deer hit with the rifle...

So I am thinking of using a 240gr jacketed bullet, with either 2400 or H110, whichever is most accurate.
If I needed to shoot these loads in the revolver since they will be loaded similar to my Cast bullets they should hit fairly close to the same place.

I am leaning toward the Hornady 240 gr XTP for 2 main reasons. I have heard it is a good bullet, and it does not have any lead exposed at the nose, so the rounds do not get battered while in the tubluar magazine.

However the Remington 240gr SP bullets can be bought in bulk at a better price.

I plan on loading a few hundred rounds, as I would like to shoot this rifle some more as well.

I will be using the rifle for some deer, but mainly pigs, as in Texas there is no closed season and no bag limit. The rifle has a reciever sight, it will not be scoped so shots will most likely not be over 100 yards.

I have also given some thoughts to testing the 300gr Hornady XTP. This rifle shoots the factory 270 Speer, and the Federal 300gr Cast Core good at 100 yards, even though it has the 1 in 38" twist.

Opinions???

In general when I load true double duty rounds for revolver and rifle, I load to the revolver for maximum load and the rifle for function.

The revolver will generaly handle less punishment than the rifle, while the rifle is more finicky on oal bullet shape etc.

Once you have a load that does not beat your revolver up and functions in your rifle you are good to go.

Choice of bullet is a quite good compared to the past but for a general purpose load it is hard to beat the various 240gr soft nose bullets.

Then I would develope some heavy loads using heavier bullets and or powder charges for the rifle, you never know when you might want the extra energy.

Here in Texas the 240gr soft nose bullets from a rifle kill our deer and hogs so well it is difficult to justify more expensive or heavier bullets. But if I was around heavier animals I would certainly try out some heavier bullets.

Good luck with the load development.

PS: Remember if you need 444 Marlin performance, buy one. Don't try to make the 44mag into something it is not.

Just as a recommendation, I would try 11.0 grains of AA #5 behind a 240 to 250 grain projectile. The load works very well for a hard cast bullet out of a revolver: somewhere around 1100 fps. It will shoot completely through a pig at that velocity assuming the bullet holds together. The added velocity of a longer barrel will be a bonus.

And although the 44 was built around a 240 grain bullet, don't turn your nose up at 200 grains of hard cast truncated cone. You might be surprised at how they perform as well...

Have to watch the XTP 240, it opens very fast and could lose penetration. I would go with Speer or Remington.
Keep velocity low and the XTP is a great bullet.

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
Have to watch the XTP 240, it opens very fast and could lose penetration. I would go with Speer or Remington.
Keep velocity low and the XTP is a great bullet.

bfr
So in your experience the Remington 240gr S and the Speer is a tougher bullet than the XTP???

I have only recovered one Speer 240gr bullet, shot from a 6.5" 44 Mag into a buck deer at 85 yards.
It was a slightly quartering away shot and the bullet was expanded against the hide on the opposite side.
This ws many years ago before the Speer bonded core jackets.

Hamourkiller

Don't worry I have been loading for the 44 Rifle since the 1960's and the 44 handgun since 1970.

I never load any calibre beyond its capabilities.
Well I did Hot Rod the 45 ACP for a while...

The purpose of these loads will to get maximum accuracy out of the Lever Action.

I will use most likely use either 2400 or H110, as I am most familar with them, but I do have a little 296 and H4227 that a fella gave me several years ago that I have never used.

In the Ruger rifle I used 22, or 22.5gr of 2400 or 24gr of H 110 back when I had it.

I have dropped down to 21 gr of 2400 for my "full power" revolver cast bullet loads.

quote:

Posted 15 June 2010 22:12 Hide Post

quote:
Originally posted by bfrshooter:
Have to watch the XTP 240, it opens very fast and could lose penetration. I would go with Speer or Remington.
Keep velocity low and the XTP is a great bullet.



bfr
So in your experience the Remington 240gr S and the Speer is a tougher bullet than the XTP???

I have only recovered one Speer 240gr bullet, shot from a 6.5" 44 Mag into a buck deer at 85 yards.
It was a slightly quartering away shot and the bullet was expanded against the hide on the opposite side.
This ws many years ago before the Speer bonded core jackets.

Yes, I think they are. The 240 XTP has never gone all the way through the three deer I shot with them. Behind the shoulder, both lungs and no bone. SRH revolver with 24 gr of 296 and a Fed 150 primer. Killed good but zero blood trails. If I had not seen them fall I would have had a problem.
I will always feel the XTP 300 gr is ideal for a store bought bullet. 20.5 gr of 296 and a Fed 150 primer is super accurate.
I moved to heavy hard cast and love them. I like 265 to 330 gr boolits with a good meplat.

You might want to try the now discontinued Nosler Partition's that Wideners have on clearance. I bought a buttload of them for my old Ruger Carbine.

Not me, I am a confirmed cast shooter. Had to grit my teeth one year having to use a jacketed in my 45-70!

Can't shoot cast in my Ruger rifle. All my handguns only get cast though.

I think your thoughts are right on track. I have killed quite a few deer using the 240 gr XTP with a sabot out of my muzzleloader and the results have always been satisfactory. The 240 grain XTP is a great bullet and I suspect the 300 grain XTP would be great if you think you need a heavier bullet for your particular hunting circumstaces.

Thanks for all the replies.
Also I did shoot a pig with the Traper and a factory Hornady 225gr Lever Evolution.
He was @40 yards away slightly quartering toward me about a 160 pounder. At the shot he went down as if hammered from the side. The bullet slightly broke the hide on the opposite side. I do want a general purpose load with more penetration than this.

I am going to shoot a variety of factory loads to see what bullet this rifle might like and do some handloading as well.

It shoots the Fedeal 300gr Cast Core pretty well so I might try to fine a good jacketed expanding load that shoots to the same point of aim so I have the choice an expander with decent penetration, and a deep penetrater.

I also carry this little rifle a lot when I am placing, checking and resupplying black bear baits.

quote:

I think your thoughts are right on track. I have killed quite a few deer using the 240 gr XTP with a sabot out of my muzzleloader and the results have always been satisfactory. The 240 grain XTP is a great bullet and I suspect the 300 grain XTP would be great if you think you need a heavier bullet for your particular hunting circumstaces.

What is the velocity from a sabot in a muzzle loader? I have said a little slower is better for the 240 XTP. You might be matching it at the proper velocity.

Well I got a chance to go to the range a few days ago.

The loads with the Sierra and Hornady 240gr bullets with 22gr of the old 2400, were Wild at 100 yards. They shot patterns.
Also some loads with some store bought 240 cast SWC were wild as well with a could of bullets hitting sideways at 100 and at 36 yards.

However loads with the 240gr bullets and 24 gr of H 110 shot pretty good.
Groups were less than 2" wide and about 3.5" tall, the verticle probably induced by the course frond sight and the crappy target and my eyes.

Also I loaded some 300gr Hawk HP bullets with the .025jkt over 20.3gr of H 110 and they shot a 1.5x2.5 inch group.

I am going to try some of my self cast Keith SWC Linotype bullets over 2400 and H 110, next time out.

It looks like I may go with the 240 Hornady XTP/H 110 load as my General purpose load, and since the rifle will not feed the SWC 100% I may try some 240gr Hornady CL/Sil bullet when I need a penetrator, if they shoot to the same point of aim as the XTP's.

The 300gr Hawk shoots close enough to be used for black bear over bait, and I will no doubt pop a couple of hogs with it as well.

Might have to try some Hornady 300gr bullets.

I like the fact that the Hornady bullets do not have any lead exposed.

Excellent! When will you try your new load on some game? Please keep us posted!

Well I shot the 44 Traper again today.

The Sierra 240gr bullets again shot the best, by a wide margin. I will probably go with them instead of the Hornadys.

Strange thing is back in the mid 1970's these bullets over the exact 24gr of 2400 proved to be very accurate in S&W and Ruger handguns as well as my Ruger 44 Mag rifle...

I have shot a bunch of deer with this load and never recovered a bullet.

The 300gr Hawks shot very good as well close enough to the 240 Sierras to use both interchangeably when hunting.

I shot various factory loads as well and this 44 Rifle is aparently finiky as to loads it likes and where it puts them on the target at 100 yards. Now in its defense all the 44 Mag rifles I have shot have had the 1 in 38 twist micro groove barrels.
They seem to shoot good out to @75 yards and fall off a bunch at 100 yards.

Testing will continue.

True, my Marlin is junk past 50 yards. The hair brain that decided on 1 in 38 should be made to pay to replace every barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
True, my Marlin is junk past 50 yards. The hair brain that decided on 1 in 38 should be made to pay to replace every barrel.

True and then maybe burned at the stake...

Actually I have found the 1 in 38" twist 44 Mag rifles to be pretty good to 75 yards, but the die on the vine at 100.

However with the Sierra 240's and the Hawks with H 110, this Trapper is good for coyote deer pigs, and black bear to 100 yards.

Tony, I have used 23.5 gr of H110 with Hornady 240 gr XTP's since '99 in several handguns and a Marlin 1894 with outstanding accuracy (cloverleaf's with the Marlin @ 100). I have a Smith and a Ruger Bisley Hunter that both love this load.

Only game shot with this load was a deer @ 60 yards from the Smith and it was bang/flop.

We need to do another hunt some day!

Mighty Joe, thanks for the info.

Yes we do need to hunt together again.

Tell "A" I said Hi.

How are y'all doing.
Will y'all be at DSC next Jan?