Sixguns or Leverguns and power potentials.....

Pushing guns with heavy loads can be fun and certainly needed when hunting large game...but I cringe at some of the loads I read about and the guns recommended to shoot them in.....the reloader has to be careful to tailor the loads to his gun...and be sure he knows the strength of his gun before he uses heavy loads at all.....One of the things I try to be careful of in writing is to always mention the gun the load is to be used in.....

Remember I’m the first to push a handgun to it’s potential, but unless we are testing pressures and breaking points...I don’t surpass the gun’s potential. I have done a lot of pressure testing and will do a lot more...because it is a silent area in the industry. And I think it needs to be explored...and I have paid the price..often of that exploration...so my readers won’t have too. But it is incumbent on our readers to absolutely realize when you change even the smallest factor in any load...even just the primer...you change pressure sometimes drastically. Simple things like a load worked up in the winter then fired in the summer heat will jump pressures. I have tested loads left in the Tucson sun that have run to over 20% more in pressure...just because of the summer heat. A tight chamber will raise pressure over a sloppy chamber, an overly long (not trimmed) cartridge case in a short chamber will also...just many factors, that’s why any reasonable writer will warn reloaders to start low and work up.

45 long Colt PlusP loads and pressures...for strong handguns only...for information only...

A 250/260 grain Keith cast at 1200 fps has been an extremely good game load from a 45 Colt S/As for over 70 years! Keith’s bullet shape came about in 1928! Can you just imagine the numbers of, and types of, animals taken with that bullet and load? Incredible I’m sure. I know that I have shot any number of wild pigs, hogs, Russian Boar and such, from every angle and have never lost one to this load and bullet.. And a few of those were up in the four hundred pound weight with feral pigs...I have never gotten a Russian boar anywhere near that weight. And then in the late 1980s and early 1990s comes Verl Smith and the LBT shape...and the Keith shape is improved in killing power.

And for those that want to hunt with the 45 Colt/Ruger or the 44 magnum, but don’t reload, along comes Buffalo Bore Ammo, Garrett ‘s Ammo and Cor-Bon Ammo in hunting loads both with jacketed and LBT shaped hard cast heavy bullets. I have used Buffalo Bore and Garrett’s Ammo extensively in 45 Colt and 44 Magnum hunting loads....accurate and deadly, even out too long ranges for a sixgun. Buffalo Bore makes 45 Colt and Garrett’s makes 44 mag.

I used Garrett’s 44 magnum ammo the year before last on elk. And then I brought seven pounds of it to the Shootist Holiday and fed all the members and guests a very special meal made with the elk meat as the base stock. I used Garrett’s 310 grain load...it has his HAMMERHEAD bullet...I talked about the hammerhead shape in my book back in 1985 and it’s killing abilities. Randy Garrett also makes a 330 grain 44 mag load....but the boxes are clearly marked what guns these loads can be used in...the 330 HHD is for Ruger Redhawk class and the 310 can be used in the Ruger Blackhawks....I appreciate that kind of safety information offered by any manufacturer...unfortunately I don’t see it too often, not nearly enough. But then Randy Garrett is a special kind of person and has a special kind of ammo company.

Buffalo Bore’s 325 grain 45 Colt ammo is rated at over 1300 fps in handguns. From my Rossi rifle (mod 92) which is a 24 inch barreled levergun I’m getting close to 1800 fps. That’s almost a ton and a quarter of muzzle energy.....it is also the same as some commercial 45-70 rounds. Garrett’s 44 magnum 310 grain load from my Rossi 92/ 20 inch rifle is also getting 1800 fps...so is his 330 grain load...and yes the recoil is noticeable. But you can’t run 2400 to 2500 ft.lbs without getting a little recoil in the game.

All three of these loads from handguns will give 15 to 20 inches in wet phone books. That translates into the ability to take shots at big game even when they are not at the best angle to the gun...and at extended ranges. From my rifles I have problems keeping these loads in wet phone books at all. Garrett’s 44/330 grainer for example went thru over 40 inches of them and exited. The one feral pig I shot with them went thru both shoulders and exited leaving a 75 cent size exit wound, it was over 200 lbs. That was from a friend’s Redhawk in 44 magnum...it has a five inch barrel, and all kinds of other custom touches...every time I try to trade him out of it, he starts talking about golf...ugh. By the way I rate feral pigs/hogs/etc...as mini tanks and tougher than elk.

I have one of the finest Ruger Vaquero’s to hit the market...I have been shooting 300 grain Keith bullets and a 320 grain SSK bullets over 18.5 grains of 2400 in this gun since the day I got it. The fixed front sight is cut to these loads...both hit in the same group...both go into 1 and 1/4 inches at 25 yards from the bench. This fine gun has the short barrel...and a new set of Ruger/Ivory stocks...with it’s case coloring, handsome is as handsome...etc. Either of these loads would kill anything in the lower 48 states...they average around 1170 fps and almost 1000 lbs of muzzle energy...that’s ½ a ton! Does it recoil? Nothing like my FA 454 S/A with the short barrel and 340 grain cast SSK slugs at 1600 fps and almost two thousand pounds of muzzle energy. That load by the way broke my watch’s expansion band years ago. But the Ruger with 300 grain cast LBTs over 18.5/2400 is a stiff load. And I feel it is one of the top loads for any Ruger Blackhawk 45 colt chambering, though 20 to 22 grains have been used, I still think 18.5 is the top for sustained use.

With a 2.5 inch high at 50 yards this 300 grain bullet @ approx 1200 fps will be down a foot at 150 yards and right on at 100 yards. Which is fine for my eyes, and around a hundred yards is my limit with open sights on a handgun anyway. That’s my limit on game animals..but on rocks and such it’s as far as I can see the strike. And these heavy 45s will let you see them hit way out there.

Cast Performance Bullet Co....makes some fine bullets. I use them all the time. They are mostly the LBT shape and you can get extra heavy weights for the caliber you are shooting. For example in the 45 caliber handgun bullets (.452), they produce bullets from 250 grains to 395 grains! That’s selections from the 45 Colt thru the 454 for hunting deer to elephants. In 357 you can go from 158 grains to well over 200 grains. The same with the 41 mag and 44 mag bullets, from the standard weight for the caliber to heavy weights....Cast Performance gives us the chance to try different cast bullet weights in our favorite handgun before we purchase an expensive mold and make a mistake. And for those that want to shoot cast because of the extra velocity potentials and cheaper cost with more power...but don’t want to cast there own...commercial cast bullets make a lot of sense. At the price of the last mold I purchased I could have bought many hundreds of commercial cast bullets. If you don’t like casting, or don’t want to start...or you just want to try cast bullets, try Cast Performance.

   

FIREARM	POWDER & BULLET	CASE/PRIMER	VEL	FT.LBS
RUGER/SA 7 ½ "	15.5/2400 170 KEITH CB	357/RIFLE PRM	1497	846
RUGER	18/2400 110 JHP	38 SPC/MAG PRM	1819	785
RUGER	15.5/2400 170 KEITH CB	38 SPC/MAG PRM	1601	969
WIN/94 RIFLE 24"	18/2400 110 JHP	38 SPC/MAG PRM	2208	1182
WIN/94 RIFLE 24"	17/2400 148 JHP	38 SPC/MAG PRM	2016	1317
WIN/94 RIFLE 24"	17/2400 170 KEITH CB	38 SPC/MAG PRM	2001	1511
WIN/94 RIFLE 24"	24/H11O 115/.356 JHP	357MAG/R PRM	2497	1498
RUGER	24/H110 115/.356JHP	357MAG/R PRM	1550	612
RUGER	16.5/2400 170 KEITH CB	357MAG/R PRM	1629	1001
S&W DA 8 3/8"	15/2400 170 KEITH CB	38 SPC/MAG PRM	1538	893
RUGER	15/2400 180 CB FN PB	38 SPC/R PRM	1501	900
RUGER	15/2400 180 CB FN GC	38 SPC/R PRM	1464	856
RUGER	14.5/2400 180 CB FN PB	38 SPC/R PRM	1465	854
RUGER	14.5/2400 180 CB FN GC	38 SPC/R PRM	1428	815
S&W DA 8 3/8"	15/2400 180 CB FN PB	38 SPC/R PRM	1494	892
S&W DA 8 3/8"	15/2400 180 CB FN GC	38 SPC/R PRM	1443	832
WIN/94 RIFLE 24"	14.5/2400 180 CB FN GC	38 SPC/R PRM	1835	1346
RUGER	16.5/2400 148 JHP	38 SPC/MAG PRM	1577	818
WIN/94 RIFLE 24"	14.5/2400 180 CB FN PB	38 SPC/R PRM	1935	1496

As most know I have hunted extensively and successfully with the 357 magnum, both in rifles and handguns. In the early 1970s a friend gave me a converted Winchester model 92 in 357 mag. That little rifle was a wonder to me. We didn’t have chronographs in those days...but the velocity testing I have done since, certainly tells me what velocities and muzzle energies I was using back then. When you can push a 170 grain Keith cast bullet at 1800 to 2000 fps and near 3/4 ths of a ton of muzzle energy there isn’t very much in the way of game animals that can sustain a hit in the upper 1/3 of the body and go very far. Penetration is deep and flesh displacement is vast. I have punched thru deer in every direction imaginable...rarely did a cast bullet stay inside them. Tough old black bears went down quickly...large feral hogs couldn’t escape...what more could a hunter want.

I taught my daughters how to hunt with a 35 Rem/Marlin levergun with reduced loads to the same velocities as the heavy loaded 357 mag. In the Winchester ‘92....never a problem.....I had cut the Marlin to a sixteen inch barrel and a 10 inch stock. With a little scope on it, the girls were deadly with it. They didn’t fear it because the recoil was negligible.

In the Virginia wilderness where we lived deer were pests. The state had a law at the time, don’t know if it is still in effect, but if an animal was destroying property it could be taken. Farmers had a real problem with deer and crops. I guess we harvested close to twenty deer a year. And the meat always went to families in the area around us that didn’t or couldn’t hunt and needed the food. We had a good deal of blackberry and blueberry growing wild on our property. It brought the black bears in better than anything else...and these bears were for the most part veggie eaters so their meat was sweet...bear meat can be very tasty, if the bear is eating plants not flesh.

And of course then there was the wild and feral dogs. In just a three year period, I killed 99 feral dogs. Virginia lost seven people to dogs from 1970 to 1975. The folks that lived around us...(my closest neighbor was ½ mile away) also killed the dogs at every opportunity. These were not pets...they were savagely aggressive and dangerous.

They ran from around 20 lbs to near 60 pounds...with one monster I nailed that was killing calves...he was near 100 lbs. We also suspected that he was a responsible for killing young horses. When dogs go feral they can become killing machines. We know for a fact that it wasn’t just pet dogs that went feral...but they also breed in the wild. As soon as we began to eliminate them from our area the small game came back in large numbers.

The 44 magnum is obviously one of the greatest handgun cartridges ever developed. Out of a leveraction rifle it is one of the greatest all around game cartridges to around 200 yards we could hope for. I’m not saying that 250 and 300 yard shots with the big 44 in a leveraction shouldn’t be taken....what I mean is that in heavy treed and forest hunting...swamps and heavy brush...that kind of thing...you would have to look long and hard to find a better cartridge and rifle then the 44 mag in a Winchester, Rossi, or Marlin leveraction. One of the most accurate leveraction rifles I ever owned...and you can bet I have owned a great number of them...was a Marlin in 44 magnum. I had a small four power scope on it, and used it for turkey hunting mostly. I would easily clip the neck of any turkey that got within 75 or so yards with that gun and Keith’s load of 22 grains of 2400 under a hard cast 250 grain Keith bullet. I once put three rounds of this load into an inch at 100 yards off the bench...it was magic. It also told the story on the lie that Marlins will not shot cast bullets well.

That load was doing 1800 fps from the Marlin and giving 1800 ft.lbs. of muzzle energy. While killing coyotes in the Black Mountain area of Az. one year a small spike elk walked into a clearing about 150 yards from me and my shooting partner. Since I had a tag....I shot him (the elk not my partner...thou I sometimes thought about it) right on the left shoulder...that 250 grain cast slug exited the off shoulder knuckle with a 50 cent hole. The elk fell right where he was at the point of the strike. A one caliber man wouldn’t do badly all his life with a 44 mag revolver and leveraction rifle...except for the big bears of the far north little walks that can’t be harvested with the big 44 in rifle and handgun.

My personal opinion is that the best bullet for large game from the 44 magnum in rifle and handgun is the Hornady 265 grain flatpoint #4300. From the Marlin and using WW296 or H110 I have pushed this bullet over 1800 fps. It is a fine large game bullet. Using 23.5 grains of both of these powders gives that velocity level and good accuracy....H110 gave me clover leaf groups at 50 yards...it doesn’t get any better then that. One of the surprising powders in the 44 mag was Blue Dot. From the rifle 18 grains under the 265 Hornady I was getting close to 1800 fps and very acceptable accuracy....with 21.5 grains Blue Dot under a 200 grain HP I was getting over 2200 fps and good accuracy also. I never tried that 200 grainer on deer but I bet it’s the berries for sure.

With the strong mod.92 action of the Rossi in 44 magnum..I am pushing the 300 grain cast Keith over 23 grains of H110 to just under 1800 fps....I have yet to stop this load in wet phone books under 30 inches thick. I don’t think an elk with a side shot would stop it either. Remember this part and loads are for the strong 92 designed leverguns..Marlins and Winchester 94s need not apply. The modern steel 92s will take 50,000 psi easily putting the 44 magnum into medium game size animals...that’s up to 700 to 1000 lbs without a problem. And yes I would shoot a grizzly with it without a thought as to enough power...as long as the right bullet was used. I have pushed the 265 grainer to 2100 fps also from the Rossi and this is a 20 inch barreled rifle. When you are approaching way over a ton of muzzle energy (this load is 2600 ft.lbs.) no animal on earth can sustain a hit in the right place with the right bullet. That’s close too the same power level as a .308 with 180 grain bullets from a 20 inch barrel....

NEI makes a 290 grain Keith bullet mold and cast hard...it is a killer on big game. In the 92 Rossi over 24 grains of 2400 and 2000+ fps it is a killer out of all proportion to it’s cartridge size. It also is carrying near 2600 ft.lbs. of muzzle energy. This a very top load and must be approached carefully. I shot a north bound mule deer that topped 225 lbs in the Texas road map...the bullet went the length of his body and exited his chest. I shot a very large TexMex steer in the shoulder knuckle, it pulverized it....and went all the way thru and out a rib on the off side. We have cut the shoulder knuckles, the whole shoulder bone and sockets, out of these animals before and weighted them (without any meat) they always go over 20 pounds of bone and such. Lets face it a 280 to 300 plus grain Keith cast bullet going 1800 to 2100 fps is absolutely deadly on anything up to the size of moose. With the right range, the right bullet, the right velocity...the 44 magnum can do it all.

47 grains of ReL #7 under a 265 grain Hornady bullet from the 444 Marlin pushes it over 2400 fps from the 24 inch barrel and only 36,000 psi...with 3400 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy it has to be one of the all time great loads for anything that walks the Americas...and 95% of what walks the African game fields. It’s the bullet that would be wrong for thick skin African game not the power level. Switch to a 350 grain bullet and even elephant will go down.