Barnes 44 Mag Loads for Redhawk

[bafrank3poc]

Hunter Liggett info says they will be closed until the end of June. Everyone I ran into during the hunt last weekend says that Liggett is the place to go. My hunting buddy received his infiltration training there. Says the river bottoms should be productive.

 

[bafrank3poc]

Well, haven't gotten a shot at a pig yet, though I have finally seen some at Hunter Liggett.

I did get to sight in with the Barnes 200 gr at 100 yds. Two inch group for 5 shots, 5x scope off a sand bag rest. The 225 gr bullets shot to the same windage but about 2 inches low.

I made a pig target representing about a 120 lb pig. With the same hold, both 200 and 225 gr bullets were in the kill zone at 100 yds. Fifty yard shots were also in the kill zone with the same sight picture. So from 50 to 100 yds, requires no change of sight picture. I am happy with the bullets.

Additional work with the Magtech copper produced near identical results with the same powder charges. Magtech were slightly less expensive at first, but now they are essentially as expensive as Barnes.

BTW, I cannot cram enough powder, even with the bullet heavily compressing the charge when crimped for a standard length 44 mag round, to show any over pressure signs. Maximum charges of 296 with the bullets seated long in the Redhawk cylinder have shown NO signs of pressure. Over the counter ammo, name brands, show more flattening of and slight extrusion into the firing pin hole of the primers. None of my handloads with 296 showed that kind of primer flattening. (Remington and Federal primes tried).

 

[Tslepebull]

Go heavy and go slow. Use a bullet with a wide meplat and at even 950-1000 fps you will have a winning combination. Accuracy will improve, it will be more pleasant to shoot, and will kill like lightning. Because it will be more pleasant to shoot you will shoot it better. If you shoot it better you will be more confident. If you are more confident you will take more shots. If you take more shots you will make more kills. Which will improve confidence -- see above.

 

[bafrank3poc]

CA requires an expanding bullet. The area we hunt requires no-lead. That combination limits bullet choice. I used to hunt with the 265 gr flat nose soft point(designed for the 444 Marlin). Little to no expansion, but NEVER lost a deer, muley or whitetail.

Also, my Redhawk with Picatinny rail and the scope is heavy enough that no hunting load I have used is uncomfortable to shoot. I pride myself and practice enough to consistently shoot 3" or smaller groups off hand at 50 yds. With a fork in a tree or other available field rest, I can do that to 100 yds. I cut my Silhouette competition shooting teeth with a S&W 29, then the Redhawk 44 and later the DW 357 max. Shot all in both open site and scoped configuration.

None of the loads of powder I have been able to cram in the case under the long copper bullets (the Barnes 200 grain HP is about the same physical dimensions as the 300 grain JHP lead bullet) show pressure signs. Just not enough room in the case to get a punishing load using my favorite 296 powder.

 

[Ruber]

Nice response, I often have a hard time explaining this to folks outside of CA.

 

[DougH9]

I have a 5.5" RH and a 9.5" SuperRH that I load the 225 grain XPB for (because I am in CA). To retain maximum powder capacity, I chuck the bullets up in a drill that is held in a vise, and using a hacksaw blade cut in my own crimping groove. I set it up so that the bullet is flush with the end of the cylinder.

Loaded up this way I have worked up to 26 grains of 296, and even this is a mild load. I am thinking of going to 2400, or even Blue Dot to get the pressures up.

I am going to call Barnes and see if they will make me a batch of bullets with the groove where I have cut them in; it is a lot of time and work the way I do it.

Also, I fill the cavity with wax; with the cavity dry and fired into a dry medium, you will not see expansion. With the wax, the bullet is carrying it's own hydraulic expanding medium, and will ALWAYS expand.

 

[rks4495]

Hi Guys,

I too am interested in crimping a 44 Barnes 225 XPB a little further out to get a little more H110 under it. My concern is pushing solid coppers to 1500fps safe?___. I just bought a box of them & am considering cutting a second cannelure (in a lathe) so that they sit .020 or .030 shy of the end of the cylinder with no bullet creep. I have a Ruger Super Redhawk 44mag 9.5" barrel / scoped. My primary objective is deer, but I always pickup a Bear tag just incase the opportunity presents itself. My pet load is 310gr Cast (True Shot) over 23gr of H110. However we just moved back to southern California & my old bow hunting zone is Copper Only (D-11).


I would sure appreciate any advice you may have for me.
Rick Syniec

 

[Donaldjr1969]

Thanks for the welcome. I didn't know this group existed until last night. I have been shooting silhouette and hunting with Ruger revolvers since the first year Ruger produced the Redhawk.

Welcome!

I have a Super Redhawk 44 with the 7½" barrel and hopefully next year, assuming I can find a range that offers it, I can start shooting silhouette. If I may pick your brains, I would like to ask a few questions.

First off, the 44Mag shoots the full size targets at 50yrds (chicken), 100yrds (pig), 150yrds (turkey), and 200yrds (ram), right?'

With your experience, can a 300g JSP traveling at a muzzle velocity of 1250fps to 1300fps carry enough momentum to knock down the ram at 200yrds?

For recreational (non competition) shooting, are there any restrictions of sights and/or shooting positions?

I've been developing a very good load using a Speer 300g JSP along with Lil'Gun. Right now, I got great accuracy with a 19.1g charge and CCI 350 primers. I have one more step to go and that will be a 19.4g charge of Lil'Gun. If I do not get any sticky extraction at that weight, I am going to just stop there with that load.

I realize this may be off topic so you may feel free to PM me with the answers if you wish.

Again, welcome to the forum!

 

[bafrank3poc]

Donald,

I shot 100% of my pistol silhouette matches with the 265 gr flat point, think it was Sierra, designed for the 444 Marlin. A low hit on a ram foot would slide the foot of the stand and topple the animal. A high hit, top of the back or head, toppled the animal just as well as a 308 rifle shot at 500 yds.

I don't consider this off topic. Hunting power and accuracy whether flesh or steel is what we are after.

When shooting with the scope on my Red Hawk I had to shim the mount to be able to get enough elevation adjustment out to 200 yds with that 265 gr bullet.
--
PS: I actually shot my pistol at special matches where pistol shooters shot against rifle shooters with the targets set for rifle match distance. Hits on rams at 500 yds were few, but there was never a hit from my Redhawk 44 with the 265 gr bullet that did not topple the steel ram.

 

[WESHOOT2]

Test all-copper maximums using AA9.