Everyone I know that's ML hunted has preached higher speeds or bigger bullets or whatever... What I've noticed is that most of us do like the performance of handgun bullets, but we never think of pushing them at their designed velocities, only faster because their designed velozity is considered "undersized" for deer sized game. (Note that I'm looking at typical thick or heavy timber shooting, so 100yds would be max distance)
However... No one I know would ever doubt the effectiveness of a 44 mag or 480 Ruger on a deer, so here goes...
I've estimated that 60gr 777 w/ 210gr 44 cal Gold Dot will give me similar velocities to most factory 44 mag ammo. I've also estimated that 60/70gr BH209 w/ 275gr 475 cal Deep Curl will give me similar velocities to a 480 Ruger.
So here's what I'm going to try...
1) Take my TC Black Diamond and load the 60gr 777 w/ 210gr GD and shoot at 50 and 100 yds (100yd zero) and play with a calculator to see what my velocity is. If the bullet is stable (not keyholed) and the velocity is what I think it should be (~1400 fps), then why wouldn't it be OK up to 100 yards on deer?
2) Take either my TC Encore or LRC Redemption and load the 60/70gr BH209 w/ 275gr DC and do the same thing.
I know the 275gr 475 cal shoot OK out of my Redemption. I tried a few at 50 yds last year using the same powder charge as my normal load (270gr 44 cal DC w/ 110gr BH209) and the point of impact was within 1 inch of each other. BUT the 270gr load out of the Redemption is awesome on paper and deer. At 150 yd zero, it's only about 8" drop at 200 yards (about 4" group). Energy and velocity is more than enough at 300, but I don't have a range that long to see how accurate it is. Based on the Federal calculator, if I remember it correctly, the estimated velocity with that load is 2050-2100 fps. So I'm not really wanting to change that combo.
So if all works well, I'll have a 44 mag performance (light load in the Black Diamond), 480 Ruger performance (big and slow out of the Encore), and just under 444 Marlin performance (current Redemption load).
Any thoughts?
However... No one I know would ever doubt the effectiveness of a 44 mag or 480 Ruger on a deer, so here goes...
I've estimated that 60gr 777 w/ 210gr 44 cal Gold Dot will give me similar velocities to most factory 44 mag ammo. I've also estimated that 60/70gr BH209 w/ 275gr 475 cal Deep Curl will give me similar velocities to a 480 Ruger.
So here's what I'm going to try...
1) Take my TC Black Diamond and load the 60gr 777 w/ 210gr GD and shoot at 50 and 100 yds (100yd zero) and play with a calculator to see what my velocity is. If the bullet is stable (not keyholed) and the velocity is what I think it should be (~1400 fps), then why wouldn't it be OK up to 100 yards on deer?
2) Take either my TC Encore or LRC Redemption and load the 60/70gr BH209 w/ 275gr DC and do the same thing.
I know the 275gr 475 cal shoot OK out of my Redemption. I tried a few at 50 yds last year using the same powder charge as my normal load (270gr 44 cal DC w/ 110gr BH209) and the point of impact was within 1 inch of each other. BUT the 270gr load out of the Redemption is awesome on paper and deer. At 150 yd zero, it's only about 8" drop at 200 yards (about 4" group). Energy and velocity is more than enough at 300, but I don't have a range that long to see how accurate it is. Based on the Federal calculator, if I remember it correctly, the estimated velocity with that load is 2050-2100 fps. So I'm not really wanting to change that combo.
So if all works well, I'll have a 44 mag performance (light load in the Black Diamond), 480 Ruger performance (big and slow out of the Encore), and just under 444 Marlin performance (current Redemption load).
Any thoughts?