Mr. Gates' Summary
I got the approval to report some info that James passed along to me. He's extremely busy testing 357, 44 and various shotgun loadings. He's doing what he loves and sharing hard facts with those of us who request it. Here's a summary he sent me, verbatim:
"I have been very involved in hard cast hunting bullets for .357 Mag, .44
Mag., and .45 Long Colt for John anderson, owner of Rock Island
Ballistics. As for the Ruger 77/44....it is one of my best test guns and
I have killed 3 large hogs with it using our .431" 265 gr. Truncated
Cone Wadcutter. I find it will feed and shoot about any bullet design,
unlike the other two test guns (Remington 788 and Marlin 1894P)."
"I am more more concerned with the Terminal Performance of a game bullet than I am of its Ballistic Efficiency. My good friend Bill McConnell does all the work on developing efficient loads and I will continue to rely on his expertise.
With this in mind, I will state that the single most important factor in Terminal Performance is the Velocity and Meplat Area (whether a hard cast bullet or an expanded jacketed bullet! Next in importance is the weight, which gives the penetration one wants on the game hunted. If too much weight is added to the bullet, velocity falls, as does the volume of the Permanent Wound Channel.
If a group of bullets have the same Meplat Area and Velocity, there is little difference in the PWC...regardless of caliber. If the PWC exceeds 36" the heavier bullet will destroy more tissue toward the rear of the penetration.
Now, for the .44 Magnun.......We use three test rifles..(1) Marlin 1894P, (2) Ruger 77/44, (3) Rem.788. Accuracy Tests..(2)-(1)-(3).....Feeding Tests..(2), (3), (1)..Best Handling Various
OAL..(2), (3), (1). All three fed factory 240 gr. jacketed loads. The absolute most friendly with reloads using various bullet designs is the Ruger 77/44 (even with OWC designs). Of all three, the Marlin 1894 points best (with receiver sights)
Best Hard Cast Bullets....Two hard cast bullets, the Beartooth 265 gr and the Rock Island Ballistics 265 gr are head and shoulder above the rest! The Marlin needs the R.I.B. 265 gr Truncated Cone Wadcutter ( designed for this rifle) in order to have absolute positive feeding. The BTB 265 gr is the single best hard cast bullet in the Ruger 77/44. Both of the bullets have the same Meplat Area. We have a new line of bullets coming the first of the year called Xtreme Meplat Cast......265 gr. in the .431" that should be even a better game bullet than the before mentioned bullets.
We have found that, with the lube used by BTB & RIB, that the hardness can go down to 18 bhn with no leading up to 1800+fps and does give some expanded Meplat Area. Both the BTB and RIB lube is same, except color.
Serious consideration should be given to the statement concerning Velocity and Meplat Area!!!!!!!
This should resolve some of the arguments concerning the .41 Mag., .44 Mag., .45 Long Colt, and maybe even the .357 mag. My suggestion is one should shoots which one likes best. "