[RugerMag]

I finally gave up trying to turn my Glock 10mm into a hunting machine. I reload, but it only seems to make sense to go with the .44 Magnum for hunting purposes. So I bought the 7.5" Ruger Super Redhawk.

I've done a good deal of research - have used hardcast bullets before - and think the Beartooth bullet is the way to go. I think the WWW site alone is one of the best sources on the Internet for handloading hunters. The ammo itself is another reason to go with these bullets.

I've been looking for a good deer load in 240-grain and a good larger animal bullet in the 325/330-grain range.

From what I've been able to determine either H110 or 2400 powders are the way to go IMHO.

Any suggestions for these loads that are specific to the Ruger Super Redhawk?

 

[Contender]

Hello and welcome!

You may want to try the Beartooth sister site, www.loadswap.com as well as some faves I'm sure the cavalry will suggest soon here.

You may also want to take a good look at the 280 gr. WFN bullet as I think it is a great all round bullet weight for your 44. You might want to following this thread with regard to your 10mm: <a href="http://beartoothbullets.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/topic.cgi?forum=2&topic=4

Feel" target="_blank">http://beartoothbullets.com/cgi-bin....

Feel</a> free to also hit the search function up above for any added info.

Regards and enjoy,

 

[MikeG]

I'll second the 280 gr. WFNGC.  That's what I load for my 44's (Super Blackhawks) and I get them up to the mid-1300 fps with WW-296 powder.

That bullet is not necessarily the 'highest performance' .44 bullet that you will find, as it doesn't have the extra-long nose that so many of the LBT designs do (for extra powder capacity).  But on the plus side, it pretty well matches up with the SAAMI spec on max cartridge OAL so it has a good chance of feeding through repeaters.  If your bullets are strictly for the Redhawk then you can get something with a nose-to-crimp length around 0.500" for least powder space intrusion.

Another reason for me to stick with the 280's is that I have a practice load of a 240gr. SWC at about 1,000 fps using either Titegroup or AA#2, and this load prints right at the same point of impact at 25 yards as the 280s do.  The load is 7.5 grains for either of these two powders.  Don't know if it would work in a different barrel length, both of mine are 7.5."

I have not tried any 300 grain bullets in the .44, since the 280s are quite manageable in my SBH's at that velocity level.  I do shoot 300 and 335 grain bullets in the .45 Colt and I suppose if you can handle one the other should not be a problem.

By the way, on your 10mm - have you thought of trying some of Marshall's .40 200gr. WFNGC's?  I did, in my Glock .40 S&W and they are great.  I can run them about 900 fps with Blue Dot in a 4" barrel, they print right on top of the front sight at 25 yards, and they feed perfectly.  Accuracy is as good as anything else that ever went through this gun.  Might not be the 'best' hunting round ever, but with 10 or 11 of them in the gun I'd bet I could make a serious dent in nearly any critter that walks, crawls, or swims.  Plus night sights are a comforting thing when stomping around in the brush after dark looking for a hog!

In the 10mm I'd suspect that you can increase this to 1,000 fps or perhaps a little more.  I did put down one wounded hog with that load, shooting him through the shoulders at the range of 10 feet or so.  It was probably in the 125-150lb range.  Time did not permit a careful autopsy but clearly it did the job.

Best of luck.  The Redhawks are fun guns, if a little heavy.

 

[RugerMag]

Thanks for the two replies. I have visited the LoadSwap area and still haven't found what I was looking for there. However, I am going to make a contribution concerning the one load that I've got so far. This was pure luck that I ran into it. My local gun-dealer is also a veteran reloader himself and when I picked up my gun I also bought some ammo that he had prepared for sale. The loads were 240 and 300-grain rounds.

It has been about 20 years or so since I've used a wheel gun (I lived in Europe and Asia for an extended periods of time) and never a .44 Magnum so I set about to sight in my Burris 3-9X scope with the 240-grain stuff off of a rest placed on the hood of my Jeep Grand Cherokee. Once I was hitting the target @ 25 yards in a 1" group I then went out to 100 paces. I wanted to check the group, make some scope adjustments and see the amount of bullet fall. I also get a kick out of seeing the rifle guys asking me what type of rifle I'm using and then produce a handgun. They really freak when the then see my targets as they accidently by pass mine on the way to theirs. Most hunters seem to feel satisfied if they can hit a pie plate @ 100 yards with their factory stuff and then complain when the miss an animal @ 125 yards.

At 100 paces I had about a 6" drop with the 240-grain rounds. I then placed another 2" red dot above my original target and let fly. I was now on the 6" target with 5 of my 6 shoots and then switched to the 300-grain load. Fearing the worst I was prepared for some nasty recoil. When I let loose I was mildly surprised that there wasn't a wrist wrenching recoil. I later found out that the load was not doing the stated 1300 fps, but about 1175.

On the target I had no bullet drop and a 3" group, which stunned me as 1) I've never shoot the .44 Magnum 2) the recoil wasn't too bad compared to the heavy loads coming out of my Glock 10mm 3) the original grip on the Ruger left no place for my little finger and 4) because of the grip trigger reach wasn't the best.

Now I'd heard about guys that could use a .44 Magnum and shoot 2" groups all day long @ 100 yards, but thought this was just one of those myths that someone stated in a gun rag. Now I now it to be true. Also from my experience with several Glocks hardcast out performs jacketed bullets over and over again. Therefore I'm looking to use the Beartooth bullet. I believe - as well as the rest of us in NE Arizona - that you want penetration and aim for the shoulder and not behind the shoulder.

Given all the work that I put into developing semi-autopistol loads I felt very, very lucky to have found the 300-grain load that I had. The load was:

300-grain Hornady XTP, Remington Brass, Winchester LP primers and 16.5-grains of 2400 powder.

However, Im looking to get 1300 fps with a hardcast bullet in 240-grain for deer and the same velocity for a 325/330-grain bullet for elk and bear protection. I don't want my arm twisted when I let loose and don't want to have my gun rattled to pieces, altough it is a Super Redhawk and I know it can take some sever punishment. The game I play is accuracy and precision and then let the bullet do the rest.

So I'm still lookking for Ruger Super Redhawk specific loads in the two bullet weights above using either H110 or 2400 powders. I hate having 6 - 7 pounds of various powders laying around and so does the wife.

Thanks again to those that have replied and to the others that will do so. Just as an aside I had looked at larger caliber handguns e.g. Ruger .480 and Cassull .454, but have a very high comfort level with the .44 Mag. Hunting is just like going Scuba diving. You don't go alone and one of you should have a rifle as back-up.

RugerMag

 

[warlock]

Thanks for the two replies. I have visited the LoadSwap area and still haven't found what I was looking for there. However, I am going to make a contribution concerning the one load that I've got so far. This was pure luck that I ran into it. My local gun-dealer is also a veteran reloader himself and when I picked up my gun I also bought some ammo that he had prepared for sale. The loads were 240 and 300-grain rounds.

It has been about 20 years or so since I've used a wheel gun (I lived in Europe and Asia for an extended periods of time) and never a .44 Magnum so I set about to sight in my Burris 3-9X scope with the 240-grain stuff off of a rest placed on the hood of my Jeep Grand Cherokee. Once I was hitting the target @ 25 yards in a 1" group I then went out to 100 paces. I wanted to check the group, make some scope adjustments and see the amount of bullet fall. I also get a kick out of seeing the rifle guys asking me what type of rifle I'm using and then produce a handgun. They really freak when the then see my targets as they accidently by pass mine on the way to theirs. Most hunters seem to feel satisfied if they can hit a pie plate @ 100 yards with their factory stuff and then complain when the miss an animal @ 125 yards.

At 100 paces I had about a 6" drop with the 240-grain rounds. I then placed another 2" red dot above my original target and let fly. I was now on the 6" target with 5 of my 6 shoots and then switched to the 300-grain load. Fearing the worst I was prepared for some nasty recoil. When I let loose I was mildly surprised that there wasn't a wrist wrenching recoil. I later found out that the load was not doing the stated 1300 fps, but about 1175.

On the target I had no bullet drop and a 3" group, which stunned me as 1) I've never shoot the .44 Magnum 2) the recoil wasn't too bad compared to the heavy loads coming out of my Glock 10mm 3) the original grip on the Ruger left no place for my little finger and 4) because of the grip trigger reach wasn't the best.

Now I'd heard about guys that could use a .44 Magnum and shoot 2" groups all day long @ 100 yards, but thought this was just one of those myths that someone stated in a gun rag. Now I now it to be true. Also from my experience with several Glocks hardcast out performs jacketed bullets over and over again. Therefore I'm looking to use the Beartooth bullet. I believe - as well as the rest of us in NE Arizona - that you want penetration and aim for the shoulder and not behind the shoulder.

Given all the work that I put into developing semi-autopistol loads I felt very, very lucky to have found the 300-grain load that I had. The load was:

300-grain Hornady XTP, Remington Brass, Winchester LP primers and 16.5-grains of 2400 powder.

However, Im looking to get 1300 fps with a hardcast bullet in 240-grain for deer and the same velocity for a 325/330-grain bullet for elk and bear protection. I don't want my arm twisted when I let loose and don't want to have my gun rattled to pieces, altough it is a Super Redhawk and I know it can take some sever punishment. The game I play is accuracy and precision and then let the bullet do the rest.

So I'm still lookking for Ruger Super Redhawk specific loads in the two bullet weights above using either H110 or 2400 powders. I hate having 6 - 7 pounds of various powders laying around and so does the wife.

Thanks again to those that have replied and to the others that will do so. Just as an aside I had looked at larger caliber handguns e.g. Ruger .480 and Cassull .454, but have a very high comfort level with the .44 Mag. Hunting is just like going Scuba diving. You don't go alone and one of you should have a rifle as back-up.

RugerMag

I was just recently at the range shooting some custom handloads made specifically for the super redhawk. 340 grain LBT @ 1475 fps. Man that's some recoil...but the gun didn't even flinch.

I flinched tho!

 

[454PB]

I've been shooting .44 magnums for 35 years, cast my own bullets, and tried about every powder you can imagine. I presently own 3 .44's, one is a 7 1/2" Redhawk. I've recently used nothing but 310 grain Lee gas checked bullets, cast with wheelweights hardened with 25% linotype, These chronograph at 1350 fps using 19 gr. of Hodgdon Lil'Gun, CCI 350 primers, and seating the bullet to crimp in the upper groove. I can't claim any 2" groups at 100 yards (and don't know anyone that can), but they are as accurate as any load I've ever fired in a .44