Off Topic, Eastern White tail

OldRook · Oct 30, 2009

First big game of the year

W/T
new toy

Ruger 77/44 Mag
25.8 grs H110
240 gr Hornady JH/XTP
121 yards

DRT!!! dropped like a sledge hammer hit him

Us midwestern guys don't get to play with the big guns, have to come out your way to do that

Roy · Oct 30, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Oct-30-09 AT 01:46PM (MST)[p].44 Mag is a pretty big gun! At least Dirty Harry thought so. Looks like you like it in the rifle just fine.

Great buck.

BTW - there is a whitetail forum here too.

http://www.monstermuleys.info/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.pl?az=list&forum=DCForumID31&conf=conference

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

Flatlandr · Oct 30, 2009

Nice Whitey, what state?
I am hunting with a 44 mag for the first time this year.
Isn't 25.8gr of H110 a bit warm? I think that exceeds max in every manual I have.
Getting good groups with that load and the Ruger?

OldRook · Oct 30, 2009

Upper midwest on a depredation hunt (LO asked for anonymity)

my hornady manual for rifle calls out for 25.9 grs of H110 as max

i've chronographed quite a few rounds and it shows up at 1830-1880 fps most all the time

smoking out there

LH

popeyoung2 · Oct 30, 2009

Do not apoligize for anything. You have read the manual, based on the current president, We all need to know how to reload soon. Great whitetail, great shot and You knew where u were to hit nuff said.

OldRook · Oct 31, 2009

not apologizing, just stating the facts,

but thank you very much for the kind words!

getting about 1 1/2 - 2 inch groups at 100 with the gun

a trigger job would cut them in half but i don't have time to get it done before season, and it's reasonable hunting accuracy now

I have perused several manuals for reloading this caliber and Hornady has the hottest recipe under the RIFLE section for 44 mag

none of the pistol loads are even close and the other manuals are significantly less..

no pressure signs and for a fat, stubby round she does ok!

you know the current administration is one of the reasons i have entered the reloading game (that and a long range shooting habit!)

adding a few items to the stockpile every month.

Flatlandr · Oct 31, 2009

Sounds like good groups to me OldRook. I'm shooting a Marlin 1894, when I got to max my groups opened up to 2-3 inches. Backed her down about 1 gr below max and she does moa.

What edition of the hornady manual do you have? Mine is the 7th edition, it lists max for 240gr with H110 at 24.8gr. They must have reduced max in my edition.

OldRook · Oct 31, 2009

7th edition and i have been mis stating

24.8 grs!!! Thanks for the catch.. I had it in my mind it was 25.8
and 25.9 max

I checked my powder insert too make sure i wasn't losing it.

I dropped down to 24 and did not notice much improvement

I shot the 1894 last year and switched out to the Ruger this year

very similar accuracy. For me to shoot well I have to have a good trigger and until recently most factory guns (except very old ones) had horrible triggers.. These are reasonable, but not good enough for me to shoot great with. Just decent. Every rifle i own except these two have had trigger work done and these will right after season.