# 45 Colt verse 44 mag



## Scott Greaves (Feb 4, 2006)

Hi Folks - I am a new member and Glad to be here. I have read so much about 45lc/44mag- I decided to get into the fun and do a little testing. I am not a writer or a handloading guru. First of all, I love the 44 mag. and own 2 - a model 629 S&W8.3/8 barrel and a new taurus heavy 12" fun gun. Both guns shoot great and do not kick to bad with high pressure loads. I have been wanting something new - so I purchased a Ruger Blackhawk 45lc/7.5" barrel- a big change from my Smith and Taurus. I will be writing a little as I go to get some feedback from you guys. My first shots were with medium loads and I was suprized with the heavy recoil- Ok - but I new what was coming- I shot a Buffalo Bore 300gr @ 1300fps cast bullet and could not handle it. My gun never had a complaint but my wrist and hand could not take it. I installed a Houge grip and it helped a bunch. My first chance to use the ruger was a couple of weeks ago and it performed like it should and blew a hole from front shoulder Thur The hind quarter of a 320# wild or feral boar. The hog was down and out on the spot. I have the same feelings about the 45lc as the 44mag- bad to the bone. My next endever - will be to try another hog at 1000 fps with 300 hardcast. I am almost sure the reduced load would do it and be a lot more friendly to my hand- any Ideas on any H110 loads to get this speed???I forgot to mention - I use the GC wfn.

Trypman1


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

I think that guns and ammo about 5-6 years ago did several campairsons between the 45/44. I think the results were that given equal chamber pressures, the 45 will shoot heavyer bullet at equal speed. No suprise there given a larger bore. With the Ruger as a shooting platform, I think that you will find that you can shoot a steady diet of hot or neer max loads in that gun and not really do much in the way of accerealated wear, but the S&W will not stand up to a constand diet of full house loads without reducing its usefull life. I dearly love my 29, and 629 S&W guns, but for routten-tooten,snot loosing loads, my rugers get the nod. This last year I put down 3 deer that had been hit by cars and made it into my farmyard, and I had on me a 45 loaded up with 250gr cast at 800fsp. Granted none of these deer were large, and all had taken a car or truck to thr rear end and were hurt badly. With that said, at ranges of 25-75yds, no deer stoped a bullet. Not one. All were shot from the side, and sholder blades and joints were the target. These were plain based lubed SWC bullets. I have also taken several deer with 44's mostly with 240gr bullets and almost all loaded to 1000fps. Have fun, and share with us your findings.


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## Scott Greaves (Feb 4, 2006)

Many thank's for your input.

Scott


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

Practice with a lighter load and hunt with the bad boys. At hog shooting distances, with open sights, the point of impact shouldn't be significantly different. I think using the full house loads on these critters is a good idea. As you have already seen, they work very well. Downloading to see how little you can get away with doesn't seem to be a productive idea. It's not high volume shooting in any case. Put up with the recoil and be sure of a clean kill. Wear a good pair of shooting gloves and think about a Bisley framed SA. Both of these will help tone down the recoil. I think your choice of bullets is superb, by the way. Welcome to the site. Stick around and tell us some of your hog stories. Even though they get to be pests where there are huntable populations, I think they're a great and challenging game animal. I wish we had them here. Good hunting, Burl


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