Heavy Boolits article by Taffin

[bbailey7821]

Did anyone else read the article in this months Handgunner magazine by John Taffin. It was really down on heavy weight bullets for Revolvers. I was curious if any you guys had shared some of his referenced experiences? God help us if he finds out about the .500 700g. group buy...

[Bret4207]

Taffin is a decent writer but he isn't god or anything. Use what you want. Elmer knew more about guns than Taffin ever will, hated GC's in a revolver and yet I find them very useful. The world didn't stop just because I disagreed with St. Elmer. Taffin isn;t even a Saint yet, so there's even less danger of Armageddon if you do it your way.

[btroj]

Ever stop to think that a guy who needs to write that many articles has to come up with some weird stuff now and then?
Like Bret said, who cares to an extent? He has opinions but they are not the only ones out there. I shoot what I want because it fills my needs and pleases me and don't really care if any writer likes what I am doing or not.

[NHlever]

John Taffin has spent a lot of years shooting heavy bullets from revolvers, single shots, lever guns, and you name it. Now his hands, and arms have paid the price, and he is old enough to have spent some time reflectiing on just how much good that did.

[AlabamaGene]

You must be one of the internet ninja warriors he is referring to...

[hansumtoad]

Don't worry.... be happy. I'm tellin' ya that Newton fella is onto something....regardless of what John taffin might think at the moment.

[pdawg_shooter]

I too am a fan of heavy for caliber cast bullets. I just get better results with them. Better accuracy and better performance on game. And no, I haven't read that article. I base my opinion on near 50 years of shooting. But then opinions are like a$$ holes, everyone has one. Heavy works for me so I guess I will stay with them.

[44man]

Taffin and I do not get along!
However there is a point of too heavy in a revolver.
I use heavy boolits all the time but you need to remember once so heavy, brass can not hold the boolits in under recoil.
That will be your only concern. As long as you don't run into that problem, heavy boolits are great.

[NHlever]

I like heavy for caliber boolits in my revolvers too, especially those of good design for hunting. My cancer, and treatments have made hunting kind of a rare event for a while so I have explored lighter boolits for paper punching. So far though I will be the first to admit that I just haven't gotten the same accuracy yet with them that I am used to with the heavier options, and I have been looking at the Accurate catalog this morning for some new heavier designs.

[44man]

I like heavy for caliber boolits in my revolvers too, especially those of good design for hunting. My cancer, and treatments have made hunting kind of a rare event for a while so I have explored lighter boolits for paper punching. So far though I will be the first to admit that I just haven't gotten the same accuracy yet with them that I am used to with the heavier options, and I have been looking at the Accurate catalog this morning for some new heavier designs.

I wish the best for you my friend and hope you beat it 100%!

[blackthorn]

Quote "I wish the best for you my friend and hope you beat it 100%!"

+2 from our house!!

[RobS]

Revolvers: Heavier for caliber has been better on this end vs light by a long shot. I don't even fool with anything under 300 grains for my 454 Casull any longer. There is a point of no returns though when getting ridiculously heavy.

[MGySgt]

IMHO - Taffin has some good articles, but every once in a while I think he goes off the deep end.

Too heavy for caliber is a personal thing and the weight will vary depending on the application.

In 44mag - a 330 grain won't shoot as flat to 100 yards, as a 250 grain so your point blank will be shorter.

Personaly - I like about 280 grain in a 44 - heavy enough to get the penetration and light enough to get 1250 - 1300 out of my SBH 4 5/8's. They still need a heavy crimp and good bullet pull or they will jump the crimp.

Just my 2 cents worth

[bigboredad]

I just like big bullets and I cannot lie. The best accuracy I get out of my .45 Ruger is with a 340 grain bullet and it doesn't matter if it is going 900fps or at ludicrous fps.


NHlever
My prayers are with you. Attitude is very important. Just keep telling yourself you can win and in the dark moments when you think you can't just remember you are not alone

[blasternank]

In my 357 I used 180 gr. bullets for bowling pin shoots and loved them. My dad had some cast ones for awhile and I think they were 200 or 220 gr.! The 180's people would always ask why not the 158's. I just like the extra mass and If I wanted I could easily feel comfortable using them for hunting or anything else I wanted without fear they wouldn't be adequate.

[waksupi]

If anything heavier than a 250 gr. boolit was needed in a .44 magnum, Elmer would have been using them.

[AZ-Stew]

After reading the responses, apparently bbailey and I are the only ones who have read the article.

I'm not a big Taffin fan, either, but in this article I think he's spot on. He discusses standard, heavy, and overly heavy bullets for several cartridges and their advantages and disadvantages, including penetration, bullet pull-out under recoil and revolver life as it relates to bullet weight and fired velocity. In my opinion, it was well thought out and reflected his many years of experience.

Since I don't hunt moose or griz, standard bullet weights are fine for me. I don't even shoot many magnum-level loads these days. When I keel over, my kids and grandkids will inherit revolvers with a lot of life left in them.

For what it's worth, I remember reading something by Keith wherein he said he shot lengthwise through a caribou using a 210 or 220 grain SWC cast bullet of his design from a .41 magnum. In my book, that's plenty of penetration. Going to a 240 or 250, or even heavier bullet would have bought him exactly nothing.

Regards,

Stew

[AlabamaGene]

Say what you want about the gun rags but it's kinda cool that FMG publications (Guns, American Handgunner, etc.) puts full text versions of their rags online. So you can read the Taffin piece here, I think on page 26:

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/...gunner/AHMJ11/

[pmer]

I think I read on Linebaugh site that he has had more trouble with light boolits strecthing frames and or wearing out revolvers faster than using heavy boolits.

[MtGun44]

Since a normal Keith or LBT 250 gr .44 mag cast boolit will shoot completely through most game on this
continent at 1200-1300 fps, I have some trouble understanding exactly why I would want
a heavier boolit. I have tried the Lee 310 and got worse accuracy, more recoil and a faster
depletion of my lead supply.

Still a free country, do whatever you want, but I can't see much point in the heavy for caliber
unless you are trying to keep the energy up for subsonic loads for supressed weapons.

Bill