why not .44 mag wadcutters

[Kevinjoe]

Looking at reloading for a 44 magnum Henry rifle. Have always been a fan of .38 wadcutters... I know they're a good target load, but I know some also like them as defensive loads. Which made me wonder- why not .44 mag wadcutters?

[Nobade]

Why not? I have an old Lee mold that makes a 200 grain one. Works great.

[Sasquatch-1]

I swage a 250 grn. round nose into a wadcutter for low velocity rounds I use at a 2x4 shoot. They do a really good job at blowing huge chunks of wood out the back when I hit the board.

[Thumbcocker]

Molds for button nose .44 wadcutters are available. They work fine.

[Green Frog]

You’re about a hundred and twenty years late asking this… Ideal made a wadcutter mould for 44 Special target loads sometime about 1900. Since the 38 became more popular for Bullseye, the 44 WC is neglected, but the moulds are still out there.
Froggie

[country gent]

I believe accurate and Noe have 44 wadcutter moulds listed.
I shot a 45 caliber 225 grn wadcutter loaded heavy for bowling pins. With good hits it always took the pins off the table. It transferred all the energy to the pin.If memory serves I was getting them from national bullet company now defunct.

[G W Wade]

Full wadcutters can cause a lot of destruction and accuracy, but I doubt they will feed in your Henry or any Marlin style rifle. OAL is generally critical for function. Can always try GW

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

while I am a fan of WC for it's original purpose, it just doesn't seem like a logical fit for a Magnum lebergun.

[Martin Luber]

My 1894 JM won’t feed them and it’s a miserable jam to clear. Verify that you can feed empty brass first. I have moulds but don’t recall the number. 4.0 Bullseye is good

[Bazoo]

I think the reason wadcutters aren't more popular in the 44 Magnum, is that, like the 357 Magnum, it's not considered a target cartridge. The 38 Special quickly became a target cartridge, and while the 44 Special is like it's big brother, it was always considered more of a field cartridge like the 45 Colt.

[Bigslug]

Why not?

If you're thinking defensive purposes, the gun has to WORK, first, last, and always.

High likelihood of them not feeding in a lever gun.

Tendency of wadcutters to lose stability and accuracy after fairly short distances (50-100 yards)

LOTS of good choices in tapered flat point and hollow point molds that will feed and allow you to use the distance potential of your carbine. A bullet with a nose to crimp groove length of about .32"-.325" will fit within the blueprint length of the cartridge and be what the leverguns are engineered to eat. A lot of us run longer noses that fit within Smith 29's and Ruger cylinders, but those aren't giving you ramped feeding geometry to contend with.

I'm a tumble lube fan, so would probably start with the Accurate Molds 43-240AT, tweak the dimensions to suit my individual gun, and cast of 20-1 lead/tin equivalent to get good deformation on impact with a 1200-1400-ish fps load. Plenty of other choices with that general profile if you prefer another lube process.

[MarkP]

Amazingly 44 SPL's loaded with the old LEE 208 gr WC's will feed in an older Rossi Puma 44 Mag.

[stubshaft]

Years ago, I had Veral at LBT make me a 44 caliber OWC (Ogival Wadcutter Mold) and have shot hundreds of them through my pistols and Marlin rifle. I have found them very accurate and a joy to shoot.

[Bazoo]

I've not tried wadcutters in my Winchester 92, but I guess I could load a few round flat bullets backwards and get an idea if they cycle. It'll feed any semi-wadcutters I've tried, so I wouldn't be surprised if it'd feed wadcutters too.

[DougGuy]

Years ago, I had Veral at LBT make me a 44 caliber OWC (Ogival Wadcutter Mold) and have shot hundreds of them through my pistols and Marlin rifle. I have found them very accurate and a joy to shoot.

I am a big fan of the 45 caliber LBT 250gr OWCPB boolit. I load them in 45 Schofield brass for a medium frame Vaquero. Tier II load 23kpsi 1200fps.

[square butte]

I am a big fan of the 45 caliber LBT 250gr OWCPB boolit. I load them in 45 Schofield brass for a medium frame Vaquero. Tier II load 23kpsi 1200fps.

Now that Veral is out of business - Who is doing the closest copy of the LBT - OWC ? There are some pretty close in the Accurate catalog, But i don't have an LBT example to compare it to. Like to have one in .358, .430, and .452/.455

[Sandspider500]

Wadcutters? In a 45 colt or a 44 mag?





That's crazy talk.

[charlie b]

Back when I got my .45LC (1980's) and was looking up loads there was an article about an African PH who used a Ruger BH for his backup "lion gun". His loads were HOT 300gn lead cylinders just like the post above. He claimed quite a few one rounds kills against marauding lions with that load. IIRC the shots were all less than 25yd.

[Baltimoreed]

I’ve tried short nosed .45 swc in my 1894 and it didn’t like them. Load a few dummy loads and experiment. You could always turn the boolits around and seat them in your brass to test them in your rifle.

[rintinglen]

Sometimes, you can't get there from here.

Although NOE, Accurate, and MP have made or still make excellent 44 caliber molds, (The 230 grain NOE is excellent,) unless you are going to single feed them, I am willing to bet a fair sum that you will be disappointed if you try them in your rifle. The gun will almost certainly fail to feed and may jam up badly, resulting in you having to jump through some hoops to disassemble the action and clear the stuck rounds. In a revolver, at least out to fifty yards, wadcutter boolits are dandy, but so much in repeating rifles.

Just a pic of a multi-ball load using the NOE 110 grain wadcutter.