1858 Remington Revolver for hunting

[ssastar]

I'd like to try using my 1858 .44 Remington revolver for deer hunting.
I'd be using .454 ball with 35 grain of triple 7.
(Black powder is as scarce as hens teeth so i have use that new fangled stuff).
Anyways my shots would be 25 to 50 yards max.
Good idea or should i forget about it?

Burdy

 

[Rebel]

If it is legal where you live i wouldn't be afraid to shoot a smallish deer with one if the shot was no more than 35 yds or so. All this is if YOU are a GOOD revolver shot.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Yeah, 50 yards is aways off, 25 is realistic if a good shot presented. it would tear up the heart-lung juncture nicely. most states have minimum barrel length regs so better check on it.

 

[BrownBear]

Haven't tried it, but I've whapped a whole lot of deer with 44 special and 45 LC revolvers over the years. Either launches its 240-250 grain bullet with moderate loads at 750 fps using my loads and guns. I have never had a problem with those guns out to 50 yards.

Maybe those ballistics will give you a starting point for estimating the effectiveness of your own rig. A 454 RB weighs in at 141 grains, but I don't have any idea what charge you would use or what velocities you should expect. I'd be more inclined to use a heavier conical bullet than an RB, especially if it had a largish meplat (flat nose) like my .429 and .452 revolver bullets. Intuitively I'd have no qualms about using the RB at 25 yards, but with velocity loss and potential for sighting errors, I'd be less likely to take a 50 yard shot.

Pure guesswork on my part, but I hope my experience gives you a concrete frame of reference for your own setup.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

seems as if you know of what you speak BrownBear. I use a Lee conical mold slug in my '58 Buffalo myself. it's about 220 grs. and I push 35 grs.of powder under. hogs get whacked w/it.

 

[jbullard1]

Thanks for the post ss
It saved me from asking the same thing :thumbsup:
I think I'll cast up a few conicals tomorrow