.44 Mag vs. fur friendly ...possible ?

As a dedicated coyote guy who likes to put up fur , I hate the thought of my .44 ( or even .357) staying at home all the time while the .22 centerfires and shotguns do the wet work.

Is it possible to marry the concept of big revolvers and it not raining fur for a week ? Thinking hardcasts with the throttle dialed down a bit. Maybe. But I am aware that in no uncertain terms will I ever get a bullet out of one of these to behave like a .17 Berger Match , invariably some stitching will be needed . However , I'd like to mitigate the amount of sewing needed . Possible or pipe dream ? Haven't taken enough called critters with one to really get a good baseline. And I intend to when I get home, but I'd like a ballpark to start with.

Perhaps something slower would work..... .44 special or .38 special.
But you would be range limited.

There'll be somebody along shortly to tell ya a 44 isn't enough gun for coyotes .............lol.
All jokes aside, maybe a fmj at fairly low velocity would work?

A heavy cast bullet will probably only make a caliber size hole if not pushed too hard

Kinda what I'm thinking, too, WW . That's where I am going to start anyway.

get a small meplat 44 mag hardcast and there ya go.

Bought a Taurus tracker 22mag for that reason. 9 shot revolver. Accurate enough. I expect to keep shots under 50 yards. Still have yet to se a coyote though.

I have killed a few fox and yotes with a .357 shooting standard 38 special lead round nosed without doing much damage to the pelt. If I were to try the 44 it would probably be a cast round nose or a smaller meplat swc.

You want a truncated cone bullet or a round nose or flat point. The outer ring on the semi wadcutter will cut a full bore hole in the critters skin. Personally I like to use two radius ogive bullets (like on a 9mm luger), functions like an automatic ice pick. Lately I have been shooting 125 gr cast bullets for a 9mm sized 357, gas checked and loaded in a 357 max case. I take a lolipop hold on their head.

With a larger bullet you might also have to consider if it hits a bone what will it do?
I had a 200 gr. round nose flat point in a 44 mag. go through a whitetail and destroy the opposite shoulder as it exited the young deer.
One way to find out . Good luck.

Very good analogy, RUG1.

As a fur-taker (wolfer) from back when the prices were great (1970-1980's) I find I must put in my two cents worth. But realize this: it is from a fur-takers perspective; pure and simple. PERIOD.

By definition a fur bullet must kill a predator instantly on the spot, if the shooter does their part. Also by definition, if you add the word "friendly", it changes the definition dramatically, as there are plenty of bullets that will "kill a predator instantly on the spot, if the shooter does their part."

A "fur friendly" bullet must do the above, plus not exit the animal (we are talking the perfect scenario here, which DOES exist sometimes.)

But in order for it to work sometimes, you gotta start out with the best combo that will give the greatest odds for your preferred end result.

You will not find this in a handgun bullet per se, at least not of the .44 mag persuasion. However, I know for a fact that you can find it in a handgun shooting a rifle version of a .22 centerfire cartridge.

Consider the source: A wolfer, handgun not a factor, only better fur prices.

Make no mistake, if fur were bringing what it did back in days gone by especially adjusted for inflation ' I wouldn't even play with the idea . In fact, I'll probably leave the wheel guns at home when calling country I know to be 'catty' as I just don't that'd be doable on something as light and fragile as a cat.

But I think a load for .44's and .45's is doable , as long as the shooter understands it's not going to be the same result as if he had made the shot with a .17 Rem. . I don't think that's possible . However, I do think a half inch hole going in and out is manageable as long as it's reliable in results. And it's well with-in my sewing abilities .

RUG1 makes a damn good point . However, we're talking a huge difference in bone structure between a furbearer and a deer . A big coyote is pushing 40 lbs. in my area , 1/3 the weight of an average doe.

Point is, we're always talking the versatility of .44/.45's . And that's been proven on the big game end, let's try pushing the envelope the other way . Have a target rich enviroment to work out the details on.

Having been callin' critters since the mid 60's and used just about all the calibers, .17 to .50, yes your .44 will work and a cast swc will do as well as any. I've killed them with 55gr cast out of a .218 Bee from a 12" contender, my favorite is a 6.5" 32wcf Ruger 'Buckeye'. Just be aware, that unless you 'brain or spine' them, they'll probably run off a ways before expiring.

I don't look to collect a hide. My mission is to kill them so I don't care what size hole in in the animal. To me they are wrecking havoc in the eastern area woods. They are killing machines and hurt both domestic and wildlife! Depending on what distances you must shoot, that is what should drive your loads. for my .44 or .45 hand cannons I like smaller bullet weights for longer distances and less drop. Lately I have been getting relly fond of my Ruger GP-100:



Shooting a midsize/weight bullet would be just right for this type of work.

44 Mag with 260 gr wfn

Could maybe try the sierra FPJ Match in 220 gr,I think it would do well

It sounds like you are intent on the experiment and I would be interested in your results.

I'm restating a lot here but:

A small metplate with a hard cast pushed slow will deliver no to minimal expansion.

A lighter round will extend the range of a lightly charged load.

Caveats:

I light slow round may suffer in accuracy in a 44 or 45.

A 44 or 45 caliber bullet with zero expansion is still far larger than a 22 caliber bullet with full expansion. With 1.5x expansion a .22 cal bullet is .33 inches still .11 inches smaller than a 44 with no expansion.

In other words, you can drive a 4x4 in a street race just don't expect to win.

If you end up trying this out I'd be interested in the results.

I had an idea at one point in making a powder puff load shooting a 105 grain cast RN in my 357 mag for small game. The lube didn't burn out of the grooves and the bullets could have been reloaded after recovery, but while the windage was tight at 25 yards the 6 shot groups made vertical strings between 10-12". I should step up the charge and see what happens, but I lost interest with such crappy results initially.

I knew it wasn't practical, I just thought it would be an interesting experiment. As long as that's your mindset I say go for it and report back.

I don't have a 44. So I would drop the 45 ACP cylinder in my Bisley and give the good ole 230 ball a go.