Maximum distance for a .44 mag from a pistol

[Fordguy]

Ok, this is strictly from a curiosity standpoint. I read an account written by someone claiming to be a former game warden who was called to the scene where a man had been shot in the chest with a 44 caliber bullet. Suspects were identified who were target practicing "more than a mile away" using .44 caliber handguns. Will a 44 cal bullet from a handgun travel more than a mile? I don't have a long range trajectory chart for the round, but out of a 6 inch barrel it's probably.moving between 1200-1500 fps depending on bullet weight and powder?
Since they said 44 cal and pistol I'm assuming it was a 44 mag or 44spl.

 

[fatbacks]

Heres the drop chart for my hunting load out of my 6” barrel out to 1700 yds. I guess it is not totally out of the question. Need to come up 500 moa hahah!

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[Wrench]

I passed a 240gr pill though this buck at 80 paces from a 4" 44mag.

A 240gr pill at 200 fps could knock a hole in your melon. Not sure what TV is on one, but it certainly COULD happen.

 

[Fordguy]

Moving roughly 450 fps at a mile out... And the article didn't say how much more than a mile it was. How much would a 44 mag slug penetrate at 400 fps?

 

[Fordguy]

Mellon yes, soft tissue? Idk. I know a guy who was hit by a 12 ga slug while walking through standing corn. It was fired a long ways away, but much less than a mile. It was moving slow enough that he said he heard it coming through the corn before it hit him. It didn't go through his Carhartts, but it bruised the heck out of his ribs and back and knocked him down. He was showing off the bruise and the slug while telling his story.

 

[Billy Goat]

Lots of people hunting with 45 cal pellet guns now. That's a 200 gr going sub 700 at the muzzle and killing hogs and deer.


Interesting thing in that dope chart above, you would hear the shot 4 seconds before the bullet.
That's a little backwards.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

If that chart is correct, that’s 739 FEET of drop. We’re then shooting off the rim of a canyon and the guy who was hit was down below?

100 ft-lbs is about what a .22 Lr does from the muzzle, so I could see something happening.

If that’s what really happened, it seems like one of those “when it’s your time, it’s your time” things.

 

[roosiebull]

Mellon yes, soft tissue? Idk. I know a guy who was hit by a 12 ga slug while walking through standing corn. It was fired a long ways away, but much less than a mile. It was moving slow enough that he said he heard it coming through the corn before it hit him. It didn't go through his Carhartts, but it bruised the heck out of his ribs and back and knocked him down. He was showing off the bruise and the slug while telling his story.

That corn may have saved his ass

 

[9.1]

Moving roughly 450 fps at a mile out... And the article didn't say how much more than a mile it was. How much would a 44 mag slug penetrate at 400 fps?

240 grains at 400 fps sounds similar to a really light arrow being shot out of a hunting bow. I'm sure a lead flat point bullet wouldn't get penetration quite like a sharp field point, but I wouldn't think it would bounce off someone.

 

[9.1]

Lots of people hunting with 45 cal pellet guns now. That's a 200 gr going sub 700 at the muzzle and killing hogs and deer.


Interesting thing in that dope chart above, you would hear the shot 4 seconds before the bullet.
That's a little backwards.

Nice observation. Every M*A*S*H fan knows "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet".

 

[Fordguy]

Agreed, but the quote was "more than a mile away". I don't know how much more than a mile it was, but it had to have been losing energy and speed rapidly by that point. According to the chart/table Fatbacks posted, the bullet is losing roughly 10 fps every 50 yards by the time its that far out. At some point its going to hit and feel like you've been kicked by a horse but not penetrate.
However, I think we've established that it's possible for a .44 mag to travel more than a mile, whether it would have enough energy to penetrate a man's chest cavity depends on the undisclosed remainder of the distance.

 

[Billy Goat]

240 grains at 400 fps sounds similar to a really light arrow being shot out of a hunting bow. I'm sure a lead flat point bullet wouldn't get penetration quite like a sharp field point, but I wouldn't think it would bounce off someone.

I hadn't thought of it in those terms, but I can say that a blunt from a 450 grain arrow hurts.....



Lesson is don't play lawn darts with bows.

 

[def90]

It could be done, the shooter would have had to shoot well up in to the air to compensate for the drop but in the end at that distance it would be doubtful if there was still enough energy to penetrate anything more than paper.

Happens all the time on the 4th of July, people go out and shoot up in to the air, the bullet eventually comes down somewhere.

 

[9.1]

Agreed, but the quote was "more than a mile away". I don't know how much more than a mile it was, but it had to have been losing energy and speed rapidly by that point. According to the chart/table Fatbacks posted, the bullet is losing roughly 10 fps every 50 yards by the time its that far out. At some point its going to hit and feel like you've been kicked by a horse but not penetrate.
However, I think we've established that it's possible for a .44 mag to travel more than a mile, whether it would have enough energy to penetrate a man's chest cavity depends on the undisclosed remainder of the distance.

I'm still doing reading on this interesting scenario. I think trajectory is the biggest issue. I've been messing around on shooterscalculator.com with numbers for Buffalo Bore's 340 gn 44 mag +P+ load numbers for a handgun with a 7.5" barrel, and it looks like it would be tough to shoot a bullet from a 44 mag handgun over 1.5 miles. If you can get it to go that far (potentially by shooting it off a cliff as @Gatorgrizz27 suggested), it looks like it never slows down below 300 fps and actually starts speeding up at the end of its flight due to gravity as it's falling out of the sky.

Wikipedia's article on stopping power suggests about 250 feet per second velocity is required for an expanded hollow point bullet to puncture skin 50% of the time. I'd think hard cast or plated plinking rounds from guys shooting at a range would penetrate slightly better and could definitely cause injuries if they were to fall from the sky and hit a guy at 300 fps.

The gun club I belong to was almost shut down quite some time ago because an idiot went out and fired his AK in the air and someone was allegedly hit when the bullets came back to earth. The insurance company required them to implement all kinds of safety features on the range and training for members to stay open. All that to say, I believe the story you heard could be true.

 

[Fordguy]

So at the end of such a long range flight the bullet flight path would be nearly vertical- and what are the odds that it would have lost stability and be tumbling?

 

[9.1]

No idea. I don't think it would be running like a buzz saw at that range. I would think if it had tumbled at some point in it's flight, it would be stabilized and flying backwards at that distance.

 

[Billy Goat]

That's not including any air resistant. That's just gravity versus initial velocity.

Here it is at a 15 degree angle.

 

[riversidejeep]

As noted above the bullet would be falling near vertical at that point, so no chest shots, just top of noggin and shoulders.

 

[9.1]

As noted above the bullet would be falling near vertical at that point, so no chest shots, just top of noggin and shoulders.

I don't think we have enough info to make that determination. We'd need to know muzzle velocity, the particulars on the bullet, altitude/air density, wind values, whether or not the guy who was hit was sun-bathing by a pool, etc. Even if it was falling near-vertical and the victim was standing up, maybe he heard it coming, turned, and leaned back to look up at it offering a chest hit.

 

[dieselchessy]

I don't know how much more than a mile it was, but it had to have been losing energy and speed rapidly by that point.

Not to pick on someone, just a general comment.
I hear this statement or version of it from time to time in reference to shooting far. It always strikes me as odd, given it’s the exact opposite of the truth.
Bullets loose speed and energy most rapidly right out of the barrel and the rate of loss tapers off as the bullet travels. Eventually getting to the point of a zero rate of loss.

Just odd stuff that jumps out at me.