I recently bought a 44cal. bang stick from cfth. Can you, cfth, or anyone else out their that has a 44cal. tell me what loads work best in them. What i'm looking for is manufacture, what type of round, FMG or JHP, and what grain. Also, has anyone tried 44 special rounds in one?
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Bang Stick Question ?
- Thread starter kaos
- Start date
a1mudpuppy
Well-known member
I use a .223 or a .38, I just go and get them from Wally World. I've never had to hit one twice with the .223.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Use Remington brass shells. Very dependable.
GatorChaser
Well-known member
Any type 44 is good, of course the top names Hornady, Remington and so on are the best. The special which is a hollow point will penetrate with a nice hole to look at, but a solid lead bullet 260 grain will leave a hole to remember and a hole your taxidermist will thank you for. Also some people put figer nail polish over the primer to keep it dry in case you stick the bangstick in the water trying to hit the gator and it doesn't go off, it keeps the power in the bullet dry. I'm not to big on the polish but I hear it works.
Thanks for the info guy's, as for the nail polish idea, seems like you'd have to be careful not to get too much on the primer, or you might have a hard time getting the fireing pin to make good contact with it.
olf art, have you ever had any problems with the vaseline getting into the powder ? It would seem to me with as high as the heat and humidity is around here, that the vaseline would liquify, and be able to seap into the powder also.
Since we're on the subject of missfires, anyone recomend a safe way to unload a bang stick if you have one. It seems like their would be a problem, just due to the mechanics of a bang stick, that makes a missfire a hazardous situation to resolve....
olf art, have you ever had any problems with the vaseline getting into the powder ? It would seem to me with as high as the heat and humidity is around here, that the vaseline would liquify, and be able to seap into the powder also.
Since we're on the subject of missfires, anyone recomend a safe way to unload a bang stick if you have one. It seems like their would be a problem, just due to the mechanics of a bang stick, that makes a missfire a hazardous situation to resolve....
Petroleun and primers
When I went to the old GFC academy I heard to never use WD-40 on ammo to prevent corrosion etc. LE ammo typically sits in a gun for long periods of time and only gets fired at range time.
It came up cause some who had blued guns showed up with a can of WD-40 in their cleaning kit. It was immediately noted by those who were experienced with guns that when the oil squirts throguh the tube it lowers the temperature at the orface and there is condenstion carried along with the oil onto the gun surface. Old Knowledge.
Then it went to WD-40 deactivating primers from wicking from the gun to the ammo. Several statements were made that it has happened and never to use it.
I went home and being the consumate disbeliever of anecdotal info, I proceede to load up a bunch of brass with just primers.
I set up a table full and filled each case maybe 1/8" with WD-40. Now the primers arent wicking, they are totally submerged.
Next morning I took a couple cases and popped them in my gun. both fired immediately. Went through this the next day too. on the third day I had one didnt fire with the first hammer fall. I snapped a couple more and they all fired.
On and on this went, in a weeks time, I found that about 50% wouldnt fire with the first hammer fall. After 3 weeks only one or two would fire first time.
So in my mind while it IS true liquid oils can deactivate primers, it WILL not do it overnight. Will not do it over a single nights hunting.
So.......vaseline may be very similar in performance but I sure wouldn't worry about it in the short term. I certainly wouldn't use the ammo I coated this weekend for next weekends hunt. I would fire any unused ammo at the end of the hunt this weekend and never coat anything until just before I loaded the bangstick.
It comes to me most modern ammo is well made and is in general for short periods nearly waterproof. If you want real waterproof ammo use a caliber the military used that is sealed with tar. If your a reloader though you most likely wont be able to decap this stuff or pull the bullets.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has had the same or different experience.
Scotty
When I went to the old GFC academy I heard to never use WD-40 on ammo to prevent corrosion etc. LE ammo typically sits in a gun for long periods of time and only gets fired at range time.
It came up cause some who had blued guns showed up with a can of WD-40 in their cleaning kit. It was immediately noted by those who were experienced with guns that when the oil squirts throguh the tube it lowers the temperature at the orface and there is condenstion carried along with the oil onto the gun surface. Old Knowledge.
Then it went to WD-40 deactivating primers from wicking from the gun to the ammo. Several statements were made that it has happened and never to use it.
I went home and being the consumate disbeliever of anecdotal info, I proceede to load up a bunch of brass with just primers.
I set up a table full and filled each case maybe 1/8" with WD-40. Now the primers arent wicking, they are totally submerged.
Next morning I took a couple cases and popped them in my gun. both fired immediately. Went through this the next day too. on the third day I had one didnt fire with the first hammer fall. I snapped a couple more and they all fired.
On and on this went, in a weeks time, I found that about 50% wouldnt fire with the first hammer fall. After 3 weeks only one or two would fire first time.
So in my mind while it IS true liquid oils can deactivate primers, it WILL not do it overnight. Will not do it over a single nights hunting.
So.......vaseline may be very similar in performance but I sure wouldn't worry about it in the short term. I certainly wouldn't use the ammo I coated this weekend for next weekends hunt. I would fire any unused ammo at the end of the hunt this weekend and never coat anything until just before I loaded the bangstick.
It comes to me most modern ammo is well made and is in general for short periods nearly waterproof. If you want real waterproof ammo use a caliber the military used that is sealed with tar. If your a reloader though you most likely wont be able to decap this stuff or pull the bullets.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has had the same or different experience.
Scotty
SAFARI RICK
Well-known member
I have used the old fingernail polish trick for many a years with my duck hunting ammo, The polish won't hurt anything in fact I've had ammo sit for over a year and go off just fine. I would always put some on the crimp for a shotgun shell and a very light ring where the bullet meets the case for handgun and rifle caliber. For those that have a bang stick ( or power head) in .223 you can find the WOLF brand ammo (Russian) that is berdan primed. They make it in a bunch of calibers and you can find it at alot of gun shops or online at Sportsman's guide.com (you'll pay more for shipping) I don't shoot it in anything other then the AK's (AR 15's don't like it) It is steel cased ammo not brass. they say it can sit for over 50 years and still be good, don't know about that but I'll let ya know if the 10,000 rounds I have are still good in about 40 years. I have shot stuff from the 60's and had no problem with it.If I was worried about getting my ammo wet this is what I would use.
Kaos, we never precoated the shells long before the hunt (only morning of) so I can't answer your question about whether or not it would soak into the powder. We never loaded any guns until we were either in the boat or the blind,
What we did was take a small amount on a finger and just swipe it across the primers before we dropped them in, and then maybe swipe a half dozen more or so to drop in our jacket pockets. Not a glob ..... just a thin swipe to make the primer end of the shell repel any water that came in contact with it. We figured the water probably would have soaked in.
I can't say that this is why, but I've duck hunted on some mornings when it was raining pretty hard and I can't ever remember having a misfire. My old 1100 Rem. has been wet several times waitin for those ol' Mallards to make up their minds, but if I missed one it wasn't her fault.
What we did was take a small amount on a finger and just swipe it across the primers before we dropped them in, and then maybe swipe a half dozen more or so to drop in our jacket pockets. Not a glob ..... just a thin swipe to make the primer end of the shell repel any water that came in contact with it. We figured the water probably would have soaked in.
I can't say that this is why, but I've duck hunted on some mornings when it was raining pretty hard and I can't ever remember having a misfire. My old 1100 Rem. has been wet several times waitin for those ol' Mallards to make up their minds, but if I missed one it wasn't her fault.
In the context and in the quantities were talking here any wicking to the powder won't make any noticeable difference. Even if it does' it will only slow the ignition and initial burn down a bit. You might be able to measure it on a chronograph but you wouldnt notice it in the shooting.
The main concern is in deactivating the primers and then the gun don't fire and as I said above, its highly unlikely to occur over a weekends hunting from wicking.
I don't use anything and I have never had water soaked ammo not fire. Granted I'm not the last of the great duck hunters but I do go after ducks and have never had an issue from ammo. My old Winchester 97 just don't care it works when nothing else will. Soakin wet, burning hot, covered with mudd she takes a lickin n keeps on a tickin. I analagise it to the old manual corn sheller we had on the farm when I was a kid. Parts flying in all directions , loose as a goose, rattles like a can of rocks, but never missed a lick.
Scotty
The main concern is in deactivating the primers and then the gun don't fire and as I said above, its highly unlikely to occur over a weekends hunting from wicking.
I don't use anything and I have never had water soaked ammo not fire. Granted I'm not the last of the great duck hunters but I do go after ducks and have never had an issue from ammo. My old Winchester 97 just don't care it works when nothing else will. Soakin wet, burning hot, covered with mudd she takes a lickin n keeps on a tickin. I analagise it to the old manual corn sheller we had on the farm when I was a kid. Parts flying in all directions , loose as a goose, rattles like a can of rocks, but never missed a lick.
Scotty
Wilson
Member
Ammunition is pretty tough and reliable stuff. Back in the later 70s when I was still a fairly new police officer we caught the Chief in the bathroom washing his ammo. That green ring the brass gets from being in leather belt loops too long is nasty to get off. He was using scouring powder and water and had been doing this to the same 18 rounds for the last 15 to 18 years.
When told he should not do that, he said it would not mater and this ended up with a 1 dollar a round bet. It turned out only 2 of the 18, 38 special cartridges failed to fire. I have several boxes of original 30 Mauser cartridges had have never failed to fire. My father in law wrote a book on the old Trap Door Springfield rife and shot bunches of original black power loads of 45-70 from the late 1800s. They worked fine.
If I was worried about getting my cartridges wet, the most I would do is the finger nail polish around the primer and the crimp. I would keep oils away from them.
When told he should not do that, he said it would not mater and this ended up with a 1 dollar a round bet. It turned out only 2 of the 18, 38 special cartridges failed to fire. I have several boxes of original 30 Mauser cartridges had have never failed to fire. My father in law wrote a book on the old Trap Door Springfield rife and shot bunches of original black power loads of 45-70 from the late 1800s. They worked fine.
If I was worried about getting my cartridges wet, the most I would do is the finger nail polish around the primer and the crimp. I would keep oils away from them.
A
Anonymous
Guest
there is a primer seal that is made for this reason, you can get it from cabela's or anyone that sells reloading supplys...I like this better than fingernail polish, but that works ok also...
I have fired a 300 grain hornady JHP and a 300 grain jacketed soft nose out of my .44 bang stick, and the hollow pt didn't work well at point blank range but the soft pt made a giant hole.
I'll be using the soft nose.
I have fired a 300 grain hornady JHP and a 300 grain jacketed soft nose out of my .44 bang stick, and the hollow pt didn't work well at point blank range but the soft pt made a giant hole.
I'll be using the soft nose.
Nail Polish will work without any complications. I use a .223 power head on my spear gun while diving a various depths, even over 120 feet down . The pressure from the water will soak into the shell in no time without nail polish painted on the shell. I use it on the primer and at the crimp. Any kind or color your spouse gets tired of will work the same.
