Buffalo Bore 44 Special 200gr Wadcutter – Exceptional Bulldog Friendly Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 44 Special 200gr Wadcutter solves a problem the rest of Buffalo Bore’s 44 Special line creates. Their heavy loads are all excluded from the Charter Arms Bulldog, which is the gun a great many 44 Special owners actually carry. This one is explicitly developed for any and all 44 Special firearms, Charter Arms included. 200 grains at 1000 fps, roughly 444 ft-lbs, and about 24 inches of straight line penetration. Twenty rounds per box, item 14E/20.

• Buffalo Bore 44 Special 200gr Wadcutter Overview
• 44 Special Hard Cast Wadcutter Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 200 Grain Full Wadcutter Bullet Penetrates So Far
• Specifications
• Why This Is The Charter Arms Bulldog Safe 44 Spl Load

Buffalo Bore 44 Special 200gr Wadcutter Overview

A wadcutter is a cylinder with a completely flat front, originally designed to cut clean round holes in paper targets. That same flat face turns out to be remarkably effective on tissue, which is why 44 Special hard cast wadcutter ammo has quietly become a serious defensive choice rather than just a range curiosity.

Buffalo Bore casts it from a hard alloy, so it does not deform on impact. There is no expansion to rely on and nothing that can fail, and the bullet arrives at the far end at full weight and full 0.429 inch diameter.

The pressure level is what makes the Buffalo Bore 44 Special 200gr Wadcutter universally usable. Buffalo Bore developed it specifically for all 44 Special firearms including Charter Arms, which sets it apart from the 180 grain JHP, the 190 grain soft cast, the 200 grain TAC-XP and the 255 grain Keith in the same catalogue. Every one of those excludes the Bulldog.

44 Special Hard Cast Wadcutter Ammo Ballistics

The published real gun figures cover exactly the guns people carry. A 5.5 inch Ruger Super Blackhawk gives 1036 fps, a four inch Smith and Wesson Model 25 Mountain Gun gives 971, a three inch Model 396 gives 948, a three inch Charter Arms Bulldog gives 920, and a two inch Model 296 gives 913 fps.

Those work out to roughly 477, 419, 399, 376 and 370 ft-lbs. The spread from a 5.5 inch single action down to a two inch snub is only about 120 fps, which is a very flat curve and a credit to the powder choice.

The penetration number is the extraordinary one. Buffalo Bore reports approximately 24 inches of straight line penetration in living tissue for the Buffalo Bore 44 Special 200gr Wadcutter. That is well beyond what any expanding handgun bullet produces, from a cartridge introduced in 1907.

Why The 200 Grain Full Wadcutter Bullet Penetrates So Far

A flat face does two things a round nose cannot. It crushes and shears tissue rather than pushing it aside, and because the meplat is the full diameter of the bullet, the hole it leaves is full calibre from entry onward rather than tapering.

Hard cast alloy then keeps that shape all the way through. A 200 grain full wadcutter bullet that does not deform holds its weight and its frontal area for the whole path, which is why the penetration figure is so high. Nothing is being spent on expansion.

There is a sectional density argument too. A 200 grain full wadcutter bullet at 0.429 inches is not long for its diameter, but hard cast bullets punch above their sectional density because they stay intact. Softer bullets lose theirs the moment they start to deform.

And the recoil is mild. At 1000 fps in a 44 Special this is a gentle load by big bore standards, which matters in a light revolver like the Bulldog. A deep penetrating 44 Special ammunition option you can actually shoot well is worth more than a harder hitting one you flinch through.

Specifications

Why This Is The Charter Arms Bulldog Safe 44 Spl Load

Take the penetration figure seriously in both directions. Twenty four inches is far more than the twelve to eighteen inches most people consider the useful window, which means this bullet will pass through a person and continue into whatever is behind them. In a house or an apartment with other people in it, that is a real problem and an expanding load is the better choice.

Where a Charter Arms Bulldog safe 44 Spl load earns its place is exactly there: in a Bulldog or any other 44 Special that cannot take the heavy loads. If you carry one, this is the one Buffalo Bore product in the calibre developed for it, and it is a considerable step up from generic factory 44 Special ammunition.

Check your point of impact. A 200 grain bullet is lighter than the 240 and 246 grain loads fixed sight 44 Special revolvers were regulated around, so expect it to print somewhat low at twenty five yards.

Expect cast bullet fouling and check cylinder fit. A 200 grain full wadcutter bullet seats deep, which some speedloaders handle differently from a round nose profile, so run a few through your loaders before you carry it.

Deep Penetrating 44 Special Ammunition Availability

This deep penetrating 44 Special ammunition is in stock and ready to ship from MAG5 Firearms, a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Ammunition orders ship to most states, and local customers are welcome to pick up in the shop. If you need case quantities or one of the heavier 44 Special loads, call us and we will check what our distributors have on hand.

Manufacturer details are on the Buffalo Bore site. If your revolver is not a Bulldog, the heavier options are the 44 Special 255gr hard cast Keith SWC and the 190gr soft cast HP. For the same wadcutter idea in 38 Special, see the 38 Special 150gr wadcutter.