I WANTED to try the Barnes 180 grain in my 41 mag pistol .Has anyone used them for hunting ?
My Ruger Blackhawk with 6.5 inch barrel will be the one I shoot it out of .

Yes, i used them on whitetail and axis to good effect. Put down a whitetail wounded by a cousin and it was up and strongly quartering to me. Hit the deers onside right shoulder and penetrated to the hide of the hip on the left. This being the standard barnes vortex 180 hr xbp load.

When I used to hunt a lot with my .41 Mag, the biggest animals I've killed with my S&W Model 57 are mule deer, axis, whitetail, and sika. I never felt comfortable using 180gr. ammo on them. I reloaded something in the 210 class, or bigger, every time. I thought they deserved that much respect due to their body size.

I still draw the line in about the same spot. When I hunt hogs, I carry Sierra 210gr JHC. (For targets I still load 180gr JHC.)

Having said that, I have hunted javelina with the lighter bullet and been very satisfied, but it doesn't take much to knock a javelina off its feet.

Confidence is everything. I'm NOT confident in the 180 for deer-sized game.