I've taken 3 mule deer bucks with cast bullets out of 44 mags. All were cleanly taken and the off side exit holes were about the size of a silver dollar and the reaction was pretty quick. I shoot nothing but cast bullets now days at almost every thing.
The loads have been the classic "Keith loads" of 2400 and 250 gr rcbs Keith bullets. Any SWC bullet of at least 240 gr and hard enough to shoot well will pass completly thru and thru!!!! < !--color-->

I guess ours aren't very tough either. I know one lady who has killed a coiuple with her .45 flinter with RB. I've never seen anything properly shot go far, including eight buffalo on one day last November by members of my group.

It hard to argue with dead, regardless what the animal is shot with. I'm sure in the case I experienced, it was just those pussy Sangre de Christo elk that laid down and died so easy.

I sold my .45 Colt to a friend and he killed a spike at 60 yards - load was 260 with H110 for 1350 from a 7.5 Bhawk
I took a doe this year with my lwngc
LBT at 1360 from my 5.5 Rhawk .41 big hole did fine -- I took a spike with lyman 410459 Keith bullet 228 grains and then I have taken another spike with a 275 SSk bullet- all bullets pretty well go all the way through

I went out to Colorado a few years ago during ML'er season and saw the results of what a roundball will do for a bull elk. All one shit kills on a smallish 5x6 and two fine bulls, 6x6 and 6x7's. Balls didn't bounce off, elk didn't run either. The 5x6 was shot with a .50 RB over 70 grains 2F. The others used 54's with 80 grains 2F. All rifles were Hawken types. Small bull maybe 450 pounds, big bulls between 600-700 pounds.