I've shot several deer with .44 Mag using Federal Hydroshock 240 gn. bullets. Everytime, I get an exit. I'm considering reloading 180 gn. or 200 gn. Hornady XTPs to use on deer for a better trajectory. Likely, these will hit hard enough and still exit. Does anyone have experience with the lighter .44 Mag bullets on whitetails who can relate their performance?

Those weights are OK. But, you know you have to step up the fps to make up for the decreased weight.

Do your research and compare. This would be on the warm side - http://www.shopcorbon.com/CORB...80JHP-20/300/Product

1350 imho is about the minimum for the 180 or 200.

But - why do you want to go DOWN in bullet size?

240 is "the deal" in .44, and you've already proven it works, so why not just keep on going back to it??

In .44 that's what I use. For hunting I wouldn't be interested in those others.

At what ranges do you anticipate shooting them? I wouldn't go lighter than a 240, but that's just me.

The 240s over perform. A lighter bullet at a higher velocity would give a flatter trajectory. I could shoot as far a 100 yards with my Jim Stroh/Alpha Precision custom Ruger Super Redhawk. My question was if anyone had any experience with these lighter bullets on deer out to about 100 yards.

They well kill any whitetail you hit properly.

It would be a wash...lighter faster bullets slow down quicker and shed their energy deliverance so the difference in delivered energy or trajectory would be minimal at best. Shoot some and test the differences to see if it is worth the effort. I have also found the stubbie bullets to lose their accurracy at extended yardages as well. I am sure they will dispatch a deer at 100yds without a problem but an exit won't be as reliable. There are usually reasons that have been backed by experience when certain bullets weights are recommended/used by the masses. Light, fast bullets have had their share of a following, but it was shallow and flighting. Very few subscribe to that mentallity these days. Hard to argue with middle-of-the-road thinking. Good luck and I hope it works for you. I personally use 240-250gr in .44 revolvers/automag and 300gr in my 44mag leverguns when using jacketed bullets.

I wouldn't use those light ones . I have used the old 225 Speer 1/2Jacket SWHP and the 225 Barnes [Corbon DPX] .Both gave excellent performance, penetration and expansion, ,I was very satisfied !!. Those cartridges like the 45-70 don't kill by velocity but by punching a big hole .
As mentioned the light ones lose their punch quickly.
Bullet design makes a big difference .The ones I've mentioned work very well.

Ken,

I started handgun hunting with my .44 with the 200 gr XTP out of my Redhawk, running it fairly "hot". Very good terminal performance, big wound channels, and zero deer lost. However, in your quest for guaranteed exit, I'd look elsewhere. In my experience with that gun and load, I've experienced exits in approximately 50% of the harvests and recovered the bullets in the other half. Good news is, they've held together well - and I've never had to extract one from a live deer

But if the exit is a must, stick with the 240 and up.

BTW - still shoot that same load our of the Redhawk, some 20+ years later.

PS - shot a nice buck last year under 15 yards with a 240 XTP out of a new-to-me FA. No exit on the steep-angled high shoulder shot, and recovered bullet was textbook and just under the offside hide.

Thanks CarolinaHunter. That was what I was looking for. I'm aware of the trade offs ie. weight/velocity/penetration/trajectory/etc., but since my 240s were blasting through and beyond, I thought there would be some room for going lighter if it made range estimation error a little more forgiving. I didn't mean to imply that an exit wound was necessary as long as the deer died in time for no more than a short hide-and-seek. If the bullet plopped to the ground on the far side of the deer, that would be all the exit needed. That being said, no exit would not be the end of the world as long as it died promply or left a good short trail to follow. I was actually leaning towards the 210 Hornady makes as a good compromise between the 240 and the 180.



Shilen barrel, custom front sight, bowen rear sight, welded & checkered hammer spur, jeweled trigger and hammer, numbered chambers, trigger and action job, taylor throated, cryo treated, Robar finish all by Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision.

Hunting deer with a handgun is just plain fun.

You shouldn't have any "issues" with trajectory at 100 yards. At what range are you zeroed? I shoot somewhat warm 320 grain loads out to that distance and beyond without any accuracy issues. They shoot plenty "flat." I still prefer exits, and the ability to reach the vitals from any and every angle, so I will always use heavier bullets. Not that your bullet choice won't work, but I would imagine you will have to be more selective with your shot angles.

Way, way, way, back in the day I shot some 180gr loads in my Ruger Rifle and in my handguns.

The only animal I shot was a big rabbit. There was nothing left...

If you read a lot about hunting from the start of cordite, and the early days of smokless powder, you will ee that mos of the problems with killing game cleanly, camefom using bullts tht were to light/to low in sectional density.

I have killed a lot of deer with a 44 Mag rifle and handgun with 240gr bullets, both factory and handloads, with perfect results.

Why tempt fate???

You will have to be very selective of what bullet you choose & also stick with broadside shots if using the 180's. Through the lungs they should be spectacular, on an angle shot probably not so good. Most of us old roosters shy away from light & fast in a revolver. Trajectory at 100 yds is pretty much a non issue. Nice looking sixgun you have there, I like it.

Dick

I once shot a doe at 10 feet with the 180 grain Federal factory load. Placed it on the point of the shoulder as always. the bullet broke up on the joint and did not penetrate. Thankfully, she limped down the hill and laid down. A followup through the lungs fully penetrated and finished her.
I shoot 300 grain XTP's now. As range is short where I hunt and cover very thick, a 100 yard run by a dead deer can be an all day job finding it if it does not bleed a lot. I like the heavier bullet and breaking both shoulders. Even a blind old guy like me can find them if they 'snowplow'.

quote:

Originally posted by sixshot_01:
You will have to be very selective of what bullet you choose & also stick with broadside shots if using the 180's. Through the lungs they should be spectacular, on an angle shot probably not so good. Most of us old roosters shy away from light & fast in a revolver. Trajectory at 100 yds is pretty much a non issue. Nice looking sixgun you have there, I like it.

Dick

Exactly!

Really? Flat trajectory and revolver used in the same sentence? Two holes are better than one. Lighter and faster is best left for backpacking or shooting prairie dogs.

The last handgun deer I killed was with a 7.5" Redhawk/2.5X Leupold scope/180 Sierra JHC/31 grains of H110. Would have to look up the velocity but it was in the 1600s somewhere.

Deer was a 120# 6 point that walked right up to me...shot was at 35' just about dead on. The bullet entered just to the right (left side of the deer) of the sternum and exited the end of the ribcage on the left side (deer's right side).

The heart looked like a sack of Jello. The bullet broke the last two ribs going out...it was a Bang-Flop shot. Total penetration was about 2'.

I've also found that in Ruger firearms the light bullets shoot more accurately than the heavier ones. Had an old Carbine that would never do better than 2-3" at 100 with 240s but would shoot consistent 1" groups with the 180 Sierra.

These bullets are designed to mushroom, not blow up. Gary Reeder uses the 170 Sierra driven to 1700-2000 fps from his .41 GRN and .410 GNR to take elk. These bullets are a lot tougher than most people think...that and deer are not exactly tough animals...especially the small ones.

Also 100% agree that if you hit a shoulder knuckle it may be a problem. Two years ago I hit a big doe right on the shoulder joint with a Barnes 250 grain Expander HP from a TC Encore...the bullet went to pieces and never entered the chest cavity. All other deer hit with that bullet have been Bang-Flops both for me and the other guys I hunt with.



Bob

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
I've also found that in Ruger firearms the light bullets shoot more accurately than the heavier ones. Had an old Carbine that would never do better than 2-3" at 100 with 240s but would shoot consistent 1" groups with the 180 Sierra.

Bob

Maybe in your Rugers, Bob, but I have found that mine are happy going either way. That said, my regular .44 Mag loads are in the 300 to 320 grain weight range and they are very accurate. Same goes for my .45 Colt Bisley -- it really likes the heavies.

The biggest problem with those light bullets is that if they meet with any serious resistence, they may just stop. I don't accept that. But again, that's just me.

Ken, when you mentioned 100 yds that put this in a bit different light to me. For instance I know guys who deer hunt across the river over in Arkansas in places where rifles aren't allowed (because it's counties with few deer and real short seasons), but they are allowed to use handguns. So, they want to push it out to the limit on distance. One asked me once about what caliber and so forth for one of those specialty scoped single shot or bolt handguns. You know, like the Remington XP-100, Savage Striker or Weatherby CFP. I suggested a 243.

The point being I can see how someone could really use a flat shooting 44 magnum, given that you don't probably want to buy another gun just for 100 yd shots.

Anyway, I am confident from range shooting that you can get it as flat as you want with a 240 by just going with a fps that's, in my opinion, in the 1350 to 1450 area. If it were me, I'd try that out and see if I'm right, at the range first of course. Instead of going straight to handloading you can experiment first with factory 240s - Hornady's 1350, Speer's 1400 and Cor-Bon's 1450. If you don't like the results, then for comparison I'd try a box of Cor-Bon's factory 180s at the 1675 fps per the above link. If they satisfy you can duplicate the ballistics with handloading.

quote:

Originally posted by Ken Mackenzie:
Thanks CarolinaHunter. That was what I was looking for. I'm aware of the trade offs ie. weight/velocity/penetration/trajectory/etc., but since my 240s were blasting through and beyond, I thought there would be some room for going lighter if it made range estimation error a little more forgiving. I didn't mean to imply that an exit wound was necessary as long as the deer died in time for no more than a short hide-and-seek. If the bullet plopped to the ground on the far side of the deer, that would be all the exit needed. That being said, no exit would not be the end of the world as long as it died promply or left a good short trail to follow. I was actually leaning towards the 210 Hornady makes as a good compromise between the 240 and the 180.



Shilen barrel, custom front sight, bowen rear sight, welded & checkered hammer spur, jeweled trigger and hammer, numbered chambers, trigger and action job, taylor throated, cryo treated, Robar finish all by Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision.

Hunting deer with a handgun is just plain fun.

Wow, that finish is awesome!!

the 210 work great for me. several deer and 200# hoges to boot! deer out arround 85 yards and hogs from 35 to 70. for what it is worth i used ww296.

I don't see 100 yards as a problem even with the 300 grainers that I like to shoot

quote:

Originally posted by jwp475:
I don't see 100 yards as a problem even with the 300 grainers that I like to shoot

That's what I was saying. What is the issue? I would rather use a bullet that has some weight to it, particularly at longer ranges. That light bullet runs out of steam, it won't penetrate very well. JMHO.

The greatest problem I have had with accuracy in a Ruger revolver is shooting cast bullets sized smaller than 0.432".

IMO, the best lightweight .429 bullet is the 210gr Speer Gold Dot. We run them up to 2000fps in rifles and they always exit the deer. There's not another bullet in the 180gr - 210gr weight that I would consider doing this with.

I, just myself, prefer the 300 grain softpoints. You're definitely gonna get 2 holes at a reasonable distance with that chunk. And as someone else mentioned, try to find a good used Remington xp-100 in 7-08 or 35 Remington. The 7-08 I have uses a custom 15" barrel and shoots a 130 grain speer at 2752 and is absolutely the most accurate gun(including rifles) that I own. Plenty of energy. The 35 Rem I just acquired will, according to the loading books, send a 200 grain bullet at around 1800 fps. That also is plenty.