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I too vote for the Hornady 240 XTP.

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Originally posted by bfrshooter:
The 180 is WAY too fragile. Sure, it kills good with perfect hits but can come apart on a bone and sure will not get deep enough with a quartering shot. The .44 does not come into its best until you get to 300 grs. and up. There is almost no difference in recoil with the heavier boolits. Accuracy also increases with the heavy boolits.
I have been disappointed even with the 240 XTP's as far as penetration goes and would not hunt with less then the 300 gr. XTP. It is just as accurate as the 240.
I switched to hard cast 320 LBT style boolits and will never go back. I do not trust the light weight bullets at all. Sort of like using a 110 gr. bullet in the 30-06 for deer when the 150 to 165 is ideal. It will kill like lightning, blow all the meat to mush, Make the deer bloodshot from head to tail, but it can also blow up on the surface and you can lose the deer to a lingering, terrible death. Either way, you don't have anything to eat.
You have to get realistic when hunting and use the proper bullets. Save those 180's for tin cans.
I can drop a deer in it's tracks with a .22, but would you hunt deer with one?

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Originally posted by bfrshooter:
I am not saying the 180 will not kill deer, but when I read of someone only killing one deer with it I have to wonder about the experience of the hunter. I use nothing but revolvers for deer and have taken a great deal of them with all sorts of bullets. I use .44's, .45's 45-70 and .475 Linebaugh. My experience says to use heavy bullets and get complete penetration no matter what is hit or the angle of the shot. I do not take Texas heart shots but am confident the boolit will go all the way through. Makes too much of a mess though. Yes, you can kill deer with any handgun from 9mm up. They can drop with any of them but after helping to find many deer for neighbors using 7mm and 300 mag rifles (many were not recovered after miles of tracking) I think none of you know how really tough deer can be. I remember a small doe shot with 11 shots from 12 gauge shotgun slugs before she gave up when I lived in ohio. The guy had mangled hamburger. If it wasn't for snow she would have died somewhere from the first shot. We recovered a buck shot in the ham with a 7mm mag that had a hole through it so big you could stick your head through the back of him. He went over a mile and quit bleeding in 100 yd's.
A survay was taken some years ago of handgun hunters using .357 and .44 mag revolvers. It was found that 50% of the deer hit with the .357 were lost.(good hits in the chest cavity) The .44 had a 100% recovery. It is a good killer but using those light bullets will eventually cost you deer. Maybe the buck of a lifetime.
If you are afraid of recoil and just HAVE to use those light bullets, get a rifle and leave the revolver at home. I won't argue with anyone, they will find out the hard way.
Talking about recoil, the .44 is nothing even with the heaviest boolits. My friend wanted to shoot my .475 and he held it like he does his .44. He split his forehead open and gave himself a terrible black eye. He didn't like my 45-70 either.
I have over 200,000 heavy loads through various .44's and when I hear someone say it kicks, what do you think my response will be?

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Originally posted by skid2964:
The Sierra 240 JHC works great but I still prefer the Hornady 300 XTP ...

I shot one deer with a 180gr load a long time ago, in the back of the head. I expected the face to be gone. You could not even tell it had been shot other than the fact it was dead! it was hard to even find the bullet hole. Since then, I use 240+ bullets ...

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Originally posted by MrHawg:
For those of you shooting 320 gr LBT's... What kind of powder charge are you using? After seeing what a 320 grain Cast Performance bullet does to a bison out of a 444 marlin, I kind of want to try them in my 44.

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Originally posted by jro45:
I think the 180gr bullet is all you need to kill a deer and yes some people use the 22 cal. to hunt and kill deer. I don't know how accuracy
is beyond 50 yds. That all I've shot them to. Will have to see what it is at 100 yds.

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Originally posted by jro45:
I think the 180gr bullet is all you need to kill a deer and yes some people use the 22 cal. to hunt and kill deer. I don't know how accuracy
is beyond 50 yds. That all I've shot them to. Will have to see what it is at 100 yds.

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Originally posted by bfrshooter:
Flippy, what you don't understand is that the 180 gr. .357 bullet is very heavy and tough in that caliber and is comparable to the 300 or heavier bullet in the .44. You are comparing apples to oranges.
Bullet construction and the purpose it was made for is the important thing here, not the actual weight. A very tough 180 gr. .44 bullet will be good, but most are not made for big game and open too fast.
The very important solution to this discussion is not what will kill big game, but what will do it every time with no failures. I am sure I can kill a deer with a perfect shot with a ball from a slingshot, if I actually do this, would you use a slingshot for all of your hunting? Or will you use your common sense in picking a firearm and the proper bullet?
My friend has made tests on the head of a deer with his pellet gun. He found the pellet will penetrate into the brain at close range, even through tough bone areas. Do you think he will hunt deer with his pellet gun? Will I use one? Will you? I don't think so, so what is the problem with using a heavy bullet rather then some fragile one? I don't care what caliber you use from .22 to .460, the bullet must be right for the velocity and the type of game being hunted.

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The very important solution to this discussion is not what will kill big game, but what will do it every time with no failures.

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Originally posted by Mr Jim Beagles:
I've been using 180's on deer in Iowa for several years now. I find them to be very good. I use the Remington 180 JHP with 25gr 2400 behind and it does very well. I wasn't really happy with heavier bullets. I get 2" groups at 50 yards with a rest. I have a 7 1/2" Ruger Super Blackhawk with a 2x Tasco scope. Works for me.

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Originally posted by MS Hitman:
So will a .22 rimfire, but I wouldn't recommend it.