Ok i have never taken any game with the .44 maganm, alot of people seam to be going to the 454 and 480. I however want to try the 44mag next year for deer to 50 yards max with most shots probibly between 25-35 yards.Now lots of people are going to heavy bullets even bullet manufacturers are suggesting 270-300 grain bullets. Hears my question - i have a very accurate load using speer 240 grain gold dots and i am getting 1550 on the crony with mt 10 1/2" super blackhawk I think this would be a fine load but like i said i have no experience with the 44. So whats your opinion guys , stick to my load or should i load some heavier bullets . Thanks Tanoose

Yur load willdo just fine. I use 240 gr. cast bullets. The big hing is accuracy. IMHO

Agreed, your load is fine. I use 240 gr XTP's with my .44 mag.

Tanoose,
I've taken deer with 180 gr and 200 gr bullets out of a 44 Mag Contender. Last year I took a small doe with a 357 Mag and a 170 gr cast bullet. You can't go wrong with bullet choices for deer with a 44. If you're planning on elk, bear, or moose, maybe the heavier bullets have merit. I'd hunt with what you're comfortable with.
Greg

No need for those very heavy bullets.You do want penetration since entrance holes don't bleed. I have used the speer 225 JSWCHP at 1260 with claen burning Blue Dot with great success. Only bullet I recovered hit a rib and penetrated 25-30" expanding to 50 cal. You can't beat that. That was on a 200lb Catskill mtn deer.Whatever you pick make sure its accurate, 1 1/2" at 25yds or better.

Tanoose, you're good to go with that bullet and load. I also use the 240 gr. XTP out of my contender. It has accounted for many deer over the years. There is no need for the bigger bullets on deer unless you just want to try them.

Ok guys thanks i think i will stay with the 240 . thanks again , and hey Mete was that a Claryville deer that 200 pounder.

Tanoose, no, way down south in Barryville.That was my biggest deer.Two weeks before the season I had broken my left hand and couldn't handle the rifle with a cast.But no problem , I had the 44 and lots of silhouette match practice. Shortly into opening day he appeared but he saw me and I had to take a quick shot. He took off ,I followed , knowing he was hit but couldn't find blood on the snow. Finally I saw one 1/8" drop after 50 yds ( entrance holes don't bleed much !) and there he was at 75 yds. Still alive but coudn't move his body. He was mad, swinging his head back and forth violently so I finished it. Note that the load is not max but performance excellent, its very accurate in my gun.

Just wondering because some of those claryville deer get pretty big , i've never seen one go 200 pounds , thats a big deer for the catskills, Love to hear about those 200 pound deer though ,it always brings back memories of those big Adirondack deer, Later Tanoose

Tanoose - I'll go one little step further and say not only stay with the 240 gr bullet but there are some good bullets down to 215gr that will work equally well.

I really think shooting any bullet larger than a 240 gr in 44 mag is a trade off. You lose as much as you gain. JMHO

But you hit any deer in the boiler room with a 44 mag and he's gonna die.

Tanoose
That sound like a great load. It will work just fine. That size bullet had taken enough game to feed third world countries. Guys that like the big bores (My self included ) started off with 44 mags. (We are like addicts that want more!!) I still use my 44 for deer hunting because of it accuracy. You will do just fine. Bullet palcement is the key. A normal sized bullet in the right palce will always kill bettr than a big bullet in the wring place.

Have Fun

Hcliff

This year I killed my third whitetail with my .44mag. All have been with 240gr bullets, but this latest was with a 240gr Hornady HP XTP. It was an 87 pace shot at a buck that was slightly quartering towards me. The bullet entered dead center 'tween his shoulders and exited taking out the last couple ribs on the offside. It left a quite nasty looking exit hole roughly the size of a baseball. The buck ran 50 yards then cratered.

The handgun is a sweet shootin' 7.5" magnaported Redhawk.

The 240gr XTP was propelled to approx. 1500fps by a small pile of Winchester 296.

The buck green scored 151" and I guessed him to weigh in the neighborhood of 220lbs. on the hoof.

For deer size critters I'd highly recommend this 240gr Hornady HP XTP.

I am going to buck the trend here and say that I prefer a good 300 grain LBT style cast bullet in my .44 Ruger SRH. I get much better accuracy in my gun over jacketed bullets. It may not be necessary for deer, but I have found that it is perfect if you want to load and carry 1 round for anything from deer to hogs to bear. I have yet to have one of these bullets not fully penetrate any game I have shot with it. Cast Performance makes an excellent 300 grain WNFP gas checked bullet. Over 21.5 grains of H110 or W296 it is runs out at 1250 FPS and is an awesome stopper. Just my 2 cents.

I'll carry the heavy bullet standard too, but I don't shoot deer with my .44

It's my up-in-the-woods, handier-than-a-rifle carry gun that has to be able to bore thru any number of possible beasties that I may encounter. I'm not pursuing anything with it; it just buys me time to un-ass the area.

Redial

Your load will kill deer fine, if it makes you happy go with it.
I am with Mule Skinner though, I use a 300 grain LBT WFN over 21.5 H110 and it just shoots so much better at 100 yards than anything that goes 240 grains in my Smith or contender. I don't go along with losing anything over a 240, the 300 LBT is going pretty fast....

my opinion,
Graycg

When shooting silhouette I loaded lots of 296 under a 220 grian sierra ( i think)solid copper jacketed bullet....it would knock the rams off pretty easily at 200 meters....I CANNOT imagine a deer with a pass through anywhere in the vitals, not dying pretty fast...and that load will pass through! Keith's idea was hard cast bullets for though penatration.....I think he liked 245's....he shot plenty of game.....bob

i started casting my own recently. mountain molds 290gr wfngc -h110-21.0gr @1285 fps should have plenty of penetration at any angle- 1-1/2''@ 25 yrds.
when i used cast performance the 300 wfngc h110-21.5 @1320 fps (MAX LOAD)-1-1/2''@25 yrds.this in a sbh 44mag.i prefer a little heavier bullet than 240-265gr for better penetration.

One more vote for the Hornady XTP 240. Shooting factory loads I hit a whitetailed spike at 45 yards dropping it. Recovering the bullet from the off side shoulder on a quartering away shot, it weighed 231.3gr and was bigger than a half inch.

Bill

I load the 300 gr. XTP in my .44 Mag (for both 10 and 21" Contenders). Works fine full penetration. The 240 XTP is a good bullet, too. Guess this backs up the decision you already made...

I use 300g. XTP's in my Super Blackhawk.I've
taken deer out at 85 yrds. without any trouble.
Any weight should work out of a 44 at the range
you're talking.But at long ranges I'd go with a heavier one.

Tanoose: I also think your load will do fine...I don't think deer require lots of penetration and I like to mess up as much as possible on the way through...another vote for the 225gr jswchp from me (although the 250 gr partitions are going to get a try). dvnv

Just a bit of old info,I used to carry a Super Blackhawk while prospecting. My Grizz load was a standard primer,26gr of H110 and a 265gr bullet. Now that load is pretty hot but my Ruger had no problem with it. That same load jammed up a Smith29 quite badly so if you try it use caution. I might also add when you make it go boom"HANG ON". derF