44 Mag. Deer Load?

I had a bad experiance with speer 200 gr. H.P. in 44 mag after knocking a deer down with my 50 - 3 1/4 sharps (440 gr. bullet at 1725 f/s) when i walked up to the buck it tried to get up . I fired a 200 gr speer bullet into the neck and it penatrated like a solid with NO EXPANTION it appears the hollow point filled with hair and this stopped expantion . On the plus side this bullet has served me well for porcipines and other vermin with exelent results .

Try XTP's. I've taken several deer with 240 XTP and haven't had any such problems.

Rick Cunningham

Would suggest Nosler's Partion in 250 gr for 44 mag.

In the original message from James Sullivan there was an additional line that could explain part of the problem with the neck shot. The line is:

Hollow points need liquid in the nose cavity to expand. Water does not compress and so this pressure buildup in the nose will cause the lead to give way and peel back.

Another thing is that a neck shot is not a sure way to tell if a bullet expands as it is designed. There just is not enough tissue for the bullet to pass through.

As for the XTPs, they look good for whitetail hunting. I have done some testing of the 300 grain and the 270 grain in wetpacks and the expansion (upset) is interesting.

Alex

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The neck is really too thin to learn anything about expansion of .44 mag bullets. Not much meat, lotta bone.

The 240 grain XTPs are certainly good bullets, though. A mite too expansive (??) for my preference. My current hunting .44 won't shoot jacketed bullets well due to an over-diameter bore, but past .44s have done well with that bullet, aside from tearing up entirely too much meat after it expands.

If I had to do it all over again, with a gun which would shoot jacketed bullets well enough, I'd give the 250 grain partition and 270 grain gold dot a serious workout.

Right now, I'm shootin' hard cast 300 grain flat point (LBT WLN) bullets in my huntin' revolver and 300 grain XTPs in my Winchester 94 trapper.

The LBT bullets work great; seem to kill deer as fast as a JHP without the undesirable extra meat damage. I've only thumped one with the Winchester, and it was a neck shot so I can't tell ya for sure how the 300 grain XTP works.

I did a comparison test between 2400, Blue Dot, H-110, and Unique. Blue Dot was as consistent (velocity and accuracy) as 2400 which was a surprise. H-110 seems to have better recipes for the big whoppin' 300 grain bullets, but I found lighter loads with Unique and the 215 gr cast lee wadcutter pleased me the most. Sometimes the cavity in the nose of .44 hollowpoints get filled with hair and gristle so they don't expand properly. Wad cutters don't expand at all, but they really penetrate, and they make a clean, crisp bullet hole. All things considered, the .44 Magnum is about the weakest cartridge I'd recommend for use outside the city limits. Rather than trying to jazz it up with hot loads and hollowpoints, you should go for accuracy and comfort. I shoot a Super Blackhawk revolver. If you're shooting a single-shot Thompson you can ignore my advice.

How have the 300 XTP's worked out for you? My Marlin doesn't like the 300's as well as 240's.

Rick Cunningham