44 Mag. Whitetail Bullet Chioces

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Bowhunter57

New member
Everyone that I've talked with that has a 44 Mag. uses a 240gr. bullet of various configurations, for whitetails.

I have yet to shoot a large game animal with a handgun, but have a great deal of varmint kill experience. My bullet choices have always been light weight jacketed hollow points and the kills have been impressive.

My thinking is... A 180gr. JHP bullet traveling much faster than a 240gr. bullet would do as much or more damage, for a good kill. There should be more than enough kinetic energy with the 180gr. bullet weight for good penetration. I'm using a Ruger Super Redhawk with a 9 1/2" barrel.

Why doesn't anyone use a 180gr. JHP bullet for whitetails?

Thank you, Bowhunter57
 
Well, I'd rather hunt with a jacketed soft point as I believe there would be a better chance for a through and through shot thus increasing the blood trail and damage.
 
I've owned numerous 44mag revolvers over the last 40 years. I've never gotten any 180 bullet to shoot as well as the heavier bullets out of any of those guns. That's reason number one. Number two is you don't need "explosive, mushrooming" bullets to kill deer. A single 44 cal hole through the vitals will kill the deer. In fact, it will do so much better than a 180 grain through a non vital area. I've shot a lot of 180, 200, and 220 grain bullets with about every combination of power you can think of. I still haven't found anything better for accuracy than good old WW296 and a 240g Hornady XTP bullet. Hitting the vitals is what kills and complete penetration with a very large caliber doesn't leave much room for survival. FYI: I've killed well over fifty white tails with a handgun. The majority, by far, were killed with a 357mag. Again, it's hitting the vitals that kills.
 
My favorite whitetail load was a Sierra 210 gr JHP sitting over a generous supply of Blue Dot. It worked well out of my 629 Classic as well my Redhawk. Killed 4 deer with this combo and all expired immediately where they stood, no tracking required. Longest shot was 50 yards...shortest was 15 yards. Accuracy was outstanding.
 
Let the rifle guys worry about energy. Velocity is terribly overrated in handguns. A .44 does not have to expand at all to be effective but works much better if it exits. Standard weight bullets simply work better, regardless of what energy may be produced by lighter bullets at higher speeds.
 
I prefer heavier bullets, at slower speeds. I'd much rather have the sectional density of the heavier bullets to allow the highest possible chance of a through and through even through thick, heavy bones.
You're not going to get the hydrostatic shock that you get from your 'varmint rounds' the velocity just isn't high enough, even with light bullets. Large bore, light bullets also tend to have very bad ballistic coefficients which means that 'extra velocity' that you get with light bullets, tends to fall off very quickly. The heavier bullets tend 'catch up' pretty quickly and it's plausible that at 100 yards, the heavier bullet will be moving faster than the light one, fired at a higher initial velocity.
 
I agree with the others that expansion in a .44 is over-rated...

A good hard cast 250gr, or a Hornady 265gr are far better in the deer woods IMNSHO...Heck...Winchester White Box 240gr FP (not HP) has it all over a lighter bullet...

If there is a chance at a black bear on the same hunt, then even more reason for a bullet that will hold together and penetrate...
 
Well, I have killed ALOT of deer with the 44mag. The Hornady 240 XTP loaded to mid power levels has dropped every deer in their tracks from 15-175 yards. It is designed to open up as low as 900fps. Drive to 1200fps and it is devastating. The 240 flies better and is more accurate and thats THE most important thing. I use to carry a 454Casull for deer and had a reality check and went back to the 44mag. In my case, the 44 seemed to dump all its energy into the deer. The 454 over penetrated and didn't kill nearly as fast as a mid powered 44mag. In general, new shooters substitute more power or bigger caliber for skill and experience. I was guilty of this starting out and bought into the "Ya need more to bring em down" hog wash magazines like to push to sell their latest super magnums. This is true with rifles and pistols. Its still all bullet placement. As Jack O'Connor ones said, "You can't shoot a big enough caliber to make up for poor shot placement". Keep the recoil down and your accuracy will improve.

For example..... Here is a large doe shot at 175 yards. This deer fell over and didn't even kick. The bullet was recovered on the opposite side under the hide fully expanded. This is maybe twice farther than most anyone would take a deer with a pistol and the energy of the 44mag at mid power was more than enough to produce a instant kill. I totally believe a expanding bullet dumps ALOT more energy than a hard hast bullet and in this case, a mid powered 240 XTP still fully expanded and did its job. Penetration is a non-issue with the 44mag on deer. Bullets have advancement is sooooo much since back in Elmer Keith days when useing hard cast bullets were the norm.

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Mystro, good post. Shooting one or two deer doesn't teach you what you have learned. Shooting a lot of deer teaches you a lot. The more I do this the more I learn. Save it, it'll be back on here in a week or two and you can post it again.
 
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The 240gr JSP has work very well for me, since I got my first .44 hunting handgun (1981) - an 8-3/8" M29.

Dead = dead, IMO - so I let sleeping dogs lay.......... :p



.
 
I hunted Texas white tail for years with a 180gr JHP out of a Ruger SBH with a 10 inch bull barrel.
180gr JHP over 22.0 gr 2400.
As I use to tell the guys on the lease - "The one shot stop"
I will say that at 150 yards was about the max range for that load.
What I liked other than it worked well was the recoil was slightly less than with the heavier bullet so if a follow up shot was needed I was not pulling the gun back down from the stratosphere.
I also hunted with the 240 and 300 gr.
The 240 works good and has a little more distance on it; maybe another 50-75 yards but after that drops real fast.
The 300gr was just a meat tenderizer.
1st time I shoulder shot a withe tail most of the front shoulders was a mess.
Neck shoot with the 300 worked good.
A few times the bullet didn't kill then, it snapped their necks
 
I appreciate all the replies, pics and information that you all have contributed.

The heavier 240gr. bullet wins, hands down. A hard cast 240gr. SWC is what I've been shooting and I would like to find a better powder and/or load for improved accuracy. I'm currently using 19.5gr. of Accurate #9 and getting 3" groups at 50 yards.

Bowhunter57
 
No deer ever choose to commit suicide in front of my Redhawk. But I loaded with hard cast Keith style SWC in 245 gr. I don't doubt they would be effective.
For another slant, I once loaned my Marlin .44 mag. lever gun to a friend and gave him some factory Remington hollow point silver tips in 210 grain. He dropped a deer where it stood with one shot at about 50 yards.
 
I have shot numerous deer here in NC with my S&W 629, 6", 44 mag using a Remington 180 soft point over 23 grains of 2400 and not a single one has taken more than 2 steps afterward. The 180 gr does a through and through so I've never recovered any bullets but the impact seems to "get' er done" without a lot of damaged meat.
With all of that said, all of my shots have been within 75 yards and I use a 2x scope so it's not terribly difficult.
 
No deer ever choose to commit suicide in front of my Redhawk. But I loaded with hard cast Keith style SWC in 245 gr. I don't doubt they would be effective.
For another slant, I once loaned my Marlin .44 mag. lever gun to a friend and gave him some factory Remington hollow point silver tips in 210 grain. He dropped a deer where it stood with one shot at about 50 yards


.44 210 gr Silver Tip is a Winchester factory load. A very good deer load.
 
I used a .44 cal 240 grain XTP in my MZ with 90 grains of powder to kill a giant buck at 130 yards. The bullet went through the vitals and broke the opposite shoulder, lodging just under the hide on the opposite side. Good expansion and perfect performance with only 90 grains of powder.
 
Come again?!
NINETY GRAINS of powder?

What's the powder?
What's the platform?

Does it say NASA on the side?! :eek:
 
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