Deer Bullets for 357 and 44 Mag Weight Vs Velocity

[tr175]

Try the new Barnes Pioneer loads. They should work great.

 

[tr175]

Try the new Barnes Pioneer loads. They should work great.

 

[Randy Tidwell]

This small buck was taken with a 240 XTP at 80 yards. 6" Smith 629 Classic Hunter. Did not recover the bullet.

I also hunt with a 77/44 Ruger rifle, it only likes 300 grain pills. Shot a doe two weeks ago from a stand, 37 yards. Hit her in the spine, dropped like a ton of bricks. Used a metal detector to find the slug, no expansion. 300 grain Sierra.

I just ordered some Jack Hammer 205s to see what they will do. The Ruger rifle has a 1:20 twist, hence it likes long bullets. The mono bullets are long for the weight, so hoping to get more velocity and better expansion.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

Like you say, our East coast whitetails are not that big, probably averaging less than 150 lbs. on the hoof.
I started out shooting them with 240 gr. JHPs in my S&W M29 6" Master Hunter. After shooting a couple behind the shoulder, and getting 150 yard runs (which is a long ways in our thick timber) before they bled out. I realized I was getting no expansion from the heavy bullets. All shots were pass through. To get a fired bullet, I had to dig it out of the ground after it passed through a deer. There was no expansion except where it hit the ground.
So I switched to a 180 gr. JHP. The higher velocity and thinner jacket produced more expansion and shock to the deer. This produced quicker kills and less blood trailing.

 

[338weatherby]

This small buck was taken with a 240 XTP at 80 yards. 6" Smith 629 Classic Hunter. Did not recover the bullet.

I also hunt with a 77/44 Ruger rifle, it only likes 300 grain pills. Shot a doe two weeks ago from a stand, 37 yards. Hit her in the spine, dropped like a ton of bricks. Used a metal detector to find the slug, no expansion. 300 grain Sierra.

I just ordered some Jack Hammer 205s to see what they will do. The Ruger rifle has a 1:20 twist, hence it likes long bullets. The mono bullets are long for the weight, so hoping to get more velocity and better expansion.

Would love to hear your results with the Jack Hammers. I've got a Chiappa 16" carbine that is also 1:20 twist. I'm planning on 300XTP's and the 240's. I can't get the casts to feed as they are too long.

 

[Teri Anne]

First these are east coast deer not huge beasts.
The 44 is a 8-3/8" with 2x Leupold and the 357 6" with Burris Fast Fire 4.

Looking for the pros and cons of weights vs velocity in relationship to hunting distance and performance.

Thanks in advance... I'll be at cabelas this weekend checking.

I have only used a handgun on deer once, it was a 6 point buck at 40 yards. I shot it with a S&W 686 6 inch using Federal Hammer Down, 170 gr hollow points. The deer was hit right above and behind the shoulder. Unlike with a rifle the deer did not drop in place but did run about 25 yards across the field towards the woods before he piled up. According to the specs from Federal at 40 yards the bullet was still at around 1480 FPS and had around 840 ft pounds of energy. I didn't keep the bullet, but it did not exit the deer was stuck in the ribs on the far side. It measured an uneven football shaped .460. It did the job but I still much prefer a rifle. May have to try the .357 again with a Henry Big Boy and see what the difference is.

 

[436]

My pick would be; in the .357 Mag the Keith 170gr SWC hard cast. in the .44 Mag, the Keith style 44 cal 250gr or 255gr SWC hard cast in my revolvers.... for my rifles/carbines I probably look at Barnes or Lehigh. In my .444 Rem I like expanding bullets that will penetrate as well as expand, of which there are a lot of them out there. Just my 0.2 Cheers

 

[ChrisRhodes]

Sierras are what I used for about two decades. Then I switched to Cutting Edge Bullets. I won't be switching back.