For 1 that carrys a pistol while hunting?

[Rum Man]

220 Underwood in my Glock 20sf , 15 rounds ready to go . My kids and Wife call it Big Bertha !!

 

[cohunt]

In a chest rig I carry 17 rounds of 220gr hardcast coated Montana wfn bullets in my 6" RIA gun, my handloads go over 1300fps and will pack a punch if needed

The hardcast WFN profile provides plenty of tissue disruption and lots of penetration. 45acp isnt the best caliber for this purpose et pose, but it's better than nothing.

 

[Bravo 4]

Lead bullets work fine in low velocity cartridges, and for higher velocities hard cast lead is recommended. I realizes that they are cheaper, but feel that what ever you decide for protection against something that wants to make a meal of you, cost should not be a factor.

I agree with this, to a point. The point is that for self protection, or in this case self preservation, I believe that you shouldn't carry a firearm that you are not familiar with or that isn't proven. That takes practice, and lots of it, and that adds up quickly to your income.

I'm running a 255 hard cast over 1300 fps from my Glock. If that won't do the job then the next step would have to be my .338 RUM! My buddy just bought a Taurus .454 and the recoil is so bad that fast (and accurate) follow up shots would almost seem like luck. Sure you can load it down, but why carry such a beast if you're gonna do that? Don't get me wrong the thing is awesome.
I guess that's where the personal preference comes in, lots of power in every shot or lots of power in every magazine. I think my pistol is in the middle of both.

 

[CoachChris]

Underwood XTreme Penetrators

 

[Bravo 4]

I have been eyeballing those, that's why I mentioned the Lehigh Defense (I misspoke and wrote CEB in my previous post) that they are loaded with. Problem is that I carry my pistol while hunting and can't help but think they will be considered a FMJ projectile (non mushroom/deforming) and be illegal.

 

[KyCarl]

I carry those Underwood Maximum Expansion in my .45 when I'm out and about.
Not worried about bears at the carry-out? They really reduce pass through dangers
less than half that of a 230 FMJ..Have a look.
https://www.underwoodammo.com/colle...grain-maximum-expansion?variant=7865920585785

 

[yorke-1]

I always carry a revolver with me when hunting, but not for any sort of backup. It's used as a short range alternative for when the rifle is in the pack while hiking in.

The theory behind using a hard cast bullet is that moderate velocity guns like handguns kill more like a muzzleloader than a high velocity rifle; you want penetration to give entrance and exit wounds. Small calibers like the 10mm need the penetration to make up for a lack of frontal area.

I've had excellent results with expanding bullets in the 454 Casull and larger. The Hornady XTP mag bullets are completely different than the standard XTPs you'd use in something like a 45 ACP or 10mm. Bullets like the Barnes XPB and the Swift A Frame pistol bullets are also very effective and offer both penetration and expansion and work very well on deer and black bear.

 

[Cuz]

I carry a 500jrh shooting a 440 cast bullet loafing along at about 950 fps. Recoil is about the same as factory 44 mag, maybe a little less. Penetration in wet newspaper has been tested to be around 50 inches. Could crank velocity up a couple hundred fps or so, but it would have more recoil and possibly cause the bullets to deform at close range.

 

[jrock]

I've loaded up 200 grain XTPs in my 10mm. I've seen some hunting vids of them penetrating very well. Way more than a normal HP. I don't have grizzlies where I hunt and carry mostly as a "deterrent" since only a well placed shot of any sort to the CNS will stop an animal cold. I'm positive this combo will go through the skull or mess up a spinal chord. My 10mm takes a lot of practice to get quick accurate follow up shots.

 

[waltercrouse]

I always carry a revolver with me when hunting, but not for any sort of backup. It's used as a short range alternative for when the rifle is in the pack while hiking in.
California requires copper. I use the Barnes
The theory behind using a hard cast bullet is that moderate velocity guns like handguns kill more like a muzzleloader than a high velocity rifle; you want penetration to give entrance and exit wounds. Small calibers like the 10mm need the penetration to make up for a lack of frontal area.

I've had excellent results with expanding bullets in the 454 Casull and larger. The Hornady XTP mag bullets are completely different than the standard XTPs you'd use in something like a 45 ACP or 10mm. Bullets like the Barnes XPB and the Swift A Frame pistol bullets are also very effective and offer both penetration and expansion and work very well on deer and black bear.

 

[Unega Waya]

Went through this delimma when I was choosing what to carry in predator country, ended up with a short barrel Ruger Blackhawk in 45 colt. Why 45 colt instead of 44 mag? Because I have a spare cylinder and can practice with much cheaper 45 acp ammo. In response to ammo, it's because unlike thinned skin two legged predators, the four leg variety requires a lot more penetration depth and power to hit CNS vitals. Hardcast punches through something, hollow point hits it. Just like I was taught in boxing, you want to hit what's behind your opponent instead of him in order to put more power in your punches. Hardcast won't always do that, but it will do it a lot better then hollowpoint.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

On another site there was a poster who had taken hundreds of troublesome bears with a 44mag handgun. He recommended jacketed hollowpoints/soft points because the point of impact got the bear's immediate attention and frequently caused them to bite at the stinging wound. This gave the shooter ample time to put additional shots on the distracted bear. Multiple good hits from a 44mag is fairly potent medicine for a bear.

I tried using hardcast pistol bullets on whitetails and was rather unimpressed. Deer often ran off when hit in the boiler room. Yeah, they died but the bullet just didn't cause the terminal reaction that I hoped for. I switched over to Nosler Partitions with good results. Firing Swift A-Frame bullets in my 454 seemed to give a reasonable balance of expansion and penetration on large wild boar.

There is a place for hardcast bullets but I'd rather rely on a premium jacketed, controlled expansion bullet pushed at high speed.

 

[Alibiiv]

I was reading a post can't seem to find it. But some one said when packing a pistol load it with hard cast bullets. I asked why ?? I suspecting that this was in case of a bear attack. But why hard cast bullets and not hollow point?

The last black bear that I shot went 235lbs, it was a nice bear but not huge. This bear was getting ready to den up and had stacked up about 8 inches of fat. A hollow point bullet in 8 inches of fat is not going to penetrate into the vitals due to the expansion of the hollow point. A hard cast bullet will/might give a little expansion however will hold together better to get the most penetration out of the bullet without bullet fragmentation or jacket separation

 

[hunter67wa]

Look at buffalo Bore and HSM they also do bear loads. Hardcast would be the way to go. I've tested it I know.