Jacket Hollow Point Ammo in 44 Magnum for Deer?

[southfork]

I am wondering if Hollow point 44 magnum ammo is a good idea in a 1892 lever action rifle. I see some of this ammo on the shelves at my LGS. It was almost certainly designed for 44 Magnum pistols. If hunting deer with jacketed hollow points in an 1892 clone with a 20+ inch barrel, should one expect to see poor penetration on deer?
The price is about the same for jacketed flat nose 44 magnum ammo, so maybe I should get some and experiment with it. Any thoughts?

[jmiller]

There will be no poor penetration with any of that ammo on deer with a 44mag. It isn't designed for a handgun, it's designed for a 44mag. I've shot enough of them with the 44mag to tell you for a fact that penetration will be the least of your worries. All you have to do is hit where you're aiming and know where to aim.

[Chuck 100 yd]

What mr. Miller said above. + 1. Besides, the only difference is the velocity that MAY be gained due to barrel length and that will most likely be voided by the ability to shoot at longer distance accurately. Back in the 70's my buddy and I hunted Black Bears ,treeing 32 one year. My gun was a Ruger .44 mag auto carbine and 240 gr. Remington's. I never once felt under gunned.

[crs]

If the .44 mag hollow point performs like the .357 hollow point on deer, it will shoot through and destroy a lot of meat in transit. My fave is the JSP, not the JHP for edible game.

[FWiedner]

If the .44 mag hollow point performs like the .357 hollow point on deer, it will shoot through and destroy a lot of meat in transit. My fave is the JSP, not the JHP for edible game.

+1

[Blaine]

If the .44 mag hollow point performs like the .357 hollow point on deer, it will shoot through and destroy a lot of meat in transit. My fave is the JSP, not the JHP for edible game.

+1

+2

[AJMD429]

The Winchester 'White Box' 240 gr JSP is my 'go-to' load for whitetail. It ALWAYS has shot clear through the animal, leaving little meat damage (of course if I hit a rib, bone chunks will be in the lungs) and leaving an exit wound a bit larger than the entry wound, and plenty of bleed-out for fast humane death and tracking if there were a need (they hardly ever run more than 20-30 yards).

I've got a 'duplicate' load I make using 2400 powder and Remington 240 gr JSP's that works the same way.

However, I would NOT use the hollow-point version.

QUESTION (I have no idea of the answer) - do you think if you 'filled in' the hollow point with lead to make a 'soft-point' that it would perform like the JSP...??? If the lead is the same hardness, I'm thinking it could work. No practical use, unless you need JSP and can only find JHP, or get a really good buy on JHP's. Just wondering though.

[walks with gun]

I'll have to say the JSP, some of the HP's seem to break up too soon.

[EdinCT]

I also agree with the above use a soft point for deer in the rifle. My best friend had a XTP glance off a shoulder and exit on the same side has the entrance. While the deer was recovered it went a long ways, the soft point always works well for me.

[Bronco]

I would suggest hard cast bullets in the 240 to 300 grain variety. Not overly meat damaging and plenty of penetration. I shoot a 297 gr lfn lbt bullet, Was supposed to be 280 grns, but with ww , lube and check it comes in at 297.

John

[jmiller]

I have to laugh as some of these answers regarding the 357mag. I've shot over fifty deer with this caliber out of handguns and I've never lost a deer and I've never lost any significant amount of meat from using a Hornady XTP JHP either. In fact, the only deer I ever lost with a handgun was lost with a 44mag using a Hornady 240g JHP. I simply made a bad hit. It had nothing to do with the gun, bullet, or load. It was shooter error.....me. Not too bad though out of a total of around seventy deer with a handgun.

[FWiedner]

I have to laugh as some of these answers regarding the 357mag. I've shot over fifty deer with this caliber out of handguns and I've never lost a deer and I've never lost any significant amount of meat from using a Hornady XTP JHP either. In fact, the only deer I ever lost with a handgun was lost with a 44mag using a Hornady 240g JHP. I simply made a bad hit. It had nothing to do with the gun, bullet, or load. It was shooter error.....me. Not too bad though out of a total of around seventy deer with a handgun.

My own past experience with hollow-points resulted in significant damage one too many times.

I've killed several (small) deer with my .357Mag, but I don't use hollow-points for hunting unless it's the only ammo available.

I know some folks swear by 'em, but I'm not one of those folks.

[jmiller]

Don't shoot them in the hams or shoulders and you won't have a problem with meat damage. Any caliber will cause damage in those areas. Shoot them through the rib cage..aim for heart and lungs. Also, it over expanding use a heavier bullet. The Hornady XTP in 357 comes in 180g and shoots very well. Here's a couple recovered from the same deer. First shot 90+ yards and second shot 35 yards. Both bullets hit within three inches of each other and were recovered on the off side under the hide. S&W 686 with 6"bbl

[Tactical Lever]

I have to laugh as some of these answers regarding the 357mag. I've shot over fifty deer with this caliber out of handguns and I've never lost a deer and I've never lost any significant amount of meat from using a Hornady XTP JHP either. In fact, the only deer I ever lost with a handgun was lost with a 44mag using a Hornady 240g JHP. I simply made a bad hit. It had nothing to do with the gun, bullet, or load. It was shooter error.....me. Not too bad though out of a total of around seventy deer with a handgun.

Can't just lump all HP and SP together. Those XTP are good tough bullets.

I suppose you could look at how big and deep that HP is. A gaping deep hole means it will expand violently. You could contact the manufacturer or just go with a FPSN. Personally, given the choice I would use a 260-300 gr. cast flatnose.

[guntar]

I would be more worried about how well it fed and shot in my rifle, than I would about how well it would put a deer down. If you were looking at bears or hogs it would be different. If you were hunting really big deer (300#+) I would advise you to avoid bad angle shots, but other than that, I don't think you would have a problem.

[Blaine]

Since the OP, and title of the thread was JHP/.44 mag and no other information, my mind went to some 180 grain JHPs from Remington that I got on sale. Very explosive. Fragmented going thru a a Seattle phone book. IMO, never to be hunted with, although I'm sure it would kill a deer instantly.

[mikld]

I wanna go huntin' with jmiller! Mr. Miller, care to take an old city boy huntin? Not too many deer in Los Angeles so I don't have much experience but I do shoot a lot of .44 Magnums with 250 gr LRNFP...