ISO a better hunting bullet for a .44 mag rifle

[Crazy Dane]

I took both of my north Georga bucks this year using my 1894 .44 mag. The load is a 200 grain XTP on 28 grains of W296. Book velocity shows ~2100fps out of a 20-inch barrel. (now that I have my Garmin in hand, I will get actual numbers my next good range day)

I am not complaining about the performance of the XTP load, both bucks went down quick and had good blood trails. I'm trying to get away from lead bullets for hunting. In 2022 both of my deer was taken with a .280 using Accubonds. I process my own meat and pride myself in getting all I can while being extremely clean and meticulous. Long story short, I found lead fragments in cooked meat. One in hamburger, I will put that one on me for trying to save too much meat. The other came out of, off of a roast cut out of a hind quarter, I'm still baffled on how a tiny fragment could end up there. I went to Nosler E-tip in the .280 and the Barnes TTSX on the .308s.

This year I had one complete pass through and I recovered one bullet from just under the skin on the other with the .44 mag. Pics below, Recovered bullet weighs 186.7 grains. That's 13.3 grains of lead that went somewhere.

Non lead choices are limited and my leading candidate is the Barnes XPB, the only other option I see is Lehigh Defense extreme penetrator, the only 2 nonlead I have found marketed for hunting. I cannot find any rifle data on either of these. Anyone use these out of a rifle on game? I can find plenty reviews on the XPB from a revolver but no rifle reviews.

[Duelist]

There are radiograph images of deer carcasses that show lead fragments spread out from the bullet path and can pretty much end up anywhere.

Had a talk with @GJM about this a couple of years ago. Switched to copper in my .243 and .270. I haven’t hunted with my .357 1894 nor my .44 Special revolver as yet, but when I do, this will be part of the considerations I make about projectile choice.

[Rick R]

As per internet forum protocol, if you ask for advice on cooking steak someone will give their favorite recipe for duck.

I find zero lead fragments when I use WFN cast bullets in my .44 (or .45/70) and the deer don’t go any further than when shot with jacketed. There are always two holes to let air in and blood out, I’m not sure the .45/70 bullets even know they hit something as small as a deer.

Cast are much cheaper than mono-metal too for practice and plinking.

[Crazy Dane]

There are radiograph images of deer carcasses that show lead fragments spread out from the bullet path and can pretty much end up anywhere.

Had a talk with @GJM about this a couple of years ago. Switched to copper in my .243 and .270. I haven’t hunted with my .357 1894 nor my .44 Special revolver as yet, but when I do, this will be part of the considerations I make about projectile choice.

I've seen those images and they do cause concern.

As per internet forum protocol, if you ask for advice on cooking steak someone will give their favorite recipe for duck.

I find zero lead fragments when I use WFN cast bullets in my .44 (or .45/70) and the deer don’t go any further than when shot with jacketed. There are always two holes to let air in and blood out, I’m not sure the .45/70 bullets even know they hit something as small as a deer.

Cast are much cheaper than mono-metal too for practice and plinking.

I like duck.

I've used hard cast in the past and it is not lost on me. I've pulled fired bullets out of a red oak stump that I use as a back stop that could be reloaded and fired again. Some/most of the poly coated bullets still have their coating intact which leads me to think that a coated hard cast might be a solution. If red oak can't deform them, how bad can flesh and bone be?

[Toonces]

Heavy bonded Speer Deep Curl or Swift “probably” won’t produce shards at 44 Mag rifle velocities, as compared to .280 velocities. I’m sure they’ll produce less than an XTP. I doubt you could guarantee zero.

Unless the Barnes is inaccurate in your rifle, I’d probably just go that route. Maybe do some hillbilly water jug testing to confirm they can take the speed. Give Barnes a call/email. They are responsive to questions.

[littlejerry]

Are there any bonded options liked Federal Fusion?

[358156hp]

I'm really surprised by your choice of bullet weight for deer hunting with a carbine. You don't mention your velocities, but a 200 gr JHP at carbine velocities tends to be a bit 'splodey. If you're happy with XTPs you might simply consider the 240 grain version, or even the 300 grain.

[Malamute]

I'm really surprised by your choice of bullet weight for deer hunting with a carbine. You don't mention your velocities, but a 200 gr JHP at carbine velocities tends to be a bit 'splodey. If you're happy with XTPs you might simply consider the 240 grain version, or even the 300 grain.

I was wondering what they would do at lower velocities also. My carbine load is 10 grs Unique or Universal at around 1500 fps with the 200 gr xtp. I was wanting mild on the bum shoulder and not much muzzle blast. The comments I recall from people using them in that velocity range on deer were pretty positive, but no info on retained weight.

[Duelist]

I'm really surprised by your choice of bullet weight for deer hunting with a carbine. You don't mention your velocities, but a 200 gr JHP at carbine velocities tends to be a bit 'splodey. If you're happy with XTPs you might simply consider the 240 grain version, or even the 300 grain.

I was wondering what they would do at lower velocities also. My carbine load is 10 grs Unique or Universal at around 1500 fps with the 200 gr xtp. I was wanting mild on the bum shoulder and not much muzzle blast. The comments I recall from people using them in that velocity range on deer were pretty positive, but no info on retained weight.

The load seems to have done the job very decisively. Being ‘splodey/shedding lots of lead frags isn’t optimal, though.

[Duelist]

I'm really surprised by your choice of bullet weight for deer hunting with a carbine. You don't mention your velocities, but a 200 gr JHP at carbine velocities tends to be a bit 'splodey. If you're happy with XTPs you might simply consider the 240 grain version, or even the 300 grain.

I was wondering what they would do at lower velocities also. My carbine load is 10 grs Unique or Universal at around 1500 fps with the 200 gr xtp. I was wanting mild on the bum shoulder and not much muzzle blast. The comments I recall from people using them in that velocity range on deer were pretty positive, but no info on retained weight.

The load seems to have done the job very decisively. Being ‘splodey/shedding lots of lead frags isn’t optimal, though. Just dialing back the velocity might be enough, but if doing that, it wouldn’t hurt to add weight to the projectile.