.44 Mag - 265 gr bullet for Whitetail's Any thoughts?

[GMHNTR]

What experience does anyone have with 265 gr FP bullets in .44 mag ?

[Graybeard]

I haven't used it but that bullet is made for the .444 Marlin I believe so I'd expect excellent penetration but little to no expansion in the .44 mag especially if you're talking a handgun. From a rifle it might expand a bit and might from a handgun but it is intended for use at much higher velocity.

[butchen]

a 180gr or 200gr will work better if its a handgun. I find even a 240 a bit large for whitetail. It has a thin skin and don't take much to take it down with a good shot. But that's my 2cts worth. But keep in mind I live in Mississippi they may be bigger where you live.

[Gun Runner]

While stationed in hawaii used to load a 265gr jsp (hornady) for pig hunting. Dont know if hornady still makes that bullet, but it shure stopped them out of my old Black Hawk.

Gun Runner

[StrawHat]

I have used 265 grain cast bullets (Lyman 429421 and 454424) for deer hunting.  The 44 Magnum was loaded hot and the long Colt loaded to original ballistics.  Both worked but I prefer the 45 long Colt.

[Varmint Hunter]

I used the 265gr Hornady bullet for shooting hogs with a S&W 29. No problem killing even the biggest pigs. I never recovered a bullet so can't say how much expansion was achieved.

[Missionary5155]

Good morning
I would expect it to go clean through a whitetail under 250 pounds from most any angle except maybe a rear deck shot at 80 yards+.  Fellers are slaming 300 pounds piggies with these and they just go right through to include shoulders at 50 yards.  1000 fps + is going to take care of matters just fine. 
Mike in Peru

[Mohawk]

I think it will work fine. Attached is a .38 LSWC HP that took a deer. Anyting .44 should be more than adequate.

[gypsyman]

I cast a 280gr. for my .44 It's taken several deer, no problems. I figured that any bullet that close to 1/2'', with any kind of penetration, say close to 1000fps, should do the trick. Just good shot placement, and your good to go. gypsyman

[Mikey]

I have used the 265 gn Hornady from the 44 magnum and all it does is pass through Whitetail without expanding, at least as far as I could tell.  If you hit a hog with it though it will expand. 
 
Greybeard is correct - that bullet was made for the 444 Marlin and does not expand a lot, if at all, at 44 magnum velocities.  In addition, it is a lever action rifle bullet and does not wear the same large flat metplat some of the nicer cast offerings have.  A good choice would be a 245-270/80 gn cast swc.  jmtcw.

[Larry Gibson]

a 180gr or 200gr will work better if its a handgun. I find even a 240 a bit large for whitetail. It has a thin skin and don't take much to take it down with a good shot. But that's my 2cts worth. But keep in mind I live in Mississippi they may be bigger where you live.

+1
Larry Gibson

[butchen]

Thanks Larry. I didn't think anyone even looked at what I had to say. Being a newbee and all. But I have been hunting with a 44mag for 38years first 8 with a Ruger 44 auto rifle then a Super Blackhawk 10". Killed more deer than I care to think about, but I'm not a trophy hunter we hunted for meat. I have killed a 10point with the Handgun. But I just made a knife and used the horns. Now I have gone to a 45lc 4 5/8" Ruger to make it more fun. I have to get a lot closer now. Makes for a better hunt for me. But still hunt with a 220gr HP and they go down just fine. Save the heavy stuff for hogs. We are having a hog problem here and there is this huge sow that has my 500 mag's name on it. lol I know to much gun for hogs.

[jhalcott]

 I've shot a lot of deer with the .44mag .Using factory and handloads,some cast and some jacketed. MOST were crop damage doe permits. I do not like to pound my hands and arms when killing deer. Those heavy weight bullets above 200 or 225 grains would hurt ME ALMOST AS MUCH AS THE DEER! All the deer that were hit correctly (s### happens) died within a few yards. Some light bullets WERE recovered. None of the heavy weight slugs even slowed on their way thru the deers bodies..These days my .44 mag is a safe queen ,only seeing daylight on special occassions! BTW, the deer that were not hit correctly on the first shot were followed up and got a second shot.Not always with a .44!
 

[Mikey]

"Thanks Larry. I didn't think anyone even looked at what I had to say. Being a newbee and all.".     butchen - please understand that we don't care if you're a newbie or not, we'll ignore you just for the heck of it.  Nothing personal intended, butd one of our specialties here is that many responses will be posted before others can be read.  It is not that few people actually read what a poster writes and are so opinionated that we don't give a rat's butt about who writes what as long as we can throw our two cents worth in, or maybe it is?.     Anyhow, many here feel that the lighter weight bullets like the 180s and 200s, although faster than most 44 mag loads may not be the perfect choice for whitetail which, even though fairly easy to bring down are less cooperative than most would think.  Many have not enjoyed the humbling experience of placing a good shot with lighter weight bullets only to have the bullet not connect properly, leaving a wounded animal lost; as a result, many have turned to heavier hard cast slugs with big flat metplats that hit, penetrate and course on through side to side or sometimes even chest to butt.     The 265 gn slug is good for the 444 but there are other 265-270 gn bullet designs that are better.  Nobody here is the kind of person who will intentionally mislead you simply so they can say 'I told ya so'; they would rather give you a good 'heads up' on a issue and then congradulate you when you score.  jmtcw.

[BBF]

.............................
.........................We are having a hog problem here and there is this huge sow that has my 500 mag's name on it. lol I know to much gun for hogs.

You wouldn't have any problems finding help here with those hogs.

[BBF]

I've hunted using the 265 gr Hdy with a 444 Marlin with excellent results. I believe it will work with a 44 Mag as well, there is a fair bit of lead exposed and the lead itself is not hard.
 
 A 240 gr jacketed bullet would be my choice for the 44 Rem Mag.

[Tom W.]

So What about the Ranch Dog 265 gr g/c bullet? Does it fall into the same category?

[BBF]

It is a cast bullet, there will be no expansion of the metal. Wound channnel size and penetration depend on velocity and meplat. There are charts available to give you a guideline.

[Tom W.]

I don't even know why I made that post... Musta been the Crown Royal....

[Glanceblamm]

Good post though and one that I had been keeping an eye on. I had purchased all of the componets some time back due to the very good accuracy reports with this bullet out of a handgun and some 2400. While the 240 gr XTP is great, I figured the 265 gr would be even better on our large grain fed deer if that bullet would expand. (Accuracy testing first/expansion testing second)
 

 
We have a nice margin of lead at the tip along with scoring around the skirt of the jacket. Meplat is on the small side though. My inclination is to beleve that this is really designed for a rifle velocity's to get expansion as the post here say. I have not done any testing yet.
 
Edit: I had the thought to run a thumb nail across the top of that lead tip, it easily produced a bright scratch but this does not mean that it will reliably open up those jacket petals at the handgun velocitys. Interesting though.

[BBF]

I had a look at Hdy Manual No 7 Page 851
Velocities for the loads given with the 265 gr bullet start at 1100 fps to a max of 1400 fps.
I would presume Hornady wouldn't publish those low velocities if the bullet would not expand sufficiently.