Just an annecdote from a local hunter I spoke with that used a 444Marlin on Sambar over hounds ... so shots were on moving deer around the size of elk. For years he used the 265gr Hornady in factory and reloads. Excellent performance, 7 out of 10 deer were stopped emphatically, with maybe 3 out of 10 travelling a tad further upto 50 yards, but never lost anything. When the 300gr Speer appeared, he bought x100 projectiles to try and loaded them up and kept hunting over the hounds as he always has. The bigger slug dropped them just as well ... over the course of a few seasons however he came to realise that the 2-3 that used to move on weren't happening anymore. At that point he became a 'believer' and when I spoke with him it was a near 100% performance from the 300gr projectile.
Now me personally ... I haven't pointed them in anger ... but I like to split the difference and load the 280gr Woodleigh as they're 'soft', bonded to open wide without losing weight and stubby enough not to take up much powder space. My 444Marlin has been shortened to 18.5", so the 280gr was viewed as a compromise between staying heavy and maintaining enough velocity to allow a longer shot if it crops up. Also helped that locally a Swift 280gr is a $2 pill, where the Woodleigh is a $1.20 projectile. For fun I run a soft generic 240gr with Alliant 2400.
Con
Great hunting story on the Sambar. Your friend sounds like "the guy to know" on hunting the game, I wish I knew him. Those Sambar look to share a lot of similarities. I don't know how "tough" they are to go down but they look to be a young cow or spike bull in size.
I completely agree on the Swift bullets. I used to load their 30 cal Scirocco for the magnum but they just became way too expensive. I switched to the Partition or even a Hot-Cor in a heavier pill. But those Scirocco bullets sure did shoot great.
Thanks for the input.
(BTW, is the hostility in this thread typical of the forum?)
